Category Archives: Newspapers

The New York Times Book Review — June 11, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW – JUNE 11, 2023: This week’s issue brims with even more books to add to your teetering nightstand pile: talky new novels by Brandon TaylorR.F. Kuang and Luis Alberto Urreaa wistful ode to a beloved neighborhood barthe latest crime fiction; even some Martin Amis titles you’ve always meant to pick up, plucked from A.O. Scott’s  beautiful appraisal of the late British writer.

Good Night, Sweet Prince

This black-and-white photograph is a close-up of the writer Martin Amis’s face. He is staring intently into the camera.

Our critic assesses the achievement of Martin Amis, Britain’s most famous literary son.

By A.O. Scott

On May 6, at the age of 74, Charles III was crowned king of England. A few weeks later, at 73, Martin Amis died at his home in Florida. One event seemed almost comically belated, the other tragically premature. Charles took over the family business well past normal retirement age, while Amis was denied the illustrious dotage that great writers deserve.

For ‘The Late Americans,’ Grad School Life Equals Envy, Sex and Ennui

The book jacket for “The Late Americans,” by Brandon Taylor, is an abstract illustration of two men’s faces; one man is kissing the chin of the other.

Brandon Taylor’s novel circulates among Iowa City residents, some privileged, some not, but all aware that their possibilities are contracting.

By Alexandra Jacobs

Reading Brandon Taylor’s new novel, “The Late Americans,” I thought more than once of the Bad Sex in Fiction Award that the English magazine Literary Review gave to decades of authors, many esteemed, before showing mercy in pandemic-chilled 2020. Not because the sex in Taylor’s novel is described badly, but because — described well! — so much of it is bad.

The New York Times – Friday, June 9, 2023

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Justice Department Charges Trump in Documents Case

The indictment followed criminal charges against former President Donald J. Trump in a hush-money case brought by local prosecutors in New York.

The indictment, handed up by a grand jury in Miami, is the first time a former U.S. president has faced federal charges.

Indictment Brings Trump Story Full Circle

The indictment in the documents case is the second brought against former President Donald J. Trump, but in many ways it eclipses the first in both legal gravity and political peril.

The former president assailed Hillary Clinton for her handling of sensitive information. Now, the same issue threatens his chances of reclaiming the presidency.

Voting Map That Diluted Black Voters’ Power

Voting rights advocates had feared that the decision about redistricting in Alabama would further undermine the Voting Rights Act, which instead appeared to emerge unscathed.

Record Pollution and Heat Herald a Season of Climate Extremes

Scientists have long warned that global warming will increase the chance of severe wildfires like those burning across Canada and heat waves like the one smothering Puerto Rico.

The New York Times – Thursday, June 8, 2023

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Prosecutors Tell Trump’s Legal Team He Is a Target of Investigation

A top adviser at the super PAC supporting former President Donald J. Trump’s candidacy appeared before a Florida grand jury on Wednesday.

The notice from the office of the special counsel Jack Smith suggested that an indictment was on the horizon in the investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents.

Wildfires Spread Smoke, and Anxiety, Across Canada to the U.S.

An aircraft dropping a mixture of water and fire retardant over a wildfire in Barrington Lake, Nova Scotia, last week.

Massive plumes of smoke from hundreds of Canadian fires, enveloped millions in smoke, triggering dangerous air quality warnings in both countries and turning skies an ashen orange.

Chris Licht Is Out at CNN, Leaving Network at a Crossroads

Mr. Licht’s turbulent time running the 24-hour news organization lasted slightly more than a year.

With Migrant Flights, DeSantis Shows Stoking Outrage Is the Point

The flights to California illustrate the broader bet Gov. Ron DeSantis has made that the animating energy in the G.O.P. has shifted from conservatism to confrontationalism.

The New York Times – Wednesday, June 7, 2023

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Destroyed Ukrainian Dam Floods War Zone and Forces Residents to Flee

The Nova Kakhovka dam in the Kherson region of Ukraine was breached early Tuesday.

Experts suspect an explosion collapsed the dam on the Dnipro River. Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other, and residents downstream were forced to evacuate to escape the cascading waves.

