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Alex Pheby’s Waterblack is a “sprawling Dickensian tale of gods, monsters, and the dystopian cities where they reside.”

International Booker Prize winner Heart Lamp, by Banu Mushtaq, “captures the hardships of Muslim women living in southern India.”

In Once Upon a Time in Gaza, the Israeli occupation simmers in the background rather than taking center stage, Cairo Scene wrote.

Questions Without Answers, by Sarah Manguso and Liana Finck, compiles fascinating questions asked by children, such as “When you die, can I come with you?”

Istanbul’s Siirt Şeref Büryan specializes in Büryan kebabı, a dish that “always leaves you thinking about how soon you can have it again.”

Judge blocks Trump administration from barring Harvard’s enrollment of international students

The university sued the Trump administration, arguing that its move violated the First Amendment.
Demonstrators rally on Cambridge Common in a protest organized by the City of Cambridge calling on Harvard leadership to resist interference at the university by the federal government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. April 12, 2025.Nicholas Pfosi/File Photo/Reuters

Senate leans toward preserving much of Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

There will be changes, but they may not amount to a full teardown of the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader John ThuneKen Cedeno/Reuters

‘Nobody’s talking about it’: Republicans’ incredible shrinking deficit talk

Only a few fiscal hawks raised debt worries, before almost all of them fell in line on the tax and spending megabill.
The US Capitol BuildingKen Cedeno/Reuters

Trump administration blocks Harvard from enrolling international students

Foreign students already enrolled at Harvard must either transfer colleges or risk losing their status, the Trump administration warned.
A view of the Business School campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., April 15, 2025. Faith Ninivaggi/File Photo/Reuters
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politics

Questions remain over US Supreme Court’s Fed seat carveout

The high court’s order granting Trump’s emergency request to fire some of his predecessor’s appointees clarified it did not extend to the Fed. But not everyone is buying it.
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Senate leans toward preserving much of Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

There will be changes, but they may not amount to a full teardown of the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader John ThuneKen Cedeno/Reuters

‘Nobody’s talking about it’: Republicans’ incredible shrinking deficit talk

Only a few fiscal hawks raised debt worries, before almost all of them fell in line on the tax and spending megabill.
The US Capitol BuildingKen Cedeno/Reuters

Trump administration blocks Harvard from enrolling international students

Foreign students already enrolled at Harvard must either transfer colleges or risk losing their status, the Trump administration warned.

Rubio’s Venezuelan oil export announcement contradicts Grenell

Days after the president’s special envoy said an extension “will be granted” for Chevron, the opposite outcome occurred.

Trump memecoin purchases are helping some Chinese firms stay listed on US stock market

The US president is set to host a gala Thursday for top holders of his memecoin, many of whom appear to be foreign buyers, raising concerns of ethical conflicts.

Financial lobbying storm brews over possible credit card-crypto bill pairing

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., is still deciding whether to insist on a vote on a swipe fee amendment that could take down the bigger bill, if it passes.

Republicans, preparing to cut Medicaid for US citizens, would prefer to talk about immigrants

They see their messaging strategy as highly effective, no matter how much Democrats decry the “talking point.”

Senate Russia hawks sick of waiting on sanctions

The Trump administration wants to give talks with Vladimir Putin’s government a chance. Yet some Republicans are leery.

Three Republicans resisted Trump — and now his big bill

Reps. Ralph Norman, Thomas Massie, and Chip Roy are proving to be hard sells.

House GOP muscles through bank merger reforms

Expect Democrats to push back hard.
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