After three wars in eight years and an ongoing eleven-year blockade, how are the people of Gaza coping? Many public employees, whether they are doctors in the large hospitals or waste management supervisors in the garbage dump, have been working without pay for over seven years. And yet despite this, the provision of basic public services continues through the tremendous efforts of people trying to keep the city functioning.
The young Soviet Union ushered in an era of sexual freedom: out with bourgeois conventions! But in the ensuing social chaos, the regime soon operated a U-turn, exalting the virtues of toiling for the glory of communism. Sexual activity had been relegated to its strict reproductive function. 70 years of communist rule through the prism of sexuality!
It's the soft, natural fabric associated with high quality and versatility. Used to make everything from jeans and t-shirts to tarpaulins, oil and cattle feed, it powers a 37 billion euros a year industry. But is cotton really as pure as it seems? Claims of forced labour, pollution, and even slavery have stained its wholesome reputation, creating a market for 'ethical, responsible' cotton.
In the 19th century, England was at the very heart of innovation and was about to become the world's largest industrial power. In order to run steam engines, coal became an essential resource for the development of the economy and entire regions were transformed in just a few decades. South Wales became one of the country's main coal basins. Villages developed around the mines from where coal was delivered to England and the rest of the world.
