Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

Hard Numbers: Deaths mount after Pakistan terror attack, Biden-McCarthy showdown, Latin America gives Scholz cold shoulder, Rhinos on the brink

People and rescue workers gather to look for survivors after a suicide blast in a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan

People and rescue workers gather to look for survivors after a suicide blast in a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan

REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz REFILE

100: The death toll has climbed to 100 following Monday’s horrific mosque attack in Peshawar, the deadliest terror attack in Pakistan in years. Officials blame the Pakistani Taliban (also known as TTP) for the attacks, but while a TTP commander initially claimed responsibility, the group has since distanced itself from the bombing, saying they do not attack mosques. Authorities have remained mum, but several suspects have now been arrested.


100 billion: President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meet on Wednesday for what promises to be a showdown over raising the debt ceiling, with just over four months left to avoid default. The White House has asked for specifics on proposed Republicans spending, charging that earlier proposed cuts to the Internal Revenue Service would add $100 billion in debt over 10 years.

0: None of the three countries on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Latin America visit – Argentina, Brazil and Chile – will provide weapons for the war effort in Ukraine. The German leader’s difficulty in rallying support in the region comes amid soaring food and energy prices, with many doubting the West’s approach to the war.

87: The illegal poaching of rhinos in Namibia, home to the world’s last population of free-roaming black rhinos, doubled to 87 last year, the highest-ever annual total. Rhino populations have been decimated in recent years due to demand for the supposed medical benefits of rhino horns, and experts worry that some populations in southern Africa may be extinct in six years.

More For You

This week, I unpack Germany’s political upheaval, talk to historian Nicole Hemmer and reporter Molly Ball about Trump’s unencumbered power, and answer your questions on the Russia-North Korea axis, Japan’s new government, and COP29. Plus, your weekly rec from my dog Moose.Let’s get to it.- IanWant to understand the world a little better? Subscribe [...]
America’s long arm of counterterrorism
Natalie Johnson
In the 25 years since 9/11, the US has pursued counterterrorism operations in dozens of countries around the world. Brown University’s Cost of War Project tracked operations in nearly 80 countries between 2021 and 2023, or roughly 40% of countries worldwide. In most countries where the US conducted operations, it trained or assisted local security [...]
Palestinian youth look at a new Israeli settlement from the Palestinian village of Duma, near Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Palestinian youth look at a new Israeli settlement from the Palestinian village of Duma, near Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 24, 2026.

REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Middle powers take on Israeli West Bank settlements The UK, Canada, and France announced sanctions on exports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank on Tuesday, later joined by nine additional European countries. In a speech announcing the sanctions – which have significant cross-party support in the UK – Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemned [...]
The cascading consequences of 9/11 for America and the Middle East
“This will devastate America and the region!” I howled as I watched the second plane slam into the Twin Towers in New York from my distant Beirut living room. Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011, a decade after the September 11th attacks, and al-Qaeda’s core leadership was dismantled. But my fears were not misplaced. Bin Laden achieved something [...]