The race to replace Angela Merkel Despite earning the most votes in Germany’s election over the weekend, Olaf Scholz, the leader of the center-left Social Democrats, is not yet assured of becoming chancellor. Instead of two dominant parties competing to go into coalition with one partner, four midsize parties are jockeying for a place in […]

We’re covering Germany’s election and a plan for the return of normalcy in Sydney. Olaf Scholz is poised to be Germany’s next leader The center-left Social Democratic Party won Germany’s election, defeating Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union by 1.6 percentage points, with 25.7 percent of the vote. Olaf Scholz did the unthinkable, carrying his […]

During the early months of Covid-19 vaccinations, several major demographic groups lagged in receiving shots, including Black Americans, Latino Americans and Republican voters. More recently, the racial gaps — while still existing — have narrowed. The partisan gap, however, continues to be enormous. A Pew Research Center poll last month found that 86 percent of […]

By Michelle Cottle Ms. Cottle is a member of the editorial board. Precious few bills sitting up on Capitol Hill make it into law. Large, sprawling bills aimed at remaking chunks of American society require something close to a legislative miracle to beat the odds. That cold truth is worth keeping in mind as Democrats […]

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 16 years in charge of Germany are coming to a close. Just not quite yet. On Sunday, voters cast their ballots — and the results were profoundly equivocal. No party took more than 26 percent of the vote, the gap between the two biggest parties was minimal and no one made a […]

A narrow result in the German election Germans have voted for change: The Social Democratic Party has beaten Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union by a slim margin of 1.6 percentage points, for a total of 25.7 percent of the vote. The close outcome means the Social Democrats must team up with other parties to form […]

Power Play is a weekly column that looks at various facets of US-China rivalry and its implications for Asia. SYDNEY – Whisperings started emerging from Canberra on the evening of Sept 15 that Prime Minister Scott Morrison had begun briefing senior political figures, including the leader of the opposition, about a looming announcement that involved the […]

Kids and whistle-blowers. This is the heart of the recent Wall Street Journal series of investigations about how Facebook runs its business. And it’s why the articles landed with such force. Jeff Horwitz, one of the Journal reporters who penned the devastating “Facebook Files” series, and Cecilia Kang, who with fellow Times reporter Sheera Frenkel […]

Among the possible contenders for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination not named Donald Trump, one governor has captured more than his share of attention: Ron DeSantis of Florida. But to even get to the 2024 starting line, Mr. DeSantis will first have to make it through re-election in Florida — and the treacherous politics of […]

U.S. recommendations on booster shots A U.S. government advisory panel has recommended booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine for adults over 65, for people ages 18 to 64 with underlying conditions and for residents of long-term-care homes, but it declined to endorse additional doses for workers who might have higher exposure on the job. […]