I feel the centuries ripen and coalesce within me, like words finding their tune. Doesn’t the wonder of the present moment—and therefore of travel—sometimes lie precisely in its all-seeing belatedness, the way in which it can gather the entire past into itself?
Walking on the flagstones in the vast temple complex dedicated to the fish-eyed goddess Meenakshi in the ancient city of Madurai,
home to more than 30,000 statues of celestials; or marvelling at the 80-ton cupola perched atop 11th-century monarch Rajaraja Chola’s magnificent Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur (said to have been hauled to the summit by a retinue of elephants on a ramp more than four miles long); or facing a life-sized elephant on the 43-foot-tall open-air frieze made in about AD 600 at Mahabalipuram,
One of the greatest examples of street art from the ancient world, I feel time differently. It’s a vital, sensual force, as teasing as Vishnu’s enigmatic smile.
“In North India the great monuments of the past are usually royal palaces and forts,” observes my wise guide and companion, N. Paneer Selvam, whose two great passions are temples and birds.
But the illustrious dynasties in the south, such as the Pallavas and the Cholas, devoted their energies to building temples.
There was a social consciousness among the monarchs: the king’s duty was to build a bridge between divine and human.
So the temples were at the heart of the everyday life of old India. They were centres of learning and poetry, schools of music and dance, and places of refuge when invaders came raiding.
The old temples of Tamil Nadu.
He’s right. The old temples of Tamil Nadu are a treasure trove of forms incised on stone or magicked from brass and lavished daily with fruit and flowers, incense and sandalwood, music and light.
They entangle divine, human, animal, vegetative, historical and fantastical life into one shapeshifting, passionate pictorial script open to endless elaboration.
This language can also, suddenly, drop several octaves into minimalism. In the milling crowds, I can tell a follower of Siva by the three horizontal white lines on their forehead and a follower of Vishnu by two vertical ones, like the finials atop a temple. So simple.
Hinduism is a narrative religion; its mercurial wisdom lightens and sweetens through stories, softens through ambiguities, and sharpens through paradoxes. In the many legends about Siva and Vishnu portrayed in the temples and re-narrated by Selvam, things happen in a dimension distinct from historical time.
They take place in an eternal present, as immediate as the hot breath of the cow I feed sheaves of spinach to on a morning walk in Madurai, as around me scores of women stoop over their thresholds making kolams, decorative patterns, with rice flour.
Students take part in a tiling class at the Buildher training facility in Nairobi, Kenya.
On the busy workshop floor at Furniture International on the outskirts of Nairobi, women often have to shout to be heard over the din of circular saws, hammers and machinery. “At first, I was very shy,” says 24-year-old machine operator Diana Ojiambo — slight, with a blue bandana tied over long braids — as she feeds cabinet panels through a PVC edger. “I didn’t know how to stand in front of people and speak up. But now I can.”
Nearby, amid a sea of male coworkers, three other women sand and assemble cabinetry, while 23-year-old supervisor Jane Mwangi moves between stations, checking measurements and overseeing progress. Barely a year ago, none of these women had ever worked in the industry. Ojiambo had never worked alongside men before.
Women remain a rarity across Kenya’s building trades, even as a frenetic construction boom, particularly in Nairobi, has helped turn the sector into a multi-billion-dollar industry. According to figures from Kenya’s National Construction Authority, women accounted for just 3% of the country’s accredited construction artisans.
Those who do enter the sector are mostly confined to lower-paid informal jobs — carrying water, hauling sand or cleaning sites — rather than being trained for more specialised roles. Women are also typically saddled with the vast majority of unpaid caregiving and household work in a country that continues to battle long-held assumptions about gender roles.
Women take part in year-long training and internship programmes in tiling (above), carpentry, painting and other finishing trades.
Buildher, a Nairobi-based nonprofit, is trying to change that. The organisation runs year-long training and internship programmes in carpentry, tiling, painting and other finishing trades, helping women access steadier, better-paid work in the sector. Since its inception in 2019, Buildher says it has trained more than 1,000 women, with graduates increasing their average daily earnings roughly five- to sixfold within a year of training — from about $1.50 to between $11 and $12.
A 2024 study by Dalberg, a global development advisory firm, found that around 65% of Buildher graduates were still working in construction 12 months after completing the programme.
“I had seen women get stuck in low-paying jobs, and it was like a mental barrier where they couldn’t see the potential right in front of them,” says architect and Buildher cofounder Tatu Gatere. “So I wanted to help women see that.”
Buildher’s founder, Tatu Gatere, wants to give women the skills and confidence they need to enter and advance in the construction field.
For many women, Gatere says, simply hearing about others succeeding in the trades can make the idea feel possible. As a result, much of Buildher’s growth has spread through word of mouth, as graduates encourage friends and neighbours to apply.
Ojiambo, a single mother of two young children, was unemployed and having difficulty supporting her family when she first heard about Buildher from a friend in the informal settlement of Kibera, where she lives. “My life was so challenging,” she says. “But now I can support myself; I can support my kids.”
Ojiambo is already looking to the future. Within the next year, she hopes to start her carpentry business in Kibera. “Inside this company, some of the men still think we ladies are not fit for this kind of work,” she says, gesturing toward some of her coworkers.
“But if you know what you want and believe in yourself, you show them that whatever they can do, you can do better.”
Diana Ojiambi, 24, at her workplace in the Furniture International factory in Nairobi, Kenya. She is one of several former Buildher students who have found work with the company.
Sticking to it
Early on a clear weekday morning, clusters of young women gather outside the cobalt-blue doors of Buildher’s training centre inside Spectrum Business Park, a network of warehouse buildings with green corrugated roofs in Nairobi’s bustling Baba Dogo industrial area.
Orientation for a new intake of students has just wrapped up. In a conference hall near the entrance, 16 trainees settle into plastic chairs for an introductory presentation on solar installation, a course launched this year as Buildher expands into additional technical trades.
