The call for a more targeted phase in the war appeared to be the most definitive effort yet by the United States to restrain Israel in its retaliation against Hamas for the attacks it led on Oct. 7.
The Bronx Defenders is one of the most influential public defense organizations in the United States. But allegations of antisemitism have dogged it and have grown louder since Oct. 7.
Who Gets the Water in California? Whoever Gets There First.
As the world warms, the state is re-examining claims to its water that have gone unchallenged for generations.
Losing Hair, Gaining Followers
Hair-loss influencers on TikTok say they are destigmatizing a common insecurity. Critics say they are cashing in on a vulnerable audience.
The New York Times Books (December 14, 2023): Best Art Books of 2023 – The art critics of The Times select their favorites, from Botticelli to Vermeer, Lucy Lippard’s memoir, and Wade Guyton’s intelligent rereading of Manet.
His strawberry-blond Venus on a wind-propelled scallop shell still pulls Florence’s tourists from the gelateria to the Uffizi — but a rarer Botticelli feast is currently on offer in San Francisco, where the Legion of Honor is presenting the first exhibition ever of this Renaissance master’s fragile drawings (through Feb. 11). In this authoritative catalog, Rinaldi makes several new attributions, including two exquisite head studies of a man gazing upward and a woman with modestly lowered eyes. For a Florentine in the later 15th century, the core of painting was disegno (“design,” but also “drawing”), and Botticelli put drawing first. Delicate highlights of white and yellow show the light on tensed muscles or bowed heads. Effortless squiggles cohere into Simonetta Vespucci’s curled hair or John the Baptist’s camel cloak. His line feels spring-loaded; his saints and angels seem ready for the dance floor; his paintings’ grace and vigor started with a pen.
Like Vermeer, the Mexican portraitist Abraham Ángel, who died at age 19 in 1924, left little behind. His 20 extant works (on view in Dallas through next January) reproduce beautifully in a slim but convincing catalog that doesn’t overstate the case. Ángel’s preferred substrate was cardboard, and the bumpy nap of it really shows in these pages. So do the Fauve-like colors he used to outline his sitters. (Instead of black he preferred blues and browns, as Alice Neel would.) Playfully primitive, these knowing likenesses (among them Ángel’s tutor and lover, Manuel Rodríguez Lozano) combined Mexico’s burgeoning populist aesthetic with a private romanticism that seems nonetheless to have sought clarity on the promise of his country’s Revolution.
This major looker of an exhibition catalog loosens up the warp and weft of conventional views of modern art — all those tight-knotted hierarchical categories (high versus low, art versus craft) on which our institutions and markets still rest — and demonstrates the universe of formal and conceptual brilliance that has always traveled on a parallel track. The sheer variety of work produced by more than 50 artists chosen by the book’s editor, Lynne Cooke, will knock your socks off. (Just wait till you see what’s happening in the field of basketry alone.) So will the visual imaginations of individual geniuses we already know like Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, Gego, Lenore Tawney and Sheila Hicks, and the others we’re introduced to here.
The concept, important for determining the legality of an act of war, is about weighing civilian harm against military objectives, not about achieving a balanced number of casualties.
Held Hostage in Gaza, a Thai Worker’s Prayers for Freedom Come True
A Thai farmworker clung to hope during her nearly 50 days of captivity in Gaza by befriending a young Israeli girl and dreaming of reuniting with her boyfriend, who had also been abducted.
Tesla Recalls Autopilot Software in 2 Million Vehicles
Federal regulators pressed the automaker to make updates to ensure drivers are paying attention while using Autopilot, a system that can steer, accelerate and brake on its own.
Harvard’s governing body said it stood firmly behind Claudine Gay as the university’s president, a stance both praised and condemned by students, faculty and alumni.
Biden Says Russia Is Celebrating U.S. Divisions Over Providing Aid to Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine traveled to Washington to make a last-ditch appeal for more help to fight Russia. But Republicans said they wouldn’t act without a border deal.
How Africans Are Changing French — One Joke, Rap and Book at a Time
More than 60 percent of French speakers now live in Africa. Despite growing resentment at France, Africans are contributing to the evolution and spread of the French language.
Top Israeli officials hinted at a powerful response to attacks by Hezbollah across the northern border with Lebanon, as to the south Israeli troops wage street battles against Hamas in Gaza.
From the halls of Congress to America’s streets and universities, a once largely academic issue has roiled national discourse, inciting accusations of bigotry and countercharges of bullying.
To Revive Portland, Officials Seek to Ban Public Drug Use
State and local leaders are proposing to roll back part of the nation’s pioneering drug decriminalization law and step up police enforcement.
Record Rent Burdens Batter Low-Income Life
More tenants than ever spend half or more of their income for shelter, leaving less for everything else, taking an emotional toll and leaving some without a place to call their own.
Republicans have been attacking elite universities for years. After a tense congressional hearing last week, many on the left are joining them.
To Handle a Surge of Illegal Crossings, Border Officials Stop Legal Ones
Some border communities in the U.S. and Mexico are suddenly cut off from each other after a border crossing closed to cope with large numbers of migrants.
Gaza War Has Buoyed Egypt’s Leader Ahead of Presidential Vote
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt grew increasingly unpopular amid a deep economic crisis. But the war in neighboring Gaza has given him a vital role on the international stage.
Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in “Barbie.”Credit…Warner Bros. Pictures
Films, TV shows, albums, books, art and A.I.-generated SpongeBob performances that reporters, editors and visual journalists in Culture couldn’t stop thinking about this year.
Current and former European diplomats said there was growing concern a second Trump presidency could mean an American retreat from the continent and a gutting of NATO.
The president, Elizabeth Magill, and the chairman of the board of trustees, Scott L. Bok, are leaving after intense pressure from donors, politicians and alumni.
Hong Kong Wants More Tourists, but Mostly ‘Good Quality’ Ones, Please
The return of budget tour groups from mainland China is sparking frustrations — and a dose of snobbery — in a city starved for business.
Tiny Electric Vehicles Pack a Bigger Climate Punch Than Cars
Two- and three-wheeled vehicles, used by billions of people, are moving away from fossil fuels to batteries faster than cars in countries that have made the energy transition a priority.
The veto came amid a warning that “civil order is breaking down” in Gaza, and a day after the Biden administration warned that Israel’s military had not done enough to reduce harm to civilians.
Iran Looks to Houthi Proxies to Escalate Fight With Israel
The Iranian-backed militia in Yemen has launched drone and missile attacks on Israeli and American targets. American officials fear the group could go too far and incite a wider war.
Inside OpenAI’s Crisis Over the Future of Artificial Intelligence
Split over the leadership of Sam Altman, board members and executives turned on one another. Their brawl exposed the cracks at the heart of the A.I. movement.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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