Join our mailing list

The Facts The Basant kite festival returned to Lahore, Pakistan, this week after a nearly two-decade ban. The traditional Punjabi spring celebration, centered on competitive kite flying, rooftop gatherings, and music, filled the city's skies with color on February 6-8, 2026. The festival was prohibited in 2005 following fatal accidents caused by razor-sharp, metal- or glass-coated kite strings. Approximately a dozen people, mostly motorcyclists and pedestrians, died when the

The Facts A major environmental restoration project is gaining momentum in Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay, a promise ten years in the making. The Green Guanabara Bay Project has planted 30,500 mangrove seedlings across 12.2 hectares in the Guapi-Mirim Environmental Protection Area. The initiative is executed by the NGO Guardians of the Sea in partnership with the Urban Sea Institute. Additional restoration efforts include a separate mangrove project covering 65 hectares led

The Facts The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed a fatal case of Nipah virus in Bangladesh on February 3, 2026. A patient died shortly after hospitalization in late January following infection with the rare but deadly virus. Health officials immediately initiated contact tracing protocols and quarantined individuals who may have been exposed. Nipah virus is a zoonotic illness: meaning it jumps from animals to humans: with a fatality rate between 40% and 75% depending

The Facts The Pentagon announced Friday that it will sever all academic ties with Harvard University, effective with the 2026-27 academic year. The decision ends decades of military training programs, fellowships, and certificate programs that have connected the Department of Defense with the Ivy League institution. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that Harvard "no longer meets the needs of the War Department or the military services." The announcement specifically term