Author: NY TIMES

“I hope you fall in love, I hope it breaks your heart” is the refrain (in English translation) of “Pasoori,” Ali Sethi’s 2022 global hit. Is this a curse or a blessing? The song, performed as a duet with the Pakistani singer Shae Gill, defies such simple classifications — it’s a pop banger sung in Urdu and Punjabi, punctuated with flamenco handclaps and driven by a reggaeton beat. Sethi, a Pakistani-born artist who lives in Manhattan’s East Village, composed it in the wake of a thwarted collaboration with an Indian organization that feared reprisal (because of a 2016 ban on…

The president was livid. He had just been shown pictures of civilians killed by Israeli shelling, including a small baby with an arm blown off. He ordered aides to get the Israeli prime minister on the phone and then dressed him down sharply.The president was Ronald Reagan, the year was 1982, and the battlefield was Lebanon, where Israelis were attacking Palestinian fighters. The conversation Mr. Reagan had with Prime Minister Menachem Begin that day, Aug. 12, would be one of the few times aides ever heard the usually mild-mannered president so exercised.“It is a holocaust,” Mr. Reagan told Mr. Begin…

Ukraine rushed reinforcements to its northern border on Friday after Russian forces attempted to break through Ukrainian lines along several stretches, applying new pressure on Ukrainian forces already stretched thin along a 600-mile front.The Russian assaults began at around 5 a.m. Friday with massive shelling and aerial bombardments of Ukrainian positions followed by armored columns trying to punch through at several points along the border, according to a statement from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense.“As of now, these attacks have been repelled, and battles of varying intensity are ongoing,” the ministry said. “To strengthen the defense in this sector of the…

The scene: Two hard-bitten dames clash over a man. At issue: Did one steal the other’s lover, then go on to marry … and murder him?One of the women, Margaux Goldrich, is fictional. The other is the Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon, who performs a flinty version of herself grilling Margaux, an imperious fashion diva played by Patricia Black, about the character’s suspected role in her husband’s untimely death.You won’t find this brooding melodrama on Netflix. The narrative spools out instead on social media as a string of darkly comic vignettes conceived and produced by the jewelry designer Alexis Bittar as…

When Emrullah Karaca began working at a factory in Gifhorn, Germany, where the auto parts supplier Continental builds components for hydraulic brakes, he was looking for a temporary job after finishing high school.But after spending more than two decades building a career at the factory, Mr. Karaca, a 49-year-old father of three, learned that Continental planned to close the plant by 2027. Facing a daunting job hunt, he will head back to school to earn his trade certificate, courtesy of his employer.It’s a necessary step if he wants to find a job in Germany, where despite a desperate lack of…

Listen to and follow ‘Hard Fork’Apple | Spotify | Amazon | YouTubeKevin reports on his monthlong experiment cultivating relationships with 18 companions generated by artificial intelligence. He walks through how he developed their personas, what went down in their group chats, and why you might want to make one yourself. Then, Casey has a conversation with Turing, one of Kevin’s chatbot buddies, who has an interest in stoic philosophy and has one of the sexiest voices we’ve ever heard. And finally, we talk to Nomi’s founder and chief executive, Alex Cardinell, about the business behind A.I. companions — and whether…

Day’s 2015 debut album had a reverberant, widescreen, retro sound. By contrast, “Cassandra (Cherith)” favors focused close-ups; it heightens details, making Day’s voice more exposed and even more daring. Throughout the album, her delivery feels questing and improvisatory. She’s so sure of her melodies that she can embellish them at any moment, stretching or rushing or wriggling them as the impulse strikes.She breezes across styles and eras. From a base in neo-soul, with hip-hop beats underpinning sinuous R&B melodies, Day also touches on jazz, Motown, jazz, bossa nova, piano rock and vintage-sounding orchestral pop. But the most important sound on…

One official said that negotiators did not believe that Hamas or Israel were leaving the negotiations permanently. And a senior Egyptian official told state-owned television that mediation efforts were still underway to bridge the differences between Israel and Hamas.Hamas is seeking an end to the war and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops, while Israel is offering a temporary cease-fire. Mr. Netanyahu has said that Israel will not stop fighting until Hamas is eliminated and all the hostages are freed.Israel’s incursion into Rafah this week has displaced about 80,000 people there, most of whom are now sheltering in the southern…

The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. This week’s issue is written by Julia Bergin, a reporter based in the Northern Territory.Driving through Central Australia can be a battle with dust, floods, fires, collapsed roads and network failures. And when the cargo is food, even a minor setback can have serious repercussions.The remote Indigenous community of Lajamanu was set up in the Northern Territory by the Australian government in 1949. Dozens of people, already displaced from their traditional homes, were moved there from another community about 350 miles away because of overcrowding and water shortages.Today, Lajamanu…

Megan Jericha Lerchenmuller was more than a little annoyed after first meeting Glenn Kyle Williams Josey in May 2018 at the construction site of the Glasshouse, an event space on 12th Avenue off the West Side Highway in New York.“This is Megan, she just joined our team,” Mr. Josey, 46, the project architect, recalled a partner of the Glasshouse saying before a meeting got underway in a makeshift office space.Mr. Josey then blurted out: “Oh, you’re here to take meeting notes,” under the impression the partner would bring someone along for the task.Ms. Lerchenmuller simply glared at him. She had…