In-Depth Archive

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—In June 2009, one month after Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war ended, a Tamil mechanic named Sri was abducted while he was walking home from work in the country’s eastern Batticaloa District. His wife, Jaya, heard the news from neighbors, who watched as two men on a motorcycle grabbed Sri and forced him between them on their bike before speeding off. Jaya, who was seven months pregnant at the time, searched all over Batticaloa for Sri, including in various military camps, but could not find him. She tried to lodge a complaint—known as a first information report, or […]

For the approximately 150 journalists and opinion leaders gathered in Mexico City’s Casa Lamm Cultural Center, the evening of July 15 was a difficult one. They came together to pay homage to the life and work of Javier Valdez Cardenas, one of the country’s most celebrated investigative reporters, who had been brutally murdered two months earlier in Culiacan, the capital of the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa. The event—organized by press freedom groups the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, and Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym, RSF—was a solemn affair. A parade of speakers read from Valdez’s […]

It’s been quite the turnaround. Almost nine years after Iceland, a country with just over 300,000 inhabitants, became the poster child for the 2008 global financial crisis, many indicators show the economy is doing better than ever. After the 2008 crash, Icelanders engaged in extensive debates about what had precipitated the crisis and how best to prevent such devastation from occurring again. Many still fear another crisis is around the corner, wondering whether it’s “2007 all over again,” while others believe a “New Iceland” has freed itself from the conditions that led to the last crash. Listen to Thorgils Jonsson […]

When a group of four Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia launched a dramatic diplomatic gambit by severing ties with Qatar in early June, the crisis immediately commanded the world’s attention. The leaders of major powers, from Washington to Paris and Beijing, recognized the situation’s high stakes and—with the exception of some early-round Twitter provocation from U.S. President Donald Trump—began pushing for a resolution. In Africa, too, the Gulf spat drew swift responses, with countries such as Mauritania and the Comoros following Riyadh’s lead and breaking ties with Doha, while others staked out less forceful positions or promoted dialogue. Meanwhile, […]