Author: NY TIMES

With the election of the reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian as president, Iran may see a softening of its absolutist foreign policy and even an opportunity for a new diplomatic opening, current and former officials and experts say.Mr. Pezeshkian, a cardiologist, member of Parliament and former health minister, has little direct experience in foreign policy. But he has pledged to empower Iran’s most elite and globalist diplomats to run his foreign agenda, raising hopes of a warmer relationship with the West.Mr. Pezeshkian “represents a more pragmatic posture and less confrontational posture toward the outside and the inside,” said Dennis B. Ross,…

France has been governed for the past seven years by President Emmanuel Macron and his centrist government. The vote on Sunday has turned into a race between the two main opponents of Mr. Macron’s Renaissance party: the far-right National Rally, which has surged in popularity, and a newly formed coalition of the country’s left-wing parties.Mr. Macron called the snap legislative election last month after the National Rally trounced his party in European Parliament elections. The surprising decision sent the country into a three-week campaigning frenzy before the first round of voting last Sunday. That vote only settled 76 of the…

Follow live updates on the 2024 election here.ABC News adjusted its initial transcript of a much-discussed moment during President Biden’s Friday interview after White House officials told the network that they believed the president’s words had been inaccurately rendered, according to several people familiar with the discussion.The moment occurred toward the end of Mr. Biden’s interview, when George Stephanopoulos asked the president how he would feel if he stayed in the presidential race and was defeated by former President Donald J. Trump.“I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know…

At first, Nigel Farage kept his cool. When protesters disrupted an election victory speech by Mr. Farage, Britain’s veteran political disrupter, anti-immigration activist and ally of former president Donald J. Trump, he ignored them.But as the chaos persisted at the media conference on Friday, Mr. Farage began heckling back, drowning out critics by shouting “boring!” into the microphone no fewer than nine times.With Mr. Farage around, things are rarely boring, however, as Britain’s center-right Conservative Party has just discovered to its cost.Driven from power after 14 years by a Labour Party landslide, the Conservatives collapsed to their worst defeat in…

When the meaty palm of Vasil Kamotskii, a 360-pound, 34-year-old pig farmer from Siberia known as Dumpling, struck the tender cheek of the man who faced him, it sounded like a thunderclap. Dumpling didn’t appear to expend much effort — he swung lazily, the way you might bat a fly. But it was enough to send his opponent, Kamil Marusarz, a 26-year-old from Orland Park, Ill., toppling to the ground.Referees and the medical staff onstage at the Cobalt Ballroom at the Fontainebleau Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas late last month rushed to check on Mr. Marusarz. Any hesitation in…

As Elon Musk’s Starship — the largest rocket ever manufactured — successfully blasted toward the sky last month, the launch was hailed as a giant leap for SpaceX and the United States’ civilian space program.Two hours later, once conditions were deemed safe, a team from SpaceX, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a conservation group began canvassing the fragile migratory bird habitat surrounding the launch site.The impact was obvious.The launch had unleashed an enormous burst of mud, stones and fiery debris across the public lands encircling Mr. Musk’s $3 billion space compound. Chunks of sheet metal and insulation were…

The moulin is back. The rouge never left.The Moulin Rouge, the famed Paris cabaret, has restored its iconic windmill after its blades broke and fell to the ground in April. The construction was finished weeks before the Paris Olympics are set to begin — and before the flame passes by on its relay route through Paris on July 15.“We wanted to be ready for this special moment,” said Jean-Victor Clerico, the managing director, whose family has run the cabaret since 1955, adding, “The Moulin Rouge without the blades? It’s not the same.”The cabaret, whose name means “red windmill” in French,…

Landslides and floods set off by torrential rains have killed at least 15 people in Nepal in the last 24 hours, officials in the small Himalayan nation said on Sunday, expressing fear that with further heavy rains expected, that number could rise.Eighteen people were also injured in the flooding over the past 24 hours, and two are missing, said Dan Bahadur Karki, a police spokesman. Dozens of people were evacuated to safety, including some pulled from the rubble of their damaged homes.Officials said the landslides had hampered vehicle traffic in most parts of a country where the terrain already makes…

Por aquel entonces, yo tenía treinta y tantos años, y un hijo tal vez fuera todo lo que pudiera tener. Como la religión forma parte de mi identidad, criaría a mi hijo como musulmán, por supuesto. Me dijo que podía aceptarlo e incluso apoyarlo.Durante ese tiempo, mostró un gran interés por mis prácticas religiosas y culturales; no como si pudiera dejarse influir, sino casi como un periodista con auténtica curiosidad. Durante el Ramadán, el mes de ayuno musulmán, ayunaba conmigo los días que estábamos juntos. Para él, se trataba de compartir una experiencia y aprender más sobre la parte de…

Israelis on Sunday marked nine months since the devastating Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7 and the start of the ensuing war in Gaza with a nationwide day of anti-government protests at a time that many here view as a pivotal juncture in the conflict.Primarily calling for a cease-fire deal with Hamas that would see hostages return from captivity and for new elections in Israel, protesters brought morning traffic to a standstill at several major intersections in cities and on highways across the country. By lunchtime, much of central Tel Aviv was blocked in one of the biggest protests in months.Some…