PGA Tour and LIV Golf Agree to Alliance, Ending Golf’s Bitter Fight

LIV began play about a year ago, building its brand on big purses and big names.

In a stunning announcement, the tour, along with the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, said the rivals had agreed to create a “new, collectively owned, for-profit entity.”

Wildfire Smoke Blots Sun and Prompts Health Alerts in Much of U.S.

The smoke was pouring across the border from Canada, where hundreds of wildfires remain unchecked, and the hazardous smoke conditions are expected to linger through Wednesday and perhaps until later in the week.

Prince Harry, in Dramatic Testimony, Says Journalists Have ‘Blood on Their Hands’

In a remarkable court scene, the prince took the stand for five hours to make his case that his phone was hacked by a newspaper group, as a lawyer for the defense grilled him about his claims.

The New York Times – Tuesday, June 6, 2023

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As Ukrainian Attacks Surge, U.S. Officials See Signs of Counteroffensive

Soldiers from Ukraine’s 95th Air Assault Brigade, with a lightweight British howitzer, targeted Russian positions in eastern Ukraine on Friday.

Kyiv has not formally announced the start of operations. But on Tuesday, Ukraine said the Russians had blown up a dam on the Dnipro River, potentially imperiling residents and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Biden Administration Shrugs Off Ukraine’s Attacks in Russia

Ukrainian soldiers in the Donbas region of Ukraine on Friday.

For months, U.S. officials said cross-border operations risked a dangerous escalation. But those fears have ebbed.

Schools Received Billions in Stimulus Funds. It May Not Be Doing Enough.

Pandemic aid was supposed to help students recover from learning loss, but results have been mixed.

S.E.C. Accuses Binance of Mishandling Funds and Lying to Regulators

The S.E.C. said the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange mixed billions of dollars in customer funds and secretly sent them to a separate company controlled by Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao.

The New York Times – Monday, June 5, 2023

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Vigilante Justice Rises in Haiti and Crime Plummets

Men with machetes, part of a self-defense initiative to keep gangs from gaining control of their neighborhood, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Civilians have killed at least 160 gang members in Haiti, a human rights group says. Residents say they feel safer, but others worry that it will lead to even more violence.

Money for Show Horses, Not Work Horses, on India’s Rails

Railway workers in India on Sunday at the site of a three-train crash.

Train travel in the country has gotten much safer, Friday’s disaster notwithstanding, but the government still puts high-profile projects ahead of basic safety improvements, analysts say.

‘Everything Changed’: The War Arrives on Russians’ Doorstep

With cross-border strikes, residents of the Russian region of Belgorod are starting to understand the horrors of war being waged at their doorstep.

Two Black Members of Native Tribes Were Arrested. The Law Sees Only One as Indian.

A Supreme Court ruling barred Oklahoma from prosecuting crimes committed by Native Americans on tribal land, but some Black tribal members are still being prosecuted because they lack “Indian blood.”

The New York Times – Sunday, June 4, 2023

In a Contentious Lawmaking Season, Red States Got Redder and Blue Ones Bluer

In Michigan, Democrats won full control of the Legislature for the first time since the 1980s.

With single-party statehouse control at its highest level in decades, legislators across much of the country leaned into cultural issues and bulldozed the opposition.

India’s Worst Rail Disaster in Decades Convulses Country Dependent on Trains

At least 120 killed and 400 injured in three-train crash in India

The disaster killed at least 288 people, and a preliminary government report described it as a “three-way accident” involving two passenger trains and an idled cargo train. Officials were investigating possible signal failure.

Raw Meat and Moon Signs: Inuit Lessons for Soldiers in the Arctic

Humbled by centuries of fatal colonial expeditions, Canada’s military is learning Arctic survival strategies from the austere area’s only inhabitants.

In Russian Schools, It’s Recite Your ABC’s and ‘Love Your Army’

The curriculum for young Russians is increasingly emphasizing patriotism and the heroism of Moscow’s army, while demonizing the West as “gangsters.” One school features a “sniper”-themed math class.

