All The Monitor's View
In anti-graft probe, China toys with rule of lawBy charging a former head of internal security, China's Communist Party suggests that no top leader is immune from the law. Will it now also accept that the party itself should be held accountable?
As persecution of faithful rises, so does the religious responseEven as reports show a global rise in restrictions on religion, those of faith are defending those of other faiths. This helps confirm why freedom of religion is a universal right.
Climate-smart farmers break new groundMore farmers seem more open to new practices, leading to to higher crop yields, or doing more with less. The limits in agriculture are fading as farmers show greater willingness for today's innovation.
To end Hamas-Israel wars, deal with the mutual despairDespair during this third Hamas-Israel war is so high on both sides that despair itself needs to be addressed. Recognizing it as a shared problem helps not only as a point of empathy but can dispel the notion of despair as destiny.
Across battlelines of faith in Mideast, acts of harmonyThree prominent leaders – two Shiite ayatollahs and a Palestinian scholar – defy religious intolerance with bold acts of understanding toward the 'enemy.'
Big hearts toward Central America's child migrantsThe surge of child migrants over the US border may only continue if Americans don't open their hearts to the countries of origin – Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
High hopes for honesty in IndonesiaThe Indonesian presidential election brings a fresh leader with a record of clean governance, something this young Asian democracy has been struggling for.
Why the chips are down for Internet gamblingThree states jumped into online gaming last year with high hopes. But so far their take is very low. The inherent problems in this addictive form of gambling should give pause to other states and to Congress if they are tempted to follow suit.
How to honor those on MH17The Ukraine conflict finally touched the world with the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17. Now the world can honor the victims of MH17 by seeing such conflicts in a new light – as ones that need leaders with the humility to know they cannot always control the violence they unleash.
California's big scare over water 'scarcity'California plans to impose $500 fines – daily – for anyone violating water bans, such as overwatering lawns. Such threats run against new thinking about water as abundantly renewable.
The great lesson from Israel-Hamas warsThe third major conflict between Hamas and Israel reveals the heightened moral concern for protecting innocent civilians in war.
America's big assist for Afghanistan democracyFor all its faults as a democracy, the US was able to persuade the two candidates in Afghanistan's third democratic presidential election that they must compromise on a vote recount and power sharing after the result. The world has invested too much in Afghanistan to let it fall to the Taliban or Al Qaeda.
A peaceful path to a Kurdish homelandThe advance of the Islamic State in Iraq opens an opportunity for Kurds to seek an independent state. But they must be cautious and ensure such a move does not trigger violence. The Middle East needs examples of peaceful means of change.
The new era of urban humanityMost people now live in cities, the UN declares, and more will follow, perhaps marking the 21st century as the Urban Era. Why the attraction to cities? Perhaps it shows rising hopes for progress.
Obama's real border issue: a heroin surgeAmericans are misfocused on the surge of children crossing the US-Mexican border. The bigger border issue is the rapid rise of heroin trafficking, driven by young Americans switching from prescription painkillers.
Are mortgage buyers smarter after housing collapse?A global survey of 15-year-olds show the US still has far to go to prepare the next generation to grasp complex financial products such as mortgages. To prevent another crisis like the one in 2008, young Americans need financial literacy.
The BRICS's new aid bankAt a summit next week, the five 'emerging economies' of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – BRICS – will launch their first project: a development bank. It can only work, however, if it runs on similar principles of the World Bank.
Israel looks withinThe brutal revenge killing of an Israeli Arab boy pushes many Israelis to say that a moral malaise is one cause of such a hate crime. This collective introspection is both a model for others and a strength to Israel.
Preventing a religious war in the MideastAttacks on sacred Shiite sites by the Sunni militants creating an 'Islamic State' in Iraq and Syria are risking a wider war in the Middle East. The world should help prevent such a major war of religion by applying lessons from previous wars between competing faiths.
Passing the torch of peaceful protestsThe 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act is also a chance to note how often peaceful protests for basic freedoms still find traction in many places in the world.
