Category Archives: Newspapers

The New York Times — Thursday, Oct 5, 2023

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Scalise and Jordan Announce Bids for Speaker as Vacancy Paralyzes the House

Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio and a longtime antagonist of President Biden and Democrats, said he would try to become speaker.

Representatives Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio are both running to succeed Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted as speaker.

McCarthy’s Extraordinary Downfall Reflects an Ungovernable G.O.P.

Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, antagonized hard-liners in his own party as well as Democrats and the White House.

The glib Californian made many promises and paid a price when he was unable to fulfill them. But his demise also reflected the challenge of wielding a Republican majority that refuses to be governed.

Turning to Street Vending, New Migrants Find a Competitive World

Newly arrived migrants are hawking candy, fruit and beverages in New York City, often with young children in tow. Turf battles with more established vendors are becoming common.

Giuliani’s Drinking, Long a Fraught Subject, Has Trump Prosecutors’ Attention

The former mayor’s drinking has become an investigative subplot in Donald Trump’s federal case over 2020 election interference. But long before that, friends had grown deeply concerned.

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The New York Times — Wednesday, Oct 4, 2023

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McCarthy Is Ousted as Speaker, Leaving the House in Chaos

“I don’t regret standing up for choosing governance over grievance,” Representative Kevin McCarthy said at a news conference on Tuesday after the vote.

A handful of far-right Republicans broke with their party and voted to remove Kevin McCarthy from his leadership post. He said he would not run again.

Trump Wanted to Fire Missiles at Mexico. Now the G.O.P. Wants to Send Troops.

A military checkpoint in Naranjo De Chila, Mexico, in February 2022. Republicans have coalesced around the idea of seeking a military solution to the drug problem, angering the country’s president and other Mexican leaders.

The Republican push to use military force in Mexico against drug cartels started in the Trump White House. He has plans to make the idea a reality in 2025.

They Ran for a Better Life, Straight Into a Wildfire

Greek authorities assumed the victims were asylum seekers because no one was looking for missing people locally. And for more than a month, their identities, and the circumstances of their deaths, remained a mystery.

In Shipping, a Push to Slash Emissions by Harnessing the Wind

More ships are running on wind power, as the global industry tries to fight climate change. One concept has backing from Abba, the Swedish pop stars.

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The New York Times — Tuesday, October 3, 2023

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Trump’s Fraud Trial Starts With Attacks on Attorney General and Judge

A judge could impose an array of punishments on Donald J. Trump, including a $250 million penalty and a prohibition on operating a business in New York.

Donald J. Trump appeared in court as lawyers for New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, painted him as a fraudster. His lawyers said she was out to get the former president.

Gaetz Moves to Oust McCarthy, Threatening His Grip on the Speakership

Representative Matt Gaetz’s animus toward Speaker Kevin McCarthy extends far beyond the most recent funding skirmish.

The move forces a vote within days on whether to keep the speaker in his post, a challenge that only two other House speakers have faced in the history of the chamber.

Nobel Prize Awarded to Covid Vaccine Pioneers

The physiology or medicine prize for Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman recognized work that led to the development of vaccines that were administered to billions around the world.

An Ancient City, Now in Ruins, Struggles to Keep Its Soul

Seven months after powerful earthquakes battered the historic city of Antakya in southern Turkey, life feels temporary as residents await reconstruction.

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The New York Times — Monday, October 2, 2023

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Inside McCarthy’s Shutdown Turnabout That Left His Speakership at Risk

Speaker Kevin McCarthy had resisted partnering with Democrats on a shutdown solution for weeks, but finally recognized he was out of options.

The Republican speaker opted to keep the government open the only way he could — by partnering with Democrats — in a surprise reversal that left him as politically vulnerable as ever.

Menendez Co-Defendant’s Curious Path From Bad Deals to a Meat Monopoly

Wael Hana tried his hand at running a range of businesses in New Jersey, before landing a lucrative deal with the Egyptian government.

After emigrating to New Jersey from Egypt, Wael Hana faced a string of business and legal problems. Then his friend started dating a powerful U.S. senator.

Ukraine’s War of Drones Runs Into an Obstacle: China

As the war with Russia stretches on, so too does a contest to make more and deadlier flying machines. That means a fight over global electronics supply chains that run through China.

In Texas, Mums Rival Football as the Big Homecoming Attraction

The elaborate adornments have come a long way since the days of simple chrysanthemum corsages.

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The New York Times — Sunday, October 1, 2023

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Congress Narrowly Averts Shutdown as House Democrats Help Pass Stopgap Bill

Reporters interview members of Congress after a failed effort to break the impasse on spending in the House on Friday.

In a stunning reversal, Speaker Kevin McCarthy pushed through a bill with Democratic votes to temporarily keep the government open. President Biden signed it late Saturday.

Mosquitoes Are a Growing Public Health Threat, Reversing Years of Progress

Dan Neliba, a health worker at the Amukura Health Centre in Busia County, Kenya, collected a blood sample from Emmanuel Amyorit, 7, to screen for malaria parasites as part of a monthly monitoring program there.

Climate change and the rapid evolution of the insect have helped drive up malaria deaths and brought dengue and other mosquito-borne viruses to places that never had to worry about them.

Decades Later, Closed Military Bases Remain a Toxic Menace

Cities hoped for new businesses and housing on former military sites. But many are still waiting for poisonous pollution to be cleaned up, a wait that for some may never come.

In Texas, Mums Rival Football as the Big Homecoming Attraction

The elaborate adornments have come a long way since the days of simple chrysanthemum corsages.

