The Leaders of 27 European Union Countries agreed to seal a deal Thursday to more than $50 billion in aid for Ukraine, overcoming opposition from Hungary to secure critical funding as battlefield progress stalls and support from the United States looks uncertain.
The disconnect has puzzled economists, investors and business owners. But press Americans harder, and the immediate economy emerges as only one factor in the gloomy outlook. Americans feel sour about the economy, many say, because their long-term financial security feels fragile and vulnerable to wide-ranging social and political threats.
When meteorologists began using the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale to measure hurricane intensity in the 1970s, a Category 5 storm represented oblivion. Such a cyclone, with sustained winds of at least 157 mph, could flatten any structure of the era, so there was no reason to give the most ferocious tier of hurricanes an upper bound.
Ahead of Pakistan’s election on Thursday, members of the opposition party are facing arrest, threats and a de facto ban on campaigning in large parts of the country.
Four years ago, the U.S. launched a drone strike to kill the man who headed up Iran’s covert paramilitary operations.
Suspicions that Hamas and other militant groups wielded untoward influence over the United Nations Relief and Works Agency spread worldwide this week after Israeli intelligence reported that a dozen employees of the U.N. agency allegedly participated in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
