The Story – A Chemical Weapons Attack in Syria During the afternoon of April 4, news broke in North America of an apparent chemical agent attack in Idlib, Syria. Within hours, news agencies and social media streamed horrific videos of adults and children gasping for air and being rushed to hospitals for treatment, where they were…
The Story After the U.S. elections last November, many Canadians half-jokingly prepared for an influx of disaffected liberal Americans fleeing the new Trump regime. And while the Canadian immigration website crashed on the night of the election, it seems that few American political refugees have indeed crossed the border. Rather, Canada now faces a much more…
UPDATE (Feb. 7): If you are a reader in Canada, one way to show solidarity with the Muslim community, in light of the travel ban and Quebec mosque shooting, is to affirm the values of human rights and dignity by adding your and your organization’s name to the National Council of Canadian Muslims’ “Charter for Inclusive…
Travels in a Polarized Country In the lead-up to the U.S. election, I had the opportunity to travel through several states along the East Coast, visiting friends and university campuses. Even before the final, surprising twist on election night, the polarization amongst Americans was palpable. In Boston – perhaps America’s most educated city – I tuned into the…
Coffee and Politics As I was sitting across the table from my university friend, nearly 10 years later, I couldn’t help noticing the salt and pepper that started sprinkling his hair. We had been roommates for two years while going to school in Los Angeles. Shortly after graduation, he left for graduate studies on the…
Presidential primaries unlike any other. Renewed promise for action on climate change. A refugee crisis that nobody seems to have an answer for. Increasingly brazen acts of terrorism around the world. A vote that may forever change Europe’s course. Through the first half of 2016, the world seemed to spin at an increasingly dizzying pace of change…
The Story If there’s one common theme that underlines politics across the industrialized world in 2016, it is surely the rise of populist movements into the mainstream. Consider the following developments in Europe and North America over just the last month: In Spain, the far-left political coalition Podemos-Izquierda Unida has firmly supplanted the Socialist Party in voting…
As we turn the page on the first half of 2015 and the first four months of PineTreeRepublic, we take a look at some of the top news articles of 2015 so far. Each of the journalists in these articles provided an important perspective on some of the year’s most significant developments, and helped further our understanding on the…
The Story On Friday, June 12, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a bill called Trade Promotion Authority, which would have given President Barack Obama strong negotiating power to conclude a deal known as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). In the works for 10 years, the TPP is a proposed free-trade agreement that would more closely link…
Good morning, Pine Tree Republic citizens! This week’s Front Page News includes: Lessons from Haiti in rebuilding Nepal after the earthquake; The predatory economic systems that contributed to racial tensions in Baltimore; Canada’s “top-heavy” approach to funding science research; The influence of big city mayors in Alberta’s provincial election. Please share your thoughts on these and…
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