To The Point

To the Point

Take a rapid-fire tour of the day’s hot-button issues.

Official posters of the candidates for the 2017 French presidential election, Emmanuel Macron, left, head of the political movement En Marche!, or Onwards!, and Marine Le Pen, of French National Front (FN).

Does it matter who won the French election? It might matter more who’s running Facebook.

Global Politics

Technology is transforming societies more deeply than the political vibrations of 2017.

François Fillon (2nd L), a former French prime minister, a member of The Republicans political party and 2017 presidential candidate of the French center-right, and Troyes Mayor Francois Baroin visit Le Coq Sportif factory as they attend a campaign visit

Politics in France are completely upended

Global Politics
Kirk W. Johnson

There’s just one person this new tweeter wants to reach: @realDonaldTrump

Conflict
The entrance of the Icelandic Pirate Party headquarters

Pirates in Iceland are on the verge of gaining real political power

Global Politics
People inspect a damaged site after airstrikes

Syrian holdouts struggle under attack by regime and Western-backed forces

Conflict
Hostra University students are pictured playing the roles of the candidates and moderator.

Why tonight’s debate will be strictly structured — and might not even really be a ‘debate’

Global Politics

Many characterize the “presidential debates” more as joint appearances or joint press conferences, rather than debates. And the Byzantine rules that cover the debates go back decades.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with reporters during a visit for a summit of former Soviet republics at Kyrgyzstan's international Manas airport outside Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, September 17, 2016.

How close are Trump and Putin?

Election 2016

A closer look into the “bromance.”

Israel's new defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, left, next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they sign a coalition deal to broaden the government's parliamentary majority on May 25.

How did such an inflammatory politician end up in Israel’s 2nd most-powerful job?

Global Politics

The US editor for Israeli daily Ha’aretz says the hard-right defense minister isn’t all that different from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, but “his bark may turn out worse than his bite.”

Rodrigo Duterte

Heard about ‘Donald Trump of the Philippines’? His record isn’t as extreme as his talk.

Global Politics

Rodrigo Duterte is set to be the next leader of the Philippines, and has promised: “I will be a dictator, no doubt about it. But only against the forces of evil.”

A protester stands in front of a burning barricade during a demonstration in Cairo January 28, 2011.

Authors argue it’s too early to label the ‘Arab Spring’ a failure

Conflict

It’s been five years since the Arab Spring started, with hopes for tremendous change for residents of dictatorships throughout the region. Most of those protests failed, though two authors say it’s too soon to judge.