Pope Francis, who has been diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs, slept well overnight and ate breakfast on Wednesday, the Vatican said, as concerns grew about the health of the 88-year-old pontiff. In a brief early-morning update, the Vatican said that Francis “spent a peaceful night, woke up and had breakfast.” Francis was admitted to … Read more
News that the Trump administration had agreed with Russia to try to negotiate a peace settlement for Ukraine, without including Ukraine in the talks, was a revelation that many believed reversed years of efforts to isolate Moscow. But prominent voices in the right-wing media world interpreted the development this week as cause for celebration. “Every … Read more
For more than a decade, the West has faced off against the East again in what was widely called a new cold war. But with President Trump back in office, America is giving the impression that it could be switching sides. Even as American and Russian negotiators sat down together on Tuesday for the first … Read more
Dickson Despommier, a microbiologist who proposed that cities should grow food in high-rises, popularizing the term “vertical farming” — an idea that crossed over from the realm of the purely fanciful to become a reality around the globe — died on Feb. 7 in Manhattan. He was 84. His wife, Marlene Bloom, confirmed the death, … Read more
European defense stocks continued their rally on Tuesday, as President Trump’s threats to reduce American military support to the continent and NATO raised the prospect that Europe’s governments will increase military spending. The flurry of trading helped push the Pan-European Stoxx 600 index to a record high; the Stoxx Europe Total Market Aerospace & Defense … Read more
Pope Francis will not be participating in a Mass scheduled for Sunday, the Vatican announced on Tuesday, citing the pontiff’s ongoing health issues. The pope, who was admitted to a hospital in Rome on Friday, had rested well, eaten breakfast and had read some newspapers “as he usually does,” Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, told … Read more
Senior U.S. and Russian Officials Meet for Extensive Talks in Riyadh
For months after the Israel-Hezbollah war that devastated southern Lebanon, the Alawieh family would visit a hillside near their ruined home to catch whatever glimpse they could of what remained. Their olive trees were gone. So were their goats, and the lemon and fig orchards that had taken years to bear fruit. Their house was … Read more
And there, paying no mind to any of it, are the hundreds of bodies jostling against one another as they get to wherever it is they’re going. But they should! For Euston Road is in fact the most generous of thoroughfares. It’s the site of the longest Champagne bar in Europe, five Pret-a-Mangers and a … Read more
