Indira Lakshmanan, Globe
The extremists who vowed to establish a Muslim caliphate are failing to do so.
Robert Fulford, National Post
The coffee house is one of the crucial European institutions; over coffee, much history has been made.
Julie Makinen, Los Angeles Times
All across Japan, aging villages such as Hara-izumi have been quietly hollowing out for years, even as urban areas have continued to grow modestly. But like a creaky wooden roller coaster that slows at the top of the climb before plunging into a terrifying, steep descent, Japan'sà population crested around 2010 with 128 million people and has since lost about 900,000 residents, last year's census confirmed.
Keith Johnson, Foreign Policy
Jakarta needs Beijing's billions, but it's fed up with Chinese fishing boats trawling its waters.
Justin Fox, Bloomberg View
If you're a Chinese factory worker, being ruled by the Communist Party at least makes it sound like you, as a member of the proletariat, have some say. The Union of Democratic Meritocrats, on the other hand, would be very clearly announcing that it thinks its members are better than you. Even in Singapore, which offers the most successful model of what Bell envisions for China, the ruling party knows enough not to put anything about merit in its name. It instead goes... Читать дальше...
Omar Sattar, Al-Monitor
A proposal to make Kirkuk an independent region has Turkmens and Kurds assessing the future of the province.
Arif Rafiq, The Diplomat
The deadly attack on a bakery in Dhaka may have ties to ISIS, but its roots stretch deep into Bangladesh's history.
David McLaughlin, Globe and Mail
Casting himself as the heir to Ralph Klein's fiscal legacy and Stephen Harper's political legacy comes naturally to the Calgary MP.
Laure Mandeville, Am. Interest
When elites close their eyes to inconvenient truths that the people see, the people sometimes throw off not only the elites but the institutions they control.
Nick Cohen, The Guardian
Labour and the Tories were both unprepared for the opportunists and nationalists who were preparing to wreck our prosperity.
George Soros, Project Syndicate
Just as Brexit was a negative shock, the response to it â a massive swing in popular sentiment in favor of the European Union â has been a positive shock. Europe's leaders should seize the opportunity to save the EU by fundamentally reforming it.
Philip Brasor, Japan Times
Laws promoting more women in business have been passed in Japan, but none to promote women in politics, thus taking a tack opposite to what has become conventional wisdom. At present there is a bipartisan bill in the Diet that urges parties to set quotas for women candidates, who will then be given priority in proportional races. However, without making these quotas mandatory, it will be almost impossible to persuade male career politicians to risk their livelihoods... Читать дальше...
Sophie Knight, Quartz
Shinzo Abe would love to turn Japan's self-defense forces into a fully fledged military. But is he ready to deal with the consequences?
The Economist
The self-proclaimed caliphate of Islamic State (IS) is weakening fast. In June the jihadists were kicked out of Fallujah by the Iraqi army, then pounded by air strikes as they fled. American-backed rebels in Syria have surrounded the group's fighters in the northern city of Manbij and are eyeing Raqqa, its de facto capital. In total, IS is now thought to have lost half of the land it seized in Iraq and 20% of its territory in Syria. It is on the verge of losing its main stronghold in Libya, too.
Hassan Hassan, New York Times
The government in Baghdad continues to use Shiite militias to fight in Sunni areas, pushing some Iraqis into the Islamic State's waiting arms, or at least encouraging people to view the group as their sole defender. Meanwhile, Syria's civil war rages on and new conflicts emerge within it, attracting fresh recruits. Even American officials have told me privately that the political changes necessary to stem the group's appeal in Iraq and Syria are lagging behind the military advances. Читать дальше...
