Europe should not have to burn to make its leaders listen. And no cause should be allowed to turn the streets into a battlefield where ordinary people pay the price for someone else's ideology. Protest can demand change. Violence can only threaten the society that change is supposed to serve.

South Africa’s recent budget has reasons for cautious optimism. Higher revenue has created room for temporary fuel relief, while government says it wants to strengthen the country’s fiscal position. But a healthier Treasury balance sheet will not, by itself, put young people to work. Nor will a levy cut create the conditions businesses need to hire: reliable infrastructure, capable municipalities, predictable rules and public institutions that can deliver what they promise.

For American readers, South Africa’s history matters. Apartheid was a system of racial domination that denied the Black majority basic rights and opportunity. That history deserves honest recognition. It also reminds us to be wary when any government makes race the basis for deciding whose suffering deserves attention and whose does not.

The economy is the clearest test. Recent national surveys show that 84% of registered voters consider it very important to their vote. That includes 88% of voters supporting Democratic House candidates and 82% supporting Republicans. Democrats hold an 8-point advantage in the national House preference question, 44% to 36%.

A museum can seem like a distant place somewhere inside a grand building, in a major city, behind doors that suggest visitors need special knowledge to enter. I wanted this museum to feel different. It is rooted in a church and a community, and it is open to anyone curious enough to walk through the door.

The Supreme Court matters because it is part of a system of checks and balances. It gives individuals a forum to challenge government action and provides a process for resolving disputes involving federal law and the Constitution. Its decisions can limit elected officials, but the court is constrained as well: It decides real cases, applies the law and must explain its judgments.

Video games involve students in the learning process. Imagine a game in which a student must catch prime numbers and avoid numbers that are not prime. Every movement requires the student to identify and apply the mathematical concept.

That matters to Americans because preventing threats is less costly than responding after they grow. A crisis left to deepen can demand more diplomacy, humanitarian assistance and security resources later. It can also destabilize regions that matter to international shipping and commerce.

And we should call it an emergency when Black children are being failed, too. This is where white guilt has become dangerous. It takes a serious moral concern — the legacy of racism and the need for equal opportunity — and turns it into a performance that can obstruct the very progress it claims to support.

Now Navi Pillay joins their ranks. Born in Durban, Pillay has spent her career defending human rights and strengthening international justice. The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize recognizes her efforts to promote peace and international law. Her journey from becoming the first woman to establish a law practice in Natal to serving on international courts speaks to a life devoted to the principle that power must answer to law and every person deserves protection.

There is no need to pretend the two parties are identical. They are not. Their policies differ, their coalitions differ, and the factions pulling on them have different aims. But both parties have become beholden to forces that punish moderation and treat compromise as betrayal.

Thomas’ tenure will be assessed by history. That assessment should consider his opinions, his legal philosophy and his impact on constitutional law. It should not begin with the assumption that a Black justice who reaches conclusions outside the political mainstream has somehow failed his identity.

Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) program shows how urgent this debate has become. In 2024, 16,499 people received MAID. That number represents lives ended through a practice the state permits. It should cause every society to ask whether we are building a culture of care or normalizing the idea that some lives are no longer worth protecting.

Force alone cannot answer the conditions that allow violent groups to recruit. Where citizens see corruption, unemployment, impunity and distant government, extremists can present themselves as an alternative even when their rule brings brutality and fear. African governments must pair effective security with competent public services, honest institutions and economic opportunity. If people have no confidence in the state, a military victory may prove temporary.

Trump does not need to become less forceful. He needs to become more disciplined. Strength without restraint can become recklessness. Confidence without self-examination can become arrogance. A desire to leave a legacy can become an obsession with self-glorification.

Great powers have always attempted to exhaust their rivals indirectly. America has done it. Russia has done it. China is doing it now. Recognizing that history does not excuse current misconduct, but it should protect us from self-righteousness and strategic blindness. Nations rarely act from moral purity alone. They act from interest, opportunity and fear.