Friedrich Merz, the likely next chancellor of Germany, announced on Friday that he had cut a deal with the Green Party to allow extensive new government spending for defense, infrastructure and projects related to climate change, appearing to seal the votes for a stunning turnabout in German fiscal policy before he even takes office. The … Read more
Hamas said on Friday that it had agreed to free Edan Alexander, an American Israeli soldier who has been held in Gaza for 17 months, and return the remains of four other hostages, without specifying when they would be released or what it was demanding in exchange. Israel did not immediately comment on Hamas’s statement. … Read more
Emily Soriano was doing laundry this week when a friend rushed into her house with news about their yearslong quest for justice. In December 2016, gunmen stormed into a house in their poor neighborhood north of Manila and started shooting. They killed seven people, including three children and a pregnant woman. Ms. Soriano and her … Read more
China and Russia joined Iran on Friday in urging an end to Western sanctions after President Trump called this week for nuclear talks with Tehran, with both countries denouncing the “threat of force.” After talks in Beijing with the deputy foreign ministers of Russia and Iran to discuss Iran’s nuclear program, the Chinese government said … Read more
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia met with Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy, in Moscow late Thursday and now expects to talk to President Trump about a possible cease-fire in Ukraine, the Kremlin said. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, told reporters on Friday that there was “certainly” reason to feel “cautious optimism” about … Read more
With a trade war brewing, President Trump gave the Mexican president a sign of grudging respect: “You’re tough,” he told her in a phone call last month, according to four people with knowledge of the exchange. By their most recent conversation, the two leaders were trading compliments and carving out a reprieve from some tariffs … Read more
When Pope Francis first appeared to the world on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he humbly requested that the faithful “pray for me.” Those simple words became the punctuation marks of his pontificate, as he ended practically all his speeches, greetings, weekly benedictions and casual conversations with the appeal. Now, 12 years since his … Read more
It was not even three months ago when it seemed like Canadians couldn’t wait for an end to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s nearly decade-long stint as their leader. On Jan. 6, he announced his intention to step down with polls showing most Canadians deeply unhappy with the state of their country. But as Mr. Trudeau, … Read more
Ingrid Daubechies, a mathematician at Duke University, is an expert on many matters, not least the baking of cookies in the shape of pi, the mathematical constant that equals the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, or roughly 3.14159. A sugar cookie recipe works fine, Dr. Daubechies says. But she prefers a savory … Read more
