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.
The New Yorker – December18, 2023 issue: The new issue‘s cover featuresOlimpia Zagnoli’s “Let There Be Lights” – The artist discusses strands of brilliance amid dark days.
We routinely test for chemicals that cause mutations. What about the dark matter of carcinogens—substances that don’t create cancer cells but rouse them from their slumber?
In the nineteen-seventies, Bruce Ames, a biochemist at Berkeley, devised a way to test whether a chemical might cause cancer. Various tenets of cancer biology were already well established. Cancer resulted from genetic mutations—changes in a cell’s DNA sequence that typically cause the cell to divide uncontrollably. These mutations could be inherited, induced by viruses, or generated by random copying errors in dividing cells. They could also be produced by physical or chemical agents: radiation, ultraviolet light, benzene. One day, Ames had found himself reading the list of ingredients on a package of potato chips, and wondering how safe the chemicals used as preservatives really were.
In March, 1940, Edmund Carl Heine, a forty-nine-year-old American automobile executive, reached an understanding with a company then known as Volkswagenwerk GmbH. Heine, who immigrated to the United States from Germany as a young man, had spent years at Ford, first in Michigan and then in its international operations in South America and Europe, landing finally in Germany. In 1935, two years after the Nazi regime came to power, Ford fired him, for reasons that are unclear. Heine next signed on with Chrysler, in Spain, but the Spanish Civil War was tough on the car business. And so he was out of a job again.
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.
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.
The government in Kyiv remains hopeful of further American assistance, but it is also looking to other resources — and trying to make clear what could be at stake.
How Israel Is Using Real-Time Battlefield Intelligence to Target Hamas
Israel has recovered a trove of material that its military has used to assess the extent of the group’s attack plans, and its tactics and abilities, information reviewed by The Times shows.
Texas Judge Grants Woman’s Request for Abortion, in Rare Post-Roe Case
A state court judge said a woman whose fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition could legally obtain an abortion despite the state’s bans.
The Economist Magazine (December 7, 2023): The latest issue featuresIsrael and Palestine: how to get to peace – For there to be any hope, both Israelis and Palestinians need new leaders; What if Trump stumbles? – And what might happen if Trump dropped out; Make or break for renewables – Supply-chain dysfunction, rising interest rates and protectionism are making life tough; Our books of the year – This year’s picks transport readers to mountain peaks, out to sea and back in time…
The Atlantic Magazine – December 7, 2023: The latest January/February 2024 issue features ‘IF TRUMP WINS’ – A second Trump presidency won’t just mirror the first. It will be much worse. In The Atlantic’s January/February issue, two dozen writers warn what could happen if Donald Trump is reelected, from destroying the rule of law to abandoning NATO and reshaping the international order.
“We pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Donald Trump said this past November, in a campaign speech that was ostensibly honoring Veterans Day. “The real threat is not from the radical right; the real threat is from the radical left … The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within.”
In late 2020, even as the instigators of insurrection were marshaling their followers to travel to Washington, D.C., another kind of coup—a quieter one—was in the works. On December 21, in one of his departing acts as attorney general, Bill Barr submitted a proposed rule change to the White House. The change would eliminate the venerable standard used by the Justice Department to handle discrimination cases, known as “disparate impact.” The memo was quickly overshadowed by the events of January 6, and, in the chaotic final days of Donald Trump’s presidency, it was never implemented. But Barr’s proposal represented perhaps the most aggressive step the administration took in its effort to dismantle existing civil-rights law. Should Trump return to power, he would surely attempt to see the effort through.
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