Five reasons why 2018 was a big year for paleontology
Five important moments in paleontology you may have missed during 2018, and what they mean — particularly for Africa and its place in the story of human origins.
The Conversation
PRI's The World
The US has two trade deficits: money and pests. A Congressional amendment would add some safeguards to clamp down on non-indigenous insects that are killing American trees.
Under the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone is entitled to a healthy, adequate standard of living. But from the start, there was a tension within US politics about whether America would submit to international justice.
Coal smog can make many poles feel like they're living in the 19th century. Now a growing grassroots movement is pushing local and national governments to cut smog and rethink the country's heavy reliance on coal.
Under the Trump administration, America is closing its doors to refugees. US refugee caps have been steadily slashed from 110,000 a year under the Obama administration to 30,000 next year. That would be the lowest number of refugees admitted since 1980.
After nearly two decades of war, prospects for peace talks have been gaining momentum in Afghanistan. This has created a sense of optimism and anxiety among some Afghans.
Global Security
A prisoner swap, agreed to by opposing sides in the Yemen war, may be just a confidence-building measure. But for one former detainee, the UN-brokered measure is a significant step toward eventual peace in Yemen.
Use of tear gas has steadily risen around the world. But odds are, a lot of those silver canisters come from a factory in Jamestown, Pennsylvania, home to just over 600 people, and the uptick in sales has helped the community.
The Rohingya may be pushed even farther from home: banished to a remote island off the coast of Bangladesh. There are nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Officials there are planning to relocate many of them to this tiny island as soon as next year.
Millions of Ukrainians have left their homeland in search of greater opportunities. But Ukraine wants them to come home, and they're developing programs to ease the transition.
Nearly 1 million refugees and migrants have passed through Greece since the Syrian war began, leaving its environment and economy under duress — particularly during summers when tourism is in full swing.
Global Nation
The Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the US-Canada border as a historical anomaly and thrust into an unlikely role as the site of emotional reunions between people separated by the Trump administration's immigration policies.
Raed Fares, a Syrian activist and journalist, was killed along with a colleague late last week. Fares was the founder of Radio Fresh, a news source for Syrians as well as a critic of the Assad government, as well as of the militants in the opposition. Friends and colleagues fear that that is what led to his shooting.
A group of about 3,000 migrants has travelled for more than a month to reach the US. Now, they’re just a half-hour walk away. But getting in seems more distant than ever.
Jollibee trades in Pinoy pride and nostalgia. Can it also capture the curiosity — and taste buds — of non-Filipino Americans?
A Pakistani family has been in the US for 18 years, including regular check-ins with immigration enforcement. Then, in 2018, an ICE officer told them they should buy plane tickets home. Now, they're in sanctuary in a Connecticut church while they fight to stay in the country.
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Across Women's Lives
Indonesia's Supreme Court sentenced Baiq Nuril Makmun to 6 months in prison for documenting her abuser. But public outrage over the verdict has forced the office of the attorney general to temporarily suspend her imprisonment.
Tens of thousands of people dressed in purple, the color traditionally associated with the women’s liberation movement, marched through the streets of major cities from Barcelona and Madrid to Seville and Toledo to mark the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Similar protests took place around the world, from Japan to Turkey to Rwanda.
By coming forward to testify in open court — despite death threats and attempts to silence her — Cheryl Zondi was not just another faceless victim of sexual violence.
Former actress and model Amal Fathy posted a 12-minute video lamenting her experiences with sexual harassment in Cairo, Egypt. Police detained and accused her of broadcasting false news affecting national security and the possession of indecent materials. Two days after her arrest, Fathy was also charged with belonging to a terrorist group.
Some countries have instituted quotas to ensure some semblance of gender parity in government. But do quotas really work?
Studio 360
Lyricist Alan Jay Lerner’s centennial, and more theater magic with impresario Jack Viertel and “Sweat” in the Rust Belt.
What do the musicals “My Fair Lady,” “Gigi” and “Camelot” have in common? They were all written by the talented, complicated Alan Jay Lerner.
Jack Viertel gives a master class in American musical theater.
How “Sweat,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning labor drama by Lynn Nottage, made the jump from Broadway glitz to blue-collar communities.
America’s love affair with a motorcycle, plus Georgia O’Keeffe’s Southwestern masterpieces and how Jimi Hendrix summed up the Vietnam War with a single guitar solo.
Livable Planet
Sea ice grows in the winter, when the Arctic is very cold and dark, and then dies back every summer, when the region gets pounded by nonstop sunlight. For all of human history, there's always been some Arctic sea ice that doesn’t melt in the summer. But there's much less of it now.
Shishmaref, Alaska, home to a tightly knit Iñpuiat community of 600 people, is ground zero for climate change in the Arctic. What happens here could foreshadow the fates of other US coastal communities. Why won't Washington pay attention?
A sculpture in Iceland marks the location of the Arctic Circle — at least the circle's location this year, because it turns out that the Arctic Circle doesn't stay in one place. It's a suggestion of how difficult it is to pin down anything in the Arctic.
In his new book, "Every Day Is Extra," former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry writes about his formative childhood years, his legislative and diplomatic work on climate change, and more.
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's strict interpretations in previous rulings on environmental law indicate he will not support strong government action on climate change.