In a neighbouring warehouse unit, trainees crouch over a concrete floor, spreading tile adhesive into thin grey patches before dragging notched trowels through it to create neat ridges. Trainer Robert Ndungu moves between them, occasionally kneeling to demonstrate the correct technique. The women scrape the adhesive back into buckets, and the exercise begins again.
Students at a Buildher Academy class.
“These women come here knowing nothing about tiling. By the end of this training, they are able to work, earn money and improve the life of their family,” Ndungu says. “That really inspires me.”
But Buildher cofounder Gatere says learning a trade is often only one part of the challenge facing women. Many arrive here carrying pressures that extend far beyond the workshop floor — from childcare and deep financial instability to resistance at home from husbands or parents uneasy about women doing construction work.
Others find it difficult to imagine themselves feeling safe in male-dominated workplaces where harassment is often rife. Reflecting on her experiences as an architect, Gatere notes that even as women increasingly entered leadership positions within their firms, construction sites remained hostile environments. “You’re supposed to be a decision-maker, but you’d still be getting catcalled and harassed by men,” she says.
Those experiences, combined with feedback from trainees and employers, have helped shape Buildher’s broader approach to preparing women not only technically but also emotionally and physically for work in the industry.
Yoga classes (shown above) and callisthenics are part of the training to prepare women for construction jobs.
Elsewhere on campus, bass-heavy dance music pulses from a crowded gym class, where an energetic instructor leads around 30 trainees through squats, stretches and lifting drills. Across the courtyard, a similarly sized group gathers in a large warehouse for a yoga and mindfulness session, sitting cross-legged on their mats as another instructor shares tips on staying focused and remaining calm under pressure.
Buildher also employs a mental health coach and on-site nutritionist, while trainees attend group wellness sessions every two weeks – support systems shaped directly by feedback about the difficulties many women faced both at home and in the workplace.
Dalberg’s research, which surveys 354 women working in the construction industry, shows that such investments are paying off. BuildHer graduates reported not only higher incomes after completing the programme but also greater participation in household decision-making and stronger community support.
Students hone their carpentry skills.
“They also take more pride in what they do,” says Naoko Koyama, a Dalberg partner who worked on the report, adding that the combination of technical and soft-skills training offers a model for other male-dominated industries.
One of the women taking part in today’s yoga class is 27-year-old Ruth Kiarie.
a single mother who joined Buildher’s painting and decorating cohort just two weeks earlier. Kiarie first became interested in painting while helping to renovate classrooms in Kibera, where she also lives, as part of a community leadership project.
At the same time, caring for her autistic daughter has made her think differently about colour and space. One day, she hopes to work in colour psychology, advising families and businesses on how different colours affect mood and behaviour. “You don’t have to just do blue or pink,” she says. “We can create more colours.”
“All about the mindset.”
Sprawling across 5,000 acres of former coffee plantations about 12 miles north of Nairobi, Tatu City is a private mixed-use development of housing estates, factories, schools and office parks and the most ambitious symbol of Kenya’s rapidly changing urban landscape.
At Tatu City, a construction site where trainees worked and several graduates are now employed.
For Buildher, developments like Tatu City have become an important testing ground for its broader ambitions. Around 50 trainees worked on finishing and interior jobs inside Eneo at Tatu Central, a sleek glass-fronted office complex near the development’s entrance that now houses a growing cluster of Kenyan and international companies.
“The tiling contractor was so impressed with the quality of the women’s work that he then employed seven of them full-time,” says Pumi Lukhele, head of stakeholder engagement at Gateway Real Estate Africa, or GREA, which developed the building. She says contractors were equally impressed by the women’s professionalism and ability to take feedback, which she attributes to Buildher’s broader approach to training. Tatu City is one of roughly 150 employers that Buildher currently works with in and around Nairobi, as the organisation pushes to expand women’s participation in a far larger share of the construction industry. The hope is to increase women’s participation in skilled construction jobs from the current level of roughly 3% to 10% by 2030.
For Gatere, achieving those goals will require broader structural changes to an industry that, until last year, was not even required by law to provide separate toilets for women. Alongside its training programmes, Buildher now works with dozens of firms on issues ranging from harassment and equal pay to basic conditions for women on construction sites.
Looking ahead, Gatere sees a future where ensuring women’s safety, dignity and inclusion in the industry is no longer a constant struggle, allowing more of them to focus on bigger ambitions. “I see more and more women starting their own businesses. I see women’s collectives bidding for contracts independently,” she says. “We shouldn’t still be advocating for breadcrumbs.”
Further inside the development, a few residents lean over the metal balconies of newly completed apartment blocks, topped with solar water heaters, watching workers move through the exposed concrete interiors of a neighbouring building still wrapped in scaffolding and green mesh sheeting.
In a first-floor unit that overlooks a gravel footpath and a small wetland area, 22-year-old Margaret Klamaitha kneels on the floor, cutting and fitting bathroom tiles.
Tiler Margaret Klamiatha works at a construction site at the Tatu City development on the edge of Nairobi.
Klamaitha completed Buildher’s six-month tiling programme last year and now works on a rolling three-month contract at Tatu City, her first full-time construction job. Though she says she enjoys the work, she views it as a way to gain experience. One day, she hopes to move into quality control, then eventually start her own construction-related business.
“It’s all about the mindset,” she says. “Once you start to do something as a woman, don’t let anyone put you down.”
Christopher Clark is a freelance journalist based in France. He reports on power, inequality and social change across Africa and Europe.
Tommy Trenchard is an independent photojournalist based in Cape Town, South Africa. He has previously contributed photos and stories to NPR on the Mozambique cyclone of 2019, Indonesian death rituals and illegal miners in abandoned South African diamond mines and won a World Press Photo prize for the images in his story for NPR on clashes between elephants and people in Zambia.
