In early 2021, a photograph in marvellous colour became viral on social media. Gen Z, mostly diasporic Africans, were hooked by its timeless appeal. It seemed to us a carefully choreographed Instagrammable shot taken during a throwback summer along the turquoise shores of the Côte d’Azur or the Cyclades.

Extrajudicial killings for the alleged act of blasphemy have become increasingly common in Pakistan, as have officially registered cases of blasphemy under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.

How did it come to pass that twenty years after neoconservatives launched their ‘war on terror’, self-proclaimed Muslim leaders were queuing up to ingratiate themselves to a mainstreamed far-right headed by Donald Trump?

What distinguishes Scotland from the rest of the world? If you were to ask people at random, a flurry of responses are likely to emerge.

‘Meri jaan’. That’s what I called her. When she was anxious or concerned about something: meri jaan, my life, my love. I would put my arms around her. She was not a natural hugger.

The task for all humanity, I modestly suggest, should be to make the world a better place – and that requires us first to decide what a ‘better place’ would look like.