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🔗 Food and drink 🔗 Afghanistan 🔗 Asia

Kangina (Dari: کنگینه, lit. 'treasure'), also called Gangina, is the traditional Afghan technique of preserving fresh fruit, particularly grapes, in airtight discs formed from mud and straw. The centuries-old technique is indigenous to Afghanistan's rural center and north, where remote communities that cannot import fresh fruit eat kangina-preserved fresh grapes throughout the winter, and merchants use kangina to safely store and transport grapes for sale at market. Grapes preserved using kangina in modern Afghanistan are typically of the thick-skinned Taifi or Kishmishi varieties, which are harvested later in the season and remain fresh in the mud vessels for up to six months.

The method, a form of passive controlled-atmosphere storage, works by sealing fruit in the clay-rich mud, restricting flow of air, moisture and microbes, much as a plastic bag would. Discs are formed from two bowl-shaped pieces, which are sculpted from mud and straw, and baked in the sun before being filled with up to 1–2 kilograms (2.2–4.4 lb) of un-bruised fruit and sealed with more mud. They are kept dry and cool, away from direct sunlight. Gradual permeation of gas through the clay barrier allows oxygen to enter the container, keeping the grapes alive, while the elevated concentration of carbon dioxide inside the package inhibits the grapes' metabolism and prevents the growth of fungus. The grapes are prevented from drying out, and the mud absorbs liquid which would otherwise lead to bacterial and fungal growth.

The practice of storing grapes in mud and straw has been recorded as far back as the 12th century: in his Book of Agriculture, Sevillan agronomist Ibn al-'Awwam noted layering grapes with straw in mud-sealed glass containers or "cowpat bowls" as an extant technique of preservation in Andalusia.

Kangina are inexpensive, eco-friendly, and effective vessels for the preservation of fresh fruit. A 2023 study found kangina and polystyrene foam boxes to be the most effective vessels for preserving grapes. The containers are, however, heavy, unwieldy, and prone to absorbing moisture.

🔗 Religion 🔗 Visual arts 🔗 Buddhism 🔗 Asia

The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of the Indian subcontinent.

The series of interactions leading to Gandhara art occurred over time, beginning with Alexander the Great's brief incursion into the area, followed by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka converting the region to Buddhism. Buddhism became the prominent religion in the Indo-Greek Kingdoms. However, Greco-Buddhist art truly flowered and spread under the Kushan Empire, when the first surviving devotional images of the Buddha were created during the 1st-3rd centuries CE. Gandhara art reached its zenith from the 3rd-5th century CE, when most surviving motifs and artworks were produced.

Gandhara art is characterized by Buddhist subject matter, sometimes adapting Greco-Roman elements, rendered in a style and forms that are heavily influenced by Greco-Roman art. It has the strong idealistic realism and sensuous description of Hellenistic art, and it is believed to have produced the first representations of Gautama Buddha in human form, ending the early period of aniconism in Buddhism.

The representation of the human form in large sculpture had a considerable influence, both to the south in the rest of India, and to the east, where the spread of Buddhism carried its influence as far as Japan.

🔗 United States/U.S. Government 🔗 United States 🔗 Aviation 🔗 Military history 🔗 Military history/Military aviation 🔗 Military history/North American military history 🔗 Military history/United States military history 🔗 Africa 🔗 United Kingdom 🔗 Correction and Detention Facilities 🔗 Military history/Maritime warfare 🔗 Cold War 🔗 Islands 🔗 British Overseas Territories 🔗 Aviation/airport 🔗 Asia 🔗 Asia/British Indian Ocean Territory 🔗 Africa/Mauritius

Diego Garcia () is the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago. It has been used as a joint UK–U.S. military base since the 1970s, following the expulsion of the Chagossians by the UK government. The Chagos Islands are a British overseas territory, though a treaty to transfer sovereignty from the UK to Mauritius was signed on 22 May 2025, with a provision that the military base at the island would remain under British control for at least 99 years. The agreement may be renewed for an additional 40 years after the initial 99-year period, and for an additional period thereafter. The UK government expected the treaty to be ratified sometime in 2026. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has expressed "deep concern" at the terms of the deal.

Located just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, Diego Garcia lies 3,535 km (2,197 mi) east of Tanzania, 2,984 km (1,854 mi) east-southeast of Somalia, 726 km (451 mi) south of the Maldives, 1,796 km (1,116 mi) southwest of India, 2,877 km (1,788 mi) west-southwest of Sumatra, 4,723 km (2,935 mi) northwest of Australia, and 2,112 km (1,312 mi) northeast of Mauritius Island. Diego Garcia is part of the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge, an underwater mountain range that includes the Lakshadweep, the Maldives, and the other 60 small islands of the Chagos Archipelago. The island observes UTC+6 year-round.

Diego Garcia was discovered by Portuguese sailors in 1512 and remained uninhabited until the French began using it as a leper colony and for coconut plantations in the late 18th century. After the Napoleonic Wars, the island was transferred to British control. It remained part of Mauritius until 1965, when it became part of the newly formed British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).

In 1966, Diego Garcia had a population of 924, mostly contract workers employed in coconut plantations. However, between 1968 and 1973, the Chagossian inhabitants were forcibly removed to make way for the military base. In 2019, the International Court of Justice issued a non-binding advisory opinion that the decolonisation of Mauritius had not been lawfully completed when it gained independence in 1968, and that the UK was "under an obligation to end its administration of the Chagos Archipelago as rapidly as possible". The United Nations General Assembly later voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution endorsing this opinion and calling on the UK to end its administration, though the UK has dismissed the ruling as non-binding.

Until the resettlement of Île du Coin, Diego Garcia remained the only inhabited island of the BIOT, with a population of around 4,000 consisting predominantly of military personnel. It is one of two critical U.S. bomber bases in the Indo-Pacific region, alongside Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. It is nicknamed the "Footprint of Freedom" by the U.S. Navy due to its shape and strategic location in the Indian Ocean.

🔗 International relations 🔗 Ancient Egypt 🔗 Politics 🔗 Sociology 🔗 Asia

A hydraulic empire, also known as a hydraulic despotism, hydraulic society, hydraulic civilization, or water monopoly empire, is a social or government structure which maintains power and control through exclusive control over access to water. It arises through the need for flood control and irrigation, which requires central coordination and a specialized bureaucracy.

Often associated with these terms and concepts is the notion of a water dynasty. This body is a political structure which is commonly characterized by a system of hierarchy and control often based on class or caste. Power, both over resources (food, water, energy) and a means of enforcement such as the military, is vital for the maintenance of control.