In the 21st century, human misery has become something of a growth industry. Conflicts have driven the number of displaced people to an all-time high; last December, the United Nations launched a record appeal for humanitarian aid; three months later, citing impending famines in several African countries, it said the world faced the “largest humanitarian crisis” since the UN’s ...

  Venezuela is teetering on the verge of total collapse. Anger is growing with President Nicolas Maduro who has utterly failed to meet people’s most basic needs. Hundreds of thousands in Venezuela cannot get access to food. Economic crisis is only getting worse. Inflation is out of control and government has no cash to import food and medicine. No wonder, ...

  A leaked European Union paper outlining the bloc’s initial negotiating position in Brexit talks hints at a clever zero-sum strategy. The EU’s main goal is to deter other potential exiters and offload all the anxiety about the truly important issues in the divorce on the UK alone. The paper (actually called a “non-paper” in EU parlance because it’s still ...