New Humanist

4 days ago | newhumanist.org.uk | Sian Norris |Dominique Palmer |Andrew Copson |Lois Lee

Our world is experiencing seismic change with the rise of power-mad leaders, spiralling conflicts and climate chaos. At such times, the big questions of life are brought into sharp relief. And so amid this turmoil, religious leaders are hoping for a return to faith, while ideologues of all stripes are seeking to exploit anxiety by offering purpose and certainty. How should we navigate questions of meaning in our increasingly secular society, and how might a humanist approach serve as a guide?

1 week ago | newhumanist.org.uk | Ahmer Khan

History has shown that student uprisings often lead to nationwide revolt, and Bangladesh in recent years has been no exception. With former prime minister Sheikh Hasina forced out of office and reportedly seeking political refuge in India, an interim government now leads the country, including key figures from the student movement that led to her fall.

3 weeks ago | newhumanist.org.uk | Michael Rosen

Ceasefire, 20th century: a temporary suspension of fighting, usually between two armies One of the peculiarities of wars is that at some point they come to an end. Before a peace agreement is signed, there is usually a ceasefire. As you can see, it’s a compound noun, combining the two major sources of modern English – French and Old English – with “cease” coming from French (and before that, Latin) and “fire” from Old English.

1 month ago | newhumanist.org.uk | Lucy Popescu

A Nose and Three Eyes (Hoopoe Books) by Ihsan Abdel Kouddous, translated by Jonathan Smolin Egyptian author Ihsan Abdel Kouddous, who died in 1990, is one of the 20th century’s most prolific and popular writers of Arabic fiction. Born in Cairo in 1919, a contemporary of Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, Abdel Kouddous also enjoyed a long career in journalism. He was editor at the daily paper Al-Akhbar and editor-in-chief of the political weekly magazine Rose El-Youssef.

1 month ago | newhumanist.org.uk | Marcus Chown

Everyone knows that Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity, and that Charles Darwin discovered evolution by natural selection. But how many people know that Cecilia Payne discovered what makes up the Universe? This year marks a century since Payne, an English woman at Harvard university, submitted the most important astrophysics PhD of the 20th century.