Can warlords become statesmen? Activists working for democracy in post-coup Sudan say they have warned Western governments for years against involving military strongmen in their country’s political transition.

The May 6 crowning of King Charles promises to swathe Britain in pomp and circumstance. But what does the monarchy represent to Britons today?

When Germany powered down its final remaining nuclear reactors this past weekend, the news was both long-anticipated and controversial. 

The nation followed through on its existing plan to phase out nuclear power during a long-term pivot toward greener – and increasingly cost-effective – sources such as solar and wind. But it did so at a time when calls are rising worldwide to give nuclear power another look. 

The road to a decarbonized economy, many say, will be smoothest if nuclear power isn’t closed down alongside fossil fuel plants. Nuclear may produce radioactive waste, but as this chart-focused story shows, it also produces a lot of the world’s current electricity. And it is blamed for very few deaths compared with fossil fuels.

Even in Germany, popular opinion ran against the shut-off. The Ukraine war has highlighted the importance of energy security to nations in Europe that long relied on Russia for natural gas and oil. In one recent poll, public broadcaster ARD found that 59% of Germans oppose the nuclear phaseout while 34% support it.

Ryan Norman, an energy expert at the moderate-left think tank Third Way in Washington, sees several factors driving interest in  nuclear power: improving nuclear-plant designs that are safer and cheaper, the world’s rising urgency over climate change, and growing concerns about energy security.

“You see the value of these clean, firm, reliable technologies,” he says. “People see how they can anchor and secure their grids” with nuclear as well as other sources.

Just as Germany was shutting off its reactors, the U.S. government was extending support to Poland to potentially build new ones. 

Nuclear still draws plenty of skepticism. Accidents are a real risk, as the Fukushima disaster in Japan proved. Yet from Europe and the United States and even to Japan, many nations are not hitting the “off” button on nuclear, which can run day and night and in all weather conditions.

“People want to have strong, reliable power sources on their grid,” says Mr. Norman. 

How is learning a trade keeping students, some of whom otherwise might not have pursued higher education, on a career path? The Monitor, in collaboration with six other newsrooms, is examining the challenges facing U.S. community colleges – and potential solutions – in a series called Saving the College Dream. 

Poetry anchors us to the past and offers glimpses into the future. We celebrate National Poetry Month with three vibrant new books that challenge perceptions and broaden the landscape of poetry.

The main news out of Iran these days is how the Islamic regime has found new ways to force women to cover their heads. Since mass protests last year, the “morality police” have been withdrawn from the streets. Yet now street cameras catch the faces of women who defy the wearing of hijab. Universities must reject women who don’t follow the practice, while neighbors are encouraged to snitch on them. Even recent cases of girls being poisoned at their schools are widely attributed to the regime as a tactic to enforce religious conformity.

But the more significant news is how Iranians in general have changed their core beliefs, especially after this latest and harshest crackdown. A recent poll showed very few still are practicing Muslims. In cities, only a quarter of adults pray five times a day. In rural areas, only a third do. The percentage is even lower for those 20-29 years old. The numbers are about the same for men and women.

This new mental liberation has resulted in other trends that indicate an alternative search for meaning in life. Some seek an identity in Iran’s pre-Islamic culture, shown in celebrations of Cyrus the Great Day. Others celebrate Valentine’s Day (which was banned in 2010). Many celebrate Nowruz, the pre-Islamic Iranian New Year, rather than the founding of the Islamic Republic, which was in 1979.

“Despite the regime’s increased efforts to outlaw such practices [as hijab] and Islamize every aspect of Iranian culture, the number of Iranians celebrating these secular practices continues to grow each year,” states a report by the Tony Blair Institute.

More than three-quarters of Iranians who want regime change also consider religion unimportant to their lives. This leaves room for them to explore ways other than Islam to direct their lives. That could have huge implications for both the regime and the region.

“The single most liberating event for the Middle East will come when the Iranian people finally have their freedom,” says Tony Blair, a former British prime minister.

Among Iran’s ruling conservatives, the secularization trend has reportedly reopened old debates on how Iran should reconcile strict clerical rule with democracy. That internal debate erupted a decade ago during the presidency of a relative moderate, Hassan Rouhani. “Let us leave the people so they can find the way to heaven by themselves. We cannot take them to heaven with force and lashing!” he said. Today Mr. Rouhani, now out of office, has been sidelined.

Soon after Mr. Rouhani criticized strict enforcement of Islamic dress code, a prominent cleric, Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, warned: “If the hijab doesn’t exist, the Islamic regime will be destroyed.” That helps explain why the regime has only increased its enforcement of an outward expression of Muslim life. Yet it is the new inner life of Iranians that bears watching. Their quest may end up being bigger news.