In The News

Protests Engulf Lebanon: CNN

Tamara Qiblawi October 22, 2019
Thousands have turned out throughout Lebanon to protest an economy in decline. About 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, and 30 percent of the people are also refugees. Public debt is high and young adults are abandoning the stagnant economy. The government has passed austerity measures, and fury erupted after a tax was proposed on voice over internet protocol calls on...

World Stares at Trump: Washington Post

Dana Milbank October 21, 2019
Whether on denying climate change is a problem or pulling US troops from Syria while giving Kurdish allies five days to avoid Turkish forces, Donald Trump rationalizes policies that the rest of the world find incomprehensible. The US president seems alone against the world, suggests Dana Milbank for the Washington Post. Trump blames the intelligence community, the news media, academia and...

Timeline of Ukraine Scandal: Kyiv Post

Oleksiy Sorokin. October 19, 2019
Government officials withholding military aid to Ukraine for a political favor is at the heart of an impeachment inquiry underway since September 24. A telephone call and testimony to three committees of the House of Representatives indicate that Donald Trump directed his private attorney and government staff to re-investigate and disqualify numerous US investigations that have found Russia was...

Catalan Leaders Guilty of Sedition: El País

Reyes Rincón, Óscar Lóopez-Fonseca and Jeúus García October 16, 2019
Catalan separatists – including a party leader, former speaker of the Catalan parliament, former ministers and cabinet members – were sentenced to 9 to 13 years in prison by the Spanish Supreme Court for an attempt to break from Spain in October 2017. “The court has found that there were “undeniable acts of violence” in Catalonia in the fall of 2017, but that these were not severe enough to...

Protests, Curfew in Ecuador: Miami Herald

Jim Wyss October 9, 2019
Massive protests over rising prices and an end to fuel subsidies are roiling Ecuador’s capital. President Lenin Moreno has left the capital, transferred the government from Quito to Guayaquil, and declared a state of emergency, reports Jim Wyss for the Miami Herald. The president blames neighboring Venezuela and political opposition, and some US officials agree with that assessment despite...

China at 70: Dawn

October 2, 2019
The People’s Republic of China is celebrating its 70th birthday. The nation emerged during an “era of ideological zeal, when the socialist and capitalist blocs were locked in a global battle for influence,” explains an editorial in Pakistan’s Dawn, and its growth miracle started in earnest once Deng Xiaoping opened up the economy and loosened communist ideology. Today, President Xi Jinping has...

A Need to Hear “I Don’t Know” More: New Statesman

Amelia Tait September 28, 2019
Many in the world are far too certain and free with opinions even when lacking evidence. “’I don’t know’ is a phrase that is sorely needed in modern discourse,” suggests Amelia Tait for New Statesman. “In a world of push notifications, populism and prolifically tweeting presidents, it is easier than ever to feel overpowered by the news.” Many complex issues require nuanced responses that go far...