Amid the India-Pakistan conflict in May, Hyderabad’s famous Karachi Bakery — named after the founder’s hometown, which is in present-day Pakistan — was vandalized. Why is this well-loved Indian chain being villainized?
Category: Geopolitics
The West once promised freedom, justice and reason. But after centuries of global dominance, war crimes and broken ideals, its future hangs in the balance. As nationalism rises and China stakes its claim, is the West entering its final act — or just another turning point?
China is taking a growing interest in investing in Latin America — just as the Trump administration is making the United States less reliable. But what are Beijing’s real motivations.
Beyond the immeasurable horror for the people of Gaza, the war is also seeing a rise in hatred against Israelis, and Jews. Netanyahu says he wants to defend Israel, but is instead exposing his nation and all Jews to contempt and isolation.
June 7-8• Gulf architecture as soft power• Banning #SkinnyTok• Viral PSG éclairs• … and much more ⬇️ STARTER A timely reminder of what Ukraine’s defeat would mean for the rest of us Bahatyr and Vilne Pole. Oleksandropil and Mykhailivka and Malynivka. Here in Germany, these names mean nothing. They stir no feelings, no fear, no […]
Neither Israel nor Hamas has any interest in declaring victory or defeat. Yet, as a moral obligation, Hamas must preempt the Israeli mission and agree to withdraw from Gaza.
An appeal signed by 75 Nobel Prize winners calls on the world to take action to end the suffering of Congolese civilians in the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. But they have little chance of being heard — despite our shared responsibility.
👋 Halo!* Welcome to Thursday, where U.S. President Donald Trump signs a travel ban for 12 countries, Israel recovers the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages in southern Gaza, and our daily quiz question goes Back to the Future. Meanwhile, for Worldcrunch, Hagar Farouk explores how Gulf states are using architecture as a strategic tool of […]
China is blocking exports of rare earth material in response to the U.S. trade war, which is now beginning to affect Western industries. Indeed, the American position is weakened just as negotiations are set to resume. Will Trump chicken out again?
Architecture is a form of soft power, a symbolic language through which Gulf states tell stories about themselves to the world and to their own citizens — and ultimately, to exercise control.
👋 Saluton!* Welcome to Wednesday, where Trump doubles steel and aluminium tariffs, South Korea’s new president is sworn in and our quiz question takes you to one of Amsterdam’s iconic museums. Meanwhile, for Daraj, Iman Adel tells us the story of Laila Soueif, the mother of a jailed British-Egyptian activist who has been on a […]
South Korea had been in political crisis since December, when its conservative president attempted a power grab by declaring martial law. On Tuesday, South Koreans elected the progressive candidate Lee Jae-myung, turning the page and preparing to tackle the immense challenges facing a region on edge.
The Trump administration backed populist and far-right presidential candidates in Romania and Poland: It lost in Romania but won in Poland. Washington’s agenda is to weaken the European Union by supporting its detractors within it.
👋 Yumalundi!* Welcome to Tuesday, where Israeli forces kill at least 27 Palestinians in another deadly confrontation near a food distribution site in Gaza, Mount Etna erupts, and we’ve got one sour quiz question for you. Meanwhile, for La Stampa, Stefano Stefanini looks at Ukraine’s recent long-range drone strike deep inside Russia — and what […]
Poland’s new president Karol Nawrocki, a political outsider backed by the far right, won with a campaign echoing Donald Trump. His victory closes the door on liberal reforms and paves the way for a nationalist comeback.
In a tightly contested election night marked by twists and turns, Karol Nawrocki emerged victorious as Poland’s next president. But what does the rise of this conservative-nationalist, backed by the Law and Justice party, signal for the country’s future?
👋 Konta!* Welcome to Monday, where conservative Karol Nawrocki clinches a narrow victory in Poland’s presidential election, Ukraine launches a major drone attack on Russian bombers ahead of key negotiations, and today’s quiz question hails from Mumbai airport. Meanwhile, Mohamed Abu Shahma in Lebanon-based Daraj investigates how tobacco continues to flow in Gaza, even as […]
A new horror during food distribution in Gaza comes, with the warring parties digging in their heels at the expense of the population. Only the White House has the weight to impose a truce. Why is it waiting?
May 31-June 1 • Who owns AI?• RIP Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o• Reading from a mile away• … and much more ⬇️ STARTER Poland’s presidential showdown, between Europe and its illiberal shadow It has become something of a classic pattern: every election in Europe is presented as decisive in the battle between democracy and illiberalism — […]
Having produced nothing but mirages, Donald Trump is now threatening to pack up and let everybody fend for themselves. That’s exactly what the strongman in Moscow wants.
