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Facebook Tweet Email Link US President Donald Trump is threatening an additional 25% tariff on India as well as higher tariffs on other countries that buy Russian oil, in an attempt to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. But the United States and Europe themselves are still doing billions of dollars in trade with Russia – although that’s a fraction of the trade that took place before the war. India has argued that it’s being unfairly targeted with the tariff increase, calling it “unjustified” given that other nations also do business with Moscow. Trade between Russia and the…

Facebook Tweet Email Link The writing has been on the wall for a long time: South Korea’s birth rate has dropped throughout much of the past decade, spelling trouble for the military as regional threats and global conflicts simmer. Now, a new report has found that the number of South Korean troops declined by 20% in the past six years, in large part because of the dwindling pool of young men – reflecting the shrinking workforce and swelling elderly population in one of the world’s most rapidly aging countries. The Defense Ministry report attributed the drop to “complex factors” including…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Jerusalem  —  Israel has given final approval to a controversial plan to build thousands of new housing units in the occupied West Bank that effectively cuts the territory in two. Plans for settlement in E1, an area east of Jerusalem, had been frozen for decades in the face of international opposition, since it would make a contiguous Palestinian state with a capital in East Jerusalem virtually impossible. But confirming the scheme, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made it clear that was his goal, saying in a statement, “The Palestinian state is being erased from the table…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Tel Aviv, Israel AP  —  Israel is in discussions with South Sudan about the possibility of resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the war-torn East African country, part of a wider effort by Israel to facilitate mass emigration from the territory left in ruins by its 22-month offensive against Hamas. Six people familiar with the matter confirmed the talks to The Associated Press. It’s unclear how far the talks have advanced, but if implemented, the plans would amount to transferring people from one war-ravaged land at risk of famine to another, and raise human rights…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Is there any food more intrinsic to America’s on-the-move lifestyle than the grab-and-go sandwich? The deep, diverse array of US sandwich options owes much of its greatness to the creativity and resourcefulness of immigrant communities. Cities and states from coast to coast claim their classics. New Orleans’ olive salad-studded muffaletta was invented by Italian immigrants who settled in the city’s Lower French Quarter. The Cuban sandwich as we know it today evolved in Florida and was shaped by immigrant communities from Cuba, Spain, Italy and Germany. And both Miami and Tampa take credit for it. Feeling…

Facebook Tweet Email Link On the surface, downtown Clarksdale, Mississippi, looks largely the same as it did decades ago: a collection of historic brick buildings lining wide avenues faded to postcard sepia. But local Bubba O’Keefe has a retort ready for visitors to his hometown who eye the city’s aesthetic as anything but authentic Southern charm. “People come here and say, ‘Oh my gosh, this place is going down,’” says O’Keefe, the tourism director for this Mississippi Delta city of 14,000, with an implied wink. “I say, ‘Well, you should have seen it 25 years ago. We’re on the way…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Northampton, Massachusetts  —  A town’s motto can reveal exactly what’s charming about the place, and it’s also shorthand for its unique quirks. Northampton, in western Massachusetts, isn’t the only place in the Bay State to grab a cup of Joe or promote independent thinking. But it is the only town there with the unofficial motto: “Where the coffee is strong and so are the women.” The coffee that can be found in the town’s many cafés is not only strong but delicious and the women mentioned in the slogan include students — and alumnae — of…

Facebook Tweet Email Link As she casually traverses one of the most scenic stretches of the Spain’s Camino de Santiago, taking in the rugged beauty of the northern coast with her husband and three children, Dr. Colleen Crowley feels a wave of gratitude for where life has taken her. For many, hiking a section of Europe’s most storied pilgrimage route would be a once-in-a-lifetime journey. For Crowley, an American psychologist, and her family, it’s part of daily life. She knows the landscape so well that one might assume she had lived here for decades. In fact, they arrived just three…

Facebook Tweet Email Link New Delhi  —  One by one, they emerge from their slumber: Dholu, an energetic young male with a noticeable limp; Oldie, the greying elder who loves a belly rub; and Snoopy, a golden-eyed boy who patiently waits his turn. They’re not summoned by a whistle but the familiar smell of khichdi, a traditional dish of rice and lentils. Himanshi Varma carries two large bags through this New Delhi neighborhood, where in the chaos of the Indian capital, her evening ritual begins. For seven years, Varma has fed the city’s roaming strays – a silent pact she’s…

Facebook Tweet Email Link As Russia’s war machine grinds forward in eastern Ukraine, there is another offensive being waged far beyond the front line. Russia is ramping up nightly drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure, and as it rapidly increases its production of those weapons its strikes are intensifying. Many of the drones aren’t particularly fast or high-tech, but they are cheap enough for the Kremlin to launch more than 700 in one night, in an effort to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses and decimate civilian morale, experts say. After obtaining Iranian designs for Shahed attack drones, Russia built…