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Timbuktu’s mausoleums, shrines and manuscripts, temples in Palmyra and Buddha statues in Afghanistan: these are just some of the historical artefacts that have been destroyed during conflicts in the past few decades. Prominent ancestral sites in North America, which are imbued with spiritual qualities to First Nations and Native Americans, are also under threat. George Nicholas argues that such spaces must be protected.
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has delivered his final speech as the leader of the governing African National Congress. He will remain the head of state, but is passing on the party baton. Mashupye Herbert Maserumule says that Zuma missed the purpose of a valedictory address: to guide the future in the wake of leadership changes. Instead, he used the speech to abdicate himself of all responsibility for his party’s ongoing struggles.
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Comb Ridge near Bluff Utah.
(Shutterstock)
George Nicholas, Simon Fraser University
The Trump administration recently reduced the size of Bears Ears in Utah, opening millions of acres to mining and other uses. This threatens Indigenous heritage and can be seen as a form of violence.
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South African President Jacob Zuma sings before his opening address at the 54th National Conference of the governing ANC.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
Mashupye Herbert Maserumule, Tshwane University of Technology
Zuma's last address to South Africa's governing party, the ANC, as its president, betrayed his strange way of dealing with issues. He came across as delusional and self-indulgent.
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Politics + Society
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George Revel, University of Leicester
Why the international law of self-determination does not support Catalonia's claim of an international right to independence from Spain.
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Science + Technology
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Ray Norris, Western Sydney University
Scientists looking for signs of alien life from the mystery object passing through our Solar system say they've found nothing "so far".
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Sondra Bacharach, Victoria University of Wellington
In a new book, philosophers argue that Lego's coloured bricks are not just a toy, but a tool that raises challenging questions about creativity, conformity and culture.
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Arts + Culture
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Michael Shakib Bhatch, University of the Western Cape
The protest song "Malcolm's gone" not only pays tribute to one of the most influential black leaders, but provocatively likens him, as a Muslim and so-called enemy of the state, to Jesus Christ.
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Business + Economy
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Fredrik O. Andersson, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
To learn why some new nonprofits prosper when others do not requires dealing with the fact that everyone has trouble remembering things the way they happened.
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