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  Wildfire smoke is becoming a nationwide health threat

  November 21, 2018 18:00 IST

  (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Richard E. Peltier, University of Massachusetts Amherst(THE CONVERSATION) The impacts of recent forest fires in California reach well beyond the burned areas. Smoke from the Camp Fire created hazardous air quality conditions in San Francisco, more than 170 miles to the southwest – but it didn’t stop there. Cross-country winds carried it across the United States, creating hazy

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  Rock 'n' roll is dying in Bangladesh

  November 21, 2018 18:00 IST

  (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Mubashar Hasan, University of Oslo(THE CONVERSATION) The seeds of rock ‘n’ roll culture were planted in Bangladesh during the birth of the country in 1971, after a war for liberation separated this majority-Muslim territory from Pakistan. For most of the 20th century, the region was a traditional Southasian agrarian society. Its soundtrack: Bengali folk music, featuring instruments

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  Why bigotry is a public health problem

  November 21, 2018 18:00 IST

  (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Ronald W. Pies, Tufts University(THE CONVERSATION) Over a decade ago, I wrote a piece for a psychiatric journal entitled “Is Bigotry a Mental Illness?” At the time, some psychiatrists were advocating making “pathological bigotry” or pathological bias – essentially, bias so extreme it interferes with daily function and reaches near-delusional proportions – an official psychiatric

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  In the 1600s Hester Pulter wondered, 'Why must I forever be confined?' – now her poems are online for all to see

  November 21, 2018 18:00 IST

  (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Samantha Snively, University of California, Davis(THE CONVERSATION) In 1996, a graduate student named Mark Robson was creating a digital catalog of the University of Leeds’ Brotherton Library when he discovered a small manuscript on the shelf. The elegantly titled “Poems Breathed Forth by the Noble Hadassas” contained 120 poems and a half-finished prose romance. As far as Robson

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  The government aims to boost ethanol without evidence that it saves money or helps the environment

  November 21, 2018 18:00 IST

  (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) André Boehman, University of Michigan(THE CONVERSATION) President Donald Trump has promised his supporters in Iowa that the federal government will take a step that may increase corn ethanol sales. This plant-derived fuel, which comprises about 10 percent of the 143 billion gallons of gasoline Americans buy each year, is a kind of alcohol made from corn. The industry first emerged

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  Blockchain systems are tracking food safety and origins

  November 21, 2018 18:00 IST

  (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Nir Kshetri, University of North Carolina – Greensboro(THE CONVERSATION) When a Chinese consumer buys a package labeled “Australian beef,” there’s only a 50-50 chance the meat inside is, in fact, Australian beef. It could just as easily contain rat, dog, horse or camel meat – or a mixture of them all. It’s gross and dangerous, but also costly.Fraud in the global food industry is a

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  Virtual tours give rural students a glimpse of college life

  November 21, 2018 18:00 IST

  (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Carol Cutler White, Mississippi State University(THE CONVERSATION) The first time that Nyah visited the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for a campus tour, there wasn’t much of a chance to see what takes place inside the classrooms.“We just walked by buildings and the guide talked about what goes on inside,” Nyah recalls of the campus tour this past spring.But during a

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  Hong Kong finds humans contracted hepatitis carried in rats

  November 21, 2018 18:00 IST

  The Hong Kong Health Department says a second person in the city has been found to have contracted a strain of hepatitis that is carried by rats

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  Blocks found in Egypt bear name of famed pharaoh's builder

  November 21, 2018 18:00 IST

  Egypt says archaeologists digging in Cairo have found two blocks of limestone with inscriptions belonging to an engineer who worked for Ramses II, one of the longest ruling pharaohs in antiquity

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  Cameroon military frees 9 abducted children, teacher

  November 21, 2018 17:45 IST

  A Cameroon military official says the military has freed nine children and their teacher who had been kidnapped by gunmen Tuesday from a school in Kumba in the country's restive English-speaking South West region

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  AP Explains: Dispute between Seoul, Tokyo over WWII brothels

