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...
Malaysia has stunned the world with a political tremor that has reunited two foes and which bucks a trend towards authoritarianism in Southeast Asia. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, center, visits former Deputy Prime Minister and opposition leader Anwar...
This article is part of a News-Decoder series of “decoders” that explain crucial background to big issues. For more decoders, click here. By Alistair Lyon Faith is often flaunted in the Middle East, but there are no angels here. One religiously-based state...
I covered the fall of Saigon when South Vietnam collapsed and North Vietnamese seized the city. I now ask myself: What was the sense of it all? The author standing on the steps of the former Saigon Opera, which had been converted into the South Vietnamese National...
China’s stance towards the Iran nuclear deal is rooted in three concepts: energy, its relationship with the U.S. and the North Korean nuclear issue. Foreign ministers of China, France, Germany, the European Union, Iran, Russia, Britain and the United States...
Some U.S. firms have cut ties with manufacturers of guns following the mass shooting at a Florida high school. But the impact of the moves is unclear. Guns on display at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Danvers, Massachusetts, 28 February 2018(EPA-EFE/CJ Gunther) The mass...
Fifty years ago in May ’68, angry students and workers brought France to a standstill in a bout of civil unrest that had a whiff of revolution. Students and workers demonstrate during a general strike in Paris, 13 May 1968(AP Photo/Eustache Cardenas) Fifty years...
I covered the Vietnam War as a rookie foreign correspondent in 1966 and 1967. There was death and destruction for sure, but it was not all war. Robert Hart, War zone D, Tay Ninh province, South Vietnam, August 1967(photo courtesy of the author) News-Decoder...
By David Schlesinger Making a huge statement about wanting to project military might, China is beginning sea trials of its first home-built aircraft carrier, the same week it conducted exercises with its first carrier, a rebuilt Soviet ship bought from Ukraine. The...
A Sicilian court has ruled politicians and police encouraged deadly car bomb attacks, shining a light into Italy’s long and bloody fight against the Mafia. Wreckage after a car bomb killed anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone near Palermo, Sicily, 23 May 1992. (AP Photo)...