Barnier’s bold budget move in France spurs opposition parties to pledge no-confidence vote

Barnier’s bold budget move in France spurs opposition parties to pledge no-confidence vote

PARIS (AP) — French Prime Minister Michel Barnier invoked a special constitutional tool on Monday to push through the controversial 2025 budget without a parliamentary vote. He said it was necessary to ensure stability at a time of deep political divisions. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and the leftist France Unbowed announced they would…

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Uber now offers boat hailing in India

Uber now offers boat hailing in India

According to , Uber now offers boat-hailing services on Dal Lake, located in the Kashmir region in India. These wooden Shikara boats are decorated with bright colors and have seemingly comfortable pillows to let tourists enjoy a scenic boat ride. Those who want to enjoy the Dal Lake Shikara rides through Uber can make reservations at…

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Spain’s prime minister is battling legal cases he calls a smear campaign. Here’s what to know

Spain’s prime minister is battling legal cases he calls a smear campaign. Here’s what to know

MADRID (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was reelected as secretary-general of his Socialist Party over the weekend despite corruption probes besetting his inner circle. One of Europe’s longest-serving leaders, Sánchez has displayed adroit negotiating skills to stay in power since 2018, when he led Spain’s only successful no-confidence motion against his conservative predecessor.…

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Delivery firm Glovo riders in Spain to become employees

Delivery firm Glovo riders in Spain to become employees

App-based food delivery firm Glovo’s freelance riders in Spain will be hired as employees following pressure from the government to give them labour contracts, its German owners Delivery Hero said Monday. The announcement comes a day before Glovo’s founder and head, Oscar Pierre, is due to appear before a Barcelona judge who is investigating possible…

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Volkswagen workers initiate warning strikes

Volkswagen workers initiate warning strikes

Volkswagen employees across Germany have begun warning strikes, over potential mass layoffs, wage reductions and the threat of plant closures. The industrial action, led by labour union IG Metall, marks the first walkouts at Volkswagen’s domestic facilities since 2018. The strikes signal an intensification of the ongoing discord between the car manufacturer and its workforce.…

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John Cuneo’s “Garden Party”

John Cuneo’s “Garden Party”

One of the best ways to feel a sense of belonging, or to forge a connection to a city, is to cheer the triumphs and weather the defeats of a sports team. In John Cuneo’s cover for the December 9, 2024, issue, the New York Knicks—who call Madison Square Garden home—are surrounded by their adoring…

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Houston’s Thriving West African Food Scene

Houston’s Thriving West African Food Scene

The other day, at a Nigerian restaurant called Safari, in Houston, Texas, I peeled back the plastic wrap on a ball of fufu, a staple across West Africa. Made from a steamed root vegetable or grain—in this case, yam—that’s been pounded and hydrated until it’s soft and slightly stretchy, reminiscent of rising bread dough, it…

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Converting to Judaism in the Wake of October 7th

Converting to Judaism in the Wake of October 7th

The saga of my Jewish conversion began twenty-five years ago, when I got engaged to my first husband. He’d grown up in an Orthodox family, and his parents, my future in-laws, were devastated that he was marrying a non-Jew; under religious law, a child is born a Jew only if the mother is Jewish, so…

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The Meditative Organ Soundscapes of Kali Malone

The Meditative Organ Soundscapes of Kali Malone

“All Life Long,” the title of the most recent album by the composer and organist Kali Malone, is taken from a poem by the British Symbolist author Arthur Symons: “The heart shall be weary and wonder and cry like the sea, / All life long crying without avail, / As the water all night long is crying to me.”…

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The Best Albums of 2024

The Best Albums of 2024

There is perhaps no moment in history when being a music critic felt like a respectable, lucrative, or essential position, though there are certainly years when it maybe seemed more fun—long before the mobilization of seething fan armies, before the alt-weeklies vaporized, before TikTok nurtured the idea that context is dispensable, before we all sort…

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The Deep Elation of Working with Wood

The Deep Elation of Working with Wood

What do people do all day? My daughter loves to read Richard Scarry’s book of that title, though she generally skips ahead to the hospital pages. Once we’ve read about Doctor Lion, Doctor Dog, and Nurse Nelly four or five times, she’s ready to go back to the beginning. She never tires of studying the…

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