This Train Crash Killed 49 People. It Didn’t Have to Happen.
The New York Times
A Times investigation found that systemic failures at a government agency contributed to Taiwan’s worst rail disaster in seven decades.
TAIPEI, Taiwan — It seemed at first like a freak accident. A contractor was navigating a sharp turn on a sand-packed road. He had been hired to shore up a steep hillside on Taiwan’s east coast — any falling debris could be a safety hazard to the trains that rushed by below. At the edge of the embankment, his truck got stuck. He and another worker tried to pull it free, using a cloth strap and an excavator. The strap snapped, and the truck tumbled down the hill onto the railway tracks.
In return, Israel is expected to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The exchange would extend a fragile cease-fire that appeared on the brink of collapse earlier this week.
Vice President JD Vance scolded an audience in Munich, saying Europe was failing to uphold democratic values. He said nothing about President Trump’s talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, which have stirred anxiety on the continent.
Concern that President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia might sideline Ukraine in discussions to end the war also appeared to bubble up at a NATO meeting in Brussels.
The Times interviewed Russian soldiers who said they face a brutal fight to dislodge determined Ukrainian forces from a sliver of Russian land. Trapped civilians fear catastrophe.
Hamas and President Trump have threatened to upend the cease-fire. Analysts say those words could prove hollow, but the deal still may not last beyond early March.
Stalling the next release of hostages from the Gaza Strip, scheduled for the coming weekend, raises new challenges for the already tenuous six-week truce and chances for a lasting end to the war.
Some who left the country in successive waves of emigration have felt drawn back to aid recovery efforts after the bloody and destructive war between Israel and Hezbollah.
During the war with Hamas, troops patrolled the Netzarim Corridor, which splits Gaza, preventing evacuated Palestinians from returning north.
Hostages freed before Saturday’s exchange have expressed relief and joy, while descriptions of the torment they endured are trickling out.
The collapse of U.S.A.I.D. at the hands of President Trump and Elon Musk is already leaving gaping holes in vital health care and other services that millions of Africans rely on for their survival.
The European Union’s so-called Trump task force spent 2024 preparing for a possible trade dispute. Specifics are secret, but guiding principles are becoming clear.
Key Middle East partners and European leaders swiftly opposed President Trump’s idea to force Palestinians out of Gaza and make it a U.S. territory. Experts said the plan would violate international law.
After a 10 percent tariff on Chinese products took effect on Tuesday, China announced retaliatory measures, including tariffs and an investigation of Google.