UNESCO

Iranian Heritage Under Threat From All Sides

As civil unrest spreads across Iranian cities in early January 2026 and President Trump renews warnings about military options, the country's 28 UNESCO World Heritage sites sit vulnerable to dangers from multiple directions.

Italy’s UNESCO Victory: Shared Mediterranean Food Gets a National Label

UNESCO has crowned Italian cooking an intangible treasure, but in a shared Mediterranean kitchen it raises a question: how far can one country claim what ends up on the plate?

Lebanon Deserves Headlines for Its Wonders, Not Wars

Ancient temples in Lebanon, from Baalbek to Byblos, stand as timeless symbols of beauty, resilience, and cultural heritage.

Yazd, Iran: Where Wind, Clay, and Faith Endure 

Tehran opens a metro station named for the Virgin Mary in Yazd. Another city in Iran takes quieter, deeper steps toward preservation.

A New Wave of Bioethics: The Frontiers of Genetic Engineering

In 2025, genetic editing in bioethics blurs the line between therapy and enhancement, sparking ethical debates on humanity’s future.

Popular

Fairphone Enters the Office, Not the High Street

As Radboud University announced Fairphones for staff on 16 January 2026, effective 1 February, a niche ethical handset gained an ally that ordinary shoppers still rarely offer.

Big Tech Giants Take Over the European Public Square

Invisible code, engineered thousands of miles away, dictates the daily cadence of European voices.

Guilty by Involvement: Britain, Berbera, and Red Sea Tensions

Britain’s state-backed bets on a Red Sea port are now dragging London into a genocidal war in Sudan and a high-stakes diplomatic collision with Saudi Arabia.

Timbuktu Manuscripts Return as Museums Raise Prices

As 28,000 manuscripts arrived back at the Timbuktu Ahmed Baba Institute in August 2025 after 13 years in Bamako, Paris's Louvre raised standard admission to €22, marking the latest divergence in how access to Africa's written past is being rearranged.

Houthi Payroll Politics and Riyadh’s Bet to Secure Yemen Peace

Yemen’s government workers wait for paychecks as Riyadh bets that money will buy the peace that ten years of war was unable to secure.