OPINION

By Angela Huyue Zhang LOS ANGELES – After four extensions of the statutory deadline to ban TikTok or force its Chinese owners to divest, US President Donald Trump has now signed an executive order transferring the app to US ownership. The announcement follows years of diplomatic sparring, bureaucratic maneuvering, repeated …

By Tshering Dorji (Mr Bhutan) Whenever I travel abroad and tell people I’m from Bhutan, they often respond with, “The happiest country in the world.” I usually smile and reply, “Allegedly,” with a touch of humor. Today, I invite you to join me on a journey to uncover why Bhutan …

By Curtis J. Milhaupt STANFORD/LOS ANGELES – It is tempting to frame the Sino-American economic rivalry as a clash between engineering doers and lawyerly naysayers, as the Chinese-Canadian analyst Dan Wang does in his new book Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future. But this is a false dichotomy, because …

By Daoud Kuttab RAMALLAH – It is unclear whether, and how much, the United States knew about Israel’s airstrike against Hamas negotiators in the Qatari capital of Doha. But there can no longer be any doubt that Israel has assumed carte blanche. After decades of enjoying impunity for its violations …

By Ruby Osman and Dan Sleat LONDON – Much has changed since Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin last stood together atop Tiananmen Square in 2015. When they did so again this week, it was supposedly as equal partners. But, of course, the reality is far more …

By Ajay Shah NEW DELHI – US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose new tariffs on a wide range of imports from India, ostensibly a penalty for buying Russian oil, represents another shock to the international trading system – and a sharp reversal of good relations with Indian Prime Minister …

By Binaifer Nowrojee NEW YORK – Starvation is the slow, silent unmaking of the body. Deprived of basic sustenance, the body first burns through sugar stores in the liver. Then it melts muscle and fat, breaking down tissue to keep the brain and other vital organs alive. As these reserves …

By Antara Haldar LOS ANGELES – Although the International Court of Justice turned 80 this year, there is a sense in which it has never felt younger. In a David-versus-Goliath moment, the tiny Pacific Island state of Vanuatu recently changed international law forever by bringing the world’s most important issue before its …

By Angela Huyue Zhang China’s weaponization of rare earths has emerged as a major flash point in US-China trade negotiations. These critical materials, especially the high-performance magnets they make possible, are vital components in electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines, industrial robotics, and advanced defense systems. In response to China’s strict …

By Rabah Arezki & Rick van der Ploeg PARIS – The world’s superpowers have developed a seemingly insatiable appetite for the critical minerals that are essential to the ongoing energy and digital transitions, including rare-earth metals (for semiconductors), cobalt (for batteries), and uranium (for nuclear reactors). The International Energy Agency …