Conservatives Hobble Iran’s Moderate President, Stoking a Political Crisis

Iran’s conservatives have ousted two high-profile officials, throwing President Masoud Pezeshkian’s new, moderate government into turmoil and raising questions about its survival. The showdown comes as Iran faces a multitude of crises, including energy shortages, skyrocketing inflation, a free-falling currency, the military defeat of most of its regional allies and the return of President Trump … Read more

French Cinema Celebrates Its Covid Recovery

Ronald Chammah, who owns a pair of small cinemas on the Left Bank of Paris, remembers well the grim days in 2022, when he wondered whether the French passion for moviegoing — a pastime that France invented 130 years ago — had been irreparably diminished by pandemic lockdowns. But that was then. On a recent … Read more

How Soon Could Ukraine’s Forces ‘Start to Buckle’ Without U.S. Weapons?

Without billions of dollars in American-made weapons, it may be only a matter of time before Ukraine’s forces falter against Russia. How much time, however, depends on how quickly Europe and Ukraine can make up for the artillery, missiles, air-defense systems and other arms that Trump administration officials said on Monday were being put on … Read more

Why the Philippines Is Confident of Defense Ties With Trump Administration

We are not Ukraine. That is the overarching message from officials in the Philippines, who say that they are certain they have the full backing of the United States despite President Trump’s dramatic shifts in foreign policy, including his stunning blowup with Ukraine’s leader. Their confidence, they say, comes from the fact that both Washington … Read more

America the Evil Mastermind? Not So Fast, Russians Are Told

Five weeks ago, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, delivered a routine speech blasting the “hegemonic, egoistic” United States at the helm of the “collective West.” The worldview of the 74-year-old veteran diplomat has since undergone some head-spinning changes. In an interview on Russian state television on Sunday, Mr. Lavrov listed the ills that Europe … Read more