Russian Forces Depleted and Stalling on Eastern Front, Ukraine Says
Ukrainian forces have stalled the Russian offensive in the eastern Donetsk region in recent months and have started to win back small patches of land, according to Ukrainian soldiers and military analysts. Russia still holds the initiative, and conducts dozens of assaults across the eastern front every day, the soldiers and analysts say. But after … Read more
Romania Bars Ultranationalist Candidate From Presidential Race
Calin Georgescu, an ultranationalist candidate who won the first round of Romania’s abruptly aborted presidential election last year, has been barred from competing in a do-over vote scheduled for May, sparking a small but violent protest by his supporters in Bucharest, the Romanian capital. The Central Electoral Bureau issued a statement late Sunday saying that … Read more
Echoing a Roman Emperor, Croatia Tries to Cap Soaring Prices
In 301 AD, the Emperor Diocletian made a bold but ultimately unsuccessful bid to address the inflation that was rampaging across the eastern half of the divided Roman Empire. Prices of everything from purple thread and feathers to slaves and cattle were dictated by his Edict on Maximum Prices. Violators faced the death penalty. Diocletian … Read more
Hamburg Airport Halts All Flights as Ground Staff Strike
The airport in Hamburg, Germany’s second largest city, said it had canceled all flights on Sunday because of a one-day strike over pay by ground staff called by a labor union that started its action earlier than expected without warning. The airport had been expected to carry more than 40,000 passengers on Sunday, with 144 … Read more
Plan to Return Russian Diplomats to U.S. Poses Espionage Risk
As it moves to transform U.S. relations with Russia, the Trump administration is talking with Moscow about readmitting potentially scores of Russian diplomats into the United States after years of expulsions. But the good-will gesture, which would be reciprocated by Moscow, could be a kind of Trojan horse, experts and diplomats warn, as the Kremlin … Read more
How a Classic French Dish Is Squeezed by Lingering Inflation
At Le Bouillon Chartier in Paris, the recipe for a perfect beef Bourguignon involves beef, carrots, wine, butter and “coquillettes,” a tiny macaroni-shaped pasta. It is cooked for at least three hours. And it must be affordable, so the price cannot be more than 10 euros a dish. Since 1896, the belle epoque eatery has … Read more
Echoing a Roman Emperor, Croatia Tries to Cap Soaring Prices
In 301 AD, the Emperor Diocletian made a bold but ultimately unsuccessful bid to address the inflation that was rampaging across the eastern half of the divided Roman Empire. Prices of everything from purple thread and feathers to slaves and cattle were dictated by his Edict on Maximum Prices. Violators faced the death penalty. Diocletian … Read more
How Would Peacekeeping Work in Ukraine? These Experts Gamed It Out.
When military and civilian experts on peacekeeping started meeting in Geneva in the spring of 2022, they insisted on discretion. Their topic was sensitive: how to implement a future cease-fire in Ukraine. Last week, that group of experts went public for the first time, publishing a 31-page paper that delves into the technical details of … Read more
A Europe in Emotional Shock Grapples With a New Era
For decades a core objective of the Soviet Union was to “decouple” the United States from Europe. Decoupling, as it was called, would break the Western alliance that kept Soviet tanks from rolling across the Prussian plains. Now, in weeks, President Trump has handed Moscow the gift that eluded it during the Cold War and … Read more