

Pope’s Critics Feel the Sting After His Patience Runs Out
As Pope Francis smiled warmly at the circus performers spinning and flipping in front of him at his weekly general audience in the Vatican on Wednesday, he looked every bit the grandfatherly figure who has for the last decade sought to make the church a kinder, gentler and more inclusive place. Except for the people…

Fears Grow Over Fate of Bibas Family in Gaza
Concern for members of the Bibas family — a mother and her two young children who have become symbols of the hostages held in Gaza — deepened on Wednesday afternoon when Hamas’s armed wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, claimed the three had been killed in Israeli airstrikes. The claim could not be independently verified. Rear…

Gaza Mediators Seek Cease-Fire Extension
Top officials from Qatar, Egypt and the United States pushed on Wednesday to lock in another temporary extension of the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, seeing it as the best way to ease the embattled territory’s humanitarian crisis, secure the release of more Israeli captives and slow the war’s escalating death toll for at least…

London’s Black Cabs Can Soon Join Uber. But Will They?
Drivers for London’s black cabs will soon be able to offer rides on Uber, the ride-hailing platform announced on Wednesday, in the latest attempt to heal a contentious rift between the company and the city’s signature taxi service. The service is set to be offered in early 2024 and will allow black cabs to see…

Israel-Hamas War: Latest News – The New York Times
Under pressure from allies to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as it welcomes Israeli hostages home under the terms of a fragile cease-fire, Israel faces an increasingly difficult set of decisions about the future of its war against Hamas. Israeli leaders have vowed to eliminate Hamas, the group that has controlled Gaza since 2007…

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Truce Extended by 2 Days, Qatar Says
Here’s what we know about the Israeli citizens released on Sunday. Avigail Idan, 4 Avigail IdanCredit…Hostages and Missing Families Forum Avigail’s parents, Roy Idan, 43, and Smadar Idan, 38, were killed in Kfar Aza during the Oct. 7 attack. Her two siblings Michael, 9, and Amelia, 6, both survived. Avigail, who is a dual Israeli…

Warnings Emerge Over Emirati A.I. Firm G42’s Ties to China
When the secretive national security adviser of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, visited the White House in June, his American counterpart, Jake Sullivan, raised a delicate issue: G42, an artificial intelligence firm controlled by the sheikh that American officials believe is hiding the extent of its work with China. In public, the…

Despite Bans, Disabled Women Are Still Being Sterilized in Europe
Decisions like these, involving people who almost certainly cannot give express consent, hang over the sterilization debate. Katrin Langensiepen, a German politician and one of the few visibly disabled members of the European Parliament, is pushing for a strict Europewide ban on nonconsensual sterilization. Many of history’s notorious eugenics practices, she said, were justified as…

Israel and Gaza News: Hamas Says It’s Delaying 2nd Hostage Release, Citing Problem With Aid Delivery
All but one of the 13 Israeli hostages released on Friday were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, an Israeli village close to the Gaza border where Hamas militants took more than 70 people on Oct. 7. Family members said they were thankful that 12 hostages taken from the kibbutz had been returned home to Israel,…

Kyiv Hit by Drone Attack Wave
Russia launched a huge drone attack at Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, before dawn on Saturday, sending wave after wave of crewless aircraft packed with explosives toward a city that is home to around three million people. The Ukrainian Air Force said that the attack had featured “a record number” of one-way attack drones, an estimated…