This Monday marked the grim milestone of one year since Hamas carried out the October 7 attacks, and with it the anniversary of Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip. In addition to Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, airstrikes have levelled scores of its cultural, religious and archaeological sites. There is now a serious risk that much of the region’s history will be erased, argues cultural heritage professor Pilar Montero Vilar.

As conflict escalates in the Middle East, every war death leaves behind multiple grieving family members. In addition to the unthinkable tragedy of losing a loved one to violence, war survivors also lose caregivers, and financial support. Two experts have recently measured the scale of kin loss in Gaza, in order to determine its long term social, psychological and political repercussions.

Though Alfred Nobel made his fortune by inventing dynamite, today he is synonymous with the awards bearing his name, including, somewhat ironically, the Nobel Peace Prize. As the awards are announced this week, it’s a great time to learn more about Nobel’s surprisingly humble beginnings.

If you’re anything like me, you may wonder who cuts your hairdresser’s hair, or who your dentist’s dentist is. But you probably hadn’t given much thought to who the Pope’s priest is, until now. And looking well into the future – 2050 to be exact, when the EU aims to be carbon neutral – economist Fabian Battaglini analyses whether the EU’s Green Deal might bring military benefits by reducing the continent’s dependence on Russian gas imports.