As President Daniel Ortega and his relatives continue to accumulate power in Nicaragua, they are becoming a close copy of the venal political dynasty Ortega fought to overthrow.
Tag: politics
Both President Erdogan and top opposition parties are focused on national reconciliation. But Erdogan’s plans will ultimately exclude democracy.
From China to Colombia, the use of sexual favors and vulnerability to blackmail is key to widespread corruption of public officials.
-OpEd- So let’s stipulate: Donald Trump is not Vladimir Putin’s willing agent, and it’s not certain if or to what extent Putin is trying to elect Trump president. The real issue is that Trump and Putin share the same nihilistic approach to international relations. Together, they could transform our world. Putin already has fostered a current of ruthless, cynical and utterly unprincipled opportunism in what, before his arrival, was thought of as an increasingly cooperative and rational international community. The Russian president has embraced and perfected the use of lies for geopolitical advantage, pursued and murdered his opponents in foreign […]
Politicians are hiding behind complacent language instead of facing the challenges that their constituents are fired up about.
BUENOS AIRES — When Voluspa Jarpa got her hands on piles of court papers and declassified CIA documents linked to Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s, she saw an opportunity to make art. The Chilean artist decided she’d use the material to create a vast, albeit austere, visual display that doubles as a discrete […]
BERLIN — It’s been a year since German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a Palestinian refugee teen burst into tears live on national television. Reem Sahwil was 14 years old, and living on a temporary residence permit, when she was invited with others for a townhall-style public encounter with Merkel on July 15, 2015, in the […]
Whoever wins the election in November, America is poised to have its most consequential first daughter since Anna Roosevelt.
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One Week Before The Olympics
Correio Braziliense, July 29th Friday’s edition of the Correio Braziliense daily features images of final preparations for the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, which are now just one week away. As the Games near, concerns about security and logistics are rising. The country is still reeling from a series of political and economic crises, and […]
PARIS — This month’s Republican and Democratic national conventions put an end to whatever doubts may have persisted about the parties’ respective presidential candidate choices. There were grumblings to be sure — from Ted Cruz and the “Anyone but Trump” crowd at the Cleveland convention, to the “Bernie or Bust” folks among the Democrats in […]
Nice, Turkey, Wurzburg, Ansbach. The escalating violence of the last few days raise the pressure on the German Chancellor, whose refugee policy is again in the spotlight. The political repercussions could strike where it matters to her most.
How should we react in the face of the threat of Islamist terrorism? It’s a fine line to walk between the double threat of jihadism and our own worst instincts.
Now that two of the world’s five biggest economies – Germany and Britain – are headed by women, and the biggest one of all, the U.S., has a woman front-runner in its presidential election, the glass ceiling in politics can probably be declared broken, and it’s time to consider what kind of change this brings to the world. The overall statistics of female leadership do not look particularly encouraging. There are fewer women heads of government today than there were last year. Not even 5% of government leaders are women. Yet they are winning where it matters: If there were […]
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Fury In China Over Maritime Dispute Ruling
Dongfang Zaobao, July 13 “The South Sea Islands have been part of China’s territory since ancient times,” Wednesday’s front page of the Chinese daily Dongfang Zaobao reads. “China does not accept the ruling that does not recognize the South China Sea.” The defiant headline comes in response to Tuesday’s decision by a UN tribunal to […]
i, July 12 Tuesday’s edition of the British daily the i features new Conservative Party leader Theresa May, with the headline “May Day.” Outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to present his resignation to the Queen on Wednesday, which will make Theresa May will the UK’s new leader. On Monday, Andrea Leadsom, the final […]
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China’s Grand Soccer Ambitions
The last time China made a World Cup appearance in 2002, the team lost all three group matches and went out without a single goal. While Chinese fans are mad about soccer, their own national team rarely gives them reason to rejoice. But there are grand pl
Le Canard enchaîné first ever and latest front pages France’s legendary satirical weekly Le Canard enchaîné is celebrating its century-long existence, and the Internet is not about to write its obituary. “The Chained Duck” — canard is both French for “duck” and the slang for “newspaper,” — was first published on July 5, 1916. On […]
Extra, July 5th The Tuesday edition of Brazilian newspaper Extra features a picture of policemen, occupying a portion Rio de Janeiro’s international airport Tom Jobim to protest unpaid salaries as security fears rise a month before the Summer Olympics are set to open. “It is horrible,” reads the front-page headline, a quote from Rio Mayor […]
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Extra! UK Game Of Thrones To Succeed Cameron
Metro, July 1 This Friday’s Metro front page features a parody of the hit TV series Game of Thrones with the faces of three Conservative Party pols, from left to right, Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Theresa May, with the headline “The Real Game of Thrones.” After last week’s Brexit vote effectively ended the career […]
La Voz de Galicia, June 27th The Monday edition of Spanish daily La Voz de Galicia features a victorious Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy kissing his wife, Elvira Fernandes, after winning the most seats in Spain“s parliamentary elections. Sunday’s vote followed an inconclusive election in December, when the parties failed to agree on a coalition. […]
PARIS — The fateful day has arrived. Voters in the United Kingdom go to the polls Thursday to decide if they should stay or should they go from the familiar but increasingly unpopular arms of the European Union. The consequences of an potential “Brexit” extend beyond Britain, as the EU would lose a major economic […]
Signing a petition challenging Donald Trump’s right to run for U.S. president is one bad good idea. A novelist who lived through Balkan tragedies knows this well.
