What if the tiny blood vessels in our brain, the ones we rarely think about, hold the key to understanding dementia? 🧠❓

Excited to share our latest publication in the European Journal of Neuroscience from the NEUROGEN-SVD study.

A big shout-out to the rising star of my team, Chelsea Jin!

A THREAD 🧵

1/5 For decades, scientists treated vascular brain disease & Alzheimer’s as separate.

👉 Our study proposes a new model: small vessel disease (SVD) isn’t just a bystander - It actively drives & accelerates neurodegeneration.

2/5

1/5

What do great nations do when one door is slammed shut?

Amid the India–US tariff war, India is not sulking: it is strategising.

The Economic Times (via Reuters) reports that India has drawn up a new export strategy covering nearly 50 countries.

Yes, 50 nations! 🌏🇮🇳

A thread 🧵 2/5

This isn’t just a reaction; it’s realignment.

Outreach is widening to China, the Middle East, and Africa.

Free trade agreements with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland take effect on October 1.

The UK deal comes into force next April. Talks with Oman, Chile, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, and the EU are already finalised.

1/10🧵

What happens when faith cloaks politics?

It’s time to challenge the myth of “tolerant Sufism” with a critical examination, and yes, with receipts.

Sufism, often romanticised as “poetry, peace, and love" or “mystical Islam,” was not always just poetry & whirling dervishes.

Behind the music and mysticism, history shows Sufi orders often acted as Trojan horses - embedding Islam into non-Muslim societies through culture, settlement, and shrines.

It wasn’t just about devotion; it was about expansion.

As J.S. Trimingham (The Sufi Orders in Islam, 1971) explains, Sufi brotherhoods were not just mystical circles but mass organisations with military, political, and economic clout, crucial in the Islamisation of Africa, Anatolia, and Asia.

They offered a “velvet glove” for the iron fist of conquest.

A thread you don't want to miss! 🧵 2/10 🧵

Take Bengal. Richard M. Eaton’s The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760 (1993) is the landmark study here.

He shows how Sufi pirs spearheaded Islamisation by clearing forests, cultivating land, and founding shrines.

Conversion wasn’t sudden or forced - it was a slow transformation tied to settlement.

People entered the economic orbit of the Sufi lodge (khanqah), and gradually, Islam became embedded.

Eaton concludes: Sufis were the “frontier agents” of Islamisation, expanding Muslim presence without armies, but with ploughs and mosques.

🧵 Who was Swami Vivekananda 🪷, and why does his voice still echo across continents, generations, and civilisations?

A young monk from India🇮🇳stunned the West, reawakened the East, and redefined the soul of India.

His words still burn like fire.

Here’s his story. 👇

A thread. 1/

Born in 1863 as Narendranath Datta, he was brilliant, rebellious, and deeply spiritual.

He mastered Western philosophy and devoured the Vedas but remained spiritually restless, until he met Sri Ramakrishna, the saint who didn’t preach God; he lived Him.

“Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is the latest and the most perfect incarnation the world has yet seen.”
(The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda - CWSV, Vol. 3)

Renouncing all, he wandered barefoot across India.

He saw a country crushed by poverty but lit by potential.

“Let the common soul awaken,” he believed—not through rituals, but realisation.

He was not content with his own salvation.
His vow: to raise humanity through Vedanta, service, and fearlessness.

🧵 Why is Erdogan furious at Israel’s strikes in Syria?

It’s not just about Gaza.
It’s about power, Islamism, and the collapse of Turkey’s covert influence.

Let's do a deep dive!

A 10-part thread. 👇

Further reading: Cathrin Schaer (DW, 2025) dw.com/en/israel-turk… 1/10

Over the past week, Israel expanded its air campaign beyond Gaza and Lebanon: targeting key sites in Syria, including Suwayda, Hama, and the T4 airbase in Homs.

Israel stated the strikes were in response to threats against the Druze minority and to eliminate extremist factions planning cross-border attacks.

But according to Israeli officials, they were also a clear message to Turkey, which has been quietly embedding itself in Syria militarily and ideologically.

