Category Archives: Newspapers

The New York Times – Sunday, July 2, 2023

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Everyone Knew the Migrant Ship Was Doomed. No One Helped.

An undated handout photo provided by the Greek Coast Guard showing migrants onboard the Adriana before it capsized off the coast of Greece.

Satellite imagery, sealed court documents and interviews with survivors suggest that hundreds of deaths were preventable.

Wagner Uprising Highlights China’s Risks With Russia

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, both in dark suits, stand side by side in a palatial indoor setting, flanked by the flags of China and Russia.

Xi Jinping needs Vladimir Putin to remain in power, and Russia to maintain stability, to help uphold the countries’ shared interests and to keep challenging the United States.

Along With Conservative Triumphs, Signs of New Caution at Supreme Court

The Supreme Court’s story this term is considerably more complicated than the narrative of a conservative juggernaut that emerged the previous term.

Chief Justice Roberts delivered both landmark victories for the right and significant rulings in which he forged alliances with the liberal justices.

Hunter Biden’s Daughter and a Tale of Two Families

The story surrounding the president’s grandchild in Arkansas, who has not yet met her father or her grandfather, is about money, corrosive politics and what it means to have the Biden birthright.

The New York Times – Saturday, July 1, 2023

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Supreme Court Rejects Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan

Nearly 26 million borrowers had applied to have some of their student loan debt erased.

The proposed debt cancellation of more than $400 billion would have been one of the most expensive executive actions in U.S. history.

Supreme Court Backs Web Designer Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage

Lorie Smith said her Christian faith requires her to turn away customers seeking services to celebrate same-sex unions.

The justices settled a question left open in 2018: whether businesses open to the public and engaged in expression may refuse to serve customers based on religious convictions.

Affirmative Action Ruling May Upend Hiring Policies, Too

The Supreme Court decision on college admissions could lead companies to alter recruitment and promotion practices to pre-empt legal challenges.

18 Hasidic Schools Failed to Provide Basic Education, New York City Finds

An eight-year investigation determined that the religious schools were breaking the law by not offering thousands of students adequate instruction in English and math.

The New York Times Book Review — July 2, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW – JULY 2, 2023: The entire issue is devoted to literature in translation – reviews of translated books (by Javier Marías, Seamus Heaney, Natalia Ginzburg…); Daniel Hahn’s essay about translating picture books; Emily Wilson’s look at “Iliad” translations over the years, culminating with her own; a By the Book interview with the translator Jennifer Croft; and lots more.

Exit Hector, Again and Again: How Different Translators Reveal the ‘Iliad’ Anew

An 1878 illustration of the meeting between Hector and Andromache, based on a design by John Flaxman.

Over the years, some 100 people have translated the entire “Iliad” into English. The latest of them, Emily Wilson, explains what different approaches to one key scene say about the original, and the translators.

Jennifer Croft Knows a Good Translation When She Reads One

This illustration shows Jennifer Croft with long, straight blond hair and bangs. She’s wearing a shoulderless top that crosses at her neck, with variously colored stripes.

“There has to be chemistry,” says the writer and prolific translator, whose second book will come out next year. “You don’t need prior knowledge of, say, Iceland or Icelandic in order to appreciate Victoria Cribb’s translation of Sjón.”

The New York Times – Friday, June 30, 2023

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Supreme Court Rejects Affirmative Action Programs at Harvard and U.N.C.

Demonstrators in favor of affirmative action in Washington on Thursday.

In earlier decisions, the court had endorsed taking account of race as one factor among many to promote educational diversity.

With Supreme Court Decision, College Admissions Could Become More Subjective

Many schools have been planning for the Supreme Court’s decision for months, if not years, and have already made some moves toward “race-neutral” admissions.

Colleges have a game plan, like emphasizing the personal essay, but so do conservative groups that promise to monitor and, if necessary, go back to court.

