The assassination of Iranian General Quassem Soleimani on 3 January in Iraq by U.S. forces brought the U.S. and Iran to the brink of war. The killing also, without warning, suddenly placed NATO-country soldiers, including Slovaks, in much greater danger as the world waited to see just how Iran would choose to retaliate. I speak with two Middle East experts in Slovakia about the wisdom of the U.S. decision to strike such a leading and popular Iranian figure in this way, and what the move's aftermath is likely to be. Malaria has long been a major problem in various countries of Africa, but new technologies are promising to lead to much earlier diagnosis of the problem, making successful treatment much more likely. I speak with Filip Ayazi, a Slovak student at Cambridge University, about the progress of this new technology.