Tag Archives: The New York Times

The New York Times — Sunday, November 26, 2023

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Amid Hostage Releases, Israel Faces Dilemma Over Resuming the War

A group of Israeli hostages was released by Hamas on Saturday, after an hourslong delay raised fears that the deal would collapse.

The cease-fire can be extended by daily releases of hostages, making it progressively harder for Israel to restart military operations.

Gaza Civilians, Under Israeli Barrage, Are Being Killed at Historic Pace

Even a conservative assessment of the reported Gaza casualty figures shows that the rate of death during Israel’s assault has few precedents in this century, experts say.

Despite Bans, Disabled Women Are Still Being Sterilized in Europe

Governments have declared the practice a human rights violation. But they have made exceptions that are divisive among parents, doctors and social workers.

In This Atlanta Suburb, Teens Taste Freedom at 10 M.P.H.

In Peachtree City, Ga., golf carts are everywhere, giving young people in particular an early chance to take life by the wheel.

The New York Times — Saturday, Nov 25, 2023

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First Captives Freed in Tense Gaza Truce Between Israel and Hamas

Vehicles with Red Cross insignias traveling through a border checkpoint.

Hamas freed two dozen hostages, Israel released 39 imprisoned Palestinians, and more than 130 aid trucks reached Gaza over the first day of a tense, temporary truce after seven weeks of war.

Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border

A family of migrants from China in Texas after surrendering to Border Patrol in April.

More than 24,000 Chinese citizens have been apprehended crossing into the United States from Mexico in the past year. That is more than in the preceding 10 years combined.

How Electricity Is Changing, Country by Country

Carbon-free electricity has never been more plentiful. Wind and solar power have taken off over the past two decades, faster than experts ever expected. But it hasn’t yet been enough to halt the rise of coal- and gas-burning generation.

Could Haley Really Beat Trump? Big Donors Are Daring to Dream.

Powerful players in the business world have gravitated toward Nikki Haley, aware that she remains an underdog but beginning to believe she has a chance.

The New York Times Book Review – November 26, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (November 26, 2023): This week’s issue features  Michael Cunningham’s “Day.”; the 2023 Notables list, “Kantika”, “The Nursery.” and “Western Lane” , because it’s a finalist for the Booker Prize, which will be announced on Sunday.

A Pandemic Novel That Never Says ‘Pandemic’

This illustration shows three people sitting at a table, but the image is broken up into three panels, giving the appearance that the three people are in the same space, but alone and at different times.

Michael Cunningham’s “Day” peeks into the lives of a family on one specific April date across three years as life changes because of Covid and other challenges.

By Caleb Crain

DAY, by Michael Cunningham


Michael Cunningham’s new novel, “Day,” visits a family on April 5 in 2019, 2020 and 2021 — before, during and after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, which shadows the book although the words “Covid” and “pandemic” never appear.

‘Western Lane’ Finds Solace From Grief on the Squash Court

In Chetna Maroo’s debut novel, an adolescent girl mourns the death of her mother in the empty reverberations between points.

By Ivy Pochoda

WESTERN LANE, by Chetna Maroo


At the start of Chetna Maroo’s polished and disciplined debut, Gopi, an 11-year-old Jain girl who has just lost her mother, stands on a squash court outside London. She isn’t playing. Instead, she’s listening to the sound of the ball hitting the wall on the adjacent court, “a quick, low pistol-shot of a sound, with a close echo.” It is not so much the shot itself that Gopi is hearing, but that echo, the empty reverb, the lonely response as the ball’s impact gives the striker a split second to retreat to the T, the center of the court, and prepare to counteract her opponent’s responding shot.

The New York Times — Friday, November 24, 2023

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Israel, Hamas Agree to Begin Cease-Fire Friday Morning

The relatives of children kidnapped on Oct. 7, along with families and supporters of hostages, protesting on Monday in Tel Aviv.

Prodded by the U.S., Israel agreed to the pause in hostilities and the release of 150 imprisoned Palestinians in exchange for 50 hostages held in Gaza.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Draws Spectators and Protests

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has brought holiday cheer for almost a century. This year, it also provided a stage for protesters.

The nearly century-old holiday tradition also provided a stage for activists.

Retailers Worry About Shoppers’ Mood This Holiday Season

Consumer spending has been strong in 2023 despite higher prices and waning savings. But some retailers have jitters heading into Black Friday.