Essendon’s struggling season continued as St Kilda, particularly Nasia Wanganin Mallera, gave them a school holiday lesson in a 67-point win at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
Saints’ Nisia Wangenin Malera marks the ball.AFL Photo via Getty Images
Wanganeen-Milera equalled Lee Montagna’s St Kilda club record of 47 in 2013. But he wasn’t the only Saint to feast on the bombers. Bradley Hill and Max Hall got a share of the action as their side scored 10 goals in a row in the second term to lead by the same margin.
Together, Wangenen-Melira (24), Hill (24) and Hall (21) had more disposals at half-time than the entire Bombers team in the first term (66). And all three Saints finished with career-high disposal tallies.
Wanganeen-Milera also kicked a goal and gained 906 metres, while Hill collected 42 disposals, and Hall had 33 disposals, leaving the umpires with three clear candidates to share the vote on Brownlow Medal night.
Interim Dons coach Dan Solomon found few positives, aside from the tireless work and effort of Sam Durham and the growing partnership between young forwards Isaac Kaku and Nate Keady, who scored three goals.
Mattaes Phillipou is up against Sam Durham.Getty Images
While his shots at goal were off the mark, Caddy twice kicked the goal from a Kako pass, the second a handball to a football volley – even the easy goals were hard work for Don.
Essendon were close to the Saints on the scoreboard in the second half, but that meant little after their first-half dominance.
For the briefest of moments in the opening moments of the game, the Bombers looked poised to pounce on the Saints.
In the opening minute, the Saints won the footy and Wanganui-Melira looked to score inside the 50-metre arc, but Bombers veteran Zach Merritt dived in and almost brought down the Saints superstar.
Max Hall (No. 40) of the Saints celebrates with Bradley Hill of the Saints after scoring a goal.Getty Images
But Wanganin Mallera got a foot on the ball and nobody from Essendon was quick enough to catch the footy, allowing the Saints to regain it and lay it off to Darcy Wilson, who grabbed the opening goal.
From that point on the man known as “Nas” dominated and the Saints never trailed.
With first Will Satterfield and later Archer Daywicks unable to reduce their impact, Vangenen-Melira had 13 disposals and one goal in the opening term. Indeed, the only thing limiting the Saints was their wasteful kicking for goal, and the situation was improved when ruckman Rowan Marshall threaded the needle with a shot from the right boundary after the quarter-time siren.
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Anthony Caminetti, Hull and Mitch Owens scored early in the second period, with Hull dispossessing Vangenen-Melira after a 50m penalty against Daywicks.
“At least he’s showing some fight, sticking to his job,” former Saint Nick Del Santo said on Cayo Sports.
It was that kind of day for Dawn.
A 10-goal run by the Saints finally ended late in the second period when Durham’s desperation forced a turnover in the half that ended with Kaku unselfishly handballing Caddy to score from the square.
The Saints set themselves to finish the job in the second half and they largely did so, although the Dons managed to get some promising attacks down the wing – it was too little, too late.
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The game “Schisto and Ladders” has been introduced to students at a primary school in a part of Nigeria where schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease spread by parasitic insects, affects many residents. This version of the classic “Chutes and Ladders” game aims to teach kids how to avoid getting infected and what to do if they do catch it.
Chutes and Ladders has been a beloved board game in America since the 1940s, adapted from an ancient Indian game that teaches a moral lesson.
Children in Nigeria are now playing a version called “Snakes and Ladders”. It also aims to teach how to prevent a disease called schistosomiasis. it’s a parasite
It is an infection caused by a worm that infects humans through skin contact with infected water.
An unlucky player may land on an intersection that says “Playing in the River”, putting them at risk of this tropical disease – and sending their game tokens into a wormhole instead of down a slope.
Nigerian researcher and teacher Cynthia Umunnakwe is one of the game’s developers – it’s part of an arsenal of creative approaches to disease survival. Locally known as “Atosi Aja” or bloody urine, this disease not only causes blood in the urine but also causes other short-term symptoms, such as fever and rash. If left untreated, it can cause major organ and nerve damage, infertility, and even bladder cancer. In Nigeria, it is associated with high rates of bladder cancer in young people.
Known as a neglected tropical disease due to a lack of funding to fight it, schistosomiasis poses a serious challenge to poor communities. There are well over 200 million cases in sub-Saharan Africa. School-age children are most at risk of infection because they enjoy playing in water and their immune systems are still developing.
Nigerian researcher and teacher Cynthia Umunnakwe is one of the developers of the Shisto and Ladders game. It’s part of an arsenal of creative approaches to avoiding disease.
Although effective medication exists, the problem remains persistent in areas lacking testing, treatment and easy access to clean water, so people do not rely on local water bodies for drinking and bathing. Awareness about its transmission is also an issue. Touching infected water, even splashing, can pose a risk of infection, as microscopic larvae floating on the surface are able to burrow through the skin.
Uh oh, a worm!
game. Created in 2014 by a team led by Uwem Ekpo, professor of parasitology at Akwa Ibom State University, it follows the classic pattern: roll a die to advance along a winding path across the top of a coloured board. A player can land on a square that sends them up a ladder or slide down a schist worm (which replaces the traditional chute). An example of a positive category is “eat before taking medicine” – this action is the perfect thing to do for someone who is infected, sending the player up a ladder to advance in the game.
He trademarked his name.
Another class with negative results says “Blood in Urine”, but the neighbouring square offers the player a path to salvation: “Visit the Health Center” with a picture of a smiling health worker.
‘When children encounter good behaviour, they climb the stairs [in the game].’ This approach will prevent schistosomiasis,” says Cynthia Umunnakwe. These include “taking praziquantel to school” and “cutting vegetation around rivers” – removing invasive plants that create ideal conditions for the spread of intermediate snail hosts, which carry the parasite.
The game also highlights the key stages of transmission.
