The 10-day Artemis II mission represents a defining moment in modern exploration. Four astronauts on Monday went further into space than any crew in history as they looped around the moon. It is a daring yet disciplined mission, one that signals not just ambition, but preparation for a sustained human presence beyond Earth.

Moments like this ...Read more

When a leader speaks of a civilization dying “tonight,” the weight of those words does not fall lightly. Language at that level does more than describe a moment; it shapes it. It can steady a nation, or it can heighten fear, harden positions and shrink the narrow space where diplomacy still has a chance to work.

President Donald Trump has ...Read more

Last Sunday, billions of people around the world observed Easter, a holiday that celebrates Christ’s resurrection. John 20:21 records the risen Jesus’ first words as “Peace be with you.” Under the shadow of war and troubling division, three very different American leaders shared their perspectives on the day.

Pope Leo XIV, the Chicago-...Read more

In his first Cabinet reshuffle of his second term, President Donald Trump last month ousted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, replacing her with Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, who was confirmed by the Senate on March 23.

While Mullin holds some views antithetical to the security of ...Read more

There’s still more political fallout for the GOP courtesy of the Iran war: Even if the conflict ends soon, voters could be grappling with pain at the gas pump deep into midterm election season, as Republicans struggle to defend razor-thin majorities in Congress.

The influence American presidents have on oil markets is often difficult to ...Read more

Senate Democrats are absolutely right in doing everything they can, including holding up funding for the Department of Homeland Security, to impose limits on behavior by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. But it is not enough. There also must be congressional action to address the inhumane conditions in ICE detention centers and ...Read more

The oldest, most enduring cliche about government policy is the one about how budgets are political, not fiscal, documents.

The Trump administration's budget proposal for the 2027-28 fiscal year, unveiled Friday, seems designed to set a new standard for partisan ideology as a spending standard.

You may have seen news coverage of the budget's ...Read more

Rural health care systems have been in crisis for decades, a situation that will become more dire when steep cuts to Medicaid kick in next year.

These communities were seemingly offered a lifeline in 2025 — a $50 billion, five-year fund focused on establishing sustainable, high-quality care for rural Americans. But as states now start to ...Read more

Two numbers — 123 and three — quickly became the focal point of reactions after the United Nations General Assembly voted to declare the trafficking of Africans in the transatlantic slave trade the “gravest crime against humanity” and affirmed the need for reparations.

They represent the nations that voted for and against the resolution...Read more

Mark Rutte may not be a household name in the Chicago area or the rest of America, but the man is perhaps the only thing standing in the way of a full-blown collision between President Donald Trump and the NATO alliance.

NATO’s secretary-general has emerged as Europe’s most capable Trump whisperer, someone who can fly to Washington at a ...Read more

Four astronauts are on a journey around the moon, a mission that offers a rare chance to see our world from a distance, and ourselves more clearly.

One of the reasons people appreciate travel is that it offers a different perspective on home. Distance has a way of recalibrating what actually is important.

Now imagine gaining such a perspective...Read more

I know with all the bad news in the world right now the last thing you probably want to hear about are renewed threats to our democracy, but unfortunately the gravity is real.

In February, the U.S. House passed the so-called SAVE America Act, one of a slate of efforts to restrict access to voting nationwide through new documentation ...Read more

When Maryland Gov. Wes Moore appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, he dismissed as “nonsense” the president’s suggestion that the federal government should reconsider funding programs such as Medicare or child care during wartime. His broader point deserves serious consideration: National security and domestic stability are ...Read more

In ancient Greek mythology, Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo, both children of Zeus. She is joining her brother in the pantheon of American achievement and of scientific history.

This weekend, the Artemis II mission is en route to the Moon, carrying human beings on that journey for the first time in over half a century. During those years,...Read more

After deadly riots swept Los Angeles in 1992 in response to a jury’s acquittal of four police officers who savagely beat motorist Rodney King, he begged for peace.

“People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?” King pleaded.

His poignant appeal is no less urgent now, as verbal violence overcomes civil national discourse. ...Read more

What are we not talking about after a month of war in Iran? The news will continue to question the strategy or lack thereof. It will count casualties, rising prices, the remaining days until November — but what it will not tally is the egregious cost to the planet.

The numbers are dumbfounding.

An F-16 in combat consumes as much fuel in one ...Read more

More than a month into the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, ordinary Iranians are living under a double siege: external bombardment and internal repression. For some, this war has brought only fear — fear of what comes next, fear of whether basic life can continue, fear of how much more cities and families can endure. For others, enduring this ...Read more

Because my wife and I want to visit Paris, I started casually studying French, first with Pimsleur CDs from the library, then by watching videos online (I still can’t understand half of what they’re saying, malheureusement ) and more recently by speaking French with ChatGPT, which gently corrects my errors and compliments me on my clarity of...Read more

We’ve seen this pattern before.

A U.S. missile strike. An initial statement emphasizing precision. Then, later, reports that civilians — including many children — were among the dead. In Afghanistan, through the early and mid-2000s, these reports came so often they formed a grim pattern. Each incident is explained as an anomaly, but over ...Read more