It was, for the continent of Europe, the end of an era. The geopolitical picture in Europe is shaping up a bit like “Back to the Future,” dominated by two historical rivals: Germany and Russia. Without the steady hand of late US President George H.W. Bush, it’s not at all clear that the fall of the wall would have led to the reunification of Germany, only a few decades after a world war in which Nazi aggression had scarred the memory of Europe. And without the stewardship of German Chancellor Angela Merkel since 2005 – who last week passed on the leadership of her Christian Democratic Union party, and has confirmed this term will be her last – the tensions with Vladimir Putin’s Russia over the former Soviet-bloc countries of Eastern Europe would have been even harder to navigate.

Thu, 13 Dec 2018 13:11:24 -0500

In the Hague, a church has held a seven-week-long continuous service to stop a family from being deported. According to Dutch law, police cannot enter places of worship during an ongoing religious service. In July, Tham Luang Nang Non cave was anxiously watched by the world as rescuers worked to save 12 soccer team members and their coach from a flooded underground passage.

Thu, 13 Dec 2018 06:00:01 -0500

Young Andrés Watle has only been around for about three decades – and yet that’s long enough to have known the economic ups and downs of Argentina’s legendary populist governance. “It seems great when you’re living the good times of el populismo, with services practically given away and a feeling that we’re a wealthy country,” says Mr. Watle, a Buenos Aires travel agent. Breaking the pattern of the boom-and-bust economic cycles that have defined Argentina’s economy for decades was a central objective of Argentine President Mauricio Macri when he took office in 2015.

Wed, 12 Dec 2018 16:32:00 -0500

A country still dealing with potential election interference by foreign agents is now facing a home-grown scandal: credible and bipartisan allegations that a small-town operator in rural North Carolina used illicit means to swing a 905-vote win for a Republican House candidate. A bipartisan elections board in North Carolina unanimously declined to certify the Ninth District election last week after “unfortunate activities,” in the words of the board’s vice chair – apparent mass-manipulation of absentee ballots – came to light. Affidavits suggest that Republican officials shared early voting data with partisans while withholding that information from Democrats.

Wed, 12 Dec 2018 16:29:31 -0500