Police Shooting in France Presents New Challenge for Macron

Protests over the fatal police shooting of a teenager come as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to restore a sense of calm after his pension overhaul ignited turbulence in the streets.

Dangerous Heat and Heavy Wildfire Smoke March Across North America

The twin threats have sickened people across the continent with little relief in sight.

Books: The Top Ten Best Reviews – June 2023

Wall Street Journal Books & Art (June 28, 2023) – A country music outsider’s journey, the uprising that tested a young America, the true story of a psychotherapy cult and more standouts from the month in books.

Animal Spirits: The American Pursuit of Vitality From Camp Meeting to Wall Street

By Jackson Lears 

Shaw’s life force, Freud’s libido, Bergson’s ‘élan vital’—all are expressions of a spark that eludes the control of civilized modernity. Review by Jeremy McCarter.

“All history is the history of longing,” Jackson Lears has written.

Read the review


Empire, Incorporated: The Corporations That Built British Colonialism

By Philip J. Stern 

The history of the British empire is really the history of ‘venture colonialism,’ developed by bold entrepreneurs, savvy investors—and some shady characters too. Review by Tunku Varadarajan.

Read the review


Hands of Time: A Watchmaker’s History

By Rebecca Struthers 

The craft requires ingenious engineering at a miniature scale and an appreciation for timeless beauty. Review by Michael O’Donnell.

Read the review



Mozart in Motion: His Work and His World in Pieces

By Patrick Mackie 

The continuing appeal of Mozart’s music may lie in the contradictory nature of the composer, balancing elegance with challenging originality. Review by Lloyd Schwartz.

Read the review


Once Upon a Prime: The Wondrous Connections Between Mathematics and Literature

By Sarah Hart

Are great writers and brilliant mathematicians really so far apart? Within the structures of literary works of all kinds, numbers are hiding. Review by Timothy Farrington.

Read the review


READ MORE

The New York Times – Thursday, June 29, 2023

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Smoky Skies Menace U.S. Cities, Driving Residents Indoors

Haze from Canadian wildfires blanketed the Pittsburgh skyline, as seen from West End Overlook in the Elliott neighborhood.

Across the nation’s middle, unhealthy air from Canadian wildfires sent summer campers home and left residents coughing, and asking when this would end.

Putin Moves to Punish Prigozhin Allies

A man in a dark suit sitting at a desk, holding papers and pointing forward. Behind him is a Russian flag.

Russia’s president indicates that associates of the Wagner group’s leader in government and the military will face punishment.

Something Was Messing With Earth’s Axis. The Answer Has to Do With Us.

Though you can’t feel it, Earth’s rotation is nowhere near as smooth as that of the globe on your desk.

Scientists knew the planet’s centerline could move. But it took a sharp turn sometime around the start of the 2000s.

A Night Out for Dinner Ends in Destruction and Death

A Russian missile strike on a popular restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine killed at least 11 people, wounded dozens more, and showed the peril of trying to claim pieces of ordinary life during war.

The New York Times – Wednesday, June 28, 2023

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Putin Casts Mutiny as Proof of Solidity, as Belarus Opens Doors to Rebels

A photograph released by Russian state media showing President Vladimir V. Putin addressing members of Russian military units, the National Guard and security services at the Kremlin on Tuesday.

Belarus said it had taken in the mercenary boss Yevgeny V. Prigozhin and might welcome his Wagner troops, while Russia dropped a criminal investigation of him for the weekend uprising.

Supreme Court Rejects Theory That Would Have Transformed American Elections

Demonstrators gathered in front of the Supreme Court in 2022 to protest the case, Moore v. Harper.

The 6-to-3 majority dismissed the “independent state legislature” theory, which would have given state lawmakers nearly unchecked power over federal elections.

Russian General Knew About Mercenary Chief’s Rebellion Plans, U.S. Officials Say

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, may have believed he had support in Russia’s military.

