Regarding the Feb. 18 Points of Progress article, “Slow and steady, grassland grows”: As a native of a prairie state – North Dakota – the article on grasslands expressing concern for their conservation evoked a “yes!” There are national grasslands established in North Dakota, and when I bought a 1/3-acre piece of odd land within Bismarck, I planned to find prairie grasses to plant around the house I would build. At first, children are sent out into the fields and factories as soon as they are physically able.

Sat, 23 Mar 2019 06:00:02 -0400

“March 8, International Women’s Day – or ‘Women’s Combat Day’, as many feminists call it in Germany – has just been declared a public holiday in Berlin,” writes Hannah Neumann. “Awareness for discrimination and sexualised violence is rising.... At the same time, from Bilbao to Brussels to Berlin and Bucharest, women and their concerns remain grossly marginalised.... The EU urgently needs to get its equality homework done.... And this is not just about symbolic representation. “The late February air strikes by Indian fighter jets were meant to send a tough message to Pakistan...,” writes Rupakjyoti Borah.

Sat, 23 Mar 2019 06:00:01 -0400

The setting alone was shocking: a pastoral, oceanside city in New Zealand, the country ranked the planet’s second-most peaceful, after Iceland. When a white-supremacist terrorist opened fire in two Christchurch mosques on March 15, taking 50 lives including those of a 3-year-old child and 78-year-old man, the brutal display of racial hatred – live-streamed on social media – jolted the world. The perpetrator of the deadliest terrorist attack in New Zealand history carefully calculated his actions for maximum impact on a global audience.

Fri, 22 Mar 2019 17:17:05 -0400

As president, Donald Trump has had his share of bromances with world leaders – certainly more than his predecessor, the cool Barack Obama, ever did. There was the short-lived fling with French President Emmanuel Macron, an early dalliance with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that failed to launch, and a cozying up to strongman leaders – from Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines – that remain a feature of Mr. Trump’s presidency.

Fri, 22 Mar 2019 16:43:51 -0400