A group of parents reeling from a mass shooting at their children’s private Christian school believed no one was in a better position to persuade the G.O.P. to enact limited gun control.
Israel has vowed time and again to eliminate the group responsible for the brutal Oct. 7 attack, but critics increasingly see that goal as unrealistic or even impossible.
As Israel’s ground campaign broadens in southern Gaza, thousands more people are pouring into areas that are struggling to offer shelter or security.
Michigan Supreme Court Decides Trump Can Stay on Ballot
After Colorado’s top court ruled that the former president was disqualified for engaging in insurrection, justices in Michigan considered a similar challenge.
Chinese Spy Agency Rising to Challenge the C.I.A.
The ambitious Ministry of State Security is deploying A.I. and other advanced technology to go toe-to-toe with the United States, even as the two nations try to pilfer each other’s scientific secrets.
It has not snowed in New York in a very long time. But onstage at Lincoln Center, inside a shop display, and in a busker’s saxophone, there are flakes to be found.
In Campus Protests Over Gaza, Echoes of Outcry Over Vietnam
The war in Vietnam ignited a protest movement that helped define a generation. Is the war between Israel and Hamas doing the same thing?
Netanyahu Visits Gaza as Palestinians Mourn an Attack That Officials Say Killed Dozens
The Gazan Health Ministry blamed Israeli airstrikes for the deaths, and Israel’s military said it was reviewing the episode.
Hoping for Peace With Houthis, Saudis Keep Low Profile in Red Sea Conflict
Riyadh is seeking to avoid getting dragged back into a bloody clash with the Yemeni militia, which has sowed chaos by attacking shipping and firing missiles at Israel.
Parking spots for trucks are in short supply around the country, and the problem can lead to unsafe situations for long-haul truck drivers and other motorists.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church formally changed the date for celebrating to Dec. 25, departing from the Russian tradition of celebrating on Jan. 7, according to the Julian calendar.
What Went Wrong for Ron DeSantis in 2023
The Florida governor entered the year flush with cash and momentum. In the months since, internal chaos and Donald Trump’s indictments have sapped even his most avid supporters.
Apple’s Newest Headache: An App That Upended Its Control Over Messaging
Beeper Mini, which offers iPhone messaging on Android phones, has grown fast and its duel with the tech giant has gotten the attention of antitrust regulators.
Decades after the unexplained deaths of two American climbers in Argentina, a camera belonging to one of them was found in the snow. The film held astonishing images, but the mystery endures.
After a week of heated negotiations, the U.N. Security Council approved a measure that called on Israel and Hamas to pause the fighting to allow for the delivery of more humanitarian aid.
The case will instead first be heard by a federal appeals court, which has put it on a fast track, scheduling arguments for Jan. 9.
Hunter Biden Text Cited in Impeachment Inquiry Is Not What G.O.P. Suggests
A 2019 message from the president’s son alluded to giving his father half his salary. The back story offers unflattering insights into the Biden family but does not support assertions of corruption.
A World Leader on Ukraine, the U.S. Is Now Isolated Over Gaza
The United States finds itself in a defensive crouch and at odds with even staunch allies like France, Canada, Australia and Japan.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (December 22, 2023): The latest issue features MAGIC: The Life of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, by Roland Lazenby; My Jewish Charlie Brown Christmas – The Peanuts special is the most overtly Christian TV holiday classic. So why does it speak to me so deeply?; Seven Fishes (Not Seven Dishes) for Christmas Eve – A modern Italian American take on the Feast of the Seven Fishes offers a streamlined menu any family can pull off….
Roland Lazenby’s big biography of Magic Johnson gives us a wealth of detail, a huge cast of characters and, in a way, the tapestry of our time.
By Thomas Beller
MAGIC: The Life of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, by Roland Lazenby
I once asked a portrait photographer why no one ever smiled in her pictures, and she replied, “A smile is a mask.”
I thought of this aphorism as I read Roland Lazenby’s 800-page biography of Magic Johnson. Sports Illustrated declared his smile to be one of the two greatest smiles of the 20th century. (The other was Louis Armstrong’s.) As Missy Fox, the daughter of his high school coach, says in the book, “That is the one thing he’s always had, that smile.”
My Jewish Charlie Brown Christmas
The Peanuts special is the most overtly Christian TV holiday classic. So why does it speak to me so deeply?
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” was a one-of-a-kind wonder when it premiered in 1965 and remains so almost 60 years later. Unlike the other jingle-belled baubles that TV throws down the chimney each year, it is melancholy and meditative. The animation is minimalist and subdued, full of grays and wafting snowflakes. I could wrap myself in the Vince Guaraldi jazz score like a quilt.
Decades after I left hustling to become a writer, why did I seek out the man who drew me into that world?
By Mitchell S. Jackson
O.G. rings me in the a.m. to say he’s just touched down in Phoenix. It’s the day before he said he’d arrive, and while there was a time when I’d treat the seeming opacity of his plans as par, the call’s a minor surprise. He asks for my address and tells me he can drop by as soon as he grabs his rental car. “Cool,” I say, as if the call ain’t ramped my pulse, as if my crib is presentable for guests. It isn’t. So I shoot out of bed and get to cleaning and straightening the first floor, going so far as to light a candle. It’s been umpteen years since I’ve seen O.G. — Lonnie’s his name — and God forbid he judge me anything less than hella fastidious.
The story of 2.3 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan has been shaped by generations of war and exile.Photographs
by MOISES SAMAN
How Do You Make a Movie About the Holocaust?
With “The Zone of Interest,” Jonathan Glazer is just the latest director to confront the problem.
Poetry makes nothing happen, W.H. Auden said in 1939, when words must have seemed especially impotent; but cinema is another matter. For several decades after the end of the Second World War, what’s come to be seen as its central catastrophe — the near-total destruction of the European Jews — was consigned to the status of a footnote. The neglect was rooted in guilt: Many nations eagerly collaborated in the killing, while others did nothing to prevent it. Consumed by their own suffering, most people simply didn’t want to know, and a conspiracy of silence was established.
The timing for a vote on the Security Council resolution was unclear. Diplomats were focused on who would oversee the inspection of aid entering the enclave.
Key Hamas Plotters of Oct. 7 Elude Israel’s Grip on Gaza
Israel has battered Gaza in its quest to destroy Hamas, without finding the commanders it has named as its most important targets.
Live from the Jungle: Migrants Become Influencers on Social Media
TikTok, Facebook and YouTube are transforming global migration, becoming tools of migrants and smugglers alike.
Democrats Keep Hoping It’s Curtains for Trump. He’s Still Center Stage.
As Donald Trump faces a new threat to his political future, this time over the question of ballot eligibility, Democrats again find themselves looking toward American institutions to stop him.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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