Features

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.

Politicians of both Left and Right continue to march behind the banners of meritocracy and equality of opportunity as if this were all that is needed to achieve a fair society. But rewarding people for their ‘merit’ may be creating a new class system based on arrogant, insensitive winners and angry, desperate losers, writes Peter Adamson.

Some 70,000 Palestinian workers pass through Israeli checkpoints every day. The process, which can take several hours, is disorganized and conditions overcrowded. Those without proper permits often attempt the crossing via gaps in the Israeli wall and mountain routes along the Green Line and run the risk of being arrested or even shot at by Israeli forces. Words & photography by Anne Paq / Active Stills

According to the UN, most surgeries on intersex babies amount to torture. And yet that is the practice in almost every country in the world today. Valentino Vecchietti calls for urgent change.

The brutal gang rape and murder of Jyoti Singh in 2012 shone a blistering light on sexual violence as a staggeringly common occurrence in India. Author Sohaila Abdulali explains how, despite the case’s global coverage, the conversation about rape has only just begun.

Frances Guy makes a plea for traditional diplomacy in the age of the Trumpian tweet.

Art and story by Ilya, with Yohann Koshy.

After 20 years of brutal civil war, the rulers of Arcadia and the rebels are ready to consider laying down arms. The mediation team needs a leader and – for some reason – your name is chosen. Do you have what it takes? Take our quiz to find out...

Unusually, victims testified directly at the Havana peace talks between FARC guerrillas and the government. Maria Eugenia Cruz Alarcón, one of the first to bear witness, explains why she will defend Colombia’s peace agreement – at all costs.

Colombia’s peace deal promised the return of stolen lands. But it isn’t so easy to achieve, Mira Galanova discovers.

The arms trade is a powerful and enduring obstacle to peace.

From occupied Palestine to Scottish high schools, people across the world are challenging the warmongers. We profile eight extraordinary women and men on the peace frontline. Words: Hazel Healy and Louisa Waugh. Illustrations: Olivier Kugler.

The pressures on our world are serious, and expected to grow. If we take the following approaches, peace will be more likely. It’s time to ditch the military habit...

Can peacebuilders end the war with Boko Haram in Nigeria? Hazel Healy travels there to find out.

Lea Surugue and Gisella Ligios report from the Czech Republic where Roma women who were forcibly sterilized are demanding the authorities take responsibility.

Trusted in the communities they serve, India’s women health activists are making a difference in getting help for people stigmatized for mental health problems. Yet, as Sophie Cousins reports, the challenge remains vast.

Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s autocratic hard man, is riding high, with the help of young propaganda-mongers. Lorraine Mallinder investigates a media takeover.

Ten years ago the world focused on the US foreclosure crisis as thousands lost their homes in dodgy mortgage deals. Today, the crisis is still a reality for many. Jack Crosbie reports.

With president Trump, Zhou Xiaochuan, a US official, and Christine Lagarde.

If the global financial crisis symbolized the decline of the West, it also signalled that the future belongs to China – a superpower that ‘understands’ the developing world better than the US, IMF or World Bank, according to Martin Jacques.