The square “Fetching water from the stream” depicts a child crouching on the bank of a river. To complicate the disease, a schistosome worm spreads down the board from this square, depicted in another square reading “inflamed stomach”. While “defecating near the river”, the player’s piece moves far down the board and lands on a square that reads “Infection is spreading”. These represent two chances to disrupt the parasite’s life cycle: avoiding infection of humans in the larval stage through water contact and discouraging the spread of the parasite into river water through human waste, where eggs in the waste can re-infect the snails.
playing the game
On a school visit to Apozola village in July 2025, Cynthia Umunnakwe taught young children to play “Snakes and Ladders” as part of a health ministry programme that also provided urine testing and treatment for affected people.
And it’s not just a game. In this part of Ogun State, one third of residents examined at a urine testing clinic were found to have active schistosomiasis infection. The disease is common in these rural fishing villages where residents depend on freshwater for daily living. The Oyan River is used for essential daily tasks such as washing clothes, fishing and cleaning and preparing the main crop, cassava root. The shallow riverbank is also a playground for schoolchildren, who wander around for fun – and their parents also ask them to check the fishnets.
“Hello everyone, I am Dr Cynthia from Nigeria.” She says with a smile – she holds a PhD in parasitology – and waves. She supervises the pushing of tables and benches into groups in the classroom and then the game begins.
Umunnakwe also brought live snails, familiar to the youth playing in the river, so they could identify the host of the parasite that infects humans and causes disease. These were collected by his colleague, Dr Olubukola Adelakun. She is a veterinary public health researcher and postdoctoral scholar at the Federal University of Agriculture in Abeokuta, where she researches the habitat of these snails.
A day earlier, she had been immersed in river water up to her waist, wearing waterproof clothes to avoid infection. He had their shells cleaned for easy identification, as there are many similar freshwater snails in the area, although none of them had the typical shell shape of snails that carry the parasite.
The day’s activities also included medical assistance. At a neighbouring school, Health Ministry staff offered all children the oral drug praziquantel, which can both prevent and treat the disease.
They received a free breakfast for participating, because eating before treatment can help reduce the stomach pain that often occurs when taking medication on an empty stomach.
The team doctor administered treatment doses according to height, using a standardised measuring tape against the wall to help determine the dosage.
In previous years, Cynthia Umunnakwe had conducted research demonstrating the impact of sport, published in international health.
In a six-month study involving 275 students in six schools in rural Ogun State – schools where praziquantel had previously been rejected due to false rumours that it could cause unconsciousness and even death – not a single child in the study group had heard of the medicine before playing the game.
The game was played in each school during the trial period, and the team surveyed children before and after the trial and held focus group discussions with students, parents, and carers.
By the end of the trial, more than two-thirds of the students knew what the drug was and understood it was safe, and 65% enrolled, with parental permission, to receive the treatment.
“So we are hoping that by playing this game, school children will actually apply the knowledge they gain to change their behaviour,” Umunnakwe said.
And not only the game, children also enjoy it.
“Hey, woo-hoo, mo’ wa lok!” said one boy who won the game by reaching the last “schisto-free child” square. “Hey look, I’m on top!”
The author shares her seven tips for traveling with teens. Courtesy the author
I’ve learned what works — and what doesn’t — when travelling with teenagers.
Flexibility matters more than the perfect itinerary.
A few simple strategies help reduce conflict and increase fun.
When they were really little, we used to call vacationing with the kids “babysitting with the palm trees. “Now that they’re teenagers, it’s probably become more like ‘travelling with the jerk’.”
I mean, sometimes they’re grateful and engaged. But as is often the case, it can feel as if every decision is being evaluated by the most ruthless, cold-blooded jury of exhausted, bored, entitled judges.
We travel a lot, and I’ve realised that there are tricks to making your vacation teen-friendly while still having the best time yourself. Some are easy, some are annoying. But when kids are happy, everyone is happy, right?
We spend a maximum of 30 minutes in museums
If you don’t have kids at the museum, still go, but limit your time. (If you do have kids in the museum, your holidays are obviously very different from mine.) This aspect is really key.
Even in the NYC area where we live full-time, we visit museums regularly, but we don’t stay for hours. Yes, you paid all that money for your ticket, but you decide how much time to spend there. For my kids, 30 to 45 minutes is often enough time to watch the stars of the show and choose their favourite slices to talk about pizza afterward.
No one is irritable. No one is afraid of this journey. As they get older, perhaps you can increase the amount of time you spend doing it.
We still do things we can do at home
Yes, we all saw that go-kart place on the highway we just passed by. But we are in Barcelona. And why would we waste a precious afternoon in Catalonia doing something we can do 20 minutes from home?
Because either way, it will be an adventure that is different from home in interesting and unexpected ways, and one you will all really enjoy. Do it.
We love to explore cities in different ways
Tour the city of Budapest, but do it by riding a three-wheeled Segway. My kids now love finding strange ways to go sightseeing, and they really learn a lot about our places.
The author’s family likes to explore new cities in different ways. Courtesy the author
In Marrakesh, we toured the city in the comfort of Soviet-era motorcycle sidecars. Sometimes age restrictions mean you have to give up, but when it works, it’s really worth it.
Know what your kids are interested in and plan accordingly
Are they kids from a teen club? If so, wonderful! When you go on vacation to the beach, it means you’ll have many options. We love the Riviera Maya, Grand Velas in Mexico, any Club Med (the new one in Michels, DR, is incredible), or the beaches in Turks and Caicos. The best possible outcome is that they make friends and have the best week doing their thing with their mates. if the teen club is not doing it, his point is, don’t make it a thing. There’s nothing worse than your mom pressuring her friends onto you.
take great classes
Now wherever we go, we take cooking classes. This year in Santa Fe, we did a very interesting job of creating sauces from the region. We learnt a lot about Indigenous history while developing a POV on the ubiquitous local question: “Red, Green, or Christmas?” In Bogotá, we learnt how to make delicious crushed bananas, which my kids now request whenever they see them on a menu and compare to their memory of what they tasted in Colombia. In Fez, we cooked a full five-course meal in a private home inside the medina.