Johnson’s Release of Jan. 6 Video Feeds Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories

The speaker fulfilled a demand of the far right, which has sought thousands of hours of footage to try to rewrite the history of the Capitol attack.

The New York Times — Thursday, Nov 23, 2023

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Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire May Start Friday, Followed by Hostage and Prisoner Release

Photographs of hostages in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Wednesday.

Both sides announced a four-day pause in the war between Israel and Hamas, but details were still being worked out.

Five Days of Chaos: How Sam Altman Returned to OpenAI

Sam Altman wears a tan sweater while posing in front of a brick wall.

On Friday, Mr. Altman was pushed out of the hot A.I. start-up he ran. But an intense pressure campaign and negotiations brought him back.

Extra Fees Drive Assisted-Living Profits

The add-ons pile up: $93 for medications, $50 for cable TV. Prices soar as the industry leaves no service unbilled. The housing option is out of reach for many families.

For Election Workers, Fentanyl-Laced Letters Signal a Challenging Year

As overheated rhetoric and threats rise, people are leaving election jobs in record numbers.

The New York Times — Wednesday, Nov 22, 2023

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Israel and Hamas Agree to Cease-Fire in Exchange for Hostage Release

Friends and relatives of people being held by Hamas took part in a “March for the Hostages” from Tel Aviv to the Israeli prime minister’s office in Jerusalem last week.

The agreement calls for a pause in the fighting and for Hamas to free 50 of the captives it seized in its Oct. 7 raid on Israel. Hamas said Israel would release 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Families Fear for the Health of Ailing, Frail Israelis Held Hostage

People gathered in Tel Aviv on Monday to demand the release of those taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7. Many hostages had medical issues before they were taken captive, are very young or were hurt in the attack.

Many of the more than 200 people seized by Hamas when it raided Israel had serious medical conditions. Some were badly injured in the attack. Doctors say they need medical care urgently.

As A.I.-Controlled Killer Drones Become Reality, Nations Debate Limits

Worried about the risks of robot warfare, some countries want new legal constraints, but the U.S. and other major powers are resistant.

Before Altman’s Ouster, OpenAI’s Board Was Divided and Feuding

Sam Altman confronted a member over a research paper that discussed the company, while directors disagreed for months about who should fill board vacancies.

Reviews: Top Historical Fiction Books Of 2023

The New York Times Book Review (November 21, 2023): Each year, we pore over thousands of new books, seeking out the best novels, memoirs, biographies, poetry collections, stories and more. Here are the standouts, selected by the staff of The New York Times Book Review.

Top Historical Fiction Books of 2023

AFTER SAPPHO by Selby Wynn Schwartz

AFTER SAPPHO by Pan

Inspired by Sappho’s work, Schwartz’s debut novel offers an alternate history of creativity at the turn of the 20th century, one that centers queer women artists, writers and intellectuals who refused to accept society’s boundaries.

THE COVENANT OF WATER by Abraham Verghese

Verghese’s first novel since “Cutting for Stone” follows generations of a family across 77 years in southwestern India as they contend with political strife and other troubles — capped by a shocking discovery made by the matriarch’s granddaughter, a doctor.

FORBIDDEN NOTEBOOK by Alba de Céspedes

A best-selling novelist and prominent anti-Fascist in her native Italy, de Céspedes has lately fallen into unjust obscurity. Translated by Ann Goldstein, this elegant novel from the 1950s tells the story of a married mother, Valeria, whose life is transformed when she begins keeping a secret diary.

THE FRAUD by Zadie Smith

Based on a celebrated 19th-century trial in which the defendant was accused of impersonating a nobleman, Smith’s novel offers a vast panoply of London and the English countryside, and successfully locates the social controversies of an era in a handful of characters.

A HISTORY OF BURNING by Janika Oza

This remarkable debut novel tells the story of an extended Indo-Ugandan family that is displaced, settled and displaced again.

KAIROS by Jenny Erpenbeck

This tale of a torrid, yearslong relationship between a young woman and a much older married man — translated from the German by Michael Hofmann — is both profound and moving.

KANTIKA by Elizabeth Graver

Inspired by the life of Graver’s maternal grandmother, this exquisitely imagined family saga spans cultures and continents as it traces the migrations of a Sephardic Jewish girl from turn-of-the-20th-century Constantinople to Barcelona, Havana and, finally, Queens, N.Y.

