Author: NY TIMES

In the spring of 2021, Chet Hanks, the singer, actor and son of Tom, posted a series of statements and a music video with a refrain that caused confusion, not to mention a fair bit of cringing. He declared it was going to be a “white boy summer.”Whatever exactly he meant at the time, the phrase has since mutated into a slogan for white supremacists and other hate groups, according to a report published on Tuesday by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, an organization that tracks the spread of racism.Thousands of posts using the slogan “white boy summer”…

The Biden administration awarded $504 million on Tuesday to a dozen projects across the country in a bid to transform communities that had been overlooked in the past into technological powerhouses.The grants will fund “tech hubs” that aim to bolster the production of critical technologies in regions including western Montana, central Indiana, South Florida and upstate New York. The hubs are meant to accelerate the growth of advanced industries in the United States, such as biomanufacturing, clean energy, artificial intelligence and personalized medicine.The program reflects a federal effort to expand America’s science and technology funding beyond Silicon Valley and a…

Jeremy O. Harris’s new documentary — titled “Slave Play. Not A Movie. A Play.” — is ostensibly focused on acting students rehearsing scenes from his provocative “Slave Play,” which was nominated in 2020 for 12 Tony Awards.That’s only the beginning.The documentary, which is streaming on Max, becomes an examination of Harris’s artistic influences and why he wants his play to be seen solely as a work of theater. Part of the strategy is calling back to hallmark experimental documentaries.“It’s really important to pay homage to these figures who are just now starting to really get the celebration they deserve, but…

Israel issued a new round of evacuation orders for a large swath of the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, sending thousands of Palestinians fleeing once again for relative safety.In recent weeks, Israeli officials have spoken of moving toward narrower, more targeted attacks, but the exodus taking place in the city of Khan Younis made it clear Tuesday that for Gazans, a return to ordinary life is not close.Gazans who had already been forced to flee again and again were once more on the move, hauling piles of their belongings on cars, trucks and donkey carts. Hospital patients were pushed in…

Jordan Bardella, the far-right National Rally leader who may become France’s next prime minister, has repeated the same basic promises since a snap election was called in France.If his party forms the country’s government, he will greatly reduce immigration, cut taxes and crack down on crime, he says.But the National Rally is the heir to a political tradition in France associated with overt racism, antisemitism and Holocaust denial, and though the party has distanced itself from that past, some basic philosophies remain embedded in its policies: Immigrants pose a threat to France’s security, economy and national identity,.Among Mr. Bardella’s plans…

Most automakers on Tuesday, with the exception of Tesla, reported modest sales growth in the three months between April and June as high interest rates, persistently high vehicle prices, and uncertainty about the economy and the coming presidential election weighed on consumers.Sales in late June were also slowed by disruptions at car dealers stemming from a cyberattack on a company that supplies software and data services to dealerships.Cox Automotive, a market research firm, estimated that 4.1 million new cars and trucks were sold in the second quarter, up a little from the same period in 2023. In the first six…

▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube5. Martina McBride: “Independence Day”Like Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” Martina McBride’s 1993 song has often been misunderstood and misplaced as a patriotic anthem. It was written from the perspective of a daughter whose mother suffered at the hands of an abusive husband before ultimately finding her own form of freedom by burning down their house — with him, and possibly her, in it. Gretchen Peters wrote the song, which was inspired by a real-life story from the late 1970s. “What drew me to it was the brilliance of the lyrics,” McBride told…

Israel “has effectively lost sovereignty” in its north because Hezbollah attacks launched from southern Lebanon have driven much of the population away, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said this week, underscoring the stakes of cross-border attacks that have threatened to ignite a larger regional war alongside the conflict in Gaza.Mr. Blinken spoke ahead of a trip by a senior White House official, Amos Hochstein, for talks in Paris on how to defuse the escalating border fire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Mr. Hochstein, the top White House official for global energy and infrastructure, has become…

Swedish grandparents became eligible for paid parental leave this week after the country enacted a trailblazing new law aimed at extending child care benefits beyond a child’s immediate family.Under the change, which took effect Monday, parents are able to transfer a portion of their parental leave days to other caretakers, cementing Sweden’s reputation as a global trendsetter in progressive parental leave policies.The law enables single parents to transfer up to 90 days of paid leave to other caregivers and a parental couple to transfer up to 45 days, according to the Swedish government’s Social Insurance Agency. The law was approved…

After an unprecedented three-year timeout on federal student loan payments because of the pandemic, millions of borrowers began repaying their debt when billing resumed late last year. But nearly as many have not.That reality, along with court decisions that regularly upend the rules, has complicated the government’s efforts to restart its system for collecting the $1.6 trillion it is owed.At the end of March, six months after the hiatus ended, nearly 20 million borrowers were making their payments as scheduled. But almost 19 million were not, leaving their accounts delinquent, in default or still on pause, according to the latest…