Section: Time (USA)
Immigration Divides Europe
Turn the pages of TIME’s special report on migrants this week and you’ll see pictures of anguished refugees, of riot police at the barricades, of ordinary Europeans doing their all to help. The human dimension of this story is undeniably compelling. But to understand how a historic migration will change Europe, you need to look past...
Who’s Fighting Who In Syria
The four-year civil war in Syria became even more complex after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered airstrikes on Sept. 30. Iran, the Lebanese militia Hizballah, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are also playing important roles in the war. To further complicate matters, there are dozens of rebel groups fighting the regime of Syrian President...
Russian Propaganda Struggles To Find Good Reasons For Bombing Syria
On Sunday night, during an appearance on a prime-time political talk show, the Russian lawmaker Semyon Bagdasarov offered a curious interpretation of his nation’s history. The roots of Russian civilization, he suggested, trace all the way back Syria, without which Russia would never have existed in the first place. “This is our land,” he...
These 5 Facts Explain Putin’s War in Syria
You have to give Vladimir Putin credit—he has a special talent for changing facts on the ground and daring others to do something about it. Russian bombs are now falling on Syria, though Putin’s intentions remain a subject of debate. But here’s the bottom line: Russia’s strongman has restored his country’s status as a...
Putin Takes on Syria
In Vladimir Putin’s world, it is only a short flight from Ukraine to Syria, and in both war-torn countries his message is the same: Russia is back, and without its full participation, no solution to either crisis is possible. That much was clear on Sept. 30, when Russia began carrying out air strikes in Syria, dropping bombs on the...
Why Abbas’ “Bombshell” Speech at the U.N. Was a Dud
On Monday, President Obama delivered a speech at the United Nations that touched on world events like Syria and Ukraine—and made no mention of the Palestinians. Which may be all you need to know about the speech delivered on Wednesday by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, in which he appeared to blow to smithereens the...
Russian Lawmakers Give Putin O.K. for Troops in Syria
(MOSCOW) — The upper chamber of the Russian parliament has voted unanimously to let President Vladimir Putin send Russian troops to Syria. The Federation Council on Wednesday discussed Putin’s request for the authorization behind the closed doors. Sergei Ivanov, chief of Putin’s administration, said in televised remarks that the...
Obama Says Fight Against ISIS ‘Will Take Time’
(UNITED NATIONS) — President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged all possible tools — military, intelligence and economic — to defeat the Islamic State group, but acknowledged the extremist group has taken root in Syria and Iraq, is resilient and continues to expand. Obama spoke as chairman of a U.N. gathering of world leaders working to expand the...
Obama and Putin Meet to Discuss Syria
UNITED NATIONS — With a stony-faced handshake, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday began their first formal meeting in more than two years, a discussion expected to lay bare their deep differences over the chaos in Syria. The meeting came hours after the leaders outlined their contrasting visions for...
How Vladimir Putin Set the Stage for His Talks With Obama on Syria
There is no precise match in the Russian language for the English expression, “I hate to say, ‘I told you so’.” But something similar will likely be on the mind of Russian President Vladimir Putin when he meets with his American counterpart, Barack Obama, on Monday during the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Their last formal sit-down was...
