In an explosive interview to New Internationalist, the Kurdish female leader Bese Hozat opens up about peace, the party’s view on the region and the independence referendum in South Kurdistan, and accuses Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the West to have incubated Isis. By Karlos Zurutuza.

Emboldened by a recent study, The Guardian repeats the myth that becoming vegan is the ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth. Chris Saltmarsh and Harpreet Kaur Paul disagree.

The backlash against social media titans is in full swing. But are moves to bring them to heel, including new privacy laws, appropriate? Mike Morel investigates.

Yohann Koshy returns to the golden age of solidarity between Global South states and asks: what should a new internationalism look like?

The global free trade system is being battered like never before. Can any good come of it, asks Vanessa Baird in the first of an eight-article exploration?

The dirt on waste. Dinyar Godrej argues that the problems with our throwaway society add up to much more than the sum of individual actions.

Trust in tatters. Business model busted. And journalism under attack from all sides. So why does Vanessa Baird think that the news media has a bright future?

Technology is changing society at breakneck speed but considerations of human impacts lag far behind. Dinyar Godrej sketches out some of the key political battles ahead.

The political landscape may seem particularly bleak at present. But, if we stand back and look at the bigger picture, the dominance of rightwing populists and neoliberal policies is likely to be a temporary blip. The evidence is mounting that greater economic equality benefits all people in all societies, whether you are rich, poor or in-between. Once this is widely understood, politicians and policymakers will be forced to take note, as Danny Dorling explains.

Saudi Arabia has lifted its ban on women drivers, but there not everyone agrees it’s a good thing. By Lydia Noon.

Two artists have invented a saint to protect residents from gentrification. Yohann Koshy reports.

The Balfour Declaration was a 67-word statement penned by Foreign Secretary Lord Balfour to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community. Lydia Noon reports

Highlights from Hot Docs, the major documentary film festival held annually in Toronto, Canada.

Can We Feed the World Without Destroying It?; Deviation; Tentacle; Voices of the Windrush Generation.

25LIVE@25; Echoes.

Spending some time away from Marabá, Dan Baron Cohen discovers unexpected solidarity with the Amazon in a country mired in violence and despair.

Blind outdoors enthusiast, Divyanshu Ganatra, on the importance of inclusion through adventure sports in India. Profile by Priti Salian.

Ego? Tick. Money? Tick. Power-hungry? Tick. A disaster for the world? Tick.

Density, location, economics, sustainability and inequality.

Wame Molefhe profiles Botswana, where prosperity has morphed into corruption and inequality. But will the country’s future see it regain the sparkle its diamonds offer to the rich?

Cartoon by P J Polyp.