Is the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine safe?
The AstraZeneca vaccine was heralded as ‘the vaccine for the world’ when it was first approved for use in the UK on December 30. It is inexpensive and can be stored in normal fridges, unlike other vac...
8 Apr 202123min
Stuck in the Suez Canal
For nearly a week, the ultra-large Ever Given container ship was wedged across the Suez Canal, stopping dead all trade through one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes. With no way through, hundre...
31 Mar 202119min
Is corruption in Iraq impossible to beat?
Iraq is listed as the 20th most corrupt country in the world in the latest ranking by anti-corruption organisation Transparency International. Venality is rampant in a country still emerging from the ...
25 Mar 202117min
Raqqa after ten years of war and revolution in Syria
March 2013, Raqqa. The Syrian revolution is in full swing. A crowd gathers around a statue of Hafez Al Assad in the centre of the city. The statue is of President Bashar Al Assad’s father, and much li...
18 Mar 202115min
The legacy of the Pope's Iraq visit
It's hard to overstate just how significant Pope Francis's visit to Iraq really was. Nor how remarkable it is that it actually went ahead. Iraq, despite the best efforts of the security forces, is not...
8 Mar 202128min
Tunisians numb to the horror of public self-immolation
It was beyond our capacity of understanding ten years ago when a young man in Tunisia decided to take his own life by setting himself on fire. This act was enough to start large-scale protests in what...
4 Mar 202115min
Why have Indian farmers been protesting for months?
On February 21 about 120,000 Indian farmers gathered at a grain market in Punjab to protest against the government. The crowds of men and women arrived early, making their way to the market in tractor...
25 Feb 202117min
How the UAE moved an entire coral reef
At the beginning of 2020 the UAE faced a conundrum. Abu Dhabi Ports was seeking to boost its cargo-handling capacity, which meant more construction above and below water. A new project with Etihad Rai...
18 Feb 202119min
