NEWS Istanbul’s Taksim Square was engulfed in chaos on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning as riot police using tear gas and water cannons forced thousands of protesters from the square, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey struggled to contain a political crisis. Tim Arango, Sebnem Arsu and Ceylan Yeginsu report.
Concern, and even anger, are growing in Europe over the United States’ data collection program and threatening to cloud trade talks and a visit by President Obama. James Kanter reports from Brussels.
In a surprise move that angered labor unions, the Greek government said Tuesday that it was closing down its state-run television and radio broadcaster, idling 2,900 people. Officials described the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation as a “haven of waste.†Liz Alderman reports from Athens.
After a landmark power-sharing accord in April between Kosovo and Serbia, Ethnic Serbs and Albanians are facing changes to law enforcement, schools and courts that will alter daily life. Dan Bilefsky reports.
A mystery letter from China drew international news media coverage and widespread attention to the country’s opaque system of “re-education through labor,†a collection of penal colonies where petty criminals, religious offenders and critics of the government can be given up to four-year sentences by the police without trial. Andrew Jacobs reports from Beijing.
Talks planned for this week between North and South Korea have been called off after a dispute over which delegates the countries would send. Choe Sang-Hun reports from Seoul.
BUSINESS Germany’s conflicted relationship with the euro was on full view at the country’s highest court in Karlsruhe on Tuesday, with arguments portraying recent moves by the European Central Bank either as necessary stability measures or as an unconstitutional plan to transfer German wealth to Southern Europe. Some witnesses pushed for the country to leave the currency union. Jack Ewing reports.
Air traffic controllers in France began a three-day strike to protest European Union plans to accelerate the integration of the region’s fragmented air space. Nicola Clark reports.
After weeks of talks Google completed a deal to buy the Israeli social mapping start-up, which uses a combination of GPS tracking and contributions from its users about road conditions to help drivers navigate. Waze will remain a separate service from Google Maps, at least for now. Vindu Goel reports.
Global stocks fell sharply after the Bank of Japan stood by its monetary policy and an ambitious target to stoke 2 percent inflation in two years. Hiroko Tabuchi reports.
ARTS Damien Hirst has answered a long-running question in the art world: How many of his spot paintings are there, anyway? Graham Bowley reports.
As the scale and complexity of ambitious installation art continues to grow, so, too, can costs. Which is why installation artists are increasingly turning to crowdfunding. Ella Delany writes in the Special Report: The Art of Collecting.
For those frustrated by the difficulty of obtaining tickets to the Bayreuth Festival, the Hungarian capital’s eighth Wagner season opened with a heartwarming “Meistersinger.†George Loomis reports.
SPORTS Â Nelson Mandela realized how sports could help break down barriers that long divided his country, writes Rob Hughes.Â
Tiger Woods has won four out of eight tournaments so far this year, but he lacks consistency. He has not won a major title since the 2008 U.S. Open. Jeff Shain reports.
