| The End of the United Kingdom May Be Nearing
Next month's election was supposed to settle existential questions over Brexit — instead, it's raising bigger ones over the nature of the union. While England is split over Brexit, the political dynamics in the other parts of the U.K. seem more about whether the country should exist at all, Rodney Jefferson, Dara Doyle and Alex Morales write.
Unequal and Irate, Latin America Is Coming Apart at the Seams
In Chile, it was sparked by a minor increase in the capital's subway fare. In Ecuador, it was the end of fuel subsidies. And in Bolivia, a stolen election. The region's competing models of government — leftist populism and market-oriented liberalism — are both under threat, Daniel Cancel reports.
Everything the Candidates Discussed at the Atlanta Debate
With impeachment proceedings lighting up Capitol Hill this week, Trump continued to cast a long shadow over the Democratic presidential debate Wednesday, where issues of foreign policy and democracy took center stage. Track what was said in this detailed interactive from Allison McCartney, Jackie Gu, Chloe Whiteaker and Mira Rojanasakul.
Trump Pledged to Help Small Farms. Aid Is Going to Big Ones
Trump promised he would help embattled small farmers caught in the crossfire of his trade war with China. But big farms so far have been the main beneficiaries of the billions of dollars being distributed in aid payments, Mike Dorning reports.  The U.S. ambassador to the European Union was among a parade of witnesses who described how Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden extended well beyond a July 25 call. And yet one key piece of Trump's defense remains intact: None of the witnesses testified that the president himself directly ordered them to make a quid pro quo explicit to the Ukrainians.
China Risks Hurting Itself by Hitting U.S. Over Hong Kong Bill
China had a swift and forceful response after the U.S. Senate passed legislation supporting Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters, with multiple government agencies threatening unspecified retaliation. "Don't say I didn't warn you," said a statement by the foreign ministry. But President Xi Jinping has a problem: Any strong measures against the U.S. also risk backfiring on China.
Israel's Mossad Is Recruiting More Ultra-Orthodox Men
After decades of relative isolation, Israeli's Haredim are being drawn into the workforce via programs aimed at tapping their analytical skills for security agencies, Ivan Levingston reports. With an average of seven children, the ultra-Orthodox are the country's fastest-growing demographic.
Iran Unrest Raises a Question: Is 'Maximum Pressure' Working?
Anti-government protests in Iran have left buses and banks burned, hundreds under arrest, the Internet blocked and an unconfirmed number dead. That raises the question of whether the Trump administration's "maximum pressure'' campaign is starting to deliver, Marc Champion reports.
South Africa's Epidemic of Hate
From the highest level of government to the grassroots, the country is blaming foreigners for economic woes, Antony Sguazzin writes. This latest bout of xenophobic violence — its frequency and brutality — is worrying political leaders across the continent.  Police fire a water cannon during a protest against xenophobia in Cape Town on Oct. 30. From the end of apartheid in 1994 to Dec. 31 of last year, at least 309 people have been killed in xenophobic attacks, 2,193 shops have been looted and more than 100,000 people have been displaced. Photographer: Sumaya Hisham/Reuters
Angela Merkel's Wounded Party Doesn't Know Where to Lead Germany
For the longest time, Angela Merkel was Germany and under her the center-right Christian Democrats were the dominant political force in the EU, Arne Delfs writes. Today the party is a shambles and its new leader, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, can't seem to straighten it out.
Abe's Record-Setting Tenure Leaves Japan Asking What's Next
Just over seven years ago, Shinzo Abe was a political has-been purveying eccentric monetary policy, Isabel Reynolds writes. Now he's Japan's longest-serving prime minister, breaking a record that had stood for more than a century, just as the country's seven-year stretch of economic growth may be coming to an end.
Pacific Island Referendum Could Give the World a Tiny New Country
Bougainville seems an unlikely candidate for independence, but it has one resource that could change its fortune — a massive copper deposit. But as Jason Scott reports, the mine that's the country's blessing and curse will remain central after the results of today's independence referendum are revealed.
And finally ... As haze blanketed large tracts of Southeast Asia last month, experts in Jakarta were investigating the source of the choking smoke. As Anuradha Raghu reports, images collected from drones flying up to 400 meters above oil palm plantations helped spot the fires — part of a technology drive catapulting palm oil to one of the fastest-growing markets for commercial unmanned aircraft.  With oil-palm plantations spread across 22.3 million hectares of Malaysia and Indonesia — an area almost the size of the U.K. — the industry represents fertile ground for drone sales. Photographer: Joshua Paul/Bloomberg |
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