NEWS President Xi Jinping of China has imposed a form of austerity on the country’s free-spending elite officials, warning that graft and gluttony threaten to bring down the Communist Party. Andrew Jacobs reports from Beijing.
The Cypriot government on Wednesday announced severe restrictions on access to funds held in the country’s banks, hoping to control a rush to withdraw money when the banks open Thursday for the first time in nearly two weeks. Liz Alderman reports from Nicosia.
The U.S. Supreme Court appeared ready on Wednesday to strike down a central part of a federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, as a majority of the justices expressed reservations about the Defense of Marriage Act. Adam Liptak and Peter Baker report from Washington.
North Korea cut off the last remaining military hot lines with South Korea on Wednesday, accusing President Park Geun-hye of South Korea of pursuing the same hard-line policy of her predecessor that the North blamed for a prolonged chill in inter-Korean relations. Choe Sang-Hun reports from Seoul.
Myanmar’s military asserted its role in the country’s politics at a ceremony on Wednesday that featured a prominent guest, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate, whose presence among the generals would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Thomas Fuller reports from Bangkok.
Aflamnah, based on the wildly successful Kickstarter, is one of the first Internet crowdfunding platforms to cater to entrepreneurs for creative projects specifically in the Arab world. Sara Hamdan reports from Dubai.
Years of efforts by the government of President Benigno S. Aquino III paid off Wednesday, when the Philippines received, for the first time, an investment-grade credit rating from one of the world’s major ratings agencies. Bettina Wassener and Floyd Whaley report.
In what appears to be a calculation that he can convince a skeptical nation to give up the zloty, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, has opened the door to a referendum on joining the euro zone. Dan Bilefsky reports.
ARTS The opera-house performing arts are undergoing a quiet transformation, in large part in response to the same forces that are transforming everyday lives in urban societies: a demand for instant access, ever-improving multimedia and technological possibilities, live screening and streaming, social media and shorter attention spans. Roslyn Sulcas reports from London.
An exhibition in Rome examines how Japan’s artists responded to a flood of Western works. Roderick Conway Morris reviews from Rome.
SPORTS By dominating almost 75 percent of its World Cup qualifier against France, Spain reminded us that possession is nine-tenths of the law on the soccer field. Rob Hughes writes from London.