The author suggests taking a cooking class while traveling. Courtesy the author
Both of my children love to cook (as do we), so it is a destination “souvenir” that we cherish and revisit time and again.
screen time is flexible
If they put down the phones, they could appreciate the incredible once-in-a-lifetime sight. But it can be difficult to squeeze in every minute when travelling with your parents (and perhaps sharing a hotel room).
If they’re spending more time on their device than you expect but are still otherwise engaged, I would let it slide. Offer to help by being the photographer and shoot them in 4,567,354 poses for one of their IG posts from the trip. There. Now you’ve made it a family activity.
Divide and conquer to do what everyone likes
My son loves golf, but I couldn’t care less. So we are creating a time when we all do what we love, each in our own way. (And hey, they’re teenagers now, so they don’t need me every minute!) I walked to Canyon Road Gallery in Sedona, having the best morning of my life, while my son took his dad to play nine holes against the most spectacular, surreal red-rock backdrop. This was his favourite day of the trip.
The phrase is Ukraine Matters. ‘Iran Does, Too’ reflects a growing debate among Western governments and security experts about foreign policy. While the war in Ukraine continues to dominate discussions about European security, rising tensions involving Iran have created a second major international challenge. Many analysts argue that policymakers cannot afford to focus on only one crisis, as both conflicts have major repercussions for global stability, energy markets, and international security.
As wars and regional conflicts become increasingly interconnected, governments in Europe, North America, and the Middle East are attempting to balance military, diplomatic, and economic priorities.
Why Ukraine Still Matters
More than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine remains at the centre of European security concerns. The conflict has resulted in thousands of casualties, widespread destruction of infrastructure, and millions of displaced people.
Western countries continue to provide Ukraine with military equipment, financial assistance, intelligence support, and humanitarian aid. Supporters argue that helping Ukraine defend its sovereignty also strengthens international law by discouraging future acts of aggression.
The conflict has also transformed European defence policies. Several NATO members have increased defence spending, strengthened military cooperation, and expanded security planning in response to the evolving threat environment.
Why Iran Matters Too
At the same time, Ukraine Matters. Iran Does, Too, highlights the growing importance of developments in the Middle East.
Iran remains a key regional power with influence across several countries through political partnerships and allied armed groups. Concerns surrounding Iran include:
Regional security and military tensions
Nuclear programme developments
Maritime security in the Persian Gulf
Missile and drone capabilities
Relations with the United States and European allies
Recent military exchanges and diplomatic disputes have increased concerns that instability in the Middle East could disrupt global trade routes and energy supplies.
The Connection Between the Two Conflicts
Although Ukraine and Iran are located in different regions, international security discussions increasingly link the two situations.
Several governments have accused Iran of supplying military technology, including drones, which Russia has used during the war in Ukraine. Iran has denied providing weapons specifically for use in the conflict, but these allegations have strengthened cooperation between Western governments on sanctions and defence planning.
Security analysts also point out that many countries must now divide diplomatic attention, military resources, and financial support between Europe and the Middle East.
Challenges for Western Governments
One of the biggest foreign policy challenges is determining how to support Ukraine while responding to developments involving Iran.
Governments face several competing priorities, including:
Maintaining military aid to Ukraine
Preventing wider conflict in the Middle East
Protecting global shipping routes
Supporting allies in Europe and the Gulf region
Managing defence budgets and weapons production
Balancing these commitments has become increasingly difficult as defence resources remain under pressure.
Economic Consequences
Both crises have important economic effects that extend far beyond their respective regions.
The war in Ukraine continues to influence food exports, agricultural markets, and European energy policy. Meanwhile, tensions involving Iran can affect global oil prices because of the country’s strategic location near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes for crude oil.
Higher energy costs can contribute to inflation, increasing the price of transport, manufacturing, and household goods worldwide.
Diplomatic Efforts Continue
Despite ongoing military tensions, diplomatic negotiations remain active.
International organisations and governments continue to pursue dialogue to reduce the risk of escalation. Efforts include discussions on sanctions, humanitarian assistance, prisoner exchanges, regional security, and nuclear diplomacy.
While progress has often been slow, many experts argue that diplomacy remains essential to preventing wider international conflict.
Why Both Crises Demand Attention
The message behind Ukraine Matters. Iran Does, Too, means both conflicts are equally important. Instead, it recognises that today’s international security environment involves multiple simultaneous challenges.
Ukraine directly affects European security and the international rules-based order, while Iran plays a major role in Middle Eastern stability, global energy markets, and regional diplomacy.
Future developments will depend on several factors, including:
Military developments on the battlefield in Ukraine
Diplomatic negotiations involving Iran
International sanctions
Global energy demand
Decisions made by NATO, the European Union, and the United States
Regional security developments across the Middle East
Policymakers are expected to continue balancing support for Ukraine with efforts to prevent further escalation involving Iran.
Conclusion
Ukraine Matters. Iran Does, Too, captures one of the defining foreign policy challenges facing governments today. The war in Ukraine continues to shape European security, while tensions involving Iran remain central to stability in the Middle East and the global economy.
Rather than viewing these issues separately, many experts believe that they are interconnected challenges requiring coordinated diplomacy, strong alliances, and careful strategic planning. As international events continue to evolve, both Ukraine and Iran are likely to remain major priorities for policymakers around the world.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What does ‘Ukraine matters’? What does “Iran Does, Too” mean?
It refers to the idea that both the war in Ukraine and tensions involving Iran are major international issues that require continued political, diplomatic, and security attention.
Why are Ukraine and Iran linked in global politics?
Although they are different conflicts, both affect international security, energy markets, military strategy, and diplomatic relations. Decisions in one region can influence policy and resource allocation in the other.
Why are these issues important for the global economy?
The Ukraine war has affected food and energy supplies, while tensions involving Iran can influence global oil prices and shipping through key maritime routes.
