It’s a term taken from cricket and baseball. Now, a “backstop” holds the key to Britain’s messy exit from the European Union. Demonstrators on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland near Newry in Northern Ireland, 26...
Europe faces a moment of truth in May. Voters will choose a new parliament, and far-right parties and populists could make big gains. The European Parliament debating chamber in Strasbourg, France (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) Far-right and populist parties...
Threatened by populists and “fake news,” democracy is in crisis. But it remains better than alternatives — and a holy grail for states ditching dictators. Britain’s Big Ben clock tower, a symbol of parliamentary democracy, with a nearby statue...
New York goes into lock-down every year for the UN General Assembly, which attracts world leaders — and sends photographers like me scrambling. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and U.S. President Donald Trump (Photo by Enrique Shore) News-Decoder...
Democracy is in retreat around the world. How bad is the “democratic recession?” And what can you do to get democracy back on track? (Artwork from Creative Commons) This article is part of a News-Decoder series of “decoders” that explain...
By Deborah Charles Twenty years ago I used to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi over a spotty telephone connection to Yangon from Bangkok, or in person when I managed to get into Myanmar and she was free to accept visitors in the house that served as her prison for 15 years....
Former White House adviser Steve Bannon has had a major influence on Donald Trump and is supporting nationalists elsewhere. Here are his intellectual roots. White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon (R) and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington,...
Recently I went to Russia. I discovered that Russians view their president, Vladimir Putin, in a much different light than many of us from the West. Russian President Vladimir Putin during a friendly soccer match, Moscow, 28 June 2018. (AP Photo/Alexander Safonov)...
What if North Korean leader Kim Jong-un challenged U.S. President Donald Trump to a round of golf in a high-stakes gamble at a historic summit? Donald Trump hits out of the sand in Pebble Beach, California, 11 February 2005. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) News-Decoder...
Autocrat or nation-builder? Malaysia’s Mahathir still stirs mixed feelings even as he stuns the world by regaining power and reuniting with his nemesis. Mahathir Mohamad, left, and Anwar Ibrahim in September 1997, a year before the prime minister sacked his...