Editor's note

High-profile attacks on women in India - like the 2012 gang rape of a 23-year-old student in Delhi who later died from her injuries - have caused public outrage in recent years and spurred strict laws aimed at reducing sexual violence. But India continues to be one of the world's most dangerous places for women. Nisha Bellinger, who studies diversity in government, believes that getting more women into politics could help India address this deeply entrenched social problem.

Turkey's currency, the lira, is losing value against foreign currencies and the country is in the grips of its worst economic crisis since  Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became president in 2014. Gary M. Grossman argues that this economic challenge is, in fact, a symptom of a much larger problem for Erdoğan and Turkey.

Catesby Holmes

Global Affairs Editor

Top Stories

Public outrage followed the 2012 gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in Delhi, India. Here, demonstrators call for justice at the one-year anniversary of the incident. Reuters/Anindito Mukherjee

India has a sexual assault problem that only women can fix

Nisha Bellinger, Boise State University

India is the most dangerous country for women in 2018, according to a new survey. Putting more women in government is a necessary first step in preventing rape and better protecting abuse survivors.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. AP/Presidential Press Service pool photo

Turkish currency isn’t the real problem for Erdoğan, it’s democracy

Gary M. Grossman, Arizona State University

The financial crisis provoked by the lira's fall isn't the true drama in Turkey. The real drama is a democratic transformation threatens the increasingly authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Politics + Society

Science + Technology

  • Children’s books are adding to science’s gender problem

    Dr Susan Wilbraham, University of Cumbria; Elizabeth Caldwell, University of Huddersfield

    New research shows children's images of scientists are all too often male.

  • Why you can smell rain

    Tim Logan, Texas A&M University

    A weather expert explains where petrichor – that pleasant, earthy scent that accompanies a storm's first raindrops – comes from.

Arts + Culture