Dispatch
The view from the ground.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a terminal inauguration day. Europe Is Learning to Live Without Russian Energy
Russian President Vladimir Putin played the energy card on Europe to undercut Ukraine. Europe called his bluff.
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A man walks through a relief camp for people displaced by the floods in Keamari, Pakistan. Pakistan’s Climate Migrants Face Tough Odds
People displaced by climate disasters remain vulnerable, as this year’s floods show.
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Supporters of former President Pedro Castillo hold a blockade. Peru’s Failed Presidential Coup Sparks Democratic Crisis
Protesters see the president’s dismissal as a power grab by an unpopular Congress.
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Shaun Tai (right), a laptop salesman, fires an airsoft pistol during firearms training at Camp 66, a firing range and training facility in Taipei, Taiwan, on Dec. 6. Taiwanese Flock to Civil Defense Training Ahead of Potential Chinese Invasion
“We have no right to ask others to help us if we are not prepared to defend ourselves,” Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said.
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A Greenlandic flag flutters on a boat sailing among icebergs floating in Disko Bay, Ilulissat, western Greenland, on June 28. How Greenland’s Mineral Wealth Made It a Geopolitical Battleground
Denmark’s semi-autonomous territory is coveted by China, the United States, and global mining companies.
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shakes hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as then-Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi (L), French President Emmanuel Macron (C), and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (R) look on during the second day of an EU leaders summit at the European Council building in Brussels. Brussels Brings Orban to Heel—for Now
A little more carrot and a little less stick got Budapest on board with the EU over a big Ukraine aid package.
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Farmers harvest pineapples in Pingtung county, Taiwan On the Front Lines of the China-Taiwan Food Fight
A Brooklyn start-up hits back against Beijing’s pressure campaign.
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Women sit in candle light in a restaurant on a dark street on Nov. 2, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukraine Is on the Edge of a Complete Blackout
As winter deepens, half of the country’s energy system is already destroyed—and the other half is under threat.
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Julia Myron walks her 2-month-old daughter with a friend in Irpin. Ukraine Braces for a Brutal Winter Under Russian Bombs
Those who return home find shattered houses, no heat, and the worst yet to come.
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People hold blank sheets of paper in protest of COVID-19 restrictions and censorship in Hong Kong on Nov. 28. The Power of China’s Blank Sheets of Paper
2022 is not 1989, but demonstrations may yet develop in unpredictable ways.
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A member of Ukraine’s 59th Motorized Brigade walks through the devastation in Posad-Pokrovske in Kherson Oblast. The Ukrainian Village That Sacrificed Itself for Kherson
One small town in Ukraine held off a Russian attack and helped liberate a key regional capital.
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Volunteers work without electricity in Dnipro. Ukraine Battles On in the Dark
Russia’s terror campaign against Ukraine’s power plants is cutting off the lights—and energizing resistance.
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An encounter with the local authorities in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Russia’s Great Reverse Migration
Central Asians used to flee the Soviet empire’s periphery for Moscow. Russia’s mobilization has sent escaping Muscovites in the other direction.
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Saharawi festivalgoers gather to watch a nighttime FiSahara screening at Auserd refugee camp in the Western Sahara. The World’s Most Remote Film Festival
Deep in the Algerian desert, a Sahrawi-run event puts Western Sahara’s struggle for liberation on the big screen.
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Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz gives a press conference in Vienna on Dec. 2, 2021. As Austria Faces Yet Another Round of Political Scandals, Voters Are Starting to Tune Out
Apathy is the big winner from Vienna’s elite dysfunction.