The New York Times – Saturday, June 3, 2023

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The Debt-Limit Deal Suggests Debt Will Keep Growing, Fast

A national debt counter pin is seen on the lapel of Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky.

Negotiations to prevent a government default reaffirmed that the big drivers of future deficits are all off the table in a divided Washington.

This Nonprofit Health System Cuts Off Patients With Medical Debt

The exterior of Allina Health United Hospital in St. Paul, Minn.

Doctors at the Allina Health System, a wealthy nonprofit in the Midwest, aren’t allowed to see poor patients or children with too many unpaid medical bills.

She Lost Her Career, Family and Freedom. She’s Still Fighting to Change Iran.

Fighting for change has cost Narges Mohammadi her career, separated her from family and deprived her of liberty. But a jail cell has not succeeded in silencing her.

Saudi Soccer League Creates Huge Fund to Sign Global Stars

A coordinated effort financed by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund is offering huge paydays to some of the sport’s biggest stars if they join Saudi Arabia’s best teams.

The New York Times Book Review-Sunday June 4, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW – JUNE 4, 2023: The summer reading issue lands this weekend, 56 pages filled with suggestions of books to keep you company at the beach or in that shady mothballed nook you discovered in your rental share. The issue closes with a beautiful photo essay of swimmers pictured underwater, from an art book that evokes summer as vividly as fried clam strips and soft-serve ice cream: “Swimmers,” by Larry Sultan.

Deep-Sea Creatures of Bittersweet Orange and Metallic Opaline Green

This illustration depicts two enormous fish with red eyes and lots of teeth swimming around the bathysphere, an underwater exploration machine from the 1930s.

In “The Bathysphere Book,” Brad Fox chronicles the fascinating Depression-era ocean explorations of William Beebe.

Consider the siphonophore. An inhabitant of the lightless ocean, it looks like a single organism, but is actually a collection of minute creatures, each with its own purpose, working in harmony to move, to eat, to stay alive. They seem impossible but they are real. In 1930 William Beebe was 3,000 feet underwater in a bathysphere, an early deep-sea submersible, when he spotted a huge one: a writhing 20-yard mass whose pale magenta shone impossibly against the absolute blackness of the water. As you can imagine, it made an impression.

An Indictment of Human Culture, Narrated by a Mountain Lion

This is a close-up illustration of a lion’s eye, reflecting the silhouette of a man against a blue sky and greenery.

Henry Hoke’s latest novel, “Open Throat,” follows an observant — and starving — cougar living in the Los Angeles hills surrounding the Hollywood sign.

There is a moment toward the end of “Open Throat,” Henry Hoke’s slim jewel of a novel, where the narrator, a mountain lion living in the desert hills surrounding Los Angeles’s Hollywood sign, falls asleep and dreams of Disneyland. It will be hard for those who haven’t yet read this propulsive novel to understand, but the lion’s waking life at this moment is so precarious that this slippage into pleasant dream left me scared to turn the page.

Summertime in America, Beneath the Surface

A new book of photographs by Larry Sultan captures recreational swimmers at public pools in 1970s and ‘80s California.

The New York Times Front Page – Friday, June 2, 2023

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Arizona Limits Construction Around Phoenix as Its Water Supply Dwindles

Queen Creek, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, is projected to grow to 175,000 people from its current 75,000 — if it can find enough water.

In what could be a glimpse of the future as climate change batters the West, officials ruled there’s not enough groundwater for projects already approved.

NEWS ANALYSIS

McCarthy Emerges From the Debt Limit Fight With Victories, and Some Wounds

The deal that Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated met his goal of cutting spending from current levels.

The speaker defied expectations and delivered a debt limit agreement that few thought he could manage, but left some of his Republican colleagues feeling betrayed.

Talk of Racism Proves Thorny for G.O.P. Candidates of Color

As candidates like Tim Scott and Nikki Haley bolster their biographies with stories of discrimination, they have often denied the existence of systemic racism in America while describing situations that sound just like it.

Mayor Adams Loves a Good Tale. Some of Them May Be Tall.

The New York City mayor has made an art form of telling stories about himself that are nearly impossible to verify, adding fresh details to often-told anecdotes.