  November 21, 2018 17:45 IST

  AP Explains: The intensifying dispute between Seoul and Tokyo over World War II military brothels

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  Spanish court rules union of sex workers illegal

  November 21, 2018 17:15 IST

  Spain's National Court has outlawed a union of sex workers, saying that recognition of the group amounted to making the exploitation of prostitutes legal

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  10 Things to Know for Today

  November 21, 2018 17:15 IST

  Among 10 Things to Know: Trump defies calls to punish Saudi crown prince for writer's death; Trump turns over written answers to Mueller in Russia probe; Aid group: 85,000 children may have died of hunger in Yemen

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  Top Israeli minister: Trump wasting his time with peace plan

  November 21, 2018 17:00 IST

  A top Israeli Cabinet minister says President Donald Trump is wasting his time trying to push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan

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  Australian PM accuses Muslim leaders of denying threat

  November 21, 2018 17:00 IST

  Australia's prime minister has accused senior Muslim community leaders of "continuing down a path of denial" after they refused an invitation to a meeting to discuss the threat posed by Islamic extremists

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  Ikea to cut 7,500 jobs as customer behavior changes

  November 21, 2018 16:45 IST

  Swedish home furnishings giant Ikea says it is cutting 7,500 jobs worldwide, partly as a result of a new strategy to open shops in city centers to complement its larger stores.

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  Peacekeepers left more than 6,000 children in Liberia

  November 21, 2018 16:45 IST

  'Children they left behind': More than 6,000 Liberians fathered by peacekeepers come of age

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  4 Finns held in Malaysia for distributing religious material

  November 21, 2018 16:45 IST

  Malaysian police say four tourists from Finland have been arrested for distributing Christian materials at public places on a resort island

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  US says China hacking increasing ahead of Trump-Xi meeting

  November 21, 2018 16:30 IST

  US accuses Beijing of stepping up hacking to steal American technology ahead of Xi-Trump meeting

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  World economy has 'passed its peak' as trade wars weigh

  November 21, 2018 16:30 IST

  A global economic watchdog says world growth has passed its peak and faces growing risks, including from trade disputes and higher interest rates

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  New oil price plunge sends ripples through global economy

  November 21, 2018 16:15 IST

  Sharply lower oil prices are sending ripples through the global economy, lending more spending power to consumers shopping for Christmas gifts and making fuel cheaper for people in poorer countries.

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  The Latest: France confident Renault to carry on smoothly

  November 21, 2018 16:00 IST

  France's finance minister says Renault's new temporary leadership will ensure the carmaker functions efficiently after the arrest in Japan of its CEO, Carlos Ghosn, for alleged misuse of assets at Nissan, where is also chairman.

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  UK's May to meet EU chief Juncker as Brexit deadline looms

  November 21, 2018 15:45 IST

  British Prime Minister Theresa May is flying to Brussels to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in a bid to finalize a Brexit agreement between the U.K. and the European Union

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  European privacy search engines aim to challenge Google

  November 21, 2018 15:30 IST

  Europe's privacy-focused search engines aim to snatch users from Google amid greater public awareness of data privacy

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  France players to wear rainbow laces in support of Thomas

  November 21, 2018 15:30 IST

  France's rugby players will wear rainbow laces on their boots for Saturday's match against Fiji in support of former Wales captain Gareth Thomas, who was the victim of an anti-gay assault last weekend

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  Merkel says UN migrants pact is in Germany's interest

  November 21, 2018 15:30 IST

  Chancellor Angela Merkel says it's in Germany's interest to support a U.N. agreement on migration that countries such as the United States, Hungary and Poland have rejected

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  Once rising GOP star, Utah's Mia Love loses seat to Democrat

  November 21, 2018 15:30 IST

  Once rising GOP star, Utah's Mia Love loses US House seat to Democrat

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  Israeli Cabinet minister: Gaza leader's days are numbered

  November 21, 2018 15:15 IST

  A senior Israeli Cabinet minister is threatening to kill the leader of Gaza's militant Hamas rulers