Howard LaFranchi

Boston

Diplomatic Correspondent at The Christian Science Monitor

journalist

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Articles

Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa captured the world's imagination

1 week ago | csmonitor.com | Howard LaFranchi

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In Ukraine mining region, a US minerals deal raises hopes and doubts

1 month ago | csmonitor.com | Howard LaFranchi

As he watches over the iron ore and graphite production site’s aging equipment arrayed around him, Volodymyr Moroz recalls the glory days of the now-silent Zavalivskiy Mine in central Ukraine. “At one time you could count on getting a job at this mine,” he says. “People moved here” from other mining regions “because the pay and the schools were better.”The former mining equipment operator and truck driver now gets by on a few hours a week as a security guard.
Ukraine measures impact of US military aid cut, fears for civilians

1 month ago | csmonitor.com | Howard LaFranchi

Nataliia Karpenko and her husband have farmed the rich soil of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region for nearly four decades, raising a son and a daughter as season upon season they planted and harvested wheat, sunflower, and barley. Then, last Jan. 7 – Mrs. Karpenko says she will never forget that date – a glide bomb crashed into their town of Novopavlivka, signaling Russia’s advancing offensive out of the territory it occupies to the southeast.
Ukrainians flock to Zelenskyy’s banner, but hope for solution with US

1 month ago | csmonitor.com | Howard LaFranchi

Yulia Koliadynska did not vote for Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine’s presidential election in 2019. But when the owner of a central Kyiv paper goods and restaurant supply shop watched President Zelenskyy spar Friday with the U.S. president and vice president, she suddenly felt in her heart that Ukraine has the leader it needs for these very difficult times.
Trump and Zelenskyy clash, clouding the path to peace in Ukraine

1 month ago | csmonitor.com | Howard LaFranchi

A White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that was meant to set terms for bilateral cooperation collapsed Friday into anger and recriminations in full view of the world. The stunning clash left a deep sense of foreboding for the embattled Ukraine’s future, and hinted loudly at the U.S. shift away from an alliance-based foreign policy toward one of big-power politics.
More than a rift: Trump aides cast doubt on shared values with Europe

2 months ago | csmonitor.com | Howard LaFranchi

As with any close-knit family, the transatlantic partnership between the United States and Europe that was forged from a cataclysmic world war has passed through occasional rough moments. European powers’ refusal to join in President George W. Bush’s “war of choice” in Iraq in 2003 is one example. The fallout from President Barack Obama’s swipe at NATO partners as “free riders” unwilling to pay their fair share for their own security is another.
Laughter, with no strings attached: Ukrainian puppeteers bring joy amid war

2 months ago | csmonitor.com | Howard LaFranchi

Puppeteer Pavlo Saveliev opens the Sunday afternoon show with some questions for an audience that includes several dozen children. “Do you know how to behave in the theater?” he asks with faux seriousness, proceeding to a series of rapid-fire queries. “Can you eat candy?” he probes. The children respond firmly, “No!”Why We Wrote ThisA story focused onThe calamitous war in Ukraine has raged for three years.
Trump’s plan for Gaza ridiculed as unserious. So why did he float it?

2 months ago | csmonitor.com | Howard LaFranchi

Greenland, the Panama Canal, Canada as the 51st state – and now a rebuilt and redeveloped Gaza Strip? President Donald Trump’s bombshell proposal Tuesday for the United States to “own” a Gaza depopulated of its 2 million Palestinians and make it the “Riviera of the Middle East” is the latest – and perhaps most shocking – example of a new American manifest destiny.
Trump review of foreign aid reopens debate: How reliable is the US?

2 months ago | csmonitor.com | Howard LaFranchi

Tucked away in last year's $60 billion U.S. foreign aid budget was a $15 million drop in the ocean. Literally. The money paid for projects in Pacific island nations to help them cope with rising sea levels caused by climate change. Many American taxpayers might think this was just a do-good expenditure of no relevance to them.
War worries heavy? Internet out? In Ukraine, books are the balm.

Jan 23, 2025 | csmonitor.com | Howard LaFranchi

Across Ukraine, but especially in Kharkiv, the country’s publishing capital, Russia’s war has been something of a boon to the nation’s publishing industry. More Ukrainians are seeking solace and distraction in books, and interest in Ukrainian literature and Ukrainian-language books is spiking. Many of the country’s publishing houses – from textbook-publishing giants to boutique operations specializing in culture – are keeping busy.