Image credits: Wikimedia Commons By Simona Carnavale In Italy, the dinner table can be described as a cultural monument, where daily life, memory, and tradition converge. From long Sunday suppers to childhood memories of cooking with family members, meals are widely regarded as the most meaningful time of the day. In December 2025, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially recognized Italian cuisine as an Intangible Cultural Her

Image credits: Nico Lavaud, University of South Florida By Briggs Collins Murray Introduction On a warm, sunny day in early March 2026, the sun beamed down on the alabaster facade of the National Assembly of Senegal. Outside, Atlantic seagulls squawked as they circled overhead, eyes scanning for prey. Inside, elected deputies cawed as they debated in a hemicycle, setting their sights on a prey of their own: the domestic LGBT community. “I speak to international opinion: h

Image credits: Wikimedia Commons By Tulsi Ankur Patel Introduction On a breezy fall evening in 1928, after a restful summer vacation, Alexander Fleming returned to a messy lab bench. Sorting through different petri dishes of Staphylococcus bacteria that he had forgotten to place in the incubator, he realized a moldy film had formed over his dishes, possibly contaminating the samples. But, as he went to throw them away, he realized something fascinating. On his dishes, the mo

Image credits: Wikimedia Commons By Owen M. Eastman Look at a list of some of the fastest-growing countries in the world (% growth in GDP/capita) and you are bound to find a few surprises. Some seem to be obvious - Libya and South Sudan top the list at first and second, indicating a kind of “rebound growth” in the wake of war conditions. Others have recently been highlighted in Western media for their robust economic policies (Ireland, Kyrgyzstan), or obviously seem to be com