NEWS A blunt and explicit threat on Thursday from North Korea that its weapons programs would “target†the United States, and that it would proceed with a third and “higher-level†nuclear test, poses a stark challenge to the Obama administration at a time when it hoped to focus its major diplomatic effort on restraining Iran’s less-advanced nuclear program. David E. Sanger reports from Washington and Choe Sang-Hun from Seoul.
Ansar Dine, one of the main Islamic militant groups fighting to control Mali, split in two on Thursday when one of its leaders said in a statement published by Radio France Internationale that he would form his own group to seek negotiations to settle the country’s crisis. Lydia Polgreen reports from Ségou, Mali.
The proportion of women taking positions on corporate boards in the European Union is rising at the fastest pace in a decade as a push for laws on gender balance gains momentum, the bloc’s top justice official said Thursday. James Kanter reports from Brussels.
Karel Schwarzenberg, a 75-year-old prince, is running for president of the Czech Republic with an advertising campaign that has him wearing a pink mohawk. Dan Bilefsky reports from Prague.
This year at Davos, the Russians are working hard to m! ake a splash. A panel audience, in the presence of Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev, urged governmental changes. But investors were less inclined to be critical. Alison Smale reports from Davos, Switzerland.
China’s swift expansion in education over the last decade, including a quadrupling of the number of college graduates each year, has created millions of engineers and scientists. The best can have their pick of jobs at Chinese companies that are aiming to become even more competitive globally. But China is also churning out millions of graduates with few marketable skills, coupled with a conviction that they are entitled to office jobs with respectable salaries. Keith Bradsher reports from Guangzhou, China.
A French court on Thursday told Twitter to identify people who had posted anti-Semitic and racist entries on the social network, but Twitter is not sure it will comply with the order. Eric Pfanner reports from Paris and Somini Sengupta from San Francisco.
ARTS Benjamin Millepied, the choreographer and a former principal at New York City Ballet, will be the new director of dance at the Paris Opera Ballet, starting in September 2014. Roslyn Sulcas reports from Paris.
SPORTS The last time a Japanese wrestler won a grand sumo tournament wa! s in 2006! , with Mongolians taking most of the success since then, but some observers say it is just a matter of time before the current wave of foreign dominance passes and a Japanese wrestler gets promoted to the rank of grand champion once again. Daniel Krieger reports from Tokyo.
It will be a true David vs. Goliath in cricket this weekend when Saurashtra takes on Mumbai for the Ranji Trophy in India starting this Saturday. Huw Richards reports.