Source: Reuters (2025) reuters.com/world/middle-e…

1. What’s happening in Syria—and why is the Druze community in danger?

A humanitarian emergency is unfolding. Syria’s Druze minority, along with Coptic Christians and Shia communities, is under siege.

The culprits?

Islamist extremists, specifically Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Jolani, a former Al-Qaeda commander.

A 🧵

Source: jpost.com/opinion/articl… 2. Who is Abu Muhammad al-Jolani?
Why does he matter?

Jolani was the head of Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch.

Today, he leads HTS, a jihadi faction that still enforces hardline Islamist rule, despite efforts to rebrand.

His group governs parts of northwest Syria and has a history of persecuting minorities.

Source: Guardian (2024) theguardian.com/world/2024/dec…

🧵 Did the Indus Valley Civilisation descend from migrants—or were its people native to South Asia all along?

A new chapter in Indian school textbooks just shifted the narrative, with ancient DNA from Rakhigarhi offering compelling answers.

Here's why it matters.👇

Shinde et al “An Ancient Harappan Genome Lacks Ancestry from Steppe Pastoralists or Iranian Farmers.” Cell vol. 179,3 (2019)

1/ The Indus Valley Civilization (also called Harappan Civilization) was one of the world's earliest urban societies, contemporary with Mesopotamia and Egbetween ~2600 and ypt.

It flourished in the Indian subcontinent ~2600–1900 BCE, with advanced cities like Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, and now Rakhigarhi.

2/

education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/life-…

Can a stroke trigger a blood clot in your lungs, even without a leg DVT?

As Principal Investigator of the PEARL-AIS (Pulmonary Embolism Assessment and Risk-stratified Learning in Acute Ischaemic Stroke) project, I’m chuffed to share the latest publication from our team @GlobalNeuroLab, which investigates a critical yet often overlooked frontier:

Pulmonary Embolism (PE) in Acute Ischaemic Stroke (AIS)

A Deadly Intersection with profound clinical implications.

A big shout-out to a brilliant member of our team, Darryl Chen!

🧠💥🫁🧠💥🫁

A thread 🧵

1/

Full publication: 🔗 mdpi.com/1422-0067/26/1…

#PEARL_AIS #StrokeCare 2/

Pulmonary Embolism (PE) is the 3rd leading cause of cardiovascular death worldwide.

In stroke patients, it’s often missed.

🧬Up to 50% of deaths in AIS patients may involve undiagnosed PE.

But traditional tools fall short.

Why?

Because stroke changes everything.

What Happened on 13th July – Batt Loot Day?
A Forgotten Tragedy of Kashmir’s Hindus

A thread 🧵 you must read!

1/

What happens when the majority stays silent while their neighbours burn?

On 13th July 1931, something broke in Kashmir (India 🇮🇳)—a silence that led to destruction, exile, and cultural erasure.

Let’s remember #BattLootDay.

🕯️ A thread 🧵👇 2/

It began with a protest outside Srinagar Central Jail, where Abdul Qadeer was on trial.

But by evening, it had turned into orchestrated violence against the Hindu community:

👣 Homes looted
🛕 Temples desecrated
💈 Shops destroyed

🧵Why do some forget Dharma in the name of defending it?

A thread on civilizational memory, insecurity, and the quiet strength of Sanatana Dharma.

👇 1/

It’s worth reflecting that India 🇮🇳🪷has always been more than a political entity.

India (Bharata) is a civilizational continuum, held together not by sameness, but by a sacred plurality.

[1/5] 🧵How Soviet propaganda fuelled global hatred against Israel and the Jewish community and lives on today in the Red-Green Alliance?

What began as Cold War disinformation has morphed into 21st-century ideology.

Let’s trace the roots.

In 1948, the Soviet Union recognized Israel and funneled arms via Czechoslovakia.

Why? They saw Israel as a potential socialist beachhead in the Middle East.

But the romance didn’t last. Stalin’s antisemitic paranoia changed everything. 👇

Have you heard of the “Doctors’ Plot” (1952–53)?

Jewish doctors were falsely accused of conspiring to kill Soviet leaders.

