Europe
Battle of wills
A New Year’s interview with Volodymyr Zelensky
The Ukrainian president remains defiant, despite the prospect of a bleak year ahead
A heavy strike
Russia tries to overwhelm Ukraine with missiles
As the land war grinds on, the aerial one is heating up
Charlemagne
In Turkey, Erdogan’s charges of Western hypocrisy stick
He is making hay with the war in Gaza
French style
Why French women no longer wear high heels
A footwear revolution in the world’s fashion capital
Charlemagne
At Christmas, Europeans look less united than ever
There is no single market for how to celebrate the holidays
The blue queen
The head of the hard-right Alternative for Germany is riding high
Alice Weidel’s laments for the decline of Germany, and broadsides against immigrants, strike a chord among voters
Rough draft
Ukraine’s army is struggling to find good recruits
Russia is suffering immense casualties—but it has the edge in manpower
Navalny vanishes
Alexei Navalny, Russia’s opposition leader, is missing in the gulag
His last message announced a campaign against Vladimir Putin
An early Christmas for Kyiv
Ukraine takes an important step towards EU membership
The EU’s leaders agree to open accession talks with it—but Hungary blocks a big aid package
Charlemagne
Stolpersteine grieve for victims of the Nazis, one at a time
Gunter Demnig’s paving stones spark countless acts of remembrance
Unfair play
Spain’s institutions are groaning under partisan pressure
The left, the right and separatist movements all play a role