UK-based Oracle Power tells The Third Pole about a new solar project in the Thar desert, where the company is already exploring coal, as locals express skepticism about tall promises.
Read More »Growing Presence of Muslims in America: Islam’s Call to Prayer Echoing in more US Cities
inneapolis recently became the first major U.S. city to allow the “adhan,” or Muslim call to prayer, to be broadcast from mosques five times a day. In April 2023, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a change to the city’s sound ordinance, effectively eliminating time constraints that previously prevented the pre-dawn and evening prayer calls from being broadcast. For …
Read More »How Erdogan Held onto Power, and What This Means for Turkey’s Future
Recep Tayyib Erdogan will remain president of Turkey for another five years after winning Sunday’s run-off election over his long-time rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. If he serves the full five-year term, he will have held power for 26 years – almost the entire history of Turkey in the 21st century. What is astonishing is how the majority of Turkish people …
Read More »What Would it Take to Recognize the Taliban?
ince the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, speculation has been rife over whether the group would achieve the global recognition that has long eluded it. Early on, analysts predicted that in a quest for legitimacy, a reformed Taliban, whose rhetoric promised a modern and moderate approach to governance, would honor basic human rights and prevent Afghanistan from again becoming …
Read More »Ramadan Starts in North America
illions of Muslims across North America will start the holy month of Ramadan tomorrow, Thursday, March 23. American Muslims traditionally follow local moon sightings and scientific calculations while a large part of the community follows the Saudi Islamic calendar. This year the entire Muslim population will start the holy month on the same date because the Islamic Society of North …
Read More »Why SVB and Signature Bank Failed So Fast
ilicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed with enormous speed – so quickly that they could be textbook cases of classic bank runs, in which too many depositors withdraw their funds from a bank at the same time. The failures at SVB and Signature were two of the three biggest in U.S. banking history, following the collapse of Washington Mutual …
Read More »Why Does Turkey Want Other Countries to Start Spelling its Name ‘Türkiye’?
Is Turkey’s recent spelling change about being more authentically Turkish? Or is there more to the story? In June 2022, the United Nations agreed to change the spelling of the country known in the English-speaking world as Turkey to Türkiye, heeding a request by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In January 2023, the U.S. State Department also …
Read More »Insights from an AI Author: The Geopolitical Consequences of ChatGPT
The geopolitical implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and its most prominent example to date – ChatGPT – remain deeply uncertain. It will surely roil the technology industry and change our daily lives, but it is less clear whether it will augur a shift in geopolitical power or create policy dilemmas for the European Union. These are hard questions, perhaps too …
Read More »African Multilateralism is in Crisis – Can the AU Fix It?
The annual African Union (AU) summit will be held this week for the first time since 2020 without COVID-19 restrictions. It coincides with the fragile return to peace in northern Ethiopia, the resurgence of widespread instability in the Great Lakes and the ongoing war in Ukraine, which continues to raise questions about African positions. The United Nations (UN) Security Council’s …
Read More »IL State Hearings and Transparency Needed on Nicor Gas Cost Hikes
Consumers are reeling over massive increases in Nicor Gas costs, and they can’t get answers because the system is rigged against them. Nicor Gas is owned by a massive conglomerate called Southern Gas, which has four gas subsidiaries serving 4.2 million customers. Nicor is the largest serving 2.2 million consumers in the northern third of the state, excluding Chicago. Nicor …
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