Castles in the Sky: by A Flock of Seagulls I used to want to touch the sunBut it can’t be done, you can’t touch the sunI used to want to walk on the moonWhat a fool, I can not walk on the moon WhoaJust building castles in the skyWhoaYou never know until you try You… Read More Castles in the Sky
Richard Munoz I wasn’t especially good at basketball, but I loved it. One day while playing, I broke my ankle. I needed corrective surgery and would be on crutches for months while I recovered. Getting to and from work, and running errands, was suddenly a huge struggle. I could order groceries online, but there were… Read More The kindness of strangers: I was injured and using crutches, when a group of scary teens offered to help me
The Pahalgam attack was the deadliest on civilians in India in more than a decade, and with the ringleaders still on the run, the authorities have taken to harsh measures in response When the news broke of the bloody attack in Kashmir’s popular rolling valleys of Pahalgam, in which militant gunmen shot dead 25 tourists and a… Read More Thousands detained, homes blown up: Kashmiris tell of crackdown
Thousands of Vietnamese have waved red flags and sang patriotic songs as a grand military parade held in Ho Chi Minh City concluded Vietnam’s 50th anniversary celebrations of the end of war with the United States. Wednesday’s event commemorated the first act of the country’s reunification on April 30, 1975, when communist-run North Vietnam seized… Read More Vietnam celebrates 50th anniversary of victory against US imperialism
A year after the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, had suspended a Dalit PhD scholar on the charge of “misconduct” and “anti-national activities” because he took part in a protest rally against the Narendra Modi government, the Supreme Court has given him relief. Though a two-judge bench of the apex court comprising Justices Dipankar… Read More Supreme Court Orders TISS to Reinstate Dalit PhD Scholar Suspended Over ‘Anti-National Activities’
Its impact on Pakistan’s citizens is an important issue, but not the only one. At stake are India’s water sharing agreements with Nepal and Bangladesh. Bharat Bhushan Despite public enthusiasm in India about the Indus Waters Treaty being held in abeyance, the move is strategically flawed, and will have adverse consequences for India in the region.… Read More Weaponising Indus Waters Treaty is a strategic mistake
For vast numbers of Americans, disproportionately young, the monstrous warfare overseen by Presidents Johnson and Nixon caused the scales to fall from their eyes about the character of U.S. leadership. And like President Donald Trump now, President Joe Biden showed that nice-sounding rhetoric could serve as a tidy cover story for choosing to enable nonstop horrors without… Read More How the Vietnam and Gaza Wars Shattered Young Illusions About US Leaders
Hagia Sophia was built as a church over a Roman temple, and was subsequently converted into a mosque and then a museum. Since 2020 it is used as a mosque once more By Ali Halit Diker, CNN Whether you’re a believer or not, visiting Hagia Sophia is a spiritual experience. The architectural genius of this… Read More Hagia Sophia: Secrets of the 1,600-year-old megastructure that has survived the collapse of empires
The myth that news coverage turned Americans against the war persists. In fact, it was largely complicit in perpetuating the conflict Norman Solomon The last helicopter liftoff from the roof of the American embassy in Saigon on 30 April 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam war. Fifty years later, mythology about US media coverage of… Read More The US left Vietnam 50 years ago today. The media hasn’t learned its lesson
She faced endless opposition and threats to her life. This has become a reality for far too many journalists Maxine Peake A woman places flowers in front of a portrait of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Moscow, 2009. Photograph: Pavel Golovkin/AP What drives someone to become a journalist? A good journalist, someone whose keyboard is a tool for exposing… Read More The incredible tale of Anna Politkovskaya has taught me one thing: I could never be that brave
After the truth-shower 