The enduring impression Pope Benedict XVI left with most Americans following his recent visit to Washington, D.C., and New York was of a pastor ministering to his flock. In repeated gestures, from meeting with the victims of sexual abuse to blessing the disabled and speaking with the survivors of th

Under George W. Bush, the executive branch consolidated power to a dangerous degree.

Benedict in America What will Pope Benedict XVI say during his visits to Washington, D.C., and New York City? Will he hew to a simple proclamation of the Gospel? Or will he tackle hot-button issues like same-sex marriage, abortion and the Iraq war? Likewise, will he take aim at neuralgic issues in t

The outcome of Zimbabwe’s presidential election on March 29 has remained uncertain for two weeks, amid signs of manipulation by President Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party. Underscoring these signs was the arrest of several foreign journalists on April 4 on the trumped-up charge of pr

The R Word Regulation. The word you thought would never cross Republican lips has been uttered by a cabinet-level official. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. announced March 26 that it is time for “us all to think more broadly about the regulatory and supervisory framework” for fin

Few industries can boast that they serve the public good and also post a healthy profit. Yet that is what newspapers in the United States succeeded in doing for much of the last century. Flush with advertising dollars and comfortable atop the media food chain, newspapers managed to please both their

Medicaid, the health insurance program for poor people, is again under assault. Created in 1965 through Title XIX of the Social Security Act, it has been instrumental in providing low-income Americans with needed medical care for more than four decades, serving as a crucial component of the nations

The Trillion-Dollar War From the beginning, the Bush administration has refused to give an accurate and responsible reckoning of the costs of the Iraq war. From underestimating budgets to requesting funding through special supplemental appropriations, to cutting taxes for the wealthy that resulted i

Christians had been fleeing Iraq for years before the U.S. invasion in 2003. The ancient Assyrian Church of the East saw four-fifths of its members emigrate before 2000 and its ancient patriarchate transferred to Chicago. The government of Saddam Hussein persecuted the Assyrians because of their res

Inhuman conditions in Gaza; a change, and a chance, in Russia