The defeat of political movements rarely follows the decisive ending imagined in literature. Even when an authoritarian leader loses power or an electoral movement suffers a major setback, the political ideas sustaining
The World Cup semi-final in July was more than a football match for many Argentinians. When their national team defeated England 2-1 after a nerve-racking contest, two of Argentina’s leading players displayed
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Across some of the world’s driest regions, strange barren circles known as “fairy circles” may be revealing something far more valuable than an unusual geological curiosity: naturally occurring hydrogen beneath the ground.
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The double earthquake on June 24 and recent torrential rains in Caracas have reopened an old wound in Venezuela: the plight of families who have spent years waiting for state-provided housing while
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Palestine is the current example of Stalin’s cynical observation. There, young, violent Israeli hoodlums – known as ‘settlers’ in western media – have been trying to terrorize Arab villagers into flight. It’s
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As President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping prepare for their next summit, an increasingly urgent question hangs over their rivalry: can the world’s two leading AI powers cooperate on the
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A few days ago, when I landed at Budapest Airport on my way to an international conference devoted to serious questions of international politics, the first thing I saw was a huge
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In Burkina Faso, even a photograph of a person receiving a sack of rice is becoming a matter of state regulation. This summer, the Council of Ministers approved a decree that prohibits
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For Giorgia Meloni, staying in power has become an achievement in itself. On Friday, the Italian prime minister will celebrate a political record that would be unremarkable in many countries but carries
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France’s far right entered the 2027 presidential race with a carefully balanced partnership. Now ideological differences, personal tensions and competing ambitions are exposing its fault lines. The formula was supposed to be
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The battle over Torreciudad, the spiritual heart of Opus Dei in Spain, has moved from a local dispute into a revealing test of power inside the Catholic Church. Newly disclosed handwritten letters
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For millions of Japanese children, the end of the summer holiday marks a familiar transition: uniforms are put back on, alarm clocks are reset and classrooms fill again after weeks away from
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The disaster that struck the Nepal-China border on August 26 has forced scientists to reconsider how high-mountain hazards are assessed. What began with the collapse of a glacier-rock system near Langtang Lirung
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Deep beneath dense undergrowth, beneath a bridge near Merseburg in Saxony-Anhalt, investigators found a hole in the damp earth. The location, close to the Saale and only a few kilometres from Leipzig/Halle
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China’s grip on the world’s rare-earth supply is often described in deceptively simple terms: Beijing has the minerals, the processing capacity and the leverage, while Western countries allowed their own industries to
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More than halfway through 2026, the West Asia crisis continues to expose deep vulnerabilities in the global energy system, with Asia bearing a disproportionate share of the risk. The International Energy Agency’s
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