The Arab world again takes a prominent place in this edition: we open with an exploration of how immigrants in Greece are prepared, through a prolonged hungerstrike, to risk their lives to get legal status, and cover the continuing struggle in Libya and ongoing demonstrations in Yemen and Jordan.
But we also look at some of the less-covered aspect of the regional flowering of protest: at the wealthy little state of Oman and its absolute ruler Sultan Qaboos, and at the art of protest in Bahrain.
In environment news we learn about an unexpected threat to the future of African lions - American hunters, and about the astonishing damage still being wrought in Europe by air pollution. There's also an account of how Texans have united against a Canadian oil company, and how China is planning for slower growth.
Beyond geopolitics, we also venture broadly into history: to Rio, where it's though the remains of a dreaded slave port have been uncovered, and to Alaska, where the story of an individual human tragedy - the death of a child - that happened 11,500 years ago, has been uncovered.
Our much loved country diarist Paul Evans is counting sheep - and considering their short lives, and we're seeking in Notes & Queries a solution that that perennial conundrum: how do you cure the hiccups?
Quote of the week: "Placebos have a stronger impact and are more complex than we realised. They are hugely important in medicine today." Christoph Fuchs, managing director of the German Medical Association.
Fact of the week: Air pollution is shortening the average life expectancy in Bucharest by two years, according to a study by Europe's Aphekom programme.
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