The Los Angeles region is experiencing severe wind and fire danger this week, with gusts sweeping through a highly populated area that is exceptionally dry for this time of year.   By Wednesday morning, three major wildfires were burning in and aroun

Surveying a cleanup operation at the site of a deadly missile strike on one of Kharkiv’s high-rise residential buildings, Mayor Ihor Terekhov offers a grim assessment of Russia’s aims for such attacks. “This is state terrorism with the goal of fright

Residents in Minnesota may have noticed a change on the menus in their favorite restaurants lately. That’s because on Jan. 1, the state enacted a law requiring businesses to include all mandatory fees and surcharges in the prices they display. So if

With his rightward political turn and campaign spending, Elon Musk has already shaken up U.S. politics, helping Donald Trump win a second term and muscling into his inner circle. Now the billionaire entrepreneur is throwing his weight around in Europ

On Jan. 7, 2015, two radical Islamist gunmen stormed the Paris offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, killing 12, after the paper published provocative cartoons about the prophet Muhammad. Among the dead were some of France’s most high-pro

Last week’s passing of former President Jimmy Carter, perhaps America’s most beloved centenarian, led to heartfelt messages from his native Plains, Georgia, and throughout the world. His wasn’t the only stunning loss that Georgia would experience tha

Hurricanes, people here say, are like unicorns. Each has its own personality, its own legacy. Ian, which barreled onto shore in September 2022, was about wind; ferocious gusts that blew apart houses and snapped the tops off oak trees and prompted res

On Monday, leaders in Canada and the United States upheld the principle that democracy depends on the acceptance of defeat. That ideal now faces a more vigorous test in Venezuela. Nicolás Maduro, who has ruled the South American country with an iron

The GoFundMe page was Braah Alrashid and Hibatallah Suleiman’s last chance. It was the end of July 2024, and the two best friends from Sudan had a month to come up with $15,000 to continue medical school in Egypt. Once, they would have simply asked t

McDonald’s rolled out its McValue menu Tuesday, the fast-food chain’s biggest attempt in years to win back customers put off by high menu prices that have soared 40% since the pandemic. It’s the latest sign of how American restaurants, large and smal

December began as a month of joy for Yahya al-Batran and his wife, Nora, when they welcomed twin sons into the world: Jomaa and Ali. “They were small, sweet, and beautiful,” Mr. Batran recalls. The month ended in tragedy. Three weeks later, they buri

One evening in late October last year, hundreds of concertgoers streamed into the Fendika Cultural Center, dressed to the nines for an evening out at one of the most iconic music venues in Ethiopia’s capital. For decades, traditional music clubs call

For decades, Democrats could count on votes from Indian Americans, a fast-growing immigrant population with high turnout rates at elections. More educated and more affluent on average than other immigrant groups, Americans of Indian descent seemed a

This story was produced as part of the Dec. 23, 2024 issue of the Monitor Weekly.  Apartment Women, by Gu Byeong-mo, translated by Chi-Young Kim Four families living in a government-run communal apartment complex in Seoul, South Korea, confront the c

It was essentially because of Justin Trudeau that I was sent to Canada as a foreign correspondent in 2018. At the time, the Canadian prime minister stood for optimism and hope – what he had dubbed “sunny ways” leading to the Liberal Party’s 2015 vict

Congress on Monday certified President-elect Donald Trump’s November victory as part of the peaceful transfer of power that has marked every U.S. presidential election – except one. Four years ago, Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, trying t

Most wars end in one of two ways. One side achieves an outright military victory, or both sides conclude they have more to lose by continuing to fight. A third way may be unfolding in Gaza. After more than 450 days of conflict between Israel and the

In recent years, Europe has struggled to find the right balance between freedom of expression and the protean security concerns it faces. Plenty of rights watchdogs see a drift toward more censorship. Now Poland is about to challenge that view. On Ne

If ever there were poster children for the benefits of immigration, they would be the highly skilled foreign workers employed by American high-tech companies. Alums include the CEOs of Microsoft and Alphabet (Google), the former head of Pepsi, and se

A key question heading into President-elect Donald Trump’s next term is the fate of the federal Department of Education – a Cabinet-level agency that he and other conservatives have said they want to abolish. Is a dismantling possible? Yes. But Mr. T

The 119th Congress launching Friday has Republicans controlling both the House and Senate for the first time since 2019. Many Republicans are coming to Washington excited to carry out President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda. Meanwhile, Democrats are wr

Millicent Miruka is doing her rounds. In a small house in this village in western Kenya, she sits across from a young couple and their sleeping 3-month-old, Joy. As the corrugated iron roof above creaks in the late morning sun, Ms. Miruka launches in

Mike Johnson managed to squeak through in his reelection to speaker of the House on Friday – but the drama and delay around the vote are an ominous sign for the Republicans’ ability to use their newly won unified control of Washington to pass signifi

New Year’s Day attacks on busy entertainment districts in New Orleans and Las Vegas not only struck symbolic American targets but also confirmed the gravity of official warnings that risks from political violence are rising. Even if they turn out to

The preamble to the Declaration of Independence has been fundamental to American identity, even if the United States hasn’t always fulfilled the promise of Thomas Jefferson’s words. It’s jarring to learn that Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president, dismi