At the annual gathering in Boston this week of one of America’s oldest scientific societies, the discussions touched on threats to humankind: runaway artificial intelligence, toxic “forever chemicals,” the eventual end of the universe. But the most urgent threats for many scientists were the ones aimed at them, as the Trump administration slashes the federal … Read more
A British couple who had been on a motorcycle tour around the world were detained in Iran, Britain’s foreign office said on Saturday. The couple, Craig and Lindsay Foreman, were last heard from on social media in early January. But this week, Iranian state media reported that two British nationals had been detained on suspicion … Read more
Soon, Irene Mekel will need to pick the day she dies. She’s not in any hurry: She quite likes her life, in a trim, airy house in Castricum, a Dutch village by the sea. She has flowers growing in her back garden, and there is a street market nearby where vendors greet villagers by name. … Read more
A teenager died and several other people were injured in Villach, Austria, on Saturday after a man attacked them with a knife, officials said. A suspect has been detained in connection with the attack; it is not clear whether he knew the victims. The attack happened around 4 p.m. local time, killing a 14-year-old and … Read more
Hostile to Russia ever since Soviet tanks appeared near her childhood home in 1968 in what was then Czechoslovakia, the now grandmother was delighted to have her photograph taken with a soldier who was fighting Russian invaders in Ukraine. “He was a hero to me,” Lucia Stasselova, 66, said of the soldier, whom she met … Read more
Secretary of State Marco Rubio prepared for meetings on Sunday in Jerusalem as political chaos rippled across the Middle East over President Trump’s insistent proposals to seize the devastated Gaza Strip and force out its Palestinian residents. The trip is Mr. Rubio’s first to the region as secretary of state, and comes as Israel and … Read more
Three decades ago, he was a scrappy campaigner roaming the world’s corridors of power with a dream to win independence for his tiny homeland. Today, at 75, José Ramos-Horta is both the president and a relentless salesman for East Timor. He asked China’s president, Xi Jinping, to “help us resolve the problem of agriculture, food … Read more
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia shocked the audience at the annual security conference in Munich in 2007 by demanding the rollback of domineering American influence and a new balance of power in Europe more suitable to Moscow. He didn’t get what he wanted — then. Nearly two decades later, during the very same conference, … Read more
A tourist trying to photograph a shark in shallow water at a beach in the Turks and Caicos Islands this month was bitten by it and flown off the island to receive medical care, the local government said. The tourist was treated at a hospital before she left the island, Providenciales, a sandy, 38-square-mile magnet … Read more
Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei, has caused a political firestorm by promoting an unknown cryptocurrency token that shot up in value after his endorsement and then swiftly cratered. In a post on social media on Friday night, Mr. Milei said that the coin, called $LIBRA, would stimulate the economy and help small businesses grow. While … Read more