Spotlight
‘Limited Value’ of Life
The viral video of a Seattle police officer joking about the “limited value” of Indian student Jaanhavi Kandula, who died earlier this year after being struck by a police car, prompted the Indian consulate to demand a probe and has created outrage among the large Indian community in the United States.
Spoiling Mango Season
The mangoes were not as good as they usually were. One of my favorite varieties, the Alfons — a cousin of the Indian Alphonso — was bitter and inedible, while the reddish Naoumi carried a muted sweetness that left me craving a phantom taste. The Fas variety — the father of Egypt’s mango — was stained by sunburn. Something was wrong.
Nooriyah Brings Arabic Music to the Dance Floor
Arabic music had always had an influence on Western music and pop culture. I discovered the depth of this influence through a rather unlikely source — Nooriyah, a Saudi, London-based DJ/producer, who launched an Instagram video series that went viral in early 2021 exploring the phenomenon.
At the Epicenter of Morocco’s Earthquake, the Search for Survivors Is On
The race against the clock to find those trapped is on, but the remote location, the terrain and the power and data cuts that the quake caused are wreaking havoc with the efforts. New Lines arrived in Asni late on Saturday, just as residents were bracing for a night sleeping outdoors. Of the houses left standing, many had deep cracks in the walls, threatening to collapse at any moment, particularly if an aftershock came.
Tweeting Is Banned in Iran, but Not for the Regime’s Supporters
Financing troll armies, pseudo-intellectuals, pundits and commentators whose day jobs boil down to waging wars on X is now the forte of a government that has officially banned the site.
The Homeless Asylum-Seekers of Canada
It may be only a matter of months before more people seeking a better life find themselves homeless and forgotten in Toronto, shivering on the streets of the world’s most welcoming country.
Indians Are Celebrating the Moon Landing — One Song at a Time
Ever since the news arrived that India had landed on the moon — only the fourth country to join this elite space club, and the first to land on its south pole — Indians have been euphoric. One of the ways they’ve been celebrating is by revisiting pop culture dedicated to the moon.