Suzette Grillot

Tension continues to grow in Venezuela this week after the government held elections over the weekend to elect a constituent assembly that can rewrite the country’s constitution. President Nicolás Maduro plans to move forward with 545-member body that is loyal to him. Opposition parties boycotted the election, calling it unconstitutional.

Though violence related to religion and sectarian identity exists in the Middle East, there are other areas of conflict in the region that are often misunderstood or underreported.

Juan Cole, a historian at the University of Michigan who writes on the blog Informed Comment, says labor issues in Egypt, for instance, have produced some of the biggest conflicts in that country over the past two decades.

Rapid population growth is a major catalyst for many of the issues currently facing the Middle East.

Juan Cole, a commenter on the Middle East and a historian at the University Michigan, says the demographic bulge has implications on a number of things, such as unemployment and infrastructure. The large number of young people also puts a strain on education.

China’s environmental movement is one of the few areas in which Chinese citizens can generally speak their mind, according to documentary filmmaker and journalist Gary Marcuse.

Marcuse, whose documentary Waking the Green Tiger explores the demonstrations that blocked a dam project in the Tiger Leaping Gorge, says there are between 50,000 and 100,000 environmental demonstrations every year in China. Many citizens protest the country’s high levels of smog and other environmental issues.

Sanitation and waste treatment is underdeveloped in Haiti, a nation that has suffered massive earthquakes and hurricanes, a cholera epidemic and ineffective governance. Now, non-profit organizations like Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods, or SOIL, are collaborating with the Haitian government to help improve waste treatment and sanitation.

Mateo Farzaneh was recently visiting the Iranian city of Khorramshahr, a border city that put up a battle against Iraqi forces in 1980 during the Iran-Iraq War. The city fended off troops for 34 days before the Iraqis finally occupied it. Inside a mosque that is famous for its resistance to the foreign occupation, Farzaneh noticed an oversight.

“I walked in and I saw a ton of portraits of men as being the martyrs and people that sacrifice everything. But there was not a single photograph of women,” Farzaneh told KGOU’s World Views.

Ted Henken was visiting the Cuban beach resort of Varadero, looking for a place to stay. He asked a waiter if for accommodation suggestions. During the waiter’s smoke break, he took Henken to five bed and breakfasts within 15 minutes.

Research into micronutrients is beginning to show how deficiencies can impact neuropsychological functioning through the life of a patient.

Historically, studies of a shortage of macronutrients, like protein, have shown an association with a lack of cognitive ability. However, until relatively recently, there was little research into how micronutrient deficiencies impact the brain, according to Laura Murray-Kolb, a nutritional scientist at Penn State University.

Making sure people across the globe have access to proper nutrition is a goal of international organizations like UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

But sometimes, simply acquiring the right nutrients isn’t enough, especially if outside factors get in the way of allowing the body to process nutrients correctly.

Starting in the 1960s, the Mexican-American community began a period of reawakening.

In his new book, Mestizos Come Home! Making and Claiming Mexican American Identity, RC Davis explores how this community took hold of its past and cultural identity.

“They said we are going to embrace our culture and we're going to learn our history, we're going to share history with others. We're going to invite people in to learn about our culture. So it was a very deliberate act of cultural recovery,” Davis told KGOU’s World Views.