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Simply Shada

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Recipes May Skip A Generation But They Live On

I inherited my parents’ love of good food and the pleasure of lingering around the family table, talking, laughing and sharing stories. But I never inherited my mother’s love of cooking.

Akhtar Shirani, My Mother and Me

My mother has left me her love of a Pakistani poet whose poems of love, longing and the belief in a more humane world gave her comfort in difficult times and give me solace and hope today.

Lives That Shaped Me: Who Gets to Grieve in Today's World?

After my mother’s death, I began thinking about those who are denied even the dignity of mourning. Grief is universal. The chance to mourn is not.

The World Needs Girls With Swagger

Families play a crucial role in nurturing a little girl's confidence.But the responsibility of building societies that do not punish girls for being bold and ambitious lies with all of us.

A Question About Gaza, A Test for EU Standards

It says something about the state of press freedom in Europe when Gabriele Nunziati’s right to ask a question on EU policy in Gaza has to be defended by lawyers in a court in Rome.

Portugal Loves South Asia But Does It Love South Asians?

To build a more inclusive society, the true story of Portugal's encounter with South Asia and Islam will have to move beyond museums into schools, media, political conversations and everyday life.

Remembering Naïm Khader

In naming a street after Naïm Khader, Ixelles has done more than honour a murdered diplomat. It has acknowledged that the Palestinian story is part of the story of a vibrant, multicultural Brussels.

What is “humanitarian diplomacy”- and why does it matter?

Geneva Call's Alain Délétroz tells me it is about protecting civilians during armed conflict and that means also engaging with militias and armed groups to try and stop war crimes. Often it works.

Europe’s Gaza blindspot is boomeranging home

Once a political system becomes comfortable with the dehumanisation of one people, the logic does not remain neatly contained. It travels, mutates and returns home.

Kallas-style “diplomacy” isn't helping the EU

Kaja Kallas’ increasingly bewildering interventions on world affairs are rapidly turning into a geopolitical liability for a European Union struggling to convince the world of its relevance.