Comment on Jonathan Franzen talks up, and around, his new novel

(PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti) — Ariel Henry resigned Thursday as prime minister of Haiti, leaving the way clear for a new government to be formed in the Caribbean country, which has been wracked by gang violence that killed or injured more than 2,500 people from January to March. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Henry presented his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles, dated April 24, and released on Thursday by his office on the same day that a council tasked with choosing a new prime minister and Cabinet for Haiti was sworn in. Henry’s remaining Cabinet meanwhile chose Economy and Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as the interim prime minister.

LONDON — Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in serious condition after undergoing operations, a U. K. government official said Thursday. The animals were among a group of four horses that broke free during routine exercises Wednesday near Buckingham Palace and caused chaos as they galloped loose through central London during morning rush hour.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis has a confession to make. “Sometimes I watch the footage from my speeches and I always look much taller than everyone else around,” the 6-ft. 1-in. Greek Prime Minister says with a wry smile, buckled up in the back seat of his car in a pressed blue shirt and black hoodie.

It’s not just U. S. universities where the Israel-Hamas war is a touchy topic. This week, an American professor has sparked controversy in Malaysia after criticizing the Southeast Asian nation’s official pro-Palestinian stance on the conflict during a visiting lecture. “A country whose political leaders advocate a second Holocaust against the Jewish people will never be a serious player in world affairs, and will certainly never be a friend or partner of the United States,” Bruce Gilley, a professor of political science at Portland State University, said during a keynote address at the University of Malaya on Tuesday, according to a now-deleted post on X in which he quoted himself.

“We are all at risk of manipulation online right now.” So begins a short animated video about a practice known as decontextualization and how it can be used to misinform people online. The video identifies signs to watch out for, including surprising or out of the ordinary content, seemingly unreliable sources, or video or audio that appear to have been manipulated or repurposed. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Though it may not look like it, this 50-second video is actually an election ad—one of three that Google will be rolling out across five European countries next month in advance of the European Union’s June parliamentary elections.

Venice, the historic Italian city known for its canals, would like to draw a balance between its residents who live there and help to keep the place running and its visitors, an important source of economic revenue but increasingly also a burden on social services and the livability of the city. In recent years, the balance has shifted: in the 1970s, Venice had some 175,000 residents; as of last year, its population dipped below 50,000—and the number of tourist beds outnumbered residents for the first time.