Author: NY TIMES

The cross-examination of a man who had a voyeuristic sexual arrangement with Sean Combs and his former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, will continue on Tuesday after he testified about witnessing episodes of domestic abuse by Mr. Combs.On Monday, the first day of the music mogul’s racketeering and sex trafficking trial, the witness, Daniel Phillip, testified that over a decade ago, he would repeatedly meet the couple at high-end New York hotels and have sex with Ms. Ventura while Mr. Combs watched in a corner of the room and masturbated.Mr. Phillip said he received between about $700 and $6,000 for each sexual…

American presidents have been visiting Saudi Arabia for decades, and the trips have often produced memorable moments — some dramatic, others downright oddAs President Trump returns to Saudi Arabia, here is a look back at four moments from past presidential trips to visit leaders of the oil-rich Gulf state.2022: The Biden Fist BumpThe relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia appeared to be wilting before President Joseph R. Biden Jr. visited Jeddah in 2022.Mr. Biden, as a candidate in 2019, had vowed to turn Saudi Arabia into a “pariah” over the killing of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi,…

In a dressing room behind the stage in the Metropolitan Opera House, Wynton Marsalis, the trumpeter and educator, intently watched a live feed of the big band representing the Osceola County School for the Arts, from Kissimmee, Fla. They were playing Dizzy Gillespie’s “Things to Come,” a piece that can expose any weaknesses in a big band. Being a good jazz musician isn’t just about playing fast and loud and high, but this song requires musicians to do all of that.The school’s lead trumpet player was in the middle of a solo. A dexterous player who could hit the high…

The French movie star Gérard Depardieu was convicted by a Paris court on Tuesday on charges of sexually assaulting two women working on the set of a film in which he was starring in 2021. He received a suspended sentence of 18 months.The sentence was in line with what the prosecutor had requested after Mr. Depardieu’s four-day trial in March. The actor was also ordered to be put on a list of sex offenders.The women — a set decorator and an assistant director — worked on “Les Volets Verts,” a 2021 French film starring Mr. Depardieu.The set decorator, now 54,…

Two Chinas inhabit the American imagination: One is a technology and manufacturing superpower poised to lead the world. The other is an economy that’s on the verge of collapse.Each reflects a real aspect of China.One China — let’s call it hopeful China — is defined by companies like the A.I. start-up DeepSeek, the electric vehicle giant BYD and the tech powerhouse Huawei. All are innovation leaders.Jensen Huang, the chief executive of the Silicon Valley chip giant Nvidia, said China was “not behind” the United States in artificial intelligence development. Quite a few pundits have declared that China would dominate the…

The Federal Railroad Administration, the nation’s railroad agency, has brought in the Boring Company, the tunneling firm founded by Elon Musk, to see if it could help with a multibillion-dollar Amtrak project, according to three people familiar with the discussions.Federal Railroad Administration officials have talked with employees at the Boring Company about assessing the costs and progress of the Frederick Douglass Tunnel program, a new tunnel along a busy Amtrak stretch connecting Baltimore to Washington and Virginia. Amtrak initially expected the development to cost $6 billion, but now estimates it could cost as much as $8.5 billion.As part of the…

President Trump on Monday signed an executive order asking drugmakers to voluntarily reduce the prices of key medicines in the United States.But the order cites no obvious legal authority to mandate lower prices. The order said the administration would consider taking regulatory actions or importing drugs from other countries in the future if drugmakers do not comply.It was something of a win for the pharmaceutical industry, which had been bracing for a policy that would be much more damaging to its interests.Last week, Mr. Trump hyped a coming announcement that was “as big as it gets.” And on Sunday evening,…

At trial, Sean Combs will be represented by a large and varied defense team — one that has grown even larger and more varied in recent days.Since early in the government’s investigation, Mr. Combs has retained Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos of the firm Agnifilo Intrater.Mr. Agnifilo is a longtime criminal defense attorney who has represented high-profile figures like the former pharma executive Martin Shkreli; Keith Raniere, the leader of the Nxivm sex cult; and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, who in 2011 was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York.…

Edan Alexander, 21, is the last living American citizen held by Hamas in Gaza. On Sunday, the Palestinian militant group said it would free him, just days before President Trump is set to travel to the Middle East.Who is Edan Alexander?Mr. Alexander is an American Israeli dual citizen who grew up in Tenafly, N.J.In 2022, during his senior year of high school, he joined Garin Tzabar, which prepares young people from around the world to join the Israel Defense Forces. He moved to Israel to serve in the military after he graduated and was assigned to the infantry.Mr. Alexander was…

When I met the writer Amy Larocca at a cafe in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn on a recent afternoon, I could not help but notice: She had the glow. Or seemed to.The glow, as Ms. Larocca explains in her new book, “How to Be Well: Navigating Our Self-Care Epidemic, One Dubious Cure at a Time,” is what happens when you purify yourself “from the inside out.” When you never miss a day of your skin care routine, regularly drain your lymphatic fluids and take your collagen supplements. But to truly glow, you must also practice mindfulness, self-care and,…