Author: NY TIMES

With the rest of the world distracted by wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Iran has moved closer than ever to the ability to produce several nuclear weapons, installing 1,400 next-generation centrifuges in recent weeks inside a facility buried so deep that it is all but impervious to bunker-busting bombs.The sharp technological upgrade goes hand in hand with another worrisome change: For the first time, some members of Iran’s ruling elite are dropping the country’s decades-old insistence that its nuclear program is entirely for peaceful purposes. Instead, they are publicly beginning to embrace the logic of possessing the bomb, arguing that…

May was a particularly deadly month for the Russian army in Ukraine, with an average of more than 1,000 of its soldiers injured or killed each day, according to U.S., British and other Western intelligence agencies.But despite its losses, Russia is recruiting 25,000 to 30,000 new soldiers a month — roughly as many as are exiting the battlefield, U.S. officials said. That has allowed its army to keep sending wave after wave of troops at Ukrainian defenses, hoping to overwhelm them and break through the trench lines.It is a style of warfare that Russian soldiers have likened to being put…

After so many years of hard work and preparation, the world-class athletes who arrive for the Paris Olympics next month could face one final hurdle before they vie for medals: figuring out how to stay cool.As a part of a publicly stated goal to make these the “greenest” Olympics ever, Paris 2024 organizers chose to forgo conventional air conditioning in the athletes’ village. Instead, an extensive system of water pipes beneath the floorboards of the dorm-style residences have been installed to provide cool air — or at least air that won’t top 79 degrees Fahrenheit, even amid a heat wave.But…

Boeing drew fresh criticism from a federal regulator on Thursday over disclosures about the continuing investigation into a harrowing January flight in which one of the company’s 737 Max planes lost a panel, exposing passengers to howling winds at an altitude of about 16,000 feet.Addressing reporters at a company factory in Renton, Wash., Elizabeth Lund, a Boeing executive, provided new details on Tuesday about how the plane involved in the incident left the plant apparently without four critical bolts that secured the panel, known as a door plug, in place.Boeing said the information was not for release until Thursday morning,…

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that members of the wealthy Sackler family cannot be shielded from lawsuits over their role in the opioid crisis as part of a bankruptcy settlement that would channel billions of dollars to victims and their families.In a 5-to-4 decision, written by Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, a majority of the justices held that the federal bankruptcy code does not authorize a liability shield for third parties in bankruptcy agreements. Justice Gorsuch was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson.In a strongly worded dissent, Justice Brett M.…

“Music” is a contemporary retelling of the Oedipus legend, though the parallels between the director Angela Schanelec’s experimental drama and the original Greek myth are elusive by design.In the beginning of the film, a crew of young people pull up to a craggy Grecian coastline, among them Jon (Aliocha Schneider), whose feet, like Sophocles’ hero, are scraped and bloodied. While there, Jon accidentally knocks one of his companions into a rock. The friend, Lucian (Theodore Vrachas), hits his head, and Jon goes to prison for his crime. Upon his release, he reunites with a willowy woman, Iro (Agathe Bonitzer), with…

The wealthy petrostates of the Persian Gulf have big plans for the future, hoping to increasingly attract tourists and investors, host marquee sporting events, build new cities and diversify their economies away from oil.But they face a looming threat that they cannot easily buy their way out of: extreme and sometimes deadly heat that roasts their countries every summer, which climate change is expected to exacerbate in the coming decades.Sweltering temperatures drive up energy demand, wear down infrastructure, endanger laborers and render even simple outdoor activities not only unpleasant, but potentially perilous. That all will impose a significant long-term tax…

The 2016 peace treaty that ended a decades-long civil conflict has turned Colombia — home to more species of birds than any other country on Earth — into a birders’ delight, opening up forests that were once controlled by anti-government armed groups. Source link

A major vacancy in the fashion world has been filled. On Thursday, Lanvin, the oldest French couture house in continual existence, named Peter Copping its new artistic director, an appointment that indicates a potential return to pure designers after a period in which the buzz was focused on content creators.“Peter Copping’s arrival at Lanvin is an important milestone in the renaissance of one of the great French maisons,” Siddhartha Shukla, the deputy chief executive of Lanvin, said in a news release, adding he was confident that “we will identify a new frontier in fashion and deliver beauty and results in…

Talking pointsAll eyes will be on CNN at 9 p.m. Eastern, when President Biden and Donald Trump face off in their first debate since 2020. Among the keenest watchers will be executives and investors looking for signs about how the candidates might handle the economy and business in a second term.There will be plenty to scrutinize in the 90-minute, audience-free debate, including what the candidates say and how they say it. Here’s what we will be looking out for. (And, for a lighter take, check out our debate “bingo card” further below.)The economy is the big question. Various measures show…