There is very little dispute among serious (that is, non-Greek, non-Macedonian and non-Serb) scholars that the Albanians are an ancient people, the descendants of the Illyrians or (as a small minority insists) the Thracians.

To the politicians of the Balkans - almost without exception corrupt and despised by their own constituencies - the myth of Great Albania comes handy. It keeps the phobic Macedonians, the disdainful Serbs and the poor and crime ridden Albanians united and submissive - each group for differing reasons.

The Ottoman occupation was an unmitigated misfortune.

The tragedy in Sudan, how it affects women, and what some women are doing about it.

While jewelry is primarily used for aesthetics, jewelry can also serve a religious purpose. This article is a brief history of how different cultures have used religious jewelry.