The man who has been heavily favored to become Germany’s next chancellor took an extraordinary gamble this week, both for his political future and his country’s longstanding firewall against political extremism. It did not go as he hoped. In an effort to portray himself and his party as tough on immigration, Friedrich Merz, the leader … Read more
Israeli legislation taking effect on Thursday will threaten the operations of a major United Nations agency that provides critical humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip after more than a year of war has left the territory in ruins. The laws ban the agency, UNRWA, from any activities in Israel, effectively cutting off its ability to … Read more
On Oct. 4, 2019, a 13-year-old British boy called a child welfare hotline from his home in Banks, a village in northwest England, and asked: “What should I do if I want to kill somebody?” The teenager, Axel Rudakubana, said that he had started taking a knife to school because he was being bullied. After … Read more
For two summers during high school, instead of joining her classmates at the beach, Noura Ghazoui had an internship at the town hall of her hometown, Borghetto Santo Spirito, on the Ligurian coast. But when she tried to apply for a job there at age 19, she found herself ineligiblebecause, like hundreds of thousands of … Read more
A bill to impose sanctions on officials affiliated with the International Criminal Court stalled in the Senate on Tuesday after Democrats refused to back it, a setback for legislation that aims to rebuke the court for its top prosecutor’s decision to bring war crimes charges against top Israeli leaders for their military offensive against Hamas … Read more
In at least two executive orders since he took office last week, President Trump has invoked a panel with a telling nickname: the God Squad. The committee is made up of high-level officials who can override the landmark Endangered Species Act so that development or other projects can proceed even if they might result in … Read more
Vietnam’s motorbike drivers have always tended to treat red lights as suggestions, more slow down than stop. At rush hour, they’ve brought the same indifference to other rules, like: Yield to pedestrians; or, stay off sidewalks; or, do not drive against the flow of traffic. Some found it charming, the ballet of many wheels dancing … Read more
The White House budget office has ordered a pause in grants, loans and other federal financial assistance, according to a memo sent to government agencies on Monday, potentially paralyzing a vast swath of programs and jeopardizing spending that Congress has mandated by law. In the two-page memo, Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director of the … Read more
The man who is favored to be Germany’s next chancellor has opened the door to working with the Alternative for Germany to pass tough new immigration restrictions, potentially breaking a longstanding effort to shun a party whose flirtation with Nazi language has made it anathema to the political mainstream. The opening by Friedrich Merz, the … Read more
When Donald J. Trump huddled with Republican senators at a closed-door meeting in the Capitol days before his inauguration, Senator Rick Scott of Florida rose and gushed to him about the exhilarating opportunity the party had to “right-size” the federal government by slashing it mercilessly, a long-held conservative goal. Mr. Trump brusquely agreed but quickly … Read more