Tag Archives: The New York Times

The New York Times – Sunday, June 25, 2023

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Rebel Wagner Forces, Threatening March to Moscow, Abruptly Stand Down

Fighters with the Wagner private mercenary group deployed on a street near the headquarters of the Southern Military District on Saturday in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

The mercenary group had seized the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, the center of Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine, posing a grave threat to President Vladimir Putin’s government.

Putin embraced turmoil, and now it is rattling his leadership.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, center, greeting veteran soldiers as he attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexandrovsky Garden near the Kremlin wall in Moscow on Thursday.

For more than two decades, the system helped President Vladimir V. Putin secure his unrivaled authority, ensuring that he personally held the keys to wealth and influence in modern Russia.

How a Year Without Roe Shifted American Views on Abortion

New and extensive polling shows public opinion increasingly supports legal abortion, with potential political consequences for 2024.

He Tried to Save a Friend. They Charged Him With Murder.

They bought $30 worth of fentanyl before making it into rehab. One overdosed. The other was charged in his death.

The New York Times – Saturday, June 24, 2023

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Wagner Chief Accused Of Fomenting A Coup, Putting Russia On Edge

Armored vehicles on a street of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on Friday.

The claims from Yevgeny V. Prigozhin including a veiled threat of an uprising against Russia, prompted the F.S.B. to open a criminal investigation.

Supreme Court Revives Biden Immigration Guidelines

Border Patrol agents searching migrants in El Paso. Texas and Louisiana sued to block Biden administration guidelines that they said allowed immigrants with criminal records to remain free while their cases moved forward.

The guidelines, setting priorities for which unauthorized immigrants should be detained, were blocked by a federal judge in Texas.

Facing Brutal Heat, the Texas Electric Grid Has a New Ally: ‌Solar Power

The amount of solar energy generated in Texas has grown exponentially. Some Republicans question the state’s increasing reliance on renewable power.

Garland Pushes Back at G.O.P. Claims of Bias in Hunter Biden Investigation

The attorney general denied assertions that he had interfered with the case and blocked a prosecutor from lodging more charges.

Preview: New York Times Magazine – June 25, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (June 23, 2023) – In this issue, Christopher Cox on the risk that California’s dams will fail; Charlie Savage on his connection to Pink Floyd and “The Wizard of Oz”; Dan Kois on Lorrie Moore; and more.

Suddenly, It Looks Like We’re in a Golden Age for Medicine

We may be on the cusp of an era of astonishing innovation — the limits of which aren’t even clear yet.

By DAVID WALLACE-WELLS

The Trillion-Gallon Question: What if California’s Dams Fail?

Oroville Dam’s spillways.

One superstorm could send walls of water sweeping through populated areas. There’s not much time to act.

The New York Times – Friday, June 23, 2023

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Biden Seeks to Bolster Ties With Modi While Soft-Pedaling Differences

President Biden hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India at the White House on Thursday.

At the White House, the president emphasized common ground with India’s prime minister and announced joint initiatives without making progress in enlisting help against Russian aggression.

Deep in the Atlantic, a ‘Catastrophic Implosion’ and Five Lives Lost

Rear Adm. John Mauger, the First Coast Guard District commander, gave an update on the search efforts for five people aboard a missing submersible some 900 miles off Cape Cod, Mass.

The vast multinational search for the missing submersible ended after pieces of it were found on the ocean floor, 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic.

A North Korean Dissident Defects to the American Right

Yeonmi Park’s account of the horrors of North Korea made her a human rights celebrity. Her new claims that America is on the same path have made her a right-wing media star.

Harsh New Fentanyl Laws Ignite Debate Over How to Combat Overdose Crisis

Critics say a fierce law-and-order approach could undermine public health goals and advances in addiction treatment.

The New York Times – Thursday, June 22, 2023

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F.T.C. Sues Amazon for Tricking Users Into Subscribing to Prime

The lawsuit is the latest signal that the F.T.C. is applying close scrutiny to Amazon’s economy-spanning business.

The lawsuit is the first time that the Federal Trade Commission under its chair, Lina Khan, has taken Amazon to court.