Three of the most contentious questions in American culture and politics — gay rights, gun control and terrorism — collided in a horrific way in an Orlando nightclub early Sunday. It is not entirely clear what inspired Omar Mateen to commit the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, or what might have been done to stop it. But it happened in a gay club, just two weeks shy of the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, and on a weekend when cities across the country, including Washington, were holding gay pride festivals. It was perpetrated […]
Other cities ban prostitution from residential areas with schools and playgrounds. Not Berlin. Here, it’s just part of the city’s “poor, but sexy” image.
-OpEd- Turkey has never been a stranger to terror attacks. But it seems that the spiral of violence we have entered since the June 7, 2015, general election is so severe that it cannot be compared to anything that came before. Worse: There’s no resolution in sight, no sign of an end to this violent […]
Renmin Ribao, June 7, 2016 Tuesday’s front page of the Chinese state-run daily Renmin Ribao features President Xi Jinping in front of American and Chinese flags as he spoke at China-U.S. bilateral talks in Beijing. The 8th round of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Development and the 7th round of China-U.S. Cultural Exchanges and High Level […]
El Comercio, June 6, 2016 “Vote by vote” reads the front page of Peruvian daily El Comercio Monday, as ballots are still being counted after Sunday’s presidential election, the second-round vote being too close to call last night. The front page features a painting of the two main candidates, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski from the center-right […]
-OpEd- WASHINGTON — What word comes to mind when you see the name Donald Trump? For some people, it might be “anger,” since he provokes it and stokes it. For others, it might be “ignorance,” since he knows so little and, like many unburdened by knowledge, is untroubled by facts. Some might say “fear,” since it would take some scary police tactics to push 11 million people over the border to Mexico. For me, none of those words suffices. I would say “betrayal.” It is the word that comes to mind almost on a nightly basis when I see some […]
For the first time in 70 years, Americans have a chance to vote for an outspoken protectionist from a major party. How did we get here?
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Turkish PM Expected To Step Down
Milliyet, May 5, 2016 Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu looks set to be replaced, after months of growing tension with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Davutoglu, who is head of the governing AKP, met Erdogan on Wednesday night, in a move that fueled reports that the power struggle between the two men had reached its apex. […]
Venezuela’s economic woes are depriving the socialist regime of its remaining popularity, even as the government uses every constitutional and political trick up its sleeve to block the opposition’s ascent to power.
-OpEd- ISTANBUL — Parliament leader Ismail Kahraman said Turkey’s new constitution should be based on religion, not ideals of secularism. Needless to say, this created a fuss. And yet, it is no secret what Mr. Kahraman thinks. The Unity Foundation, of which the parliament head is a founder, had a committee that proposed a draft […]
Bolivia’s president lost a referendum earlier this year that could have kept him in power beyond 2019. The long-serving leader may try to seek reelection regardless.
Though her victory in New York nearly assures a path to the Democratic nominee, the stature of the former Secretary of State has been weakened in her battle with Bernie Sanders. How does she adjust for November?
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Impeachment! On Brazilian Front Page
Folha de S. Paulo, April 18, 2016 “Impeachment!” reads the front page of leading Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo on Monday, a day after Brazil’s lower house of Parliament voted in favor of starting impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. The embattled president faces accusations that she manipulated budget figures to secure her reelection […]
Barack Obama’s recent trip to Cuba and Argentina are the crowning achievement on his administration’s efforts to consolidate peaceful ties with and among Latin American countries.
-OpEd- WASHINGTON, D.C. — Spend enough time watching politicians talk, and pretty soon you’ll have a good idea of how to address the public like a seasoned elected official. No matter the topic, our nation’s leaders invariably find a way to tie things back to members of the hard-working middle-class who just want a fair shot at the American dream, perhaps with a side of help for small business. Lawmakers today might be able to give this kind of political speech in their sleep. But with the way technology is going, they might as well have a robot write it […]
The Brussels attacks are a reap-what-you-sow moment for Europe, after biding its time and coddling its dangerous allies for too long.
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‘The End’ For South Africa President Zuma?
South African President Jacob Zuma is facing new accusations of influence peddling, in what may be the most perilous scandal of his political career. On its front page Friday, Cape-Town-based Afrikaans-language daily Die Burger asked if this was “The End?” for the South African leader. Senior public figures accused the Gupta family of close ties […]