World News Insights: Opinion Articles

According to the Gallup organization, 47 percent of Americans now identify with the Republican Party and 42 percent with the Democrats. That sounds ho-hum: one party doing a tad better than the other. But the Gallup numbers may portend a political earthquake. Republicans seldom lead on measures…

The question is on everyone’s lips. Will President Vladimir Putin go to war against Ukraine? To judge by Russia’s propaganda machine, where media moguls are predicting a victory “in 48 hours,” the answer is an emphatic yes. Yet the truth is more complex. While Mr. Putin undoubtedly regards…

It is difficult for an Arab journalist to conceal his anger and sadness at the scenes and news coming from capitals that he has been visiting for many years. He feels that part of the Arab world has been afflicted with diseases from which recovery seems impossible or delayed. It’s not surprising…

The Soviet Union was often described as having huge muscles but a small puny head. Nonetheless, it did have a big mouth: "The emancipation of peoples, assisting nations to build socialism, defending peace on earth, etc…” With these slogans and others, which were always accompanied by generous…

As vice president in January 2017, Joe Biden gave a speech endorsing the idea of a “world without nuclear weapons.” Last year, he took office pledging to reduce America’s reliance on those weapons — perhaps with a promise that Washington would never use nuclear weapons first in a conflict, or…

We knew this was coming. “George, you have to understand that Ukraine is not even a country. Part of its territory is in Eastern Europe and the greater part was given to us.” These were the ominous words of President Vladimir Putin of Russia to President George W. Bush in Bucharest, Romania, at…

It all began with the coronavirus outbreak on a Diamond Princess cruise ship back in February 2020. Nine health care workers and quarantine officers who were responding to the outbreak on the ship in Japan became infected. An official report suggested that they had most likely been infected…

Apple Inc., the iconic company whose products have transformed daily life, has done what was once unthinkable: It has become humdrum. On Thursday, Apple reported revenue of $124 billion for the December quarter, beating the $119 billion median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Net…

Despite all the fanfare around Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to create a cryptocurrency that was predicted to bring in “billions” in new revenue, the project has petered out with barely whimper. Meta Platforms Inc., the company formerly known as Facebook, agreed to sell assets tied to the project born in…

Epidemics and climate change took center stage in 2021 while other issues essential to safeguard life on Earth took a back seat. It is true that the Covid-19 pandemic and its ongoing manifestations have put humans face to face with the most prominent health challenges in this generation; equally…

Peer review is both the greatest strength and the greatest weakness of the scientific research system. It filters out bad work and makes good work better. But it can also slow down the dispersal of new ideas, which is a big problem when it comes to tackling fast-changing challenges like the Covid…

As some 3,000 athletes, their retinues and the media converge on Beijing, the Chinese government has gone to extraordinary lengths to prevent the 24th version of the Winter Olympics, which open Feb. 4, from becoming a Covid superspreading event. Though athletes and coaches will be required to be…