Why Biden’s statement recognizing the Armenian genocide is a big deal

President Joe Biden became the first US president to formally refer to atrocities committed against Armenians as a “genocide” on Saturday, 106 years after the 1915 start of an eight-year-long campaign of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Ottoman Empire that left between 1 million and 1.5 million Armenians dead. Previous presidents have refrained from…

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Israel’s Iron Dome, explained by an expert

By now, you’ve probably seen the videos: dark skies, illuminated by exploding balls of light, like alien spaceships doing battle or a terrifying fireworks display, scored by air raid sirens. This is the view of Israel’s Iron Dome, the aerial defense system the country uses to intercept incoming short-range rockets. The intensifying conflict this week…

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The US should give away its vaccine doses. Now.

The contrast is growing more galling by the day. In the US, more than half of adults have received at least one vaccine dose, Covid-19 transmission is the lowest it’s been in 11 months, and many Americans are partying and traveling and reveling in their new vaccinated status. Meanwhile, thousands of unvaccinated people in less…

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How hatred of gay people became a key plank in Hungary’s authoritarian turn

During last week’s European championship soccer match between Germany and Hungary, the rainbow was everywhere on the German side. The German goalie wore a rainbow armband; the team’s fans donned rainbow wigs and waved rainbow flags. All of this was directed at the opposing side: The Germans were protesting a new Hungarian law banning LGBTQ…

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The political crisis in Tunisia, explained by an expert

Tunisia’s president has pushed the country’s fledgling democracy into crisis. Over the weekend, President Kais Saied fired the country’s prime minister and suspended Parliament in what his political opponents have called a coup. But he says the move was justified after thousands of Tunisians took to the streets in recent days to protest the government’s…

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Biden’s immigration policy is hampering Haiti’s recovery from back-to-back crises

Already grappling with coronavirus, a political crisis stemming from President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination last month and resulting gang violence, Haiti was hit with a two-punch 7.2-magnitude earthquake and tropical depression this week, leaving almost 2,000 dead and thousands more injured or missing. Thousands are without shelter because some 83,000 homes have been destroyed. International aid…

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Barcelona's Ter Stegen snubs Messi in best XI of team-mates across his career

The Argentina icon was not among the seven Barcelona figures included in the shot-stopper's list Marc-Andre ter Stegen has named his dream XI of current and former team-mates, and there is no place for Lionel Messi in the side. The goalkeeper’s time with Borussia Monchengladbach, Barcelona and Germany has seen him play alongside many top…

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