The Unexpected Rescuers Who Found Colombia’s Missing Children

Colombia’s Indigenous Guard has long had to fight for a space in the national narrative. Today, it is at the center of the country’s biggest story.

The New York Times – Tuesday, June 27, 2023

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Putin Says Russia Is United Behind Him, After Quelling Rebellion

Watching President Vladimir V. Putin’s address to the nation on television in Moscow on Monday.

President Vladimir V. Putin spoke angrily of those who want “Russians to fight each other,” but his former ally, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, said the mutiny he led was not a coup attempt.

Minefields and Menace: Why Ukraine’s Pushback Is Off to a Halting Start

The Ukrainian Army is encountering an array of challenges that has complicated the early stages of its counteroffensive, especially the large swaths of minefields. But its leaders are urging patience, insisting the main push is yet to come.

Intensifying Rains Pose Hidden Flood Risks Across the U.S.

A red truck is surrounded by water on a highway with cars behind it and buildings in the distance.

In some of the nation’s most populous areas, hazardous storms can dump significantly more water than previously believed, new calculations show.

A.I. May Someday Work Medical Miracles. For Now, It Helps Do Paperwork.

Dr. Matthew Hitchcock poses for a photo in a lab coat, blue shirt and colorful bow tie.

The best use for generative A.I. in health care, doctors say, is to ease the heavy burden of documentation that takes them hours a day and contributes to burnout.

The New York Times – Monday, June 26, 2023

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Revolt Raises Searing Question: Could Putin Lose Power?

Members of Wagner group preparing to pull out from the headquarters of the Southern Military District to return to their base in Rostov-on-Don late on Saturday.

Russians with ties to the Kremlin expressed relief that the mercenary leader’s mutiny did not spark a civil war. But they agreed that Vladimir Putin had come off looking weak in a way that could be lasting.

One Big Winner of Kremlin-Wagner Clash? The Dictator Next Door.

A photo released by Russian state media showed President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus and President Vladimir V. Putin in Sochi, Russia, earlier this month.

The strongman leader of Belarus, a dependable ally of Vladimir Putin’s, may see a chance to rebrand himself as a statesman.

As Legal Fees Mount, Trump Steers Donations Into PAC That Has Covered Them

A previously unnoticed change in Donald Trump’s online fund-raising appeals allows him to divert a sizable chunk of his 2024 contributions to a group that has spent millions to cover his legal fees.

He Was Handcuffed and Hospitalized. Now He’s on Track for Housing.

A contentious New York City policy to send more mentally ill homeless people to hospitals has helped some move into permanent homes.

The New York Times Book Review — June 25, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW – JUNE 25, 2023: The Reading Crisis by @aoscott; ‘Little Monsters’ by @adriennebrodeur; ‘The Art Thief’ by @MikeFinkel and more…

Everyone Likes Reading. Why Are We So Afraid of It?

This image features a folded pair of black frame glasses. The left lens is tinted yellow. The right lens is clear but fractured, as if the glass has been hit by something hard.

Book bans, chatbots, pedagogical warfare: What it means to read has become a minefield.

By A.O. Scott

Everyone loves reading. In principle, anyway. Nobody is against it, right? Surely, in the midst of our many quarrels, we can agree that people should learn to read, should learn to enjoy it and should do a lot of it. But bubbling underneath this bland, upbeat consensus is a simmer of individual anxiety and collective panic. We are in the throes of a reading crisis.

Family Politics as a Predictor of Mayhem on a Bigger Scale

In her new novel, “Little Monsters,” Adrienne Brodeur takes readers on a stressful march toward a patriarch’s 70th birthday party.

By MARY POLS

Adrienne Brodeur’s “Little Monsters” is cleverly calculated to push all the buttons for a wide swath of women. Like her 2019 memoir “Wild Game,” which examined the role Brodeur played in her mother’s long affair with a family friend, “Little Monsters” is a tale of dysfunction and buried secrets, set in and around moneyed Cape Cod.