How Sanctions Feed Authoritarianism
Past experience shows that economic pressure does change societies—but it mostly facilitates hardliners. Iran’s regime may be next.
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Faisal Al Nasser / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s Ban on Woman Drivers Comes to an End
But with dissent still stifled and a recent crackdown on the very activists who helped end the ban, it’s unclear how much the country is prepared to change.
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Sertac Kayar / Reuters The Fate of Turkey’s Democracy Lies With the Kurds
Ahead of tomorrow’s elections, Ankara is expected to tamper with the vote and make life difficult for members of the embattled minority group.
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Mads Claus Rasmussen / Reuters What the Happiest Places Have in Common
Citizens’ wellbeing is often the result of careful planning—not serendipity.
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Joe McKendry Castro’s Ice-Cream Headache
A very short book excerpt
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Kenny-Katombe Butunka / Reuters How Will Trump Lead During the Next Global Pandemic?
“There is a real reason for us to be scared,” President Obama’s Ebola czar said.
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Danielle Villasana Deported Into a Nightmare
Most Central American migrant children get deported before they even reach the U.S. One story shows what can await them when they get back to the countries they fled.
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Lucas Jackson / Reuters A Brief Drive in Saudi Arabia Changed My Life
What’s it like to be arrested for ‘driving while female’? As the kingdom prepares to lift its ban, an activist tells her story.
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Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters Will Erdoğan Cheat His Way to Victory?
Even if Turkey’s opposition curbs election fraud in Sunday’s election, the odds of overcoming his near-absolute control are low.
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Yves Herman / Reuters How Do You Know When It's Officially a Trade War?
New tariffs come with new threats as the downward spiral continues.
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Kiran Ridley / Barcroft Media via Getty Photos of the Week: Smoggy Santiago, Miniature Taipei, Mermaid Parade
A watery rescue in Russia, dragon boat racing in China, a soap box derby in France, Hawaiian lava viewed from Earth orbit, flamingos in Kenya, a boxer dressed as a lion in Germany, and much more.
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Antonio Masiello / Getty The Outrage Cycle, Italian Style
The country’s hard-line interior minister keeps stoking uproar with his inflammatory rhetoric—and it only makes him more popular.
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Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP / Getty Hats of the Royal Ascot
A collection of photos of millinery miracles worn by Royal Ascot racegoers over the past few years.
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Henry Romero / Reuters The Power of Mo Salah’s Goal-Scoring Ritual
Liverpool F.C.’s star player is emerging as England’s—and arguably the world’s—most visible Muslim sports icon.
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Denis Charlet / Pool / AP The Lesson Democrats Have Yet to Learn on Immigration
Trump’s opponents could learn something from Emmanuel Macron, who works to convince skeptics of immigration he will enforce borders even as he advocates for immigration.
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Owen Freeman An Extraordinarily Expensive Way to Fight ISIS
The tale of a bombing raid in the Libyan desert, pitting stealth bombers and 500-pound bombs against 70 ragtag fighters
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Chris McGrath / Getty How Nietzsche Explains Turkey
Erdoğan is counting on his resentment-fueled political movement to deliver him to victory in the upcoming elections.
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John Moore / Getty On the Border With the Photographer John Moore
A collection of images from the southern U.S. border by the Getty Images photographer John Moore, showing the landscape, those who patrol the border, and those who choose to risk everything to cross it.
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Toya Sarno Jordan / Reuters The UN Human Rights Council Is a Deeply Flawed Body
The U.S., which withdrew from the organization Tuesday, had sought to reform it.
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Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters The Brazilian Spring That Never Arrived
How the hopeful protests of June 2013 were co-opted by forces intent on bringing down the left.
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Toya Sarno Jordan / Reuters Trump’s Insidious Reason for Leaving the UN Human Rights Council
While his administration cited its criticism of Israel, the White House also wants to distance itself from a body critical of its own policies.
