Worldcrunch
Two years after the worst massacre in their history, Israelis have yet to recover from the trauma. The war in Gaza still rages, with the nation waiting for the results of ongoing negotiations. While they have achieved military victories, the moral struggle remains unresolved — leaving Israel at a critical crossroads.
Trump’s victory is not some unforeseen accident. Europe should have been preparing for this. It didn’t. The actions we take now are vital for the future of democracy and the free world, writes Giovanni di Lorenzo, Die Zeit‘s editor-in-chief.
The outcome of the U.S. presidential election hinges on just a few percentage points—and lately, pollsters have often missed the mark. Here’s how they’ve tweaked their models, and why it’s probably not enough.
The current unprecedented political crises in France and the United States — two very different systems and political cultures — have points in common, notably that partisan issues are still taking precedence over the need to rethink the democratic system and its practices.
U.S. President Joe Biden has announced his withdrawal from November’s presidential election after weeks of pressure from fellow Democrats. Newspapers from around the world have reacted to the news, bidding au revoir to the Democratic leader on their front pages.
Compared to the worldwide admiration for Volodymyr Zelensky, authorities in Moscow have systematically tried to demean the Ukrainian leader. Yet even among Russians, that strategy appears to be backfiring.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just as Washington has submitted a stunning resolution at the UN pressuring Israel into a ceasefire. But is there a way out?
The West’s passive response to Israel’s actions in Gaza is increasingly difficult to maintain in front of the looming humanitarian crisis in Rafah. The lip service of “deep concern” doesn’t bother Netanyahu at all.
With U.S. elections slated for November, support to Ukraine is becoming a divisive electoral issue. Wednesday’s vote in the U.S. Senate over Ukraine aid will be telling, but it won’t end there.
Iran’s allies are attacking the West across the region. The Hamas massacre, attacks on U.S. troops and the Houthi targeting of ships are possibly just the beginning. The fact that the Middle East is so unstable today is due to a decision first made by the U.S. a generation ago.
The 2024 U.S. presidential election is set to have far-reaching implications for the world. But the Republican and Democrat frontrunners, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, both have their own sets of hurdles to jump before then if they hope to secure voters’ support.
In the West Bank, a quieter form of oppression has been plaguing Palestinians for a long time. Their olive groves are surrounded by soldiers, and it’s forbidden to harvest the olives – this economic and social violence has gotten far worse since Oct. 7.
Taking the U.S. and France as leading indicators, with different histories and relationships inside the Middle East, Israel should be very worried about maintaining the support of its Western allies. The criticism of Israel and calls for immediate ceasefires are coming not only from the streets, but also inside the halls of power.
Perhaps even more pivotal than Qatar, Egypt is accelerating its efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israel.
Reserved, not accustomed to the spotlight, capable of taking a step back and not overshadowing the president. In this time of crisis, Antony Blinken navigates geopolitics with the president’s full trust.
Here are six key points from Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah’s long awaited speech, including a threat to Israel that it was a “realistic possibility” that the war along the Lebanese border is about to escalate.
Secretary of State Blinken is traveling back to Israel with a more explicit message for Netanyahu after President Biden said late Wednesday it’s time for a “pause” right now. Meanwhile, Israel shows no signs of letting up its ground and air assault on Gaza.
Also, Egyptian president appears to threaten war with Israel over Palestinian refugees, and German chancellor forced to evacuate his plane amid air raid alert.
The deep dysfunction of American democracy is bringing smiles (and big ideas) to autocratic regimes around the world, convinced that it is a sign of the West in decline.
It’s undeniable that questions are being raised in the West about the cost of supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion. But no time soon will Western powers turn their backs on Kyiv. And the U.S. in particular has one big extra reason to work against a Russian victory: China.
Is the Biden administration following President Obama’s counterproductive recipe of handing Tehran large sums of cash hoping for good conduct and a tepid détente?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was received warmly in the U.S. and in France — visits which must have provoked some jealousy in Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who faces many of the same anti-democratic criticisms as Modi, can’t expect the same kind of red-carpet welcome in Washington.
Ukraine was promised fast-tracked NATO membership last week. But promises often are overtaken by politics, and voices in and around the U.S. government are looking for softer ways out of the Ukraine war, including freezing the conflict like what was done between the two Koreas 70 years ago.
Ahead of the Vilnius NATO summit, Joe Biden said Ukraine joining NATO while the war is on is a non-starter. But it’s also a done deal once Kyiv has vanquished its Russia invaders.
Fixated on migration as a big issue of the 2024 presidential elections, the Biden administration is ignoring the state’s piecemeal assault on democracy in Guatemala, a country already struggling with endemic violence, in return for curbs on U.S.-bound migration.
The Biden administration’s bid to revive a nuclear agreement with Iran is seen by some as a “weak” approach to exercising power in the Middle East. However, it may be an attempt to restrict Russia’s strategic influence inside Iran, which may serve both the West and Tehran.
The U.S. is set to rejoin UNESCO, after Donald Trump pulled the country out in 2017, accusing it of being biased against Israel. The reasons for the return include artificial intelligence and pure geopolitics.
This is the story of Ya Ya, a female panda whose fate captures for the degrading relationship and eroding trust between China and the U.S.
In the inevitable race for symbolic victories on the eve of the Ukraine invasion’s first anniversary, Joe Biden scored a major victory with his surprise visit to Kyiv. Meanwhile, one year on, Vladimir Putin has yet to visit his own country’s troops on the front line.
Let’s call it the “war of the balloons”: Four unidentified flying objects have now been shot down by fighter jets in one week over North America. But the mystery of the details should not hide the bigger picture of how far U.S.-Sino relations have sunk in the past 10 days.
Like unpopular leaders in democracies, Chinese President Xi Jinping has decided recently to increase his trips abroad to project an image of power and distract from the ills at home. But the debacle of the country’s strategy on the pandemic is not going away, and there may be real long-term consequences.
On his historic trip to Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recalls Winston Churchill in multiple ways, including that we wouldn’t have thought much of either one before war turned each into leaders of epic proportions. A view from Germany.
For the Russians, the Ukrainian president went to the U.S. “begging for money.” But elsewhere in the world, this visit was shaping up as one of the most significant episodes of a 10-month-old war with planetary implications.
There’s been no shortage of boasting in Russia after the return of arms dealer Viktor Bout, in exchange for U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner. But even if Vladimir Putin showed his negotiating muscle, it’s a pyrrhic victory as too many other compatriots haven’t made it home alive..
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin was open to negotiations, adding that the possibility of talks would be hampered by the United States’ refusal to acknowledge annexed Ukrainian regions as being part of Russia. [shortcode-Subscribe-to-Ukraine-daily-box] “The United States still does not recognize new territories as part of the Russian Federation, and this complicates the […]
In Russian schools, lessons on “important things” are a compulsory hour pushing state propaganda. But not everyone is buying it. Independent Russian media outlet Vazhnyye Istorii/Important Stories spoke to teachers, parents and students about how they see patriotism and Putin’s mobilization.
This is among the most important signs of how the war has turned against Russia in the past three months.
While some breathed sighs of relief that the Republicans’ predicted “red wave” sweep didn’t happen, others chuckle at how long it takes to count the votes. And then there’s Senõr Musk…
After several weeks of mixed messages, the announcement of Russia’s withdrawal from the strategic city of Kherson caught many off guard. It is in many respects a momentous turn, with Ukraine poised to retake a city captured by Russian forces in the very first days after the Feb. 24 invasion. [shortcode-Subscribe-to-Ukraine-daily-box] The pullout is not […]
If not cannon fodder, many of the reservists are facing shortages of food, weapons and promised payments.