World News Insights: Opinion Articles

Sometimes words haunt the writer. They catch his attention and seize him. Sometimes it’s about words he heard or was touched by, or words he felt and could not forget. As a wandering Arab journalist, I carried the recorder between many Arab capitals, from Khartoum to Baghdad and Sanaa. The word…

During the Gaza war, many voices were heard in Lebanon; two among them are striking, at least on social media: one does not want to empathize with the Palestinians in the slightest, because of Lebanism, and the other wants to open the Lebanese border for war with Israel, citing their enthusiasm for…

When Iran is scheduled to hold its presidential election, Narges Mohammadi will be staying home. One of her country’s most courageous human-rights activists, she views the upcoming vote as a sham. “The principle of absolute jurisprudence has invalidated all the principles of the Iranian…

Theaters went dark in London’s West End last year, while galleries closed and concert halls stood silent. But there was one creative industry that flourished during lockdown: the reading and publishing of books. Many in the industry, as well as parents and educators, are now hoping the habit…

The restaurant and entertainment industry was hit hard by both the Covid recession and the federal government’s response to it. The pandemic kept customers away, and now employees are being kept away by the enhanced unemployment benefits included in President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American…

The jump in US consumer prices as the economy began reopening this spring — they rose 4.2% over the 12 months ending in April — has prompted a lot of historical comparisons to the bad old inflationary days of the 1970s. If we’re going to do historical comparisons, though, why stop at the 1970s?…

Wealthy Swedes were among the first to warn that the pandemic would bring crippling social and economic costs. When Covid-19 struck, industrialist Jacob Wallenberg staunchly opposed draconian lockdowns, fearing devastating unemployment and social unrest. That chimed with the Swedish government’s…

On Feb. 18, 1522, a secondhand clothing merchant named Geronimo Bambarara in the crowded Rialto district of Venice came up with a new way of clearing out stock. Instead of selling his goods directly for money, he decided to enter customers in a draw. In exchange for a 1 lira ticket, they might…

We have something new in US politics: a pretender. Former President Donald Trump is still claiming that he really won the election, and is now saying he’ll be “reinstated” to office by August, after an audit of some kind provides proof of voter fraud. Some of his supporters are egging him on;…

President Joe Biden’s blacklist on investment in Chinese companies offers the kind of compromise that could help steady relations, though it likely won’t be enough to inspire Beijing to reciprocate and cool tensions. In releasing an update Thursday to his predecessor’s Executive Order 13959,…

Undoubtedly an expansive question, the future of the Gulf Cooperation Council stands in front of two readings; the first a rational, objective reading with a scientific methodology and data, thereby reflecting reality regardless of the status or sensitivity of the issue. Another reading could more…

High winds have ravaged Iraq for the past 40 years. Wars, persecution, economic sanctions, terrorism and internal strife have threatened its stability and disrupted the well-being of its citizens. However, the most serious future threat facing us is climate change, its economic impact and…