LONE WOMEN by Victor LaValle

The year is 1915, and the narrator of LaValle’s horror-tinged western has arrived in Montana to cultivate an unforgiving homestead. She’s looking for a fresh start as a single Black woman in a sparsely populated state, but the locked trunk she has in stow holds a terrifying secret.

NORTH WOODS by Daniel Mason

Mason’s novel looks at the occupants of a single house in Massachusetts over several centuries, from colonial times to present day. An apple farmer, an abolitionist, a wealthy manufacturer: The book follows these lives and many others, with detours into natural history and crime reportage.

NOT EVEN THE DEAD by Juan Gómez Bárcena

An ex-conquistador in Spanish-ruled, 16th-century Mexico is asked to hunt down an Indigenous prophet in this novel by a leading writer in Spain, splendidly translated by Katie Whittemore. The epic search stretches across much of the continent and, as the author bends time and history, lasts centuries.

THIS OTHER EDEN by Paul Harding

In his latest novel, inspired by the true story of a devastating 1912 eviction in Maine that displaced an entire mixed-race fishing community, Harding turns that history into a lyrical tale about the fictional Apple Island on the cusp of destruction.

THE UNSETTLED by Ayana Mathis

This novel follows three generations across time and place: a young mother trying to create a home for herself and her son in 1980s Philadelphia, and her mother, who is trying to save their Alabama hometown from white supremacists seeking to displace her from her land.

The New York Times — Tuesday, November 21, 2023

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Trump’s Dire Words Raise New Fears About His Authoritarian Bent

Former President Donald J. Trump has framed his campaign as the “final battle” against political adversaries, and he and his allies are devising plans for a second term that would upend some of the long-held norms of American democracy.

The former president is focusing his most vicious attacks on domestic political opponents, setting off fresh worries among autocracy experts.

Between Israelis and Palestinians, a Lethal Psychological Chasm Grows

Israeli security forces looking on as Palestinians prayed in Jerusalem in October. Nearby is a site sacred to both Jews and Muslims that has been one focus of tensions over the years.

In a conflict marked by complete incomprehension on both sides, the ability to see each other as human has been lost.

Behind 94 Acts of Shocking Violence, Years of Glaring Mistakes

New York officials have escaped scrutiny for repeated failures to help homeless mentally ill people, a New York Times investigation has found.

The Long Shadow of Steve Jobs Looms Over the Turmoil at OpenAI

Sam Altman, the most prominent promoter of artificial intelligence, learned that it’s hard to be a visionary founder like the Apple legend.

The New York Times — Monday, November 20, 2023

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Infants Moved From ‘Death Zone’ Hospital That Israel Says Was Hamas Hideout

A Palestinian medic caring for premature babies who were taken to a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

U.N. officials said 31 premature babies in precarious health were evacuated from Al-Shifa Hospital to a hospital further south in Gaza.

The Invisible War in Ukraine Being Fought Over Radio Waves

A visualization of the rapidly-changing frequencies of the Himera military radio, which features signal-hopping technology that makes it difficult to jam.

Using electromagnetic waves to flummox and follow smarter weapons has become a critical part of the cat-and-mouse game between Ukraine and Russia. The United States, China and others have taken note.

A 30-Year Trap: The Problem With America’s Weird Mortgages

One big reason the U.S. housing market is broken: Owners don’t want to give up their cushy old loans.

For Years, Two Men Shuttled Messages Between Israel and Hamas. No Longer.

Since 2006, Gershon Baskin, an Israeli peace activist, and Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas official, maintained a secret back channel between Gaza and Israel. Then Oct. 7 happened.

The New York Times — Sunday, November 19, 2023

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The War Turns Gaza Into a ‘Graveyard’ for Children

Waiting for treatment at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Thousands of children have been killed in the enclave since the Israeli assault began, officials in Gaza say. The Israeli military says it takes “all feasible precautions” to avoid civilian deaths.

A Jan. 6 Defendant Pleads His Case to the Son Who Turned Him In

A.J. Mock, left, with his father, Brian.

The Capitol attacks ruptured their mutual trust. In the weeks before Brian Mock’s sentencing, could he mend the divide with his son A.J.?

Why Is the College Board Pushing to Expand Advanced Placement?

This year, taxpayers paid the nonprofit at least $90 million for A.P. tests that many students failed.

Downtowns Are Full of Empty Buildings. Universities Are Moving In.

The stylish new Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center took over a former museum in Washington. It’s got potential to become a community hub.