It’s been 50 years since the U.S. put a man on the moon. It’s worth recalling how the U.S. lagged at the start of the Space Age. And what about Earth? A footprint left by a U.S. astronaut on the moon, 20 July 1969 (AP Photo/NASA) The Space Age began on...
Abortion is wrapped up in politics in many nations including the U.S. But one in four pregnancies ends in abortion, making it a global health issue. A woman demonstrates for the legalization of abortion, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 28 May 2019 (Nicolas...
Why are the U.S. and Iran at daggers drawn while Donald Trump has vowed to pull troops out of foreign wars? Mutual antagonism goes way back. Demonstrators protest against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Tehran, Iran, 9 October 1979. The effects of the 1979 revolution...
Some think there is a global conspiracy to promote harmful vaccines. But doctors and health experts agree: Vaccines are safe and they save lives. Earlier this week we published an article by correspondent Maggie Fox explaining what vaccines are and how they work. We...
Vaccines save millions of lives every year. Yet some people resist being immunized. Here’s how vaccines work and why humankind needs them. Burial of four Ebola victims in Butembo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 17 May 2019 (EPA-EFE/Hugh Kinsella Cunningham)...
The South China Sea has become one of the world’s most dangerous flash points. So far, the dispute has not resulted in military conflict. But it could. A globe showing islands in the South China Sea with China’s nine-dash line, Singapore, 13 July 2018 (AP...
U.S. President Donald Trump calls it the “I-word”. It has lawmakers in Washington in a quandry. So what is impeachment and how does it work? Depiction of the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in 1868 (Harper’s Weekly, Wikimedia Commons)...
The Soviet Union and its allies opposed the West for 36 years. After the Iron Curtain fell, NATO expanded, deepening Russian-Western tensions. Russian Premier Nikolai Bulganin signs the eight-nation Warsaw Pact, Warsaw, Poland, 14 May 14, 1955 (AP Photo) The North...
It’s unloved and misunderstood. It splits time between Brussels and Strasbourg. Its powers have grown, yet voters shun it. It’s the European Parliament. European Parliament, Strasbourg, France, 5 February 2014 (Wikimedia Commons, by Diliff) Voters from the...
A bloody attack in New Zealand brought the word “terrorist” back into the headlines. What is terrorism, and why is the term controversial? Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, center, looks behind as Israeli Prime Yitzhak Rabin speaks during the...