Is the Inflation Battle Won? Not Yet.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that grocery inflation has slowed in recent months, with the price of eggs dropping by about half since January.

Inflation has come down from its 2022 heights, but economists are worried about its stubbornness.

How It Feels to Have Your Life Changed By Affirmative Action

Black and Hispanic college graduates, whose lives were directly shaped by race-conscious college admissions, have complicated thoughts about the expected Supreme Court decision.

Why Is Narendra Modi So Popular? Tune In to Find Out.

The Indian leader, who visits Washington this week, has softened his image at home with an old-fashioned radio show, which feeds a vast social media apparatus.

The New York Times – Wednesday, June 21, 2023

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Judge in Trump Documents Case Sets Tentative Trial Date as Soon as August

The judge, Aileen M. Cannon, set an aggressive schedule for moving the case forward, though the proceedings are likely to be delayed by pretrial clashes.

Hunter Biden Reaches Deal to Plead Guilty to Misdemeanor Tax Charges

Under an agreement with the Justice Department, the president’s son agreed to probation for filing his taxes late, and he can avoid a charge that he lied about his drug use when he bought a gun.

‘They Expected Me to Die on My Own’: Life as a Ukrainian P.O.W.

While in Russian custody, Maksym Kushnir said he was left on a bed to die, with his jaw shattered and gangrene spreading across his tongue.

Ukrainian captives released in prisoner exchanges say that beatings were common, and that they suffered from woefully inadequate health care and food.

Judge Strikes Down Arkansas Law Banning Gender Transition Care for Minors

Dylan Brandt, a transgender teenager who is a plaintiff in the case, outside the federal courthouse in Little Rock, Ark., in 2021.

The case had been closely watched as an important test of whether bans on transition care for minors, enacted by more than a dozen states, could withstand challenges.

Travel: 7 Great ‘City Walks’

Zadar: A Loop Through History

An ancient cylindrical building of pale stone is surrounded by other ancient buildings, among them a very old, slender, five-story stone building with a tall, steep roof. A wall of stones extends halfway across this scene. Above, the blue sky is cloudless.

A nearly two-mile walk circumnavigating Zadar’s Old Town is a journey across a timeline that spans nearly every stage of Croatian history. And it’s a long history, dating back to the 9th century B.C., when the Liburnians first settled this peninsular spit of land on Croatia’s spectacular Dalmatian coast.

Dozens of people sit on the shallow, wide, pale stone steps that start at a plaza and go right into the lapping sea. In the background are trees and a vista of red-roofed, pale stone buildings of several stories.

Start your stroll on the northwest corner of the peninsula at the Morske Orgulje, or Sea Organ: a set of 35 pipes spread under a 230-foot section of the city’s seaside promenade, known as the Riva. Awarded the 2006 European Prize for Urban Public Space, the Morske Orgulje plays beautifully discordant melodies as the Adriatic laps the stone and pushes air through the pipes beneath — converting the walkway into an invisible, ethereal orchestra.

Marrakesh: A Spider Web of Passageways

A group of women in long, colorful, traditional Moroccan robes and head coverings, congregate in a plaza with a surface of geometrically arranged pale brown tiles. There are covered market stalls in the background, more people and various buildings.

The wail of snake charmers’ horns will lead you to your departure point: Jemaa El Fna. This carnivalesque, open-air market in the medina — the ancient neighborhood where Marrakesh was born — brims with juice stands, restaurants and souvenir shops, to say nothing of musicians and performers.

The double doors of two busy storefronts in an old orange-brown stucco building have been thrown open to shoppers. One displays posters of barely clothed, muscular men. The other is packed with shelves stacked with containers of colorful candy; bags of yellow, pink, black and white soccer balls in a big plastic bag; stacks of plastic bottles of water; and various snacks tended to by a young man wearing a circular cap, tan jeans and a yellow-and-white-striped T-shirt.

Before you embark on this meandering 2.2-mile walk, you should have water and sunscreen (summer temperatures can pass 100 degrees Fahrenheit in this Moroccan city); outfits that cover most of your skin (doubly useful in Islamic societies, which discourage revealing clothes); and a willingness to lose your bearings. Nearly twice the size of Central Park, the medina enfolds a vast spider web of passageways that seem designed to disorient outsiders.

