| After the summit: No new cold war, but no warming of ties either Posted: 18 Jul 2018 01:29 PM PDT ![After the summit: No new cold war, but no warming of ties either]( "After the summit: No new cold war, but no warming of ties either") Remember when a sudden burst of Russian intervention from Ukraine to Syria, efforts to undermine Western democracies, and above all, Moscow's chosen role as chief global opponent of the US-led liberal international order, all spurred predictions of an impending second cold war? After President Trump's Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday – and especially given the displays at the two leaders' extraordinary press conference of considerably more entente than discord – the heralds of an extended period of cold-war-like tensions and confrontation between the two powers have quieted. Indeed quite the opposite is likely: The domestic reaction in the United States to Mr. Trump's performance at the two leaders' press conference suggests any Trump initiative to improve rock-bottom relations with Russia is a non-starter, US-Russia experts say.
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| Overturning Roe might be simple; the politics that follow won't be Posted: 18 Jul 2018 12:41 PM PDT ![Overturning Roe might be simple; the politics that follow won't be]( "Overturning Roe might be simple; the politics that follow won't be") Roe, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion in the US, has been at the heart of a heated culture war that's split the nation largely along partisan lines. Would America be flung back into an age of back alleys – or forward into a "Handmaid's Tale" dystopia – as some abortion-rights advocates fear? If the Supreme Court does overturn Roe – or substantially guts it, which is what many experts are predicting will happen – it would send abortion policy back to state legislatures to hash out.
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| A Sumatran fishing town's message for Rohingya refugees: Welcome Posted: 18 Jul 2018 12:13 PM PDT ![A Sumatran fishing town's message for Rohingya refugees: Welcome]( "A Sumatran fishing town's message for Rohingya refugees: Welcome") The plan was to go to Malaysia. Nur might have made it there if it weren't for the two Thai Navy ships that intercepted the wooden boat he shared with 78 fellow Rohingya refugees. Instead, the Navy escorted the boat toward the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
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| South Africa revives a Mandela legacy Posted: 18 Jul 2018 12:08 PM PDT ![South Africa revives a Mandela legacy]( "South Africa revives a Mandela legacy") All this year, South Africa is using the centennial of Nelson Mandela's birthday to take stock of his legacy. Under a new president, Cyril Ramaphosa, the government hinted earlier this month that it might reverse a controversial decision in 2016 to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, a body set up just 20 years ago to seek justice for victims of the world's mass atrocities. In 2015, South Africa even defied the court by failing to arrest one of the ICC's most wanted suspects, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, during a visit.
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