LONDON — Novak Djokovic watched Arthur Rinderknecht tumble toward the Center Court net after a volley and said to himself, “Stay down, please.”
The Frenchman did – and Djokovic, 39, hit a backhand volley winner on match point for a record-equalling 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) win in the third round at Wimbledon on Friday.
Djokovic’s 105th match win at the All England Club tied Roger Federer for the most singles match wins by a man. Martina Navratilova won 120 singles matches at Wimbledon.
Djokovic would love to equal Federer’s record of eight men’s singles titles
By the end of next week, Djokovic would love to equal Federer’s record of eight men’s singles titles, but just reaching the fourth round would be enough.
“Today, I was under a lot of pressure, more pressure than usual,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “I knew it was going to be a very challenging match for me.”
The 24-time Grand Slam champion bounced back from a setback – dropping the third set in 18 minutes – and hit back-to-back aces in the fourth-set tiebreaker before a Renderkinch forehand went wide, setting up match point.
“I saw him slip and fall down. And I was like, ‘Stay down, please,’ for that last shot,” said Djokovic, who took repeated punches to his left thigh after losing the third set.
Djokovic added that joining Federer on 105 singles match wins is a great honour and a privilege. “I suggest a matchup for 106 for me and Roger.”
In the fourth round, Djokovic will face Russian qualifier Roman Sefilin. Safavilan, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2023, defeated rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
The sinner is back in form.
Defending champion Janek Sner defeated Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Court No. 1 to advance to the fourth round.
The Italian, looking to move on from his French Open meltdown, finished off Broxby in just over two hours after his opening-round five-setter to win the second round against Nuno Borges in straight sets but with two tiebreakers.
“I’m trying to find my way. I felt better today, which was my main goal,” said the four-time Grand Slam champion. “Trying to move on better. Today’s comeback was a bit better. All things considered, it was a small step.”
The junior will next face Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki, who beat Spain’s 23rd seed Rafael Joder 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 to reach the fourth round for the first time at a Grand Slam. Mochizuki, who is ranked No. 151, won the Wimbledon boys’ title in 2019.
Furthermore, third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated American qualifier Michael Zeng 7-6 (1), 6-2, 6-1 in Canada’s Centre Court debut. John Lennard Struff beat eighth seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Sabalenka vs. Osaka in the fourth round
No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka face off for a place in the quarterfinals after both players won in straight sets.
Sabalenka defeated Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 6-4 on Centre Court to set herself up for a clash with the four-time Grand Slam champion, 14th-seeded Osaka.
“She’s a very aggressive player, serving well,” Sablenka said. “I watched some of his matches. … I’m ready to go out there and do whatever it takes to get through this tough match.”
Osaka defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3 on the No. 1 court. Osaka is in the fourth round at the All England Club for the first time.
Coco Gauff defeated fellow American Claire Liu 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2 after three match points at 5-4 in the second set. Goff will next face 11th seed Belinda Bencic.
Other winners in the women’s draw included fourth seed Jessica Pegula, 10th seed Karolina Muchova and the 2024. Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejkova.
Ambassador Samantha Power (C), former head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), embraces evacuated employees and their supporters outside the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC, on February 27, 2025.
When Samantha Power walked out of the headquarters of the United States Agency for International Development in Washington, DC, for the last time on January 20, 2025, she had no idea what would happen to the agency she had led for the past four years for the Biden administration.
Within days, the new Trump administration froze all US foreign aid, halted thousands of programmes around the world – including emergency life-saving programmes – and began dismantling USAID.
“I was as shocked as I was horrified,” Power said in an interview with NPR. “I couldn’t believe at first that any human being would suspend aid, especially life-saving aid, without taking into account the humanitarian consequences or try to do so in a way that would allow people to adjust.”
Power was the last confirmed administrator of the 64-year-old agency – USAID was officially shuttered in July 2025. It employed approximately 15,000 people globally and managed thousands of programmes aimed at fighting disease and poverty.
Only a handful of former agency employees now work at the state department, and most programmes have been eliminated.
A year later, Power is still grappling with USAID’s losses and legacy and filled with anger over the administration’s treatment of its staff.
“It was very cruel, and it seemed like cruelty was the point of it,” Power says of the way the administration worked to dismantle it.
Nevertheless, Power remains hopeful that there is enough bipartisan support for foreign aid in Washington for the agency to be reorganised in some form in the future.
When you realised what the Trump administration intended to do with USAID, what did you do?
I did what many did; that is, I went and appealed to the Republicans [in Congress] who I knew were both close to the president and big champions of USAID.
Initially he worked with me and others behind the scenes to get the programme restarted and get a waiver for it, but at a certain point he apparently decided it was in his self-interest to go along. [with President Trump]”
Many former USAID employees who spoke to NPR felt as if they were in a long grieving process in the six months from when the Trump administration began dismantling USAID until its official closure in July, 2025. How did you feel during that time?
I think for a long time I not only made the agency unhappy but also felt a sense of powerlessness toward the people who had worked faithfully in partnership with me, under my leadership, in the Biden administration.
It was a minor disaster for the 15,000 USAID workers around the world. Every one of them served our country faithfully.
They certainly weren’t doing it for the money; they were doing it with a sense of purpose and mission.
And being unable to support them, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to pay rent, and knowing that some of them had to pull their kids out of daycare — combined with the personal heartbreak they felt and the livelihood and existential questions about their careers — made me feel massively ineffective during that period of time.
How do you think the loss of USAID is being felt around the world?
I think of the village that doesn’t have electricity because of Power Africa, which no longer exists and, within a short period of its operation, had provided widespread, better electricity to 150 million people.
What is the point of not having US-funded election monitors in some parts of the world when we know that many democratic trends are going in the wrong direction with AI leading to massive job displacement?
What does it mean that independent media investigating whether governments are stealing from their people and acting as checks and balances is very scarce?
When you close down anti-corruption civil society organisations, as has happened around the world when USAID and State Department funding is withdrawn from them, you lose things that won’t be measured in the here and now, but that will have really negative impacts across generations.
