Opinion

  If the leaders of the European Union listened only to their hearts, they’d fully embrace Ukraine into the bloc at their summit in Brussels this month. As French President Emmanuel Macron put it, “We feel in our heart that Ukraine, through its fight and its courage, is already today a member of our Europe, of our family and of ...

  At long last, the House Jan. 6 committee held its first hearing, and made it a pretty good one. Right at the top, Chairman Bennie Thompson gave us the right wording: Former President Donald Trump’s actions and those of his associates were an effort to “overthrow the government.” That’s what this is all about. That’s why the investigation is ...

The summer travel season is picking up — and so are the airport horror stories. Long lines, delays and cancellations have been particularly rampant in the UK, Europe and Canada in recent weeks, but the US has certainly seen its fair share of travel blowups. So far this year, about 20% of the flights from US carriers have been delayed ...

  We’re now in a very weird pandemic phase. On Twitter, doctors such as Eric Topol sound five-alarm warnings about the latest subvariants of omicron. Offline, people are back to parties and restaurants — and will soon be flying around the world with no testing requirements to return to the US. Things feel as if they’ve lost any coherence. There’s ...

  If ever there was a Pyrrhic victory, Boris Johnson’s win in this week’s no-confidence vote must qualify. Britain’s prime minister secured the majority he needed to hang on, if he decides to, but by the surprisingly narrow margin of 211 votes to 148. More than 40% of his own party in Parliament told him to go. In a similar ...

When war is raging in Ukraine, talk of reconstruction may seem premature. How can the country rebuild anything given the constant threat of attack? And yet, it’s right that governments and multilateral fore, along with Ukraine itself, are focusing on rebuilding. Although the first principle of help for Ukraine has to be military aid along with humanitarian support, it is ...

Private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc and Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd have made a binding offer for chemist chain Boots. If it can close a deal, the consortium has a good chance of making a decent return on the British high-street stalwart. But the remedy for Boots won’t be cheap or easy. The formal proposal, fully ...

  The global trade in the cheapest foods is grinding to a halt. In April, Indonesia temporarily banned exports of palm oil, cutting off India from one of its biggest sources of imported nutrition. India, in its turn last month, set a ceiling on exports of sugar, helping to keep more calories in the domestic market. Sugar is now hovering ...

  The most significant event in China was the gaokao — the annual two-day national exam to qualify for college. Anxious parents wait while their children go through the nine-hour ordeal. Those with younger kids sift through the test questions — published once the exams are over — preparing their offspring for the inevitable. As for couples considering starting a ...

There she was again, six months after exiting the German chancellery. Relaxed but pensive after long walks on blustering Baltic shores listening to Macbeth on audiobook, Angela Merkel had so much on her mind, so much she wanted to explain for posterity. But she didn’t come to offer apologies or mea culpas. Reflecting on decades of interactions with Russian President ...