| US-North Korea summit? Shared language, expectations are key Posted: 12 Mar 2018 02:00 PM PDT ![US-North Korea summit? Shared language, expectations are key]( "US-North Korea summit? Shared language, expectations are key") President Trump's acceptance of a summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un last week was a huge surprise for much of official Washington. It was almost as if Mr. Trump had decided to become a Democrat, or give up golf. After all, Trump has derided Kim as "Little Rocket Man." He's threatened North Korea with "fire and fury." The way in which the agreement came about seemed impetuous.
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| Russia eyed in UK spy poisoning case. But why would the Kremlin do it? Posted: 12 Mar 2018 01:11 PM PDT ![Russia eyed in UK spy poisoning case. But why would the Kremlin do it?]( "Russia eyed in UK spy poisoning case. But why would the Kremlin do it?") It certainly looks like a state actor was behind the attempted murder by exotic nerve agent of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Britain last week. Outside of Russia, few people have any doubts about who that culprit must be, and most fingers are pointed squarely at Moscow. There is, however, a distinct shortage of solid theories about why the Kremlin would have ordered such a high-profile attack on a man who – by all the traditional spy vs. spy rules – should no longer be of interest to security services.
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| Can Pennsylvania Democrats crack the code in Trump country? Posted: 12 Mar 2018 12:48 PM PDT ![Can Pennsylvania Democrats crack the code in Trump country?]( "Can Pennsylvania Democrats crack the code in Trump country?") When Lydia Balogh, a registered Republican, showed up at a rally for Democrat Conor Lamb here in suburban Pittsburgh, she was already in his camp. Lamb's race against Republican state Rep. Rick Saccone in Tuesday's special election for Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district is a nail-biter, according to polls – a shocking turn, given that President Trump won the district in 2016 by almost 20 percentage points. Lamb and Mr. Saccone are battling to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Tim Murphy (R), who resigned last October amid reports that he had asked his mistress to have an abortion despite his public stance opposing abortion.
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| After fall of a dictator, young Gambians push into politics Posted: 12 Mar 2018 12:37 PM PDT ![After fall of a dictator, young Gambians push into politics]( "After fall of a dictator, young Gambians push into politics") Abdoulie Ceesay steps out of his shiny white pick-up on a sandy road, quickly followed by his team. On the agenda of this member of Parliament's visit to Labakoreh, a small Gambian village in his constituency: political reconciliation, development, and disputes about who should succeed the village chief – known as alkalo – after the recent death of his predecessor. As is often the case, the crowd Mr. Ceesay is preparing to address is almost entirely older than him.
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