During most of the five years when Warsaw’s striking new Museum of Modern Art was under construction, Poland was governed by the conservative Law and Justice Party, whose lawmakers tried to shift the country’s culture to the right. Officials ousted liberal directors at major institutions and replaced them with conservatives whose shows often promoted traditional … Read more
Speaker Mike Johnson toiled on Tuesday to find the votes to squeeze the G.O.P. budget resolution through the House, facing potential defections from centrist Republicans fearing the plan would tee up deep Medicaid cuts and conservatives who want to slash federal spending even more deeply. Mr. Johnson announced an evening vote on the budget outline, … Read more
new video loaded: Keir Starmer Announces Defense Spending Increase transcript Back transcript Keir Starmer Announces Defense Spending Increase Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said the move would amount to an increase in expenditure of 13.4 billion pounds, or $17 billion, a year on defense between now and 2027. “Starting today, I can announce this … Read more
Three and a half decades after reunification, a line runs through Germany where the Iron Curtain once stood. Instead of barbed wires and dogs, that line now divides Germans by measures like income and unemployment — and increasingly by the willingness to vote for extremist parties. If East Germany were still its own country, the … Read more
The president of Germany’s central bank, which on Tuesday reported an annual loss for the first time in more than 40 years, said that Germany faced another year of economic stagnation, more gloomy news for a country that is struggling to grow. “It is not possible to rule out a third year consecutive calendar year … Read more
The antagonistic messaging President Trump has delivered to Ukraine since taking office has presented leaders in Kyiv with a brutal reckoning: that the United States can no longer be counted on as a supporter, and may even be an adversary, in the effort to end the war with Russia. In the past two weeks, Mr. … Read more
President Emmanuel Macron of France struck a chummy tone with President Trump even as he corrected him with a smile during joint appearances on Monday. That one-two punch of flattery and gentle resistance is an example of how some European leaders are trying to approach America at a fraught moment. The question is whether it … Read more
Vatican City is an anxious place. Clergy keep their phones by their pillows. Reporters, crammed in the Holy See press office, open emails with trepidation. Faithful have begun to gather expectantly in St. Peter’s Square. All await terse bulletins from the Vatican on the condition of Pope Francis, who remains critical after being taken to … Read more
Britain on Tuesday announced a landmark increase in military spending, seeking to send a powerful signal about burden sharing to President Trump before Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets him at the White House on Thursday. Speaking to Parliament, Mr. Starmer said Britain would raise its military spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic value by … Read more
The majority of the books nominated for this year’s International Booker Prize, the prestigious award for fiction translated into English, are under 200 pages long. Only one is over 300 pages: Mircea Cartarescu’s 627-page “Solenoid,” translated by Sean Cotter. It is also one of the most high-profile novels on the list. Many literary critics have … Read more