The joke was nothing too unusual for political comedy. But in India, where there is little room anymore to make fun of politicians without drawing court cases or mob violence, all hell quickly broke loose. Just hours after video from a stand-up show in Mumbai was posted online Sunday, supporters of a state political leader … Read more
Turkey has been plunged into a political crisis after the authorities arrested Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and the top rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on accusations of corruption and supporting terrorism. The biggest protests in more than a decade have erupted across the country, with Mr. Imamoglu ousted from his position and … Read more
Track and field will introduce mandatory DNA sex testing for athletes entering female competitions, its global leader said Tuesday, making it the first Olympic sport to add the requirement. The move comes amid an increasingly vexed debate over eligibility rules in female sports and comes less than a year after the issue erupted at the … Read more
President Trump plans to nominate L. Brent Bozell III, a conservative media critic and fierce defender of Israel, to be the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, according to the Congressional website. Mr. Bozell had previously been nominated to lead the United States’ global media agency, but that nomination was withdrawn on Monday, the Congressional website … Read more
Trump administration officials haven’t kept their disdain for Europe quiet. But the contempt seems to be even louder behind closed doors. Europeans reacted with a mix of exasperation and anger to the publication of parts of a discussion between top-ranking Trump administration officials, carried out on the messaging app Signal. The discussion, about a planned … Read more
The Israeli police questioned a Palestinian director of an Oscar-winning documentary on Tuesday, according to the authorities and his lawyer, after witnesses reported that Israeli settlers attacked him near his home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The police were holding Hamdan Ballal, 37, one of the directors of the film, “No Other Land,” and two … Read more
Britain’s National Crime Agency has warned of an “unprecedented risk” to young people from online groups that encourage teenagers to share sadistic and misogynistic material and to coerce others into sexual abuse, self-harm or violence. The agency, which is responsible for combating serious and organized crime in Britain, said Tuesday in an annual assessment of … Read more
More than 15 months have passed since Ilana Gritzewsky was released from Hamas captivity in Gaza. She still does not feel free. Her partner remains a hostage. He was captured along with Ms. Gritzewsky from their home in an Israeli border village on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in … Read more
Two days after a coalition of conservatives won Germany’s federal election last month, the governor of Bavaria took to Instagram to say the party was “ready for political change” and posted a group picture of the likely future chancellor, Friedrich Merz, with five other leaders. The photo seemed to suggest that a changed Germany will … Read more
Chaos surrounded us. Informal porters rolling luggage carts zigzagged between cars. Commuters spilled from the bus terminal onto the sidewalk, where they sat on suitcases and duffel bags. Minibus taxis zoomed through the congestion, pedestrians be damned. Our car crawled past a barbed-wire fence and reached a sliding gate, where all that separated my wife … Read more