This story is one in our six-part series The Pandemic Playbook. Explore all the stories here. Every January or February, Le The Linh and his wife pack their children into their car and drive 80 miles to visit family in Haiphong, a port city east of Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, for Lunar New Year. But this time, as they reached the last stretch of the Hanoi-Haiphong Highway, a police officer approached and pointed them toward a group of guards in face masks under a makeshift tent. It was one of 16 checkpoints erected around Haiphong to control travel into and out of the city ahead of the Tet Festival holiday. They…

Since leaving government at the end of the Obama administration, former Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes has spent the last four years calling for Democrats to put climate change at the center of US foreign policy. He and his colleagues at National Security Action, a now-closed progressive foreign policy group filled with former Obama officials, said doing so was imperative because it was the world’s biggest long-term threat. Now some of those same colleagues are in the Biden administration, which just convened a successful two-day international climate summit during which nearly all 40 nations made important commitments to reduce emissions, among other things. Which means Rhodes’s wish came true.…

There’s a quote often attributed to Winston Churchill, the former British premier: “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried.” Churchill’s tongue-in-cheek defense of democracy came just two years after the end of World War II. Totalitarian forces had vied for their chance to lead the world, but democratic powers in Europe and the United States ushered in decades of peace and prosperity instead. The British leader’s quote came to mind as I listened to President Joe Biden address Congress on Wednesday night on his first 100 days in office, because it was the same kind of full-throated defense of democracy…

By now, you’ve probably seen the videos: dark skies, illuminated by exploding balls of light, like alien spaceships doing battle or a terrifying fireworks display, scored by air raid sirens. This is the view of Israel’s Iron Dome, the aerial defense system the country uses to intercept incoming short-range rockets. The intensifying conflict this week between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militia in control of Gaza, has offered a renewed glimpse of the Iron Dome in action. The system has been in place for about a decade, developed with heavy financial and technical backing from the United States. It is, according to Israeli officials, about 90 percent effective at blocking…

Click Here: “Patria y vida!” (“homeland and life”) is the slogan of the rare and massive protests that erupted across Cuba over the weekend. It’s a riff on the “patria o muerte” (homeland or death) slogan of the Cuban Revolution — and the lyrics of a popular rap song compiled by Afro Cuban hip-hop artists in Cuba in collaboration with artists in the US. They are part of the San Isidro Movement, a collective of artists, musicians, writers, performers, academics, and others activists who have pushed for greater freedom under the Cuban regime. Their activism has helped create space for the recent historic protests. Tanya Saunders, an associate professor in…

Tunisia’s president has pushed the country’s fledgling democracy into crisis. Over the weekend, President Kais Saied fired the country’s prime minister and suspended Parliament in what his political opponents have called a coup. But he says the move was justified after thousands of Tunisians took to the streets in recent days to protest the government’s handling of the pandemic, which has deepened the country’s economic woes. Supporters of the president cheered his ousting of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and other government ministers, but those celebrations turned to clashes when those who opposed Saied’s moves also took to the streets to protest. “One of the big question marks is: Is this…

Which of these Chelsea greats would make our Super Eagles-Black Stars combined XI? Goal/GettyGhana-Nigeria Combined XI Ahead of this week’s World Cup qualifying double header between Nigeria and Ghana, GOAL Africa are picking our dream combined XI between these two West African heavyweights. Both the Super Eagles and the Black Stars have storied histories in continental and global competition, and our shortlist for this combined Dream Team was overflowing with elite African talent. However, only eleven stars can make the cut between these two West African giants, which of these two Chelsea greats would make the cut? International Career Despite being a part of an excellent Ghanaian generation, Essien only…

The Argentina icon was not among the seven Barcelona figures included in the shot-stopper's list Marc-Andre ter Stegen has named his dream XI of current and former team-mates, and there is no place for Lionel Messi in the side. The goalkeeper’s time with Borussia Monchengladbach, Barcelona and Germany has seen him play alongside many top stars. With a wide range of big names to choose from, Ter Stegen has listed a solid XI, but omitted the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner. Click Here: What has been said? Ter Stegen opted to line his team up in a 4-4-2 diamond formation and listed seven former or current Barcelona heroes. Gerard Pique, Jordi…

The 27-year-old vented his frustration online after a narrow defeat to the west London outfit earlier in March Newcastle midfielder Isaac Hayden has been charged by the FA after comments he made on social media suggesting that Chelsea had the referee on their side in their 1-0 win over the Magpies at Stamford Bridge. in a fiercely competitive contest in west London on March 13, bringing a nine-match unbeaten run for Newcastle to an end. Hayden was unavailable for the game as he continues his recovery from knee surgery – while he also wasn’t selected in Newcastle’s 25-man Premier League squad for the latter part of the season – but…

The two nations will be battling for a ticket to represent Africa in Qatar in a two-legged encounter  Ghana interim coach Otto Addo has named his 27-man squad for the 2022 Fifa World Cup playoff against Nigeria. The two West Africa heavyweights are scheduled to meet in the first leg at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on Friday, March 25. The second leg is scheduled in Nigeria on March 29. Among the players included in the team is defender Daniel Amartey, who plays for Leicester City in England, midfielder Iddrisu Baba of RCD Mallorca, and his Arsenal counterpart Thomas Partey. Captain Andre Ayew misses out owing to the red card…