First Run News

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany faced the greatest crisis of her career on Monday after negotiations to form a new government collapsed, shaking a country that is Europe’s political and economic anchor. The breakdown abruptly raised the prospect of new elections in Germany. It came less than two months after the last elections seemed to assure that Ms. Merkel, an icon of Western democracy and values, would remain Germany’s leader for a fourth term. The chancellor said she remained hopeful about forming a majority government. But if forced to choose, Ms.

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany faced the greatest crisis of her career on Monday after negotiations to form a new government collapsed, shaking a country that is Europe’s political and economic anchor. The breakdown abruptly raised the prospect of new elections in Germany. It came less than two months after the last elections seemed to assure that Ms. Merkel, an icon of Western democracy and values, would remain Germany’s leader for a fourth term. The chancellor said she remained hopeful about forming a majority government. But if forced to choose, Ms.

The New York Times said on Monday that it was suspending Glenn Thrush, one of its most prominent reporters, after he was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior. The move came after the website Vox published a report containing allegations from four female journalists that Mr.

WASHINGTON — After making the transition from comedy to politics, Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, positioned himself as a staunch defender of women’s rights. “Sexual harassment and violence are unacceptable,’’ he wrote on Twitter last month. “We must all do our part to listen, stand with and support survivors.’’ Now it is Mr. Franken who stands accused, and his uncompromising stance in support of “survivors” of harassment has left him few options but to apologize and try to weather the storm.

In the 2006 documentary “Al Franken: God Spoke,” Mr. Franken, the comedian, activist and future senator from Minnesota, offered a quote that would prove prescient for more than its choice of verb: “Celebrity trumps ideology.” Mr. Franken shares little ideology in common with Donald J. Trump.

After allegations surfaced Monday that the longtime television host Charlie Rose made crude sexual advances toward multiple women who worked on his show over a dozen years, CBS suspended him from its morning program and PBS announced that it would no longer distribute his long-running nightly interview show. Eight women, including three who talked on the record, told The Washington Post tha

WASHINGTON — The White House asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to allow President Donald Trump's latest travel ban to take full effect after an appeals court in California ruled last week that only parts of it could be enacted. A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 13 partially granted a Trump administration request to block at least temporarily a judge's ruling that had put the new ban on hold.

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Monday permanently blocked President Donald Trump's executive order to cut funding from cities that limit cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities. U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick rejected the administration's argument that the executive order applies only to a relatively small pot of money and said Trump cannot set new conditions on spending approved by Congress. The judge had previously made the same arguments in a ruling that put a temporary hold on the executive order targeting so-called sanctuary cities.

The Trump administration is ending a humanitarian program that has allowed some 59,000 Haitians to live and work in the United States since an earthquake ravaged their country in 2010, Homeland Security officials said on Monday. Haitians with what is known as Temporary Protected Status will be expected to leave the United States by July 2019 or face deportation. The decision set off immediate dismay among Haitian communities in South Florida, New York and beyond, and was a signal to other foreigners with temporary protections that they, too, could soon be asked to leave. About 320,000 people n

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department sued to block AT&T’s $85.4 billion bid for Time Warner on Monday, setting up a showdown over the first blockbuster acquisition to be considered by the Trump administration and drawing limits on corporate power in the fast-evolving media landscape. By challenging the deal, the Justice Department is taking an approach to antitrust issues that i