It was state-orchestrated antisemitism.

This marked the shift: from Jewish ally to Jewish enemy, internally and globally.

Around the Mid-1950s, the Soviets pivoted to the Arab world.

✅ Armed Egypt
✅ Backed Syria
✅ Sought Arab oil and strategic influence

The Soviets now started projecting Israel as a pawn, reframed as a “Western imperialist outpost.”

#Israel #SovietPropaganda #Antisemitism #RedGreenAlliance #Zionism [2/5]

Let's dig a little deeper.
x.com/clairlemon/sta…
The 1960s–70s saw the rise of Soviet disinformation warfare:

Operation SIG (run by the KGB) spread lies tying Zionism to racism, colonialism and even Nazism.

Ring bells?

The aim: make hating Israel feel morally righteous.

🎯 1975: Soviet-aligned nations passed UN Resolution 3379 —
“Zionism is a form of racism.”

It wasn’t just anti-Israel—it was coded antisemitism, dressed in Cold War politics.

It stood until 1991.

Soviet media—Pravda, Radio Moscow—amplified this line:
→ Jews = capitalists, conspirators, warmongers
→ Israel = aggressor state

They revived old antisemitic tropes, then laundered them as “anti-Zionism”.

The Soviets also distributed the Protocols of the Elders of Zion across the Arab world and the Global South.
A forged text.
A Tsarist relic.

Now reborn in the Soviet toolkit to fuel antisemitism under the cover of the so-called “revolutionary solidarity”.

What if I told you there’s a region in India (Bharat🇮🇳) where poetry meets philosophy, where art is sacred, and where Goddess Sita herself was born?

Welcome to Mithilanchal, a forgotten cultural powerhouse.

Let’s explore the land of sages, scholars, and soul.

My latest thread 🧵 1/

Wonder where Mithilanchal is? 📍

Stretching across North Bihar and parts of Nepal’s Terai, Mithilanchal is more than a region.

It’s a civilization.

The ancient kingdom of Mithila finds mention in the Ramayana, the Vedas, and Buddhist texts.

Further reading: Temples of Mithila (Archeological Survey of India)

tspasibhopal.nic.in/assets/pdf/pub…

Will the Iran-Israel war escalate, and how long will it last?

If there’s one thread you must read, this is it! 🧵
A deep dive!

1/11

This is THE thread to understand the Iran-Israel war, raging since June 13, 2025.

Could it spiral into a regional catastrophe, and how long will it last?

Packed with data, military analysis, and heuristic modeling, let’s break it down.

Please share to learn and help disseminate!

#IranIsraelConflict

Further reading:
cfr.org/global-conflic… 2/11 What’s Happening?

Israel’s “Operation Rising Lion” hit Iran’s nuclear sites (Natanz, Fordow), missile bases, and IRGC leadership, killing Hossein Salami and Mohammad Bagheri.

Iran’s firing back with 39+ ballistic missiles on Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Casualties: 224+ in Iran, 24 in Israel. 💥

[1/7] 🚨 Recently published in Nature Communications (May 2025)!

Proud to share the findings as a senior collaborator & contributing author in this major GBD 2019 study.

We examined the global burden of acute vs chronic care needs across 204 countries & 379 sequelae.

Let's dig into key insights from this study! [2/7] Key finding: Chronic care conditions account for 68% of global DALYs (Disability-adjusted life years measure burden), while only 27% are due to acute care.

The burden intensifies with age and affects nearly every health system on Earth.

📈 Chronic ≠ niche. It’s the majority.

🧵1/7

What’s one of the most deadly and under-recognized types of stroke?

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (SAH).

Proud to share that our global study on the burden and risk factors of SAH has just been published in JAMA Neurology.

As a senior collaborator and co-author, I’m humbled to contribute to this crucial work.

Congratulations to the GBD 2021 Global Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Risk Factors Collaborators!

These findings can help reshape stroke prevention and health system priorities worldwide. 2/7

In 2021 alone:

📍700,000 new SAH cases
📍8 million living with SAH
📍350,000 deaths
📍10.6 million DALYs (disability-adjusted life years)

Even as rates fell, the absolute burden grew.

