As the war in Afghanistan shows no signs of abating, the health of the people in the country continues to be cause for concern. Afghanistan s health care system is considered one of the worst in the world, and decades of war and international neglect have contributed to its deterioration. An estimated 6 million people, out of a population of 35 million, have no access or adequate access to health care. Most doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals have left the country, causing a shortage of personnel and medical training programmes, thus failing to solve people s most pressing needs. War has caused not only deaths and injuries; it has also led to increased poverty among many households. At the same time, the physical and psychological effects of war have increased the need for medical care.

A frequent theme of modern Arab intellectual discourse has been the search for solutions to the failures and weakness of the Arab world in recent times. This, alas, has led the region down several blind alleys that have only made things worse. One of those was the path of socialism. In this, the Arabs were not alone. Just as there was “Arab socialism”, there was also “African socialism” and various other socialisms in Asia and Latin America—that is, in all the parts of the so-called “global south”, most of which won independence from European colonialism in the decades after World War Two. Looking back, it is hard to blame the leaders of the newly independent states for this self-defeating idea. At the time, socialism dominated thought in the more developed countries. Under “Soviet socialism”, Russia had risen from a weak, agricultural country to become one of the world s two “superpowers”. Its system had spread to some fifteen to twenty other states, altogether encompassing one-third of the world s population. Even in the “capitalist” West, a milder form of socialism prevailed (except in the United States) under the leadership of parties calling themselves “social democratic” or “labour” or “socialist” or “democratic socialist”. These practiced a “mixed economy”, but with the goal of continually increasing the socialist component.

Not every campaign promise is worth keeping. But to please his base, Donald Trump may be about to scrap the main trade pact between the United States and South Korea, the first bilateral treaty he will have terminated as President. Smart? No. Not now, probably not ever. Isn t this the very moment when we should be doing all we can to support and strengthen South Korea, a nation that is our principal bulwark against a madman who boasts he now has a hydrogen bomb that can destroy civilization? Apparently not, if it means leaving yet another campaign promise to his base unfulfilled. Donald Trump made that promise as a candidate, back when North Korea was pretty far down on his list of global priorities, and a whole lot of other pledges seemed like better bets.

The triumph of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa is a chapter in a raging and continuous battle, in which the Palestinian people are engaged, in order to end the occupation and the racist apartheid regime. It is a long battle. It is important to learn lessons from this model that succeeded and that should be applied in other places and other stages later. Perhaps these lessons can be summarised in the following eight characteristics that distinguished the Jerusalem uprising.

In the early hours of August 31, 1997, the media began reporting that Diana, Princess of Wales, had been injured in a car crash in the Pont l Alma tunnel in Paris. By 4:45 am, news channels were citing sources who claimed Diana had died. Members of Britain s royal family were on their annual summer break at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. They issued a statement at 5:25: "The Queen and Prince Philip are deeply shocked and distressed by this terrible news. Other members of the royal family are being informed of the Princess s death." But the royals made a grave error in how they reacted to the news of Diana s death -- one that lost them public respect at the time and has taken nearly two decades to regain.

In 1973, when President Richard Nixon proclaimed August 26 Women s Equality Day -- commemorating the day in 1920 that women won the right to vote -- a woman could still be denied housing by a real estate broker or credit by a bank, simply because of her gender. Employers could fire a woman who became pregnant. Many states had "head and master" laws giving husbands final authority in the family, and in no state was marital rape a crime. As late as 1977, two-thirds of all Americans still believed that men should earn the money and women should take care of the home.

To Donald Trump, former sheriff Joe Arpaio is a "patriot" deserving of a pardon while transgender Americans who courageously risk their lives in the military to defend our nation are a "burden" and should be banned from our armed services. Both of these decisions share one thing: Trump is legitimizing discrimination against minorities. Arpaio, who was pardoned by Trump Friday night, is the controversial former Maricopa County, Arizona, sheriff who had a permanent injunction issued against him by a federal judge in 2013 for continuing to racially profile Latino drivers even after being ordered to stop years earlier. The court s order could not be more clear, instructing Arpaio to stop "detaining, holding, or arresting Latino occupants of vehicles in Maricopa County based on a reasonable belief, without more, that such persons were in country without authorization."

Monday marks the 54th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. s iconic "I Have A Dream" speech at the March on Washington. King s speech marked a new epoch in American history. King s most well-known speech mixed a radical critique of institutional racism and white supremacy with a defiant optimism for the future that resonates as much today -- in the aftermath of Charlottesville and other racially motivated conflicts -- as it did in his own time.

On Monday night, President Donald Trump spoke about the way forward in Afghanistan. I watched his remarks on TV, and then watched the reactions on the news and social media. I was shocked, not by what the President said, but by what everyone else did not say. The discussion Monday night whizzed past the war and went straight to politics. Was this a win for H.R. McMaster? Will the President s decision prompt Steve Bannon to go nuclear? Was this a deliberate attempt to shift the conversation away from Charlottesville, Virginia?

The White House is one of the most instantly recognizable buildings in the world -- a global symbol of American values and democracy. It is also a historic building, in need of constant repair and maintenance to ensure it remains safe and sound. It is now into its third century of life. Imagine if it were announced that an unavoidable part of the essential repair programs was that it would have to be painted gray for the next four years. The outcry would be deafening. Tourists would be shocked, Americans aghast. But that -- in effect -- is what is happening in London s most famous landmark: Big Ben. Repairs to the Westminster s Clock Tower -- formally the Elizabeth Tower since Queen Elizabeth II s Diamond Jubilee -- have led to the bell being silenced for four years.

