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
Israel’s energy minister said on Sunday that he was immediately cutting off electricity to the Gaza Strip, a move that may have limited impact in Gaza, given restrictions already in place, but that comes as Israel tries to pressure Hamas amid talks over their fragile truce. “We will employ all the tools at our disposal … Read more
Syria’s leader called for unity Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, appealed yesterday for calm and unity after violence erupted last week between fighters affiliated with his government and those loyal to the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad. More than 1,000 people have been killed, including about 700 civilians, mostly by government forces, according to the Syrian … Read more
Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, appealed on Sunday for calm and for unity as he moved to reassure the nation after days of clashes that a monitoring group said had killed hundreds of people. “We must preserve national unity and civil peace,” he said from a mosque in Damascus, according to video that circulated online. … Read more
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
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
Two friends from Alberta, both with strong careers overseas and similar backgrounds — Harvard and Oxford graduates, members of the liberal global elite — are vying to replace Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party and of the country just as Canada faces a generational crisis because of the Trump administration’s tariffs and sovereignty … Read more
The gunfire began at dawn on Friday in the town of al-Haffa on Syria’s Mediterranean coast. At first, Wala, a 29-year-old resident of the town, leaped off her bed to the corner of the room in her first-floor apartment, flattening herself as the rat-a-tat of gunshots sounded outside her bedroom window. When the commotion grew … Read more
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
He is the Taxman of Kabul, a bearded, black-turbaned Talib with a genial manner and the calculating mind of a computer-savvy accountant. As director of the Taliban’s Taxpayers Services Directorate, Abdul Qahar Ghorbandi has the unenviable task of raising revenue for the government of a wretchedly poor, isolated nation. From his perch behind an enormous … Read more