📈 A rising challenge for global health.

1/10

Has the so-called War on Terror come full circle?

When a former Al-Qaeda commander like Abu Mohammed al-Golani is embraced by global powers as a potential leader of Syria, we must ask:

Is this peace—or a betrayal of principle?

Let's unpack the farce. ⬇️ A thread. 🧵

Source: politico.eu/article/has-sy… 2/10

Golani, now known as Ahmed al-Sharaa, once pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda and fought U.S. forces in Iraq.

His group, Jabhat al-Nusra, had deep ties with ISIS.

Today, he wears blazers, trims his beard, and gets prime-time interviews.

A PR makeover ≠ moral rebirth.

Source: reuters.com/world/middle-e…

[1/15]

Why is the ancient city of Jerusalem not just stone and soil but soul and spirit?

Loved by people, the kings, and eternal in memory.

🧵👇 #Jerusalem #Yerushalayim #AlQuds [2/15]

In Jewish tradition, Jerusalem has 70+ names — just like a beloved.

Each name is a layer of meaning.

Among them:

• Zion
• Moriah
• Ariel (Lion of God)
• Ir Shalom (City of Peace)
• Yefeh Nof (Beautiful Height)
🌍💫

https://x.com/DrSonuBhaskar/status/1926667012740088098

🧵1/
What should a sovereign nation do when its innocent civilians—targeted for their religion—are slaughtered by cross-border terrorists backed by a hostile neighbor?

On April 22, 2025, 26 civilians (25 Hindus & 1 Nepali citizen) were brutally massacred in Pahalgam, Kashmir by Pakistani-backed terrorists.

They were targeted for their religion, gunned down after being identified as Hindus. India vowed retribution—and that moment came.

This wasn’t random. It was religious cleansing. 2/
India launched #OperationSINDOOR on May 6.

✅ 9 terrorist sites obliterated

✅ Targets: Kotli, Muzaffarabad, Bahawalpur

✅ Method: Precision missile strikes & drones

✅ Targets were non-military terror hubs used by Jaish-e-Mohammed & Lashkar-e-Taiba; not civilians, not army posts.

1/11

Why have every Islamic reform and every political Islamist project ended in greater suffering?

History has an answer few dare to hear.

Every attempt at reflection was followed by a replacement with control.

Is it time to rethink the path altogether?

A thread on why Atatürk to Nasser failed — and the more profound lesson.
👇

A thread you don't want to miss. 📷 Start 2/11

Atatürk's Turkey (1923–1938)
Abolished the Caliphate.
Banned Islamic dress and religious courts. Secularised education and language.

➡️ Outcome?
Faith retreated underground — only to re-emerge stronger through political Islam decades later.

(1/11)
In routine practice, we come across patients with brain cancer presenting acutely, with sudden weakness, confusion, seizures, or worse.

Yet, behind these "stroke-like" events, the causes vary dramatically:

🔹 Some bleed inside tumors
🔹 Others bleed around them
🔹 Some show ischemia without obvious triggers

This clinical complexity prompted us to take action.
🧠
In a recent publication in the Journal of Stroke Medicine, we introduce a novel way to characterize such patients. (2/11)
Proud to share our new publication in the Journal of Stroke Medicine:

"Integrated Management of Stroke Risk in Brain Cancer: Insights from the Tumoral Bleeding Classification System and CanStroke Protocol."

🔗
🧵doi.org/10.1177/251660…

1️⃣ 🦁 Like a lion, India moves with quiet poise and decisive power: restraint in its stance and relentless grit in its strike.

Every word from PM @narendramodi is a precision-placed brick in a strategic journey to reshape the region.



Strength with strategy: watch the roar become reality. 🇮🇳✨

A thread. 🧵

https://x.com/memenist_/status/1915441362373058825/video/1

2️⃣ Brick by brick, the old order trembles.

A lion never wastes energy on noise; it stalks, studies, and springs only when the outcome is certain.

Each policy, pact, and push tightens the circle around the architects of instability.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/punishme…