A year after the agency’s closure, NGOs and aid groups appear to be continuing their work. Why do you think we should still be talking about what happened to USAID?
USAID was founded by John F. Kennedy, and over the decades, the goodwill this agency has earned the United States and the American people is impossible to assess because it is limitless.
Walking away from USAID is both cruel and incredibly foolish. It is literally as if one possesses the most esteemed brand name and then proposes to create a new one, although it is the most popular, most beloved, and most respected branch of American foreign policy in the world.
Although it has flaws, Americans want to help, and USAID has understood exactly these sentiments.
Trump administration officials say they are more agile and efficient in disaster response now than when USAID existed. What do you see when you look at the responses to the ongoing Ebola outbreak and earthquake in Venezuela?
I see a response that is better than adequate—specifically, a better response than the US State Department’s response to the Myanmar natural disaster— and clearly expediting and devoting more resources to the Venezuelan response.
in part because of the major foreign policy and military investments made in Venezuela and in part because Marco Rubio certainly personally cares a lot about Venezuela, but whatever the reason, it’s better to do more.
But I think the big gaps aren’t causing headlines; headlines come from the decline in health metric measurement. For example, social scientists and economists have not yet figured out how to measure the impact of losing US aid for HIV or girls’ education in some communities around the world.
Critics of USAID say the agency has created dependency among low-income countries, and I know this is an issue you were trying to address during your tenure.
The Trump administration is arguing that it is making countries more self-reliant by cutting aid and making deals with governments. Do you think the administration’s argument there has merit?
Government-to-government aid, which is actually something the Trump administration is doing more of, was something I was very excited about, and we launched a big new government-to-government strategy [during my term].
But it was actually Congress’s concerns decades ago about whether governments were stealing USAID resources that led to the destruction of USAID and other foreign aid branches of the US government. Proceed through non-state actors.
So this move is a government-to-government change; I welcome it. Proper oversight is needed to ensure dollars are going where they should, and removing all the USAID people doing oversight is not the solution.
Do you think there is a world in which USAID comes back?
It should come back. Will it be politically challenging for President Trump’s supporters to accept the withdrawal? [USAID]?
Of course it will. So can such a scenario happen? Can they put the letter back at headquarters, hire everyone back, and say, “Oh, oops”?
There is very little chance of such a scenario happening soon. But this year, the Republican-led House and Senate sent a foreign aid bill worth 50 billion dollars to President Trump for his signature.
There are still supporters of this work, but it will require a delicate conversation about how to build back in a way that allows majorities in both parties to rally around the issue and for some to save face after a terrible mistake.
Do you expect USAID to be part of that potential restructuring?
Definitely. I’m doing everything I can to be a part of the conversation about what the core of what comes back should look like.
Recovery will be gradual, and different areas will generate varying levels of bipartisan enthusiasm, but it is important to be open to where results have been achieved.
USAID spent decades collecting those results, and the individuals involved in those programmes need to be at the centre of the conversation about what happens next—not just politicians who can figure out what the politics will allow, but also experts who can demonstrate the valuable work done on behalf of the American people.
NPR contacted the State Department for comment. A statement said, “Foreign aid often contradicted the administration’s foreign policy and was spent without any coordination with it.
It also often perpetuated the problems it claimed to solve while funding a corrupt NGO industrial complex.
The abolition of USAID and the restructuring of foreign aid under clear leadership allow the United States to be more effective and efficient, as well as advance our national interests.”
SUMY, Ukraine — A nightlong Russian guided bomb attack struck the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, with one strike landing near a residential building. The attack killed at least four people and injured dozens more.
This area is one of the central parts of the city of Sumy. It’s a place where people come for evening walks,” RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service correspondent Alyona Yatsyna reported from the scene shortly after the strike late on July 3.
Images from the ground showed holes in the five-storey building as regional governor Serhiy Kryvosheyenko announced that some residents might be temporarily relocated to local dormitories.
Kryvosheyenko said a child was among those killed in the attack, adding that six more children, two of them in serious condition, were among the 27 people injured.
An air raid siren could still be heard in Sumy on the morning of July 4, with local monitoring channels reporting that Russian forces had launched Shahed drones toward the city as emergency services were still working to clear the rubble.
The shelling of Sumy came two days after a devastating Russian attack on Kyiv that killed 30 people, injured nearly 100 more, and marked the biggest assault on the Ukrainian capital this year, which local residents described as a “nightmare.”
The drone and missile strikes on the city destroyed and damaged homes and left streets strewn with shattered glass, charred trees, and burnt-out cars.
Kyiv Mourns Victims Of Major Russian Drone And Missile Attack
1/7 A major Russian drone and missile attack set Kyiv ablaze overnight on July 2, leaving areas across the Ukrainian capital strewn with shattered glass, charred trees, and burnt-out cars.Local resident Olha visited the aftermath in the city’s Darnytskiy district with her children. She used to live in a high-rise residential building there that was now partially reduced to rubble following the strikes. She said her family moved out of the building a year ago, adding that her children were born there, on the sixth floor."/>2/7 “We were just here on Sunday. My little kid was playing on the swings,” Olha told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, holding back tears.She said her family moved out of the building a year ago, adding that her children were born there, on the sixth floor. accordingto Ukraine's State Emergency Service."/>3/7 As of July 3, the bodies of 10 people killed in the Russian attack had been recovered from beneath the building’s rubble, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. 4/7 Some residents brought flowers and toys to the scene.Olha said she knew many of her neighbors who lived in the building, including a man who was killed in the attack.”My husband used to talk to him a lot,” she added, struggling to continue. “It’s a nightmare.” 5/7 Russia’s July 2 attack on Kyiv caused the largest destruction in the city this year to date and was the deadliest in months.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cut short his visit to Ireland to fly back. He said damage had been reported at more than 20 sites across the capital, including an ambulance station, a research institute, and a hotel. post on X on July 3."/>6/7 On July 3, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service continued efforts to clear debris and search for survivors. Operations were ongoing at at least three more locations in the Darnytskiy district.”Every day and every night, the Russians strike ordinary civilian infrastructure, and terror is the only argument they have left for not stopping the war,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X on July 3. Russia's military said the assault was in response to "terrorist attacks" against Russian "civilian infrastructure," as it came amid weeks of Ukrainian drone strikes that have targeted Russian oil refineries.
