By John Mehaffey Soccer, the world’s leading football sport that stages its 21st World Cup in Russia over the next month, owes its global dominance to an essential simplicity. As in basketball, a flat surface plus a ball are the only requirements. The game initially...
(This story has been corrected to make clear, in the fourth paragraph, that it was Shushkevich who fell victim to an anti-corruption drive, and not Lukashenko, who was a former state farm boss.) By Elaine Monaghan Twenty-one years ago, I learned the true meaning of...
A century ago, Azerbaijan declared independence, becoming the first democratic state in the Muslim world. First meeting of the parliament of the Azerbaijan Democractic Republic, 7 December 1918 (Wikimedia Commons) One century ago today, a small colony of the Russian...
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...
By Chae Lin Park An ice hockey player from North Korea and a bobsledder from South Korea joined hands to hold the Unification Flag depicting a reunited Korean peninsula at the opening ceremony of the recent Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The gesture...