More stories

  • in

    Can US Special Operations Command Be Held Accountable?

    Last October, a group of eight Apache attack and CH-47 Chinook helicopters carrying US commandos roared out of an airfield in Iraq. They raced through Turkish airspace and across the Syrian border, coming in low as they approached a village just north of Idlib province where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, his bodyguards and some of […] More

  • in

    What Will Americans Endure in This Presidential Race?

    For at least the past 30 years, the strategy of the Democratic Party in the US has consistently focused solely on winning elections by arguing that its oligarchic loyalties are less servile than those of the Republicans. Since Bill Clinton’s presidency in the 1990s, the party has never strayed from that orientation, even after repeatedly […] More

  • in

    Vladimir Putin Keeps a Tight Grip on Power

    Since the beginning of 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s popularity has dropped to its lowest point in 14 years. From February to March, Putin’s favorability dropped from 69% to 63%, and his disapproval ratings rose from 30% to 36%. While the Russian president continues to have a net favorability among his citizens, the declining numbers […] More

  • in

    How Raytheon Runs US Foreign Policy

    In 2017, US President Donald Trump’s new administration found itself in a quandary. Should it continue providing weapons for use in Saudi Arabia’s murderous war in Yemen that had been raging for two years? In June 2017, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unexpectedly declared neighboring Qatar an enemy and imposed a blockade. It even […] More

  • in

    India’s Health-Care System Is in Shambles

    India has an abysmally low percentage of people with access to decent health care. About 300 million Indian citizens live below the poverty line and, for them, medicine is prohibitively expensive. For decades, serious medical conditions have pushed families into poverty and destitution. From 2000 to 2015, the annual national health-care expenditure averaged around 4.00% […] More

  • in

    Dr. Bright Warns of Darkness in America

    Immunologist Dr. Rick Bright has the job title of the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). He is the author of the phrase “the darkest winter in modern history,” which may one day become the title of a Hollywood movie that recounts the invasion in 2020 of the serial murderer bearing […] More

  • in

    Saudi Geopolitics Amid COVID-19 and the Oil Crisis

    With West Texas Intermediate futures trading in negative territory for the first time in history, it seemed the market had finally come to terms with what experts had long warned: The world is running out of oil storage. With human movement restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic, aviation grounded and the global economy halted, demand […] More

  • in

    Should We Reopen the Economy?

    Welcome to “Chewing the Fat,” our weekly talk show here at WXYZ. Today, we have a special treat for you: two guests who will answer the question on everyone’s mind. Should we stay at home in virtual quarantine or should we head out the front door and reopen the economy? The coronavirus pandemic is still claiming lives, nearly […] More