The price of doing business in Zimbabwean gold — the country’s latest currency — is too steep for many retailers, who can’t compete with an informal market still churning on U.S. dollars.
As Berlin and Tel Aviv mark a diplomatic milestone, the relationship born out of pragmatism, guilt and survival faces its toughest questions yet — especially amid war, protest and growing calls for criticism.
Sunday’s second round of the Polish presidential election feels like a clash between democratic values and nationalist conservatism, with high geopolitical stakes. With Poland’s international profile growing, Trump, Putin, Zelensky, and all the big European players are watching closely.
Egypt has tried again to reaffirm its historic regional role by condemning Israel’s war in Gaza. But Cairo’s economic weakness, and reliance on Israel and the Gulf countries, ultimately leave its hands tied.
A Kenyan court has ruled that Meta must face a lawsuit over its alleged role in the killing of an Ethiopian professor, whose son says Facebook posts incited his father’s murder during the Tigray conflict. The case marks the first time the tech giant will be held legally accountable in an African court for failing to curb online hate and disinformation.
👋 Gude!* Welcome to Thursday, where a U.S. court blocks Trump’s tariffs, a series of Israeli airstrikes kill at least 37 in Gaza, and today’s quiz question addresses James Bond rumors. Meanwhile, Die Zeit’s Tanja Schwarzenbach weighs the concrete pros and cons of raising a young child in your 40s. [*Tok Pisin, Papua New Guinea] […]
The distribution of food aid in Gaza was suspended yesterday after chaotic scenes prompted the Israeli army to open fire. Humanitarian experts had warned the effort was doomed to fail after Israel bypassed established aid organizations in favor of an unknown foundation.
Gang crime, explosions and hitmen killings, linked to guerrillas or cross-border trafficking, are turning the Colombian frontier city of Cúcuta into a lawless free-for-all. The locals however, are not as shocked as they should be.
With global diplomacy now driven more by personalities than institutions, summits resemble showdowns — and geopolitics risks becoming a game where the stakes are dangerously real.
👋 Inuugujoq kutaa!* Welcome to Wednesday, where Donald Trump threatens new sanctions on Russia, the UN issues a grim climate report, and today’s quiz question comes to us from Fukushima, Japan. Meanwhile, Cairo-based Hagar Farouk looks at the quiet rise of “transactional marriage” in Egypt between older foreign women and much younger Egyptian men. [*Greenlandic] […]
It is a genocide committed by the German colonial army 120 years ago, but it is being officially commemorated for the first time this week in Namibia. A painful memory is resurfacing — here, as elsewhere in Africa — that is unsettling the former colonizers.
René Girard’s theories of mimetic desire, scapegoating, and Christianity have found unexpected champions among American conservatives like Peter Thiel and JD Vance, who see his work as both spiritually profound and politically useful. But critics argue this appropriation distorts Girard’s deeply nonviolent, apolitical philosophy into a tool for nationalist agendas.
The Trump administration is using the claim that immigrants have “invaded” the country to justify possibly suspending habeas corpus, part of the constitutional right to due process. A faction of the far right has been building this case for years.
Romania and Poland, both countries divided between their liberal Pro-European and conservative nationalist parties, both countries with a communist past, have now had to make a choice about which direction they wish to go in.
👋 Chào!* Welcome to Tuesday, where Hamas and Israel bicker over a proposed new Gaza ceasefire, Germany green lights Ukraine to fire missiles into Russia and today’s quiz question comes from the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Meanwhile, Patricia Simón and Maria Volkova for La Marea explore the dark side of Ukraine’s surrogacy business as […]
Donald Trump called Putin crazy, but he’d never use his favorite insult against the Russian president: Loser. But that’s what Trump is beginning to look like after five months of promising to end the Ukraine war in 24 hours.
Sources say Hezbollah is in such dire financial shape, as Israel and Lebanon are successfully cutting off funding from Iran, it puts the organization at existential risk.
👋 Hej!* Welcome to Monday, where Israeli airstrikes kill at least 52 in Gaza, U.S. President Donald Trump has harsh words for Vladimir Putin, and today’s quiz question is about vandalism in the beautiful Belgian city of Bruges. Meanwhile, Viola Kiel in Die Zeit asks scientists: Is “ultra-processed” food truly the enemy? [*Danish] ✅ SIGN […]
There may be plausible explanations for the delay in international reactions to the tragedy in Gaza. But in the past two months of killing and blockades, the tide has turned.
From Pope Leo XIV and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin to Italian Prime Minister Meloni and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, intense maneuverings are underway to see if the peace process can be relaunched in Rome. There are both religious and judicial hurdles to overcome.