Tuesday's massive explosions in Beirut were a tragedy. But as is often the case in Lebanon, this tragedy was preventable.

The reported 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that sat unclaimed and uncontrolled since at least 2014 in a warehouse is yet another sign of failed leadership and mismanagement by the Lebanese political elite. At minimum, it was ineptitude.

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Looking for titillating summer reading? Interested in stories about espionage, murder, power, and ill-begotten wealth? Then I have just the thing for you to take to the beach: The report of the British Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.

Released last week, the report focuses on "Russian Hostile State Activity." It begins on a nostalgic note: "The dissolution of the USSR was a time of hope in the West. Western thinking was, if not to integrate Russia fully, at least to ensure that it became a partner. By the mid-2000s, it was clear that this had not been successful."

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Fifteen years ago today on the Hebrew calendar, on the 10th day of Av, Israel committed one of the gravest self-inflicted catastrophes since the founding of the state in 1948.

Hiding behind the harmless-sounding euphemism of "disengagement," the government of prime minister Ariel Sharon revved up the bulldozers and utterly destroyed 21 thriving Jewish communities in Gaza while forcibly expelling over 8,000 Jews from their homes, their livelihoods and their land.

In addition, four Jewish communities in northern Samaria were also demolished.

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A new day is dawning in Sino-Iranian relations. Earlier this month, Iranian officials revealed publicly that they were in the final stages of negotiations with China on a sprawling, 25-year strategic pact. The deal will, if implemented in full, dramatically expand military, economic, and political ties between the two countries. The new accord should not be surprising; Tehran and Beijing have historically cooperated on everything from arms sales to energy. Even so, the agreement – which is scheduled to be finalized in coming weeks – represents a landmark expansion of bilateral relations between the two strategic partners. It is also a development with major implications for regional geopolitics and a clear threat to the United States' efforts to isolate and contain the Islamic Republic.

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Sports have always played an integral role in modern life, connecting popular culture with patriotism and nationalism. But the NFL, and football in general, are unique to the US.

In the Middle East, the name of the game is always politics. People follow politics the way Americans follow sports. Visitors to the region get a solid dose of politics from shopkeepers and cabdrivers; after all, it's in the bazaars where politics are practiced.

Conversely, Americans are devoted to their games, particularly football. This is best observed overseas during the Super Bowl, when American football fans abroad hunt with an almost religious fervor for outlets where they watch the game.

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The opening of the baseball season has fans excited about seeing our national pastime again. For some teams, though, the truncated 60-game season will be a challenge. Everyone knows about bitter inter-team rivalries, such as that between the Red Sox and the Yankees, or the Cardinals and the Cubs. But a more important dynamic is the cohesion within teams. Teams need to gel to win — and resolving discord takes time.

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What New York Times contributing editor and writer Bari Weiss recently called the "civil war" within the Times has just claimed another victim: Bari Weiss.

In a scathing open letter to publisher A. G. Sulzberger that instantly went viral on Twitter and other social media, Weiss asserted that she was resigning to protest the paper's failure to defend her against internal and external bullying; senior editors' abandonment of the paper's ostensible commitment to publishing news and opinion that stray from an ideological orthodoxy; and the capitulation of many Times reporters and senior editors to the prevailing intolerance of far-Left mobs on Twitter, which she called the paper's "ultimate editor."

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A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that more than two-thirds of Americans support the Black Lives Matter movement. The high level of backing raises the question of how much the public knows about BLM.

On the surface, BLM presents itself as a grassroots movement dedicated to the noble tasks of fighting racism and police brutality. A deeper dive shows that BLM is a Marxist revolutionary movement aimed at transforming the United States — and the entire world — into a communist dystopia.

This is the first of a two-part series, which reveals:

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America is in a state of collective angst, one that hasn't been seen since perhaps the Second World War. Every crisis since then, whether it was war, the 9/11 attacks, flu pandemics, or financial meltdown, had left most Americans unaffected. But now, few are economically, medically, or emotionally untouched. The SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, pose threats or extreme inconvenience of one sort or another to virtually everyone.

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In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, America enjoyed a sense of unity that was, if short-lived, a dramatic reminder that we are a single people with a strong and good national spirit.

Like so many of us, I was reminded of that spirit in what so far has been one of the most hopeful and unifying public moments of the American response to the pandemic, former President George W. Bush's recent eloquent and moving plea for unity.

But the reality today is so much different. This time around, we can't seem to put away partisan vituperation during the crisis itself. Our national politics seems as toxic as ever, our divisions more deeply rooted and widespread.

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The partisan political sniping over Covid-19 is completely predictable and counter-productive. There's plenty of fault to go around, but the blame-gaming should be ignored or discounted for what it is: self-aggrandizing grandstanding.

It is, however, worthwhile to examine a tension that has been brewing in the public health world for decades. That dichotomy is: should we focus on communicable diseases, as has long been the mission of public health institutions, or do we have enough bandwidth and resources to venture out into the much more controversial area of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)?

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