Seoul: Following the Fortress Wall

People walk along two adjacent paths, divided by a long patch of lush grass in the daytime. Bordering the path on the right is a low fortress wall. Over the wall, houses can be seen in the distance below.

To walk along the Seoul City Wall is to walk in the footsteps of scholars of bygone centuries, trace scars of war and take in the modern behemoth of a city built around it all. Its history stretches back to 1396, to when present-day Seoul first became the capital of what was then a kingdom called Joseon.

Inwangsan, a mountain in central Seoul, offers sweeping downtown views.

Then, the wall encircled an area that’s but a small fraction of today’s sprawling city, incorporating the slopes of the four mountains that afforded natural fortification. Like Seoul itself, the wall has been destroyed and rebuilt several times — and after restorations in recent decades, it’s become a popular urban walk.

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The New York Times – Tuesday, June 20, 2023

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Greek Coast Guard Under Scrutiny for Response to Migrant Mass Drowning

Survivors of the shipwreck last week board a bus in Greece. Possibly more than 700 men, women and children drowned, one of the country’s worst maritime disasters.

Contradictions in the Coast Guard’s account cast new doubts over how the Greeks handled one of the worst maritime disasters in the country’s history.

G.O.P. Targets Researchers Who Study Disinformation Ahead of 2024 Election

The House Judiciary Committee chairman, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, has accused organizations that research disinformation of censoring conservative speech online.

A legal campaign against universities and think tanks seeks to undermine the fight against false claims about elections, vaccines and other hot political topics.

Trump Real Estate Deal in Oman Underscores Ethics Concerns

Details of the former president’s agreement to work with a Saudi firm to develop a hotel and golf complex overlooking the Gulf of Oman highlight the ways his business and political roles intersect.

Blinken Meets Xi as China and the U.S. Try to Rein in Tensions

U.S. diplomats visited Beijing to try to ensure that competition “does not veer into conflict.” The talks pave the way for a possible Biden-Xi meeting.

The New York Times – Monday, June 19, 2023

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Biden Administration Engages in Long-Shot Attempt for Saudi-Israel Deal

President Biden arriving in Saudi Arabia for a visit that included meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last year. A normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel could reap benefits for leaders of both countries — and Mr. Biden.

The president and his aides are pressing an aggressive diplomatic effort as Riyadh makes significant demands in exchange for normalization, including a nuclear deal and a robust U.S. security pact.

A Year After Dobbs, Advocates Push in the States for a Right to Birth Control

So far, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has not spawned widespread attacks on birth control.

After Justice Clarence Thomas cast doubt on the Supreme Court decision that established a right to contraception, reproductive rights advocates are pressing for new protections at the state level.

Lionel Messi, Saudi Arabia and the Deal That Paid Off for Both Sides

A contract between Messi and Saudi Arabia’s tourism authority offers a glimpse at the details of their multimillion-dollar relationship.

Addicts Went in for Treatment. Instead They Were Enslaved.

Families in Indonesia thought they were sending their sons to a rehab facility run by a powerful local official. Those who stayed there say it was a brutal human slavery operation.

The New York Times – Sunday, June 18, 2023

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Why It Seems Everything We Knew About the Global Economy Is No Longer True

Factory workers at a Chinese company in Mexico. Communist-led China turned out to be the global economic system’s biggest beneficiary.

While the world’s eyes were on the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and China, the paths to prosperity and shared interests have grown murkier.

Russia, Learning From Costly Mistakes, Shifts Battlefield Tactics

Russian conscripts training in October near Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

Moscow’s forces remain uneven. But while bracing for a counteroffensive, they have improved discipline, coordination and air support, foreshadowing a changing war.

What’s Behind the Widening Divide Between New York City and Its Suburbs?

Tension between the city and its surrounding areas over issues like crime, immigration and congestion pricing has grown since the pandemic.

‘The Fires Here Are Unstoppable’

The first foreign firefighters to reach Quebec amid Canada’s worst wildfire season on record said that some of the blazes were 100 times bigger than any they had ever seen.