Latest Stories By Louis Jacobson

Showing 313-324 of 1260 items

Russia, Ukraine, and the contested language of genocide

April 11, 2022

Amid the bloodshed from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there’s a question that’s increasingly being raised: Is this genocide? Through April 1, the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said it had confirmed that 1,325 civilians had been killed in Ukraine and 2,017 had been injured. However, even the U.N. office that released […]

Peaches on the tree

The race for the Georgia U.S. Senate seat: A guide

April 8, 2022

Quick take In 2020, Georgia switched from Republican to Democratic and became one of the key building blocks of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. In 2022, Republicans are seeking to oust Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who narrowly won a runoff in January 2021 that enabled Democrats to seize Senate control.  Georgia’s primaries will be held on […]

Independence Hall Philly

The race for the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat: A guide

April 1, 2022

UPDATE: On April 9, former President Donald Trump endorsed Mehmet Oz in the Republican primary in Pennsylvania’s Senate race.  Quick take In Pennsylvania, one of the most important swing states on today’s political map, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is retiring, leaving open a seat that both parties are fiercely contesting in the effort to tilt […]

Poland Ukraine

Could a strike by Russia on Poland trigger Article 5 and bring NATO into war?

March 14, 2022

So far, the military conflict following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has remained within the borders of Ukraine. But it may not stay there — and if not, there’s a chance of a military faceoff between Russia and the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. Ukraine is bordered by four NATO members: Hungary, Poland, Romania […]

Gas prices sign

How high are gasoline prices today, really?

March 11, 2022

Americans these days are intently focused on the price of gasoline. Understandably. Gas prices were already rising after travel and commutes resumed following widespread restraints imposed early in the coronavirus pandemic. During the early months of the pandemic, gasoline prices cratered. When demand for gasoline began to increase again, it pushed the price at the […]

Pumping gas

Ask PolitiFact: Why are gas prices going up?

March 9, 2022

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has upended energy markets. The U.S. will ban imports of Russian oil. Europe, highly dependent on Russian energy, is aiming to wean itself away from its dangerous neighbor to the east. The basic rule of supply and demand says that if the supply of energy from Russia is cut, demand will […]

No fly zone protest image ukraine

The case for and against establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine

March 7, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, facing an intense Russian invasion and the possibility of untold casualties and suffering, has called for the West to establish a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine to hold Russian forces at bay. “I say every day, if you cannot shut the sky now, then give us the timeline when you will do […]

John Eastman

The Jan. 6 committee’s court filing: How important is it?

March 4, 2022

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attacks has made public its most detailed reasoning about how those events might have broken criminal laws. Filings in federal court show the committee believes that then-President Donald Trump violated the law in an attempt to get himself declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election after he […]

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is especially lawless. Could Putin be tried for war crimes?

March 2, 2022

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has flouted international law more dramatically than almost any other military incursion since the end of World War II. Prior to the invasion, Ukraine had been a sovereign nation, recognized around the world for some three decades, and it had made no militaristic moves against Russia. Yet Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, […]

Russian oil facility

Russia’s economy and Western sanctions: What you need to know

February 25, 2022

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the sanctions unleashed against Russia, are expected to destabilize the world economy. But how important is Russia within the global economy? While casting a large geopolitical shadow as a nuclear-armed power, economically, Russia is a mid-level player. Still, it’s big in oil and natural gas exports, so any disruptions […]

Ukraine protest

Putin’s one-sided history of Ukraine’s relationship with Russia

February 23, 2022

Russia recognized the independence of two eastern provinces in Ukraine and followed up by sending Russian troops across the Ukrainian border. What Western leaders called a major violation of international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin cast as the end of an erroneous division of land that took place more than a century ago. “Since time […]

Two year covid: Main photo

Two years of the coronavirus pandemic, in charts

February 22, 2022

The coronavirus pandemic is now stretching into its third year, a grim milestone that calls for another look at the human toll of COVID-19, and the unsteady progress in containing it. The charts below tell various aspects of the story, from the deadly force of the disease and its disparate impact, to the signs of […]

Showing 313-324 of 1260 items