Set on a sloped plot above Prague in the city’s Troja district, Villa Sophia has no keys, no light switches and a piano that can play by itself. The house can close the windows when it rains and read aloud material it has selected from the internet, based on the owners’ interests.…
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Rare Hurricane-Force Mediterranean Cyclone Heads for Greece
A rare Mediterranean cyclone began to rake western Greece with heavy rains on Thursday and was expected to slam into the country in full force on Friday, with hurricane-force wind and life-threatening flooding in some places, forecasters said. Cyclone Ianos is an example of what meteorologists sometimes call a Medicane — a…
Europe’s Economy, German Police, China: Your Thursday Briefing
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good morning. We’re covering the challenges facing Europe’s economic recovery, a domestic abuse case in China that drew outrage and the German police officers suspended for sharing neo-Nazi propaganda. ImageCanary Wharf in London is home to many financial firms. Britain is facing…
Coronavirus Is the ‘No. 1 Global Security Threat,’ Head of U.N. Says
new video loaded: Coronavirus Is the ‘No. 1 Global Security Threat,’ Head of U.N. Says transcript Back bars 0:00/1:08 –1:08 transcript Coronavirus Is the ‘No. 1 Global Security Threat,’ Head of U.N. Says United Nations Secretary General António Guterres called the coronavirus pandemic the world’s top security threat, and called for greater…
China-Backed Hackers Broke Into 100 Firms and Agencies, U.S. Says
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said on Wednesday that a group of hackers associated with China’s main intelligence service had infiltrated more than 100 companies and organizations around the world to steal intelligence, hijack their networks and extort their victims. The United States government presented the allegations in a set of three…
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Visiting Washington at an Awkward Juncture
LONDON — When Britain’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, arrives in Washington for a visit this week, he will carry some extra baggage as an emissary: His country is eager to reach a trade deal with the United States, but his government just introduced a bill that would renege on a landmark treaty…
The Search for Life on Venus Could Start With This Private Company
Elon Musk wants to settle humans on Mars with his rocket company SpaceX. Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, wants a trillion people living in space. But the chief executive of one private space company is approaching space exploration differently, and now aims to play a part in the search for life on Venus.…
A Job That Isn’t Hard to Get in a Pandemic: Swindlers’ Unwitting Helper
After the fitness center where Denise Newton worked closed down in April because of the coronavirus, she posted her résumé online to look for a new job. She soon got a call from a company she had never heard of. The woman who phoned from the company, Heies, invited Ms. Newton to…
Aleksei Navalny, Coronavirus Lockdowns, Life on Venus: Your Tuesday Briefing
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good morning. We’re covering the damage lockdowns have done to major economies, the poisoned dissident Aleksei Navalny’s plan to return to Russia and what could be a sign of life on Venus. ImageAleksei A. Navalny in Moscow in 2019. His condition has…
Venezuela Says Arrested American Was Planning to Sabotage Oil Refineries
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s chief prosecutor said on Monday that a U.S. citizen recently arrested in the country had been charged in an alleged terrorist plot to sabotage oil refineries and electrical service in order to stir unrest. The man is said to have had help from three Venezuelan conspirators, who were…
TikTok’s Proposed Deal Seeks to Mollify U.S. and China
WASHINGTON — After more than six weeks, two White House executive orders, new Chinese regulations and multiple bidders, a deal for the social media app TikTok has boiled down to one main strategy: mitigation. TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance, said on Monday that it had offered a…
Japan’s Next Prime Minister, Yoshihide Suga, Emerges From Behind the Curtain
TOKYO — There are few true surprises in Japanese politics, but the rise of Yoshihide Suga to become the next prime minister was not exactly preordained. The son of a strawberry farmer and a schoolteacher from rural northern Japan, Mr. Suga is one of the few leading Japanese lawmakers not from an…
Yoshihide Suga, Right-Hand Man of Shinzo Abe, Is Set to Be Japan’s Prime Minister
TOKYO — Japan’s governing party on Monday anointed Yoshihide Suga, the current chief cabinet secretary, as its choice for the next prime minister, settling on what it saw as a safe pair of hands to grapple with the country’s many economic and strategic challenges. Two weeks after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said…
Belarus Protests, Migrants, U.K. Coronavirus: Your Monday Briefing
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good morning. We’re covering the fifth Sunday of protests in Belarus, the surge in coronavirus cases in Britain and the lives of Kamala Harris’s immigrant parents. ImagePolice officers and protesters in Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday.Credit…Tut.by, via Reuters Police and protesters clash in…
Shinzo Abe Vowed Japan Would Help Women ‘Shine.’ They’re Still Waiting.
TOKYO — This was supposed to be the era when Japan finally stepped beyond its centuries of patriarchal dominance and empowered women in the workplace. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the country’s prosperity depended on it, and promised policies to help women “shine.” He even gave the push a name: womenomics. Sayaka…
‘Nomadland’ Wins Top Prize at the Venice Film Festival
“Nomadland,” a film written and directed by Chloé Zhao, won this year’s Golden Lion, the top prize, at the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival. The drama stars Frances McDormand as a woman living as a nomad across America after the recent recession. It is based on the book by the…
Another Gulf State Recognizes Israel. Here’s Why It Matters.
President Trump made a bit of history on Friday when he announced the Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain would establish full diplomatic relations with Israel. Bahrain’s move, a month after the United Arab Emirates normalized relations, brings the number of Arab countries that recognize Israel to four (Egypt did so in 1979,…
Afghanistan Peace Talks Open in Qatar, Seeking End to Decades of War
DOHA, Qatar — The Taliban and the Afghan government began historic peace talks in Qatar on Saturday, aimed at shaping a power-sharing government that would end decades of war that have consumed Afghanistan and left millions dead and displaced. If realized, a peace deal would be the first time in generations that…
The Woman Taking Over TikTok at the Toughest Time
Six weeks ago, as TikTok grappled with escalating tensions between the United States and China, the social media app’s top executives huddled together to figure out their next steps. Vanessa Pappas, 41, was worried. TikTok’s North American business, which she has run since 2018, was dealing with an uproar. President Trump had…
The Vaccine Challenge: ‘Not Putting All Our Eggs in One Basket’
Unless the military is buying a large quantity of something that flies and is very expensive, Canadians don’t pay a lot of attention to the minister of public services and procurement. But the current holder of the job, Anita Anand, is firmly in the national spotlight now, as the leader of the…