World News Insights: Opinion Articles

Recycling is “dead,” say the obituaries. And if it’s not dead it’s “broken,” “not working,” “in the bin,” “failing,” a “charade,” “a lie,” and of course “too good to be true.” This gloomy narrative has gained momentum over the past three years as cities struggled to find places to send the stuff…

Britain’s guidance on where Brits can go on holiday is about as clear as a pair of sunglasses smudged with sunscreen. This is creating headaches for everyone: people trying to plan vacations; countries like Spain and Greece that depend on summer tourists; and travel companies such as EasyJet Plc…

All across the US, people are hugging, talking in each other’s faces, going to the office, attending indoor sports events and not wearing masks in the Walmart. Yet the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 continues its retreat, with confirmed cases down by more than 50% over the past month. …

Whether or not they had been in agreement from their opposite positions, Israel and Hamas emerged victoriously, or this is what we will hear from many tongues. Israel has said, and it will keep saying again and again, that it destroyed terrorist infrastructure by killing some Hamas military…

The political class has achieved what wars, occupations and hegemonies could not. It has broken the spirit of the Lebanese people. It has fragmented and displaced them. It has impoverished them. It has shown them as islands drowning in a sea of failure and spite. It has succeeded in making hating…

The cyber criminals are winning. After the recent spate of devastating attacks, experts say it’s only going to get worse from here, with hacking tools becoming increasingly available and high ransomware payments enticing more malicious actors and daring them to go after ever bigger targets…

An innovative lottery program in Ohio looks like it might have succeeded in raising vaccination rates. If the result holds, it means a triumph for behavioral economics. And that will open up the possibility of using lotteries to lure people into doing all sorts of things. Less than 50% of the…

You know something is wrong with the public health messaging in the US when a tow truck driver is giving out better information on Covid-19 transmission than the WHO or CDC. His words of wisdom to me, when he came to tow my car back to the dealer earlier this spring, was that if you’re indoors with…

After land and oceans, will space become the new waste dump? The issue is not a new one, as it has been the focus of discussion for years, and has been regarded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for two decades as a crucial emerging challenge facing humanity. However, the panic…

The announcement of yet another Chinese tech founder stepping down from the frontlines has people rushing to point the finger at Beijing. Yet executive retirement, especially in the transitional phases of a company, should be celebrated and encouraged. Zhang Yiming, who started content platform…

Inflation is coming. Or wait, it’s already here. Bond investors are looking at the 4.2% annual rate that US consumer prices jumped to in April and wondering if it’s all because of depressed levels from last year. Could it be that the Federal Reserve is wrong about higher prices being transitory? …

One can hardly blame people for being worried about the new Covid-19 vaccines when there are so many anecdotal reports of weird side effects — including women experiencing disturbing changes in their menstrual cycles. Reports of early and unusually heavy periods or other irregularities were…