Turkey goes to the polls tomorrow. The election is happening under a state of emergency that has been in place since an attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2016. If Erdoğan wins, the office of the prime minister will be abolished and even more power will be handed to the president. With mainstream news sources in crisis, Rabia Karakaya Polat explains how Turks have found an important political outlet on social media.
Over the next month, billions of soccer fans will watch their national teams compete in the FIFA World Cup. Even those who don’t follow ‘the beautiful game’ likely know the mega-tournament is taking place in Russia. And that one key fact, Peter Rutland argues, is why this year’s World Cup is a huge win for Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
|
Enough?
EPA/Erdem Sahin
Rabia Karakaya Polat, University of Essex
A snap poll intended to boost the Turkish president's power has stirred up online opposition to his increasing authoritarianism.
|
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev watch the action during the match between Russia and Saudi Arabia that opened the 2018 World Cup.
Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
Peter Rutland, Wesleyan University
The Russian leader seems to understand the ability of sport to foment feelings of national pride and enhance his popularity at home.
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Julien Brachet, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)
As in the Mediterranean, travel through the Sahara is difficult and unnecessarily dangerous by increased checks and control.
|
|
Business + Economy
|
-
Michael von Massow, University of Guelph; Alfons Weersink, University of Guelph
The use of antibiotics in raising livestock is complex. We could be moving towards a less-than-ideal result due to poor understanding, over-simplistic messaging and a rush for competitive advantage.
|
|
Environment + Energy
|
-
Walter E. Little, University at Albany, State University of New York
Guatemala has ended its Fuego volcano rescue mission and declared 110 dead. But people in the hot, ash-covered eruption zone say that the real death tally is much higher and that they'll keep digging.
|
|
Health + Medicine
|
-
Gabriela Blohm, University of Florida; John A. Lednicky, University of Florida
The collapse of Venezuela's public health system has terrible consequences inside the country, but it also is giving rise to mosquito-borne viruses that could spread to nearby countries.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
Moa Petersén, Lund University
Sweden's deep relationship with digital technology helps explain why its biohacking scene is so unique.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Andrew Anderson, University of Melbourne
Disease and disorders can affect how we see. Can the images in painted artworks tell us something about the state of an artist's vision?
|
|
World Cup
|
-
Mahfoud Amara, Qatar University
The football world cup offers a useful chance to consider the apparent division between North and sub-Saharan Africa.
|
|