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Somalia has a new remarkably young and diverse parliament
For years, Somalia, plagued by ethnic strife, was the odd—and sad—example of a country that somehow operated without a government. Now the country has a Somali-Norwegian prime minister who is a former humanitarian worker and oil executive and a parliament filled with entrepreneurs, media Read More...
Colombia's FARC rebels begin disarming under peace deal
Colombia's leftist FARC rebels are due to to begin surrendering their weapons under a landmark peace deal, marking the delicate transition from an armed group to a political party following more than half a century at war. After weeks of mustering its troops at designated disarmament zones, Read More...
Open borders are essential for your health and more
What’s the shortest way to the next medical breakthrough? Open borders. A group of medicine professors at Stanford University is clear that restricting immigration is bad for our health. In the past, collaboration among scientists from around the world made vaccines for polio and smallpox Read More...
Muslim campaign raises over $100,000 for vandalized Jewish cemetery
A Palestinian activist has started a crowdfunding campaign for a vandalized Jewish cemetery that has raised more than $100,000 to repair the damage. Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American Muslim rights campaigner, said: “Through this campaign, we hope to send a united message from the Jewish Read More...
This town created an environment built on empathy and saw crime decrease
Showing empathy changes society. That’s the story of a small town in the state of Washington. It started at the local high school where the staff created an environment built on empathy acknowledging the presence of childhood trauma in addressing disciplinary issues. A year after the Read More...
Using the internet in Sweden will help power homes under new initiative
Most data centers aren’t very environmentally friendly. According to one estimate, the amount of electricity data centers suck up to cool down their servers is about as much as the airline industry uses. Sweden thinks there’s a better way to keep servers cool while making use of all that excess Read More...
Pope Francis: Indigenous people must have final say about their land
The times they are changin’. In the 1450’s Pope Nicholas V provided legal justification for the conquest and theft of indigenous peoples’ lands and resources worldwide in the Romanus Pontifex decree. 560 years later, Francis, the first Pope from Latin America, says that indigenous peoples Read More...
Rwanda: women drumming away the trauma of genocide
For Marta, joining Rwanda's first female drumming troupe, Ingoma Nshya -- a co-operative of formed 10 years after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi -- has helped her cope with the trauma of losing her husband in the killings. Ingoma Nshya means a new drum or new kingdom. Marta's remarkable Read More...
Seattle to trade traffic signals for stop signs to improve road safety
Traffic signals may make intersections more efficient, but they don’t necessarily make roads safer. Just think about the moment when you approach a traffic signal and the light changes from green to yellow. You can either jump on the gas or jump on the brake, either of which can be dangerous for Read More...
Singapore is preserving social harmony with racial requirement for next president
In an attempt to socially engineer multiculturalism, the Singapore government has made it a rule that the next president of the city-state, which is largely a ceremonial role, must be a Malay, the minority Muslim population of the country. That’s not the only thing that Singapore is doing to Read More...