Tag Archives: Books

THE NEW YORK TIMES – THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2026

Iran’s New Supreme Leader Issues Defiant Statement

The Iranian state media said Mojtaba Khamenei had released his first written statement as the new leader. It included a call to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed.

How Hegseth Came to See Moral Purpose in War as Weakness

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bellicose and vengeful rhetoric describing the war in Iran grew out of his experience in Iraq.

Iran’s Frantic Attempt to Save Its Ships Before Torpedo Attack

The Iranian Navy sought refuge in Sri Lanka and India. While India obliged, Sri Lanka stalled over fears it would threaten its neutrality.

War Has Sent Thousands of Planes Flying in the Other Direction

Tens of thousands of flights have been cancelled since the initial strikes, and airlines that relied on Iranian airspace are now trying to find alternatives.

Trump’s Tour of States Is About More Than the Midterms

Beyond talking about the economy and voters’ hardships, President Trump is showing that he still has control over the Republican Party.

U.S. Trade Deficit Fell in January

The data showed imports dipped and exports rose in the month before the Supreme Court struck down most of the president’s tariffs.

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – MARCH 13, 2026 PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘The Legacy of War’ – Two previous US military campaigns brought chaos to the Middle East. Why has it started a third?

When news breaks that dominates the agenda to the extent of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, one challenge for the Guardian Weekly team is how to keep the magazine’s covers feeling fresh, week after week, while remaining focused on the same story.

For this week’s edition, in response to Patrick Wintour’s must-read essay on how the US has ignored the lessons of two previous Gulf wars, we asked illustrator Doug Chayka to play with the idea of a Middle East that the US either cannot, or refuses to, see. Doug’s artwork neatly captures the dilemma of a Trump administration that now finds its Iran exit strategy – assuming there was one – cut off by chaos.

Spotlight | War losses mount in rural Russia
Residents of a remote village in Komi Republic say dozens have left to fight in Ukraine, leaving behind grieving families and labour shortages. Pjotr Sauer reports

Science | Is the passion for taxonomy in danger of dying out?
Insect taxonomist Art Borkent fears his field of science is fading, despite millions of insects, fungi and other organisms waiting to be discovered, he tells Patrick Greenfield

Feature | The miraculous survival of Nada Itrab
After a nine-year-old girl was kidnapped and taken from Spain to Bolivia, authorities feared the worst. They found her in the rainforest nine months later – but that wasn’t the end of her ordeal. Giles Tremlett picks up the story

Opinion | In this war, Britain’s enemy now is Donald Trump
As the Iran disaster escalates, Simon Tisdall argues that Starmer should treat the US president as someone whose actions threaten the lawful, democratic way of life everywhere

Interview | Corinne Bailey Rae
The English singer and songwriter was riding high with a hit album when her husband died tragically young. She discusses grief, fame and rebuilding her life with Simon Hattenstone

THE NEW YORK TIMES – WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2026

3 Ships Hit Along Vital Oil Route; Countries Move to Release Reserves

The Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil, is all but closed as fighting in the Middle East expands.

The War With Iran Changed the World in a Week

How Trump and His Advisers Miscalculated Iran’s Response to War

In the lead-up to the U.S.-Israeli attack, President Trump downplayed the risks to the energy markets as a short-term concern that should not overshadow the mission.

At Least 17 U.S. Sites Damaged in War With Iran, Analysis Shows

A Times analysis of satellite imagery and verified videos shows damage to more than a dozen American military sites and installations.

Trump Directs War With the Markets Top of Mind

U.S. Inflation Had Steadied Before War With Iran

Consumer prices stayed subdued in February. Since then, the war with Iran has rekindled concerns about price pressures.

LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS – MARCH 19, 2026 PREVIEW

LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS: The latest issue features Nicholas Spice – Schubert’s Imagination; Daniella Shreir on Chantal Akerman; Tom Stevenson – Death of an Ayatollah; Joanna Biggs – Solvej Balle’s Time Loop….

Iran, Week One

The attack launched on Iran by the US and Israel on 28 February was a textbook case of international aggression, justified in only the most cursory fashion by fictional Iranian threats and undertaken with no clear aims and no clear demands or terms. In announcing the war Donald Trump described it as a wholesale attack on both government and state. The US and Israel would ‘raze their missile industry to the ground’ and ‘annihilate their navy’. Benjamin Netanyahu called on Iranians to ‘come out to the streets and finish the job’. By Tom Stevenson

Mummy’s Favourite

 The late queen can be held responsible for much, but nobody could accuse her of seeming to enjoy her role. For the Yorks, however, enjoyment was everything, and the notion of royal sacrifice, argu­ably a red herring in the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was finally obliterated by their act­ions. By Andrew O’Hagan

Marlowe’s Betrayals

As Stephen Greenblatt’s Dark Renaissance shows despite itself, it is not Marlowe’s life story that we still need, but his plays and poems: we might well want to avert our eyes from the bathetically dismal life of the man who wrote them. By Michael Dobson

Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York by Andrew Lownie

Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre

Andrew O’Hagan

THE NEW YORK TIMES – TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2026

Hegseth Says Today Will Be Most ‘Intense’ Day of Air War

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said “the most fighters, the most bombers” would be deployed.