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The New York Times — Saturday, Sept 30, 2023

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Right Wing Tanks Stopgap Bill in House, Pushing Government Toward a Shutdown

“Every time we vote for a continuing resolution, we make no changes in policy or spending,” said Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, who led the charge against Mr. McCarthy’s funding plan.

More than 20 hard-right Republicans defied Speaker Kevin McCarthy and defeated their own party’s bill, making a lapse in funding at midnight on Saturday all but certain.

Vulnerable New Yorkers Suffer as Some Services Decline Under Mayor Adams

Mayor Eric Adams has helped the city make strides in areas important to him, like crime and rat infestations, even as other city services suffer.

Some critical services in New York City are growing less reliable under Mayor Eric Adams, from long waits for food stamps to fewer sexual health clinics.

Talking Peace in Sudan, the U.A.E. Secretly Fuels the Fight

From a remote air base in Chad, the Emirates is giving arms and medical treatment to fighters on one side in Sudan’s worsening war, officials say.

Navy Will Start Testing SEALs for Illicit Drug Use

For the first time, everyone in Naval Special Warfare, not just trainees, will face random screening for performance-enhancing drugs, believed to be widely abused in the ranks.

Arts & Literature, Books, Newspapers, Previews, Reviews

The New York Times Book Review – October 1, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (October 1, 2023): This week’s issue features the biography “Larry McMurtry: A Life”….

Larry McMurtry, a Critter of the American West Who Rejected Its Mythos

This black-and-white photo of the novelist Larry McMurtry shows him from a slight angle, seated and looking pensive. He wears heavy glasses and has one hand braced against his mouth and chin; his other arm is bent over his head and the sleeves of his white button-down shirt are rolled up past his elbows.

Tracy Daugherty’s new biography is the first comprehensive account of the prolific novelist who brought us “Lonesome Dove,” “The Last Picture Show” and more.

By Dwight Garner

LARRY McMURTRY: A Life, by Tracy Daugherty

When the art critic Dave Hickey learned that Tracy Daugherty was writing a biography of his friend Larry McMurtry (all three men are Texans), he said to Daugherty: “Knowing Larry, it’s going to be a real episodic book.” Episodic this biography is. It’s also vastly entertaining.

McMurtry, the prolific author of “The Last Picture Show,” “Terms of Endearment” and “Lonesome Dove,” was a demythologizer of the American West who appeared to live in several registers at once.

The Miracle and Madness of Science That Changed the World

The polymath John von Neumann, center, chatting with students at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1947. Von Neumann’s work on the Manhattan Project is a focus of Benjamín Labatut’s novel “The Maniac.”

Benjamín Labatut’s novel “The Maniac” examines the dawn of the nuclear age and the brilliant, sometimes troubled minds behind it.

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The New York Times — Friday, September 29, 2023

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In Menendez Case, Prosecutors Confront Tighter Definition of Corruption

Senator Robert Menendez said prosecutors have misrepresented the daily work of his office.

The Supreme Court has said wrongdoing must be clear cut. Some observers say the accusations in the senator’s case pass the test.

Vulnerable Republicans Try to Head Off Blame for Shutdown

Representative Mike Lawler is one of 18 House Republicans representing a district won by President Biden. They must appeal to constituents ranging from Trump supporters to left-of-center Democrats.

Some mainstream House Republicans representing districts won by President Biden have explored a bipartisan stopgap measure as right-wing lawmakers push Congress toward a shutdown.

America’s Black Cemeteries and Three Women Trying to Save Them

In Georgia, Texas and Washington, D.C., three Black women are working to preserve desecrated African American burial grounds and the stories they hold.

Gifts, Gadgets and Greece: Inside a Huawei Lobbying Campaign

Leaked internal messages detail efforts by the Chinese tech giant to court Greek officials and fight an American-led effort against its technology.

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The New York Times — Thursday, Sept 28, 2023

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In Rare Alliance, Democrats and Republicans Seek Legal Power to Clear Homeless Camps

A homeless encampment in Phoenix in February.

Dozens of leaders, mostly from Western states, have asked the Supreme Court to overturn lower court decisions that restrict enforcement against public camping.

As Menendez’s Star Rose, Fears of Corruption Cast a Persistent Shadow

The New Jersey Democrat broke barriers for Latinos. But prosecutors circled for decades before charging him with an explosive new bribery plot.

When Back to School Means Reliving the Worst Day in Your Life

Eight years ago, Brenda Valenzuela survived a mass shooting. Now she must send her own children to school.

‘Monster Fracks’ Are Getting Far Bigger. And Far Thirstier.

Giant new oil and gas wells that require astonishing volumes of water to fracture bedrock are threatening America’s fragile aquifers.

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The New York Times — Wednesday, Sept 27, 2023

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U.S. Accuses Amazon of Illegally Protecting Monopoly in Online Retail

Much of Amazon’s power comes from its online marketplace, sometimes known as an “everything store” for the range of products it sells and the speed with which it delivers them.

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 states sued Amazon, saying its conduct in its online store and services to merchants illegally stifled competition.

Judge Rules Trump Committed Fraud, Stripping Control of Key Properties

The decision in a lawsuit that could go to trial next week is a major win for Attorney General Letitia James, who says former President Donald J. Trump overvalued his holdings by as much as $2.2 billion.

Biden Joins Autoworkers on Picket Line in Michigan

The president’s trip came a day before former President Donald J. Trump was scheduled to arrive in Michigan, as the two offer dueling messages in a key swing state.