The campaign caused nationwide fuel shortages inside Russia and stoked discontent among Russians who were previously unaffected by the Ukraine war, now in its fifth year."/>7/7 Russia’s military said the assault was in response to “terrorist attacks” against Russian “civilian infrastructure,” as it came amid weeks of Ukrainian drone strikes that have targeted Russian oil refineries.The campaign caused nationwide fuel shortages inside Russia and stoked discontent among Russians who were previously unaffected by the Ukraine war, now in its fifth year.
Following the latest attacks across Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on July 4 for increased pressure on Moscow, saying, “so that this terror comes to an end.”
“Those Russia will listen to are, without a doubt, the United States, the other G7 and G20 countries, and Europe,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. He is due to attend a NATO summit in Ankara next week.
After the attack on Kyiv, Russia’s military said the assault was in response to “terrorist attacks” against Russian “civilian infrastructure” and came amid weeks of Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Russian oil refineries.
The campaign has caused nationwide fuel shortages inside Russia and stoked discontent among Russians who were previously largely unaffected by the country’s all-out war against Ukraine, now in its fifth year.
Zelenskyy vowed that Ukraine would respond to the latest strikes.
Early on July 4, the governor of Russia’s second-largest city, St Petersburg, Aleksandr Beglov, reported on Telegram that a major Ukrainian drone attack had targeted the area.
While Beglov’s post stopped short of saying what had been targeted in the city, some 800 kilometres north of the Ukrainian border, Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels showed pillars of smoke rising from a local oil terminal.
The Ukrainian military later confirmed the strikes, saying they had hit St Petersburg’s oil terminal, “one of the largest oil product transshipment terminals in the Baltic region,” as well as a Russian naval base on the island of Kronstadt in the Leningrad region.
Russia’s defence ministry reported that its military shot down hundreds of drones overnight.
Diplomatic efforts led by the administration of US President Donald Trump have stalled recently, as Washington has focused on the war with Iran and the turmoil in the Middle East.
Kyiv and Moscow remain far apart on negotiating terms, with the Kremlin maintaining its hard-line stance and offering no compromise on its demand for full control of Ukraine’s key Donbas region in the country’s east.
The author packed all her belongings and kept everything in a storage unit. Courtesy of Amber Campbell
I spent decades collecting things that made me feel more secure.
Then I lost my job, became an idle servant, gave up almost everything and started travelling.
Along the way, I discovered that the life I was trying to build was never really about stuff.
I spent months searching for the perfect couch for my new Seattle townhouse and debating which family photos would fill the collage picture frames I found online. I bought coordinating throw pillows, rattan barstools, and a whale-shaped butter dish that I loved.
After feeling extremely embarrassed as a child when I brought friends over and was teased for wearing the same two pairs of ordinary jeans repeatedly, I began working at the age of 15 and have never forgotten how it felt to purchase that coveted pair of Guess jeans with my first paycheque.
I thought my wealth would give me the security I always wanted
This feeling stayed with me for decades as I collected souvenirs, art supplies, home-making tools, and hundreds of books that I thought would one day fill my personal library.
Then I lost my job, became an idle servant, and realised how weary I was of paying to maintain a life I barely had time to enjoy.
Within a few months I started to let go. I gave away almost everything I owned, put what was left into storage, and began the slow journey to midlife.
Downsizing from a three-bedroom townhouse to a small basement apartment and finally to a 50-square-foot storage unit wasn’t easy.
Downsizing forced me to question who I am without my stuff
I was so worried about letting go that I packed my storage unit like a Tetris puzzle, labelled each box, and created an inventory spreadsheet so I could always locate the mementos, family documents, and backup clothes I’d stored away.
My four-door Kia Forte became my home while I drove up and down the West Coast as a travelling housekeeper and pet sitter, chasing the sun and trying to figure out who I was beyond being a mum, carer, and corporate employee.
While I’m still not able to completely give up my luxuries, I packed my favourite blanket, a travel blender, and a coffee grinder in my car so I could make coffee the way I wanted.
The author, seen here in Mexico, now travels in her car with two small suitcases. Courtesy of Amber Campbell
But I started noticing that whenever I went to a store, I would stop wandering the aisles and go straight to what I came to buy.
Then I visited a friend who shared my love of reading, and she gave me a pile of books for which I had no room. I felt grateful and overwhelmed at the same time. They were all on my to-read list, and I wondered where I would put them. Giving away books was the hardest thing for me, and I still harboured the dream that someday I would have my own personal library with comfortable chairs, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and my children’s favourite childhood stories, which are still packed in my storage unit. I wondered if there was any room left for a few more people.
I found out I was collecting the wrong things
That’s when I realised how much of my life I’d spent defining myself by my things. Books weren’t just for reading, whale-shaped butter dishes weren’t just kitchenware, and Guess jeans weren’t just pants.
They were all proof that I had become the person I always wanted to be. I was a woman with a beautiful, welcoming home. A mother who preserved all the memories of the family. An artist surrounded by books and materials. The child who no longer feels like an outsider.
I thought about all the memories, new friendships, and adventures I’d accumulated during my life on the road. These were the things I wanted to collect: experiences, relationships, and the freedom to make choices about what mattered most.
I am still travelling with two small suitcases and wearing the same small clothes. But the woman who once needed an inventory list to track her belongings rarely remembers what was packed.
.jpg?w=768&resize=768,0&ssl=1 "Tamil Nadu’s Ancient Temples Are the Soul of South India")
