business 
Merz appeared poised to be Germany’s next leader The conservative Christian Democrats appeared to be on the cusp of victory in Germany’s parliamentary elections yesterday, exit polls show. The country’s next chancellor will almost certainly be Friedrich Merz, a businessman who has promised to crack down on migrants, and slash taxes and business regulations in … Read more
Roman Catholics worldwide prayed for Pope Francis, who is hospitalized in critical condition, at Mass on Sunday after the Vatican announced that he was “not out of danger.” The 88-year-old pontiff went into the hospital on Feb. 14 with an infection that developed into pneumonia in both lungs. He had a long “asthmatic respiratory crisis” … Read more
Iwo Jima has always been beautiful, a volcanic chunk of rock surrounded by cobalt sea. But a World War II battle 80 years ago this month turned the Japanese island into a byword for desperate, deadly combat — and for American triumph. On Feb. 23, 1945, a contingent of American Marines climbed to the top … Read more
Trump administration appointees running the main United States aid agency have in recent days fired hundreds of employees who help manage responses to urgent humanitarian crises around the world, according to two U.S. officials and four recent employees of the agency. The firings add to doubts raised about whether Secretary of State Marco Rubio is … Read more
Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, has long tried to crack into the Indian automobile market and has confronted trade barriers that made that hard to do. Now, when Mr. Musk holds a position of power in the U.S. government as an aide to President Trump, there are signs that Tesla is making preparations … Read more
When Xi Jinping, China’s leader, made his entrance at a symposium with a group of top entrepreneurs this week, he seemed to be in good spirits. China has had a few good weeks. The artificial intelligence models by the start-up DeepSeek sent U.S. stocks tumbling and Western commentators screaming, “Sputnik moment.” Then an animated film … Read more
The Indian internet is a boisterous place, not always for the faint of heart. But sometimes India itself turns fainthearted in the face of the internet. Or livid, when family values are at stake. Until a couple of weeks ago, Ranveer Allahbadia, 31, was riding high as a podcaster, influencer and all-around successful hyper-bro — … Read more
As President Trump uses tariffs as a weapon in his quest to even the score on trade with the world, Asia is emerging as target No. 1. And it’s not just because of China. Asia is home to seven countries that run the biggest trade surpluses with the United States, Mr. Trump’s go-to yardstick. It … Read more
Chinese warships that have been sailing south along the eastern coast of Australia gave notice on Friday of their intent to conduct live fire exercises in international waters between Australia and New Zealand, forcing commercial flights to divert and putting the two countries on edge. The three naval vessels, which include one of the most … Read more
On a recent eight-hour shift at a McDonald’s in Hong Kong, Luke Ching, 52, wiped tables, cleared trays of half-eaten fries, emptied cups of soda and milk tea and lugged bulging trash bags to the dumpster. For him, the main goal of the part-time work was not making ends meet. It was research for his … Read more