Thanksgiving Day in the US this year was supposed to mark another step in a return to normal as more people traveled than at any time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The next morning, the world awoke to alarming news of a new and potentially dangerous variant of the virus identified by scientists in South Africa. As expected, stock markets tumbled, and governments imposed travel bans on southern African nations. Over the weekend, the WHO officially declared it a “variant of concern&rdqu

President Joe Biden has pledged to “revitalize our national commitment to advancing human rights and democracy around the world.” This month, he will host a virtual Summit for Democracy as a demonstration of that commitment. But it is still unclear how democracy and human rights will fare in the trade-off of foreign policy priorities. This administration’s policy toward Africa will provide a good test case of how Biden’s team will navigate these choices, and that policy

“I don’t like communists,” said Chung Yong-jin, vice chairman of the Shinsegae business group in a message on social media recently. He was responding to comments about his picture carrying a red wallet and Jackson Pizza in an advertisement. “Do I look any bit like a communist? Never misunderstand me ... I believe in anti-communist democracy which should be the core of our patriotism and is the only way to realize the ideals of the Free World,” he said. As a citiz