Whenever any country with a Russian-speaking minority moves to marginalise the Russian language, the Kremlin accuses it of “cultural genocide”. But now, Russian citizens who speak minority languages of their own are up in arms about similar policies imposed by their own federal government. Guzel Yusupova explains how a campaign of cultural homogenisation has created a resistance campaign the Putin government didn’t anticipate.

17 years ago al-Qaida conducted a series of terrorist attacks against the United States. Since then, there’s been an unprecedented onslaught against them. Tricia Bacon explains how the group’s extraordinary ability to form alliances has sustained them.