Meet Saudi Arabia’s stars of social media
Source: BBC For a nation whose king calls himself “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques”, it’s probably not surprising that Saudi Arabia’s “superstars” of social media are clerics. Naturally, that […]
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The plan to save the giant pelicans of Skadar Lake
Source: BBC Skadar Lake is the biggest freshwater body in the Balkans. Shared between Montenegro and Albania, it hosts the westernmost breeding colony of the endangered Dalmatian pelican. This […]
Inside Medium: an attempt to bring civility to the internet
Source: BBC On an internet full of hurried, scruffy ballpoints, Medium is the web’s fountain pen. We’re told our attention spans are short. That we cannot focus on anything beyond […]
R.I.P. religious right, and other Super Tuesday takeaways
Source: CNN (CNN)Was it a coming-out party for atheists or a funeral dirge for the religious right? In an election year full of questions, Super Tuesday raised a few more, as voters in 12 states went to the polls and the GOP’s Donald Trump and Democrats’ Hillary Clinton emerged as […]
Beware: Exploding Politics
Source: The New York Times By Thomas L. Friedman When the U.S. military trains fighter pilots, it uses a concept called the OODA loop. It stands for observe, orient, decide, act. The idea is that if your ability to observe, orient, decide and act in a dogfight at 30,000 feet […]
A Call to Action: Curing Islam’s American Crisis
Source: Huffington Post By EHAB AL SHIHABI Media Advisor and Senior Fellow (politics, media and policy) The opinion expressed here are his and do not reflect those of his employer The […]
How Muslim women are winning the 2016 campaign
Source: CNN (CNN)This presidential election season we’ve paid much attention to the anti-Muslim ideas some presidential candidates like Donald Trump spew — and rightfully so. Most political candidates would never dare make such utterances about any other religious minority group. Still, in the midst of the vitriol and alarming political rhetoric, […]
Why the Nation of Islam is praising Donald Trump
Source: The Washington Post They may not hold the same views on race, but even black and white extremists sometimes agree. Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, praised Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Saturday for, as Farrakhan put it, not accepting money from the Jewish community — comments delivered just […]
The city of 187 different countries
Source: BBC A haven for expats and loved by locals, Geneva attracts people from around the world for its economic opportunity, lakeside beauty and Mont Blanc views. Home to more […]
A mysterious new species could be the earliest humans
Source: BBC Two years ago an astounding new discovery shook up the field of early human evolution. The bones of a new species of extinct hominin called Homo naledi were discovered in the Rising Star Cave in South Africa and unveiled to the world in September 2015. The new species had […]
Migrant crisis: EU to unveil emergency aid plan
Source: BBC The European Union is preparing to spend hundreds of millions of euros on humanitarian aid, as Greece struggles to cope with an influx of migrants. Under plans to […]
Vatican paper lauds ‘Spotlight’ for giving voice to abuse victims
Source: Reuters The Vatican newspaper on Monday lauded the film “Spotlight”, which took home this year’s Oscar for best picture, for giving voice to the pain of the victims of […]
George Pell, Aide to Pope, Is Put on Defensive in Abuse Inquiry
Source: The New York Times ROME — When Pope Francis was chosen to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics three years ago, he pledged to reform antiquated and troubledVatican institutions. He formed an inner circle of nine cardinals as his closest advisers, appointed a commission to deal with sexual abuse […]
Sikh Soldier Sues Defense Dept., Citing Religious Discrimination
Source: The New York Times A combat soldier who is Sikh sued the Defense Department on Monday, saying his beard and turban had made him the subject of religious discrimination […]
Trump’s rhetoric on Muslims plays well with fans, but horrifies others
Source: The Washington Post At a rally in southwest Virginia on Monday, Republican front-runner Donald Trump again told an apocryphal story about a general killing Muslim terrorists with bullets dipped […]
Sanders keeps his Judaism in the background, irking US Jews
Source: Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — As Bernie Sanders headed toward victory in New Hampshire, pundits noted the barrier he was about to break: Sanders would become the first […]
Meet the ‘Nones,’ the Democratic Party’s biggest faith constituency
Source: The Washington Post Joe Stone is part of an enormous but invisible voting constituency. A “troubled atheist,” the retired Virginia accountant calls himself spiritual, celebrates Christmas and defines religious […]
It’s Almost Impossible to Crash This New Drone
Source: Time The DJI Phantom 4 can see and avoid obstacles in its path. Chinese drone maker DJI wants to make flying a drone so easy that anyone can do […]
High Stakes for Supreme Court Arguments on Abortion Case
Source: Time Three years ago, Wendy Davis gained national attention during an 11-hour filibuster of one of the toughest abortion bills to come to the Senate floor: it would ban […]
Kids Are Facing Criminal Charges for Using Emoji
Source: Time Cops are taking postings of gun emojis as legitimate threats Emojis are quickly becoming the language of the Internet, but with that power comes a raft of new […]