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Sophie Kinsella, ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ Author, Dies at 55

Writing under a pseudonym, Madeleine Wickham cultivated an international following for her series centered on a young woman addicted to shopping.

© Sandra Mickiewicz for The New York Times

The British author Madeleine Wickham in 2024. Under the pen name Sophie Kinsella, she wrote nine “Shopaholic” novels, which sold tens of millions of copies and were translated into dozens of languages.

I.M.F. Prods China, Gently, on Its Weak Currency

Caught between Beijing and the Trump administration, the International Monetary Fund offered mild criticism of China for relying too heavily on exports.

© Ng Han Guan/Associated Press

Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the I.M.F., said on Wednesday that China’s currency should appreciate.

At Fed Meeting, Interest Rate Cut Expected Amid Divisions

The central bank is poised to lower interest rates on Wednesday even as a growing chorus of officials urge caution.

© Caroline Gutman for The New York Times

Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, has been able corral his colleagues to move as a cohesive group under complex economic conditions, but this meeting could be especially challenging.

Democrats Make a Fresh Push to Win State Legislatures

The arm of the party that focuses on statehouses is targeting hundreds of seats and more than 40 chambers, according to a strategy memo, reflecting Democrats’ new optimism.

© Go Nakamura/Reuters

The Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix. The state is one of several with Republican-controlled legislatures that Democrats are trying to flip.

Democrats Press to Expand House Map, Targeting 5 New G.O.P. Seats

Four of the additions are for districts where President Trump won handily, but Democrats are feeling emboldened by election outcomes this fall.

© Eric Lee/The New York Times

The seat of Representative Darrell Issa, a Republican whose California district Democrats redrew to lean Democratic, is among those added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s list of “districts in play.”

Ryan Coogler on ‘Sinners,’ Chadwick Boseman and Why He Declined to Join the Academy

The director on what he’s thinking of post-“Sinners,” how the loss of Chadwick Boseman affected him and why he turned down the invitation to join the academy.

© Ariel Fisher for The New York Times

Coogler said he couldn’t engage with his work “as the kid whose dreams were to come to Hollywood and make movies. I have to engage with it as a professional shepherd of the story.”

Supreme Court Hears Death Penalty Case on Intellectual Disability

The case involves an Alabama man who challenged his death sentence after a murder conviction because of his varying results in a series of I.Q. tests.

© Eric Lee for The New York Times

Two decades ago, the Supreme Court barred the execution of people with mental disabilities as a violation of the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. But the court’s composition has changed since then.
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