Trump’s War in Iran, and Rising Gas Prices, Collide With Midterm Agenda

The attack on Iran has led to a surge in energy prices at a moment when the cost of living is a major issue heading into the fall elections.

New Supreme Leader Inherits Sprawling, Secretive Office That Dominates Iran

U.S. Solar Installations Fell in 2025 as Trump Attacked Clean Energy

More solar energy was added to U.S. grids than any other technology, but the amount installed fell by 14 percent, according to a new report.

Two Supreme Court Justices Debate Handling of Trump Emergency Cases

THE NEW YORK TIMES – MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2026

Oil Price Surge Rattles Markets; Iran’s Choice of Leader Signals Defiance

Stocks fell on fears of the Iran war’s effects on energy prices. Top clerics selected Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s supreme leader, despite President Trump’s warning that he was “unacceptable.”

Who Is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s New Supreme Leader?

The selection of a son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike on his compound at the start of the war, could anger Iranians seeking change.

N.Y. Police Commissioner Says Gracie Mansion Incident Was Inspired by Islamic State

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that three improvised explosive devices were found, including one that was found in a vehicle on Sunday. No one was injured in the incident on Saturday.

Billionaires Are Swaying Elections in All Corners of America

Billionaires made 19 percent of all reported federal campaign contributions in 2024, a Times analysis shows, and even more in some local elections. Wealthy donors are reaping the rewards.

On the Road With Zelensky, Weathered, Weary and Fighting On

Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, traveled east to visit frontline troops trying to stave off Russian attacks, and invited reporters to go with him.

Ukraine Helps U.S. Mideast Bases With Stopping Drones

THE NEW YORK TIMES – SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2026

Iran Says It’s Close to Naming New Supreme Leader as U.S.-Israeli Strikes Grow

Iranian state media reported that clerics were finalizing their decision on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s successor. Both Israel and Iran intensified attacks on infrastructure.

Iran Could Retrieve Uranium at Site U.S. Bombed Last Year, Officials Say

The fate of the highly enriched uranium and the options for securing it have become critical issues for the Trump administration.

A Trump Order Protected a Weedkiller. And Also a Weapon of War.

An unusual executive order gave protection to the herbicide Roundup. It also protected the U.S.’s only supply of a controversial, highly flammable munitions

Judge Voids Mass Layoffs at Voice of America

The federal judge’s ruling said that Kari Lake’s appointment to oversee the parent agency of the government-funded news group was invalid.

Trump Assembles a New Coalition to ‘Eradicate’ Cartels

At a gathering in Florida, the president asked the leaders of a dozen Latin American and Caribbean nations to help the U.S. military crush armed trafficking groups.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2026

Trump Vows to Hit Iran Harder

President Trump claimed that Iran had surrendered. He made the statement after the country’s president said earlier that Iran would end strikes in Gulf states, with caveats. Qatar and Bahrain reported incoming fire.

What the U.S. and Israel Have Targeted in Their Iran Blitz

The waves of bombings reveal a broad effort to ravage the country’s leadership and security services.

Europe Didn’t Want War With Iran. But So Far, It Can’t Stay Out of It.

Leaders are facing diplomatic headwinds and criticism at home as they take part in a conflict they did not seek.

Trump Looked Past Kristi Noem’s Many Crises Until She Crossed a Red Line

President Trump, who values loyalty, has at times tried to distance himself from his administration’s own actions when they become politically toxic.

For OpenAI and Anthropic, the Competition Is Deeply Personal

A fight over Pentagon contracts shows how the leaders of Silicon Valley’s two most important A.I. start-ups are feuding over the future of the tech industry.

Literary Review Of Canada – April 2026 Preview

Literary Review of Canada The latest issue features…

To Review, or Not to Review

Dwindling serendipity in the age of the algorithmKyle Wyatt

They Desire a Better System

Share the burden, perhaps?Aaron Wherry

House of Card

When the saints came marching inMichael Ledger-Lomas

Behind the Wire

The enemies we invented and internedJ.L. Granatstein

THE NEW YORK TIMES – FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2026

Israel Pummels Beirut, Intensifying Strikes on Hezbollah

Thousands Flee Bombardments; Israel Says It Is Also Hitting Tehran

The strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs were the heaviest Israeli attacks since a 2024 war with the militia. Israeli air defenses were battling new missile launches from Iran.

Visual Investigation Suggests School Was Hit Amid U.S. Strikes on Iranian Naval Base

U.S. Employers Cut Jobs in Weaker Than Expected Report

The economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4 percent.

Big Revisions Are a Reason to Question Jobs Numbers, Not Dismiss Them

Economists say estimates from official agencies are reliable, but they worry the quality of data is eroding.

Bulletproof Vests and Rolex Watches: The Rise and Fall of Kristi Noem

As homeland security secretary, she helped fulfill President Trump’s border pledges, but she also drew negative attention to his administration.

Senate Democrat Pushes to Investigate Noem for Perjury