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Say ‘Islamic art’ and what may come to mind is some geometric pattern you’ve seen on a mosque wall or a centuries-old Quran folio in a museum. But a global network of educators, artists, and curators are bringing works of Arabic-script calligraphy, tezhip (or manuscript illumination), ceramics and more, to buyers of art as well as to students who want to pick up artistic practice for themselves. “Muslims don’t necessarily know the richness of our heritage. Out of not knowing, people are drawn to it.” Samira Mian is a practitioner of Islamic geometry who teaches online and in the UK; she also m… Continue reading “Is there an Islamic arts ‘revival’?”

JAKARTA — Tropical forest loss remained consistently high in 2021 with no sign of slowing down, despite commitments by companies and governments to curb deforestation, according to new data from the University of Maryland. The data, available on the Global Forest Watch platform managed by the World Resources Institute (WRI), show that tropical countries lost 11.1 million hectares (27.5 million acres) of tree cover in 2021, an area the size of Cuba. Of this total tree loss, 3.75 million hectares (9.3 million acres) occurred in tropical primary forests, the world’s most biologically diverse ecos… Continue reading “2021 tropical forest loss figures put zero-deforestation goal by 2030 out of reach”

By Dan Weil Oil companies are thriving, with crude prices soaring surging 34% so far this year. Earnings are scheduled for coming weeks. With oil prices surging 34% so far this year, it’s a good time for big oil companies. Earnings reports from most of the majors are due in the next few weeks. So Barron’s created a list of the companies that have seen the biggest increases in earnings estimates from analysts this year. Marathon Petroleum (MPC) – Get Marathon Petroleum Corporation Report. As a big oil refiner, “it has benefited from the increase in demand for petroleum products like diesel fuel… Continue reading “Marathon Petroleum Makes Barron’s List of Oil Stocks”