World News Insights: Opinion Articles

«How can one help the Iranian people restore their normal life?” This was the question that a Japanese friend put to me in 2019 in what at the time seemed to be a casual chat in a Persian restaurant in London. Three years later I have just learned that the question had been something more than a…

The Russian government has said that it will‌ withdraw from the International Space Station‌ “after 2024.” Instead of choosing multilateral cooperation, it plans to build its own station and send cosmonauts there to continue space research and exploration. Russia’s announcement sounds ominous —…

In the five months since Russia launched its war in Ukraine, the United States has pledged about $24 billion in military aid to Ukraine. That’s more than four times Ukraine’s 2021 defense budget. America’s partners in Europe and beyond have pledged an additional $12 billion, according to the Kiel…

The Lebanese are waiting for many things these days: they are waiting in line at bakeries to receive their share of bread. They are waiting for a war against Israel to erupt, a scenario that a man on a screen promises will save them from the catastrophic situation they find themselves in. They…

This week, the Democratic Republic of Congo — Africa’s second-largest nation and the sixth-most heavily forested country in the world — is auctioning off large sections of those forests to oil and gas companies. The decision has enraged climate activists: The vast tracts of equatorial forest and…

In the most popular show on American television, “Yellowstone,” the heroes are the rich owners of a vast, gorgeous spread of Montana real estate. The villains are anyone else who wants to live there. I exaggerate; the show is a little more complicated than this. There are times when the Duttons,…

In the energy scramble provoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, American liquid natural gas has so far played the role of Europe’s white knight. If Europe manages to keep its lights on, homes heated and factories running this winter, when energy demand is highest, it will be in large part thanks…

Just months after being sworn in as president in 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower gave an unusual task to his vice president, Richard Nixon. Years earlier, when Eisenhower was the supreme commander of the Allied forces in World War II, he was distressed over the unpreparedness of Vice President Harry…

While the official results of the vote on the constitutional referendum in Tunisia are yet to be announced, a survey by independent polling group Sigma Conseil revealed that 92.3% of voters in the referendum supported the new constitution. Completing the new constitution hardly means that…

On July 17, 1968, Iraqi officers, some of whom were Baathist and others who were not, launched a successful coup against the ruler at the time, Abdel Rahman Aref. However, the Baathists, who were trying to get rid of their fellow putschists and confront the popular isolation they had been faced…

If Elon Musk does eventually take over Twitter Inc. he will quickly discover the one feature he’s disparaged the most, bots, are the key to the platform’s ongoing growth. Musk may also be glad to see that its main rival in ephemeral social media, Snap Inc., doesn’t even have that same “problem.” …

After weeks of frustration, commercial testing for monkeypox is now going strong in the US and has reduced the backlog. The tests show that, as of Monday, the US had nearly 3,500 cases, among the most in the world. Yet wider access to existing tests hasn’t made it possible to diagnose infections…