Decoding China

Decoding China

This article is part of a News-Decoder series of “decoders” that explain crucial background to big issues. For more decoders, click here. As the most populous country in the world with one of the fastest growing economies, China is projected by many to be...

Transgender people still face an uphill battle

Transgender people still face an uphill battle

Transgender stars like Caitlyn Jenner have helped foster acceptance, but the path to civil rights for transgender people will be long and arduous. Marchers at the Trans March in Albuquerque, N.M., 29 May 2014. (AP Photo/Craig Fritz, File) Caitlyn Jenner has grabbed...

Obama visit highlights Islamic threat in Africa

Obama visit highlights Islamic threat in Africa

By Barry Moody U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya and Ethiopia last week focused attention on a vital front in the struggle against Islamic terrorism that rarely makes headlines despite posing a deadly threat. Obama’s discussions with Kenyan and Ethiopian...

Iran and Israel’s nuclear arsenal monopoly

Iran and Israel’s nuclear arsenal monopoly

By far the loudest cries of alarm about the Iran nuclear agreement are coming from the only country in the region that has a nuclear arsenal — Israel. A view of Israel’s Sorek nuclear reactor center near the central Israeli town of Yavne. 5 July 2004. (AP Photo, file...

Syria: Are Kurdish rebels Turkey’s target?

Syria: Are Kurdish rebels Turkey’s target?

By Harvey Morris In a dramatic turnabout, Turkey has launched air strikes against Islamic State (IS) forces that hold territory in neighboring Syria and Iraq. After a year in which Turkey stood aside from a struggle to defeat IS jihadists, the Ankara government’s...

Letter from Italy: A frustrating place to love

Letter from Italy: A frustrating place to love

  Demonstrators hold balloons portraying Italian premier Matteo Renzi with a long nose as Pinocchio, during a protest in Rome, 12 Dec 2014. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) By Barry Moody As the Greek crisis reached its worrying climax, nobody watched with more anxiety...

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