Amid the intense and violent debate that engulfs Egypt on every crisis, whether it is economic, political or the result of acts of violence or terror, we can observe this time with that the ongoing discussions arise from mental images regarding Egypt and the region that are not compatible with reality. It goes back, mostly, to the 1950s and 1960s, when Egypt was living in the heyday of the July Revolution, the nationalisation of the Suez Canal, and had embarked on a promising process towards development and industrialisation. It was also a part of the Non-Alignment Movement, it supported liberation movements in Africa, and played a major role in the founding of the Organisation of African Unity.

It used to be known as propaganda when adversary governments concocted bizarre stories to further their agendas. Tabloid journalism is a lighter version of the same; it goes after overblown gossip and bogus rumours. Now, in the age of social media, the words “disinformation,” “yellow journalism” or better yet “fake news” have come to life. Hoax stories are created to deceive and intended to mislead, and in the process influence millions.

Over the 22 years I have been involved in the annual Euromoney Egypt Conference I have seen both Egyptian and international experts and policy-makers advocate many models of development. Egypt s been through some challenging times both politically and economically and has changed beyond recognition since I first visited in 1994, but I believe that few would disagree that the country has missed many opportunities and travelled down some wrong paths. The need for change and development is stronger than ever.

If we truly took the Bible seriously, we might never get past the first chapter. Push far enough down our respective family trees, the Bible teaches, and we will all end up with the same starting point, Adam. The Bible begins this way, the Talmudic Sages teach, "so that no person might say to another, My father was greater than yours. " One of the most fundamental claims Judaism makes about the world is that every human being on the face of the earth -- black and white, male and female -- is created in the image of God and is therefore infinitely valuable.

US President Donald Trump implied in one of his latest tweets that he forced North Korea to back down over its threat to Guam. It s a dangerous misperception that could cause the crisis to escalate and Trump to miss what could be the best chance he will have to halt the tests of missiles that can now threaten the American homeland. Anxious about annual US-South Korea military exercises that begin next week, Pyongyang has presented the United States with a clear, coercive choice: reduce tensions or face a highly destabilizing missile strike to the waters around Guam.

Donald Trump s supporters are convinced that no matter what the President says on the thorny issue of race, it will never be enough for his critics. "If Donald Trump (had) suddenly jumped on Marine One ... down to Charlottesville, walked into the jail where the young man was being held, shot him between the eyes, I guarantee you people said he didn t use the right caliber bullet," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said this weekend on Fox and Friends. Trump supporters, like Huckabee, are right: only Trump s actions will matter because the President has so devalued his own words.

In Russia and neighboring Belarus, preparations are underway for Zapad -- a major military exercise to be held in September. The two countries Western neighbors are worried. Zapad is Russian for "West," and of all the different major exercises in the Russian military calendar, it causes the most excitement and concern because it is the one that most closely resembles practice for invading those neighbors. As a result, this regular event receives a lot more attention than other Russian manoeuvers of similar size. Held every four years, the exercise can even develop its own mythology: Much of the Western coverage said that the 2009 exercise ended with a simulated nuclear attack on Warsaw, Poland, even though there is no evidence at all from unclassified sources to suggest this was the case.

Despite condemnation from 40 countries and even the Pope, Venezuela s ruling party installed its new assembly last weekend. Choosing as its head former Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez, a loyal follower of President Nicolas Maduro, the assembly focused on efforts to stifle any dissent, beginning deliberations to undermine the opposition controlled legislature and restructure the government. The government swiftly moved to consolidate its broader authoritarian grip, firing state workers who didn t vote, punishing the last remaining independent media outlets, ousting the outspoken attorney general, Luisa Ortega, and arresting many opposition figures.

There is something that instinctively scares us when we see slavish military synchronicity. It awakens deep fear, an inescapable conditioning that tells us such an excess of squeaky precise coordination won t end well. Kim Jong Un may not intend us to read him this way, although much of his behavior suggests that he does. Of course, what is really getting under our skin, beyond the parades of soldiers and civilians, is that this third-generation dictator still only in his 30s is on the verge of nuclearizing his intercontinental ballistic missiles -- and if something isn t done soon, he might make good on his promise and lob one at the US.

I wouldn t have imagined that one day I would write about Lebanese racism that some incite publicly and shamelessly and that is practised by many in largesse and a good-natured manner as if it is a recipe for superiority and surpassing past complexes. According to comments circulating by some big politicians, analysts and heads of municipalities in the north and south of the country, and what is worse, in the statements of major religious personalities, Lebanese racism is directed mainly to Syrian refugees obliged by the accursed war in their country to seek asylum in a friendly country, or so they thought.

One of the main issues in the east is centring all attention on women. In a time where people have surpassed their physical needs, heaven remains for the eastern people a collection of food and women. In Merzak Allouache s 2017 docunarrative Investigating Heaven, we follow the story of Nejma, a journalist who is doing an investigative report on the concept of heaven in the Algerian society. She asks her subjects what paradise will be when the pious dead men are promised a 72 sex-driven virgins by the divine.