Author: NY TIMES

Amid rising tensions between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and new moves by the Israeli government to expand its hold on the territory, an Israeli general on Monday issued a harsh rebuke of the government’s policies there and condemned rising “nationalist crime” by Jewish settlers.Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fuks, the outgoing chief of Israel’s Central Command, which is responsible for the country’s military forces in the West Bank, said at a departure ceremony that a “strong and functioning” Palestinian Authority was in Israel’s security interest.The general’s statement appeared to be a swipe at Israel’s far-right finance minister,…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India strolled alongside President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia under the trees at the Russian leader’s suburban residence as the sun set. He rode a golf cart along the paths, sipped tea during an hourslong chat and petted a horse on a visit to Mr. Putin’s stables, breathing in the calm of an estate that once belonged to the Romanov dynasty.The scene, on Monday evening, opened the Indian leader’s two-day trip to Russia and illustrated a sobering reality: Despite the West’s intended isolation of Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, other nations have pursued…

Making them waitPresident Biden hasn’t let up on his aggressive defense against calls to step aside: Over the past 24 hours, he pushed back against Democratic lawmakers, the news media and top fund-raisers. But an attempt to mollify some of his biggest donors in a hastily arranged call started off poorly: It began more than 30 minutes late.For the Biden campaign, that may not be a big concern, given its highlighting of small-dollar fund-raising and attacking of corporate greed.But for a growing number of his financial backers, Biden’s efforts to portray them as a problem ignores the real issues endangering…

Six years ago, an outspoken music executive named Merck Mercuriadis kicked off a new wave of dealmaking in the industry when his company, Hipgnosis, began buying up the song catalogs of artists like Neil Young, Shakira, Justin Bieber and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.Now, Mercuriadis, who once managed Beyoncé and Elton John, is stepping down from the company after its assets have been sold to the private equity giant Blackstone, following a tumultuous year that has involved a shareholder revolt, an accounting scandal and a bidding war.In the company’s complex structure, Hipgnosis Songs Fund is an “investment trust,” which is…

Top NewsEvyatar, in the northern West Bank, is one of five settler outposts that Israel recently decided to give legal status. Settlements in the territory are widely considered to be illegal under international law. Credit…Sergey Ponomarev for The New York TimesAmid rising tensions between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and new moves by the Israeli government to expand its hold on the territory, an Israeli general on Monday issued a harsh rebuke of the government’s policies there and condemned rising “nationalist crime” by Jewish settlers.Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fuks, the outgoing chief of Israel’s Central Command, which…

Marian Berg lost nearly everything in the Atlas fire of 2017 — not just the Napa, Calif., house she had built with her husband, who died in 2014, but all of its contents.“I was downstairs reading a book, and I had a friend who called and said, ‘Your hill is on fire,’” said Ms. Berg, 69, an accountant. “I grabbed my dog and ripped the cables out of the back of my computer, threw that in the car, and then ran back for my passport. Then I was out of there.”She had been through a fire scare before, so she…

One thing was clear after France’s surprise election results on Sunday: Any new government formed by President Emmanuel Macron would face months of political paralysis. What’s less certain is whether that gridlock will tip France’s heavily indebted economy further into distress.The turmoil has focused attention back on France’s ballooning €3 trillion debt and a deficit that has grown to more than 5 percent of economic output, and immediately prompted a warning on Monday from the Standard & Poor’s ratings agency over France’s sovereign debt rating.“Uncertainty hangs over France’s future government architecture,” said the agency, which had already downgraded France’s debt…

The nervous energy was palpable as hundreds of bike riders, shrink-wrapped in colorful Lycra outfits, waited for the start of the 50-mile Half-Century ride from the Santa Fe Railyard, a center for art galleries, restaurants and a weekly farmers’ market in Santa Fe, N.M. Then, at last, we were winding through town as eight police officers on motorcycles leapfrogged ahead to guard the intersections.We rode past the Roundhouse, where the New Mexico Legislature meets. We passed Museum Hill, where four museums explore the Native American Southwest, the Spanish colonial past and more. Then, finally, after a dozen or so miles,…

The European Space Agency has waited about a decade for the first launch of Ariane 6, a powerful new rocket. But the brand-new vehicle is at last ready to fly — and if all goes well, European nations will once again have independent access to the final frontier, a crucial step for the space exploration and economic goals of the continent’s countries and companies.Here’s what to know about the inaugural flight of the Ariane 6 heavy-lift launcher.When will Ariane 6 launch, and how can I watch it?Ariane 6 is scheduled to launch on Tuesday, July 9, from Europe’s Spaceport in…

In a lofty office in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Shani Lechan gives her clients the hair of their dreams. It usually takes only a couple of weeks.In one room she offers initial consultations, taking their measurements and learning about their preferences. A few months later, they’ll visit a second room, where Ms. Lechan will makes sure everything is the perfect fit.The Shani Wigs office is painted cream with a concretelike finish, the molding is elegant, the windows are floor-to-ceiling and there is a marble fireplace in the waiting room. Not far away, a tufted pink space cloud of a…