BUSINESS

Pope Francis Makes First Public Statement Since Being Hospitalized

For the first time in three weeks, the world heard the voice of a hospitalized Pope Francis on Thursday evening, when an audio recording was played over loudspeakers ahead of the rosary that the faithful have been praying each day in St. Peter’s Square. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your … Read more

new video loaded: Russian Missile Strikes Hotel in Zelensky’s Hometown transcript Back transcript Russian Missile Strikes Hotel in Zelensky’s Hometown Residents and aid workers said they received warnings only a few minutes before a missile struck a hotel in the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky in central Ukraine. We got to the hotel at 8 … Read more

With time running short to avoid a government shutdown at the end of next week, President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson are pitching Republicans on a stopgap bill that would keep federal dollars flowing at current levels through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. The idea is something of a surrender by … Read more

Senior State Department officials have drawn up plans to close a dozen consulates overseas by this summer and are considering shutting down many more missions, in what could be a blow to the U.S. government’s efforts to build partnerships and gather intelligence, American officials say. The department also plans to lay off many local citizens … Read more

Roundabout Theater Company, the largest nonprofit on Broadway, will present three very different classics next season: a Greek tragedy, a drawing-room comedy and a monster musical. The English writer and director Robert Icke’s “Oedipus,” a new version of the seminal Sophocles drama about a king who inadvertently kills his father and marries his mother, will … Read more

FIFA, the governing body for global soccer, is considering a plan that would increase the number of teams in the 2030 World Cup to 64 for a one-off expansion to mark the centenary of the event, according to four people with direct knowledge of the discussions. The proposal has drawn the interest of Gianni Infantino, … Read more

New Zealand on Thursday recalled its top diplomat in Britain after he made comments questioning President Trump’s understanding of history at a public event, in a sign of the unease and sensitivities around expressing disagreements with the Trump administration. Phil Goff, New Zealand’s high commissioner to Britain — the equivalent of an ambassador between Commonwealth … Read more

Nigel Farage’s insurgent Reform U.K. party has attracted more than a dozen donors from Britain’s once dominant Conservative Party, new data reveals, underlining the threat the Tories face from a right-wing populist party that models itself on President Trump’s MAGA movement. In total, Reform U.K. raised 4.75 million pounds ($6.1 million) last year, a sharp … Read more

Three gunshots rang out as an honor guard fired into the air over the snow-covered cemetery. Soldiers lifted a Ukrainian flag from a coffin and handed it to family members. Then a trumpet, accompanied by a drum, bid farewell to the fallen soldier. After playing a Ukrainian version of taps, the two musicians from the … Read more