Author: NY TIMES

In February of last year, President Biden changed the U.S. standard for cutting off weapons deliveries to foreign militaries that harm civilians during wartime.Under the new arms transfer policy, Mr. Biden said countries that were “more likely than not” to violate international law or human rights with American weapons should not receive them. Previously, U.S. officials were required to show “actual knowledge” of such violations, a higher bar to clear.A few months later, in August, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken issued a directive instructing State Department officials overseas to investigate incidents of civilian harm by foreign militaries using American…

Israel has been downplaying the United States’ decision to withhold delivery of some 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs, insisting that the deep relationship between the allies would outlast current tensions.But experts on the U.S.-Israeli relationship say the pause in delivering the high-payload munitions, and the timing of its confirmation from the White House on Tuesday, showed that the alliance is facing new strains, with more ruptures possibly to come.“It’s pent-up frustration on Biden’s part, which eventually broke,” said Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser in Israel, on Wednesday. “The administration has been walking a tightrope between its very strong…

Barry Keoghan was the scheming heart of one of last year’s most talked-about movies and played a major role in stirring up a general thirst for Irish actors. Sabrina Carpenter, fresh off her opener duties on what may go down as the most profitable music tour in history, has a top 10 Billboard hit and the TikTok song du jour.So when Ms. Carpenter and Mr. Keoghan, a buzzy young couple, walked the red carpet separately at this year’s Met Gala, posing for their own pictures, fans took notice.Ms. Carpenter arrived wearing a custom bustier gown with a light blue bouffant…

Uber reported earnings on Wednesday that disappointed investors, as mounting legal bills and weaker ride demand in some parts of the world led to a shortfall compared with analysts’ forecasts.Uber recently settled a lawsuit brought by Australian taxi drivers and is facing a new one from cabdrivers in London. Some regulators have also challenged the way it classifies workers, which shields it from providing drivers with some benefits.The company also cited softer-than-expected demand and took a hit because some of its investments had lost value during its latest quarter.Uber’s operating profit in the first quarter was $172 million. That was…

Artificial intelligence is giving machines the power to generate videos, write computer code and even carry on a conversation.It is also accelerating efforts to understand the human body and fight disease.On Wednesday, Google DeepMind, the tech giant’s central artificial intelligence lab, and Isomorphic Labs, a sister company, unveiled a more powerful version of AlphaFold, an artificial intelligence technology that helps scientists understand the behavior of the microscopic mechanisms that drive the cells in the human body.An early version of AlphaFold, released in 2020, solved a puzzle that had bedeviled scientists for more than 50 years. It was called “the protein…

This week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes segments on:The backstory of the tension between Kendrick Lamar and DrakeThe early songs: “First Person Shoter,” “Like That” and “7 Minute Drill”Drake responds: “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made FreestyleKendrick Lamar responds: “Euphoria” and “6:16 In LA”Drake responds, and shifts the tone of the battle to the personal: “Family Matters”Kendrick responds, upping the personal ante: “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us”Drake bows out?: “The Heart Part 6”How this battle will play out for Drake and Kendrick Lamar as musiciansHow…

A Palestinian doctor at a medical center in Rafah said on Tuesday that 27 bodies had been brought there since the start of Israel’s incursion, in which ground troops entered the southeast corner of Gaza and took control of the Gazan side of a border crossing with Egypt.Dr. Suhaib Hems, the head of Kuwait Hospital in Rafah, said that his facility had also received 150 injured people, many of whom suffered from shattered bones, serious head injuries or severe burns.“The situation is catastrophic in every sense of the word,” Dr. Hems said.The Israeli military said it had killed about 20…

China and Serbia on Wednesday proclaimed an “ironclad friendship” during a visit to Belgrade by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, underlining the close political and economic ties between two countries that share a wariness of the United States.Mr. Xi arrived in Serbia late Tuesday — the 25th anniversary of a mistaken 1999 airstrike involving the U.S. Air Force during the Kosovo war that destroyed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, the Serbian capital. Three Chinese journalists were killed in the strike.“This we should never forget,” Mr. Xi said in a statement published on Tuesday by Politika, a Serbian newspaper, recalling that…

This article is part of our Design special section about water as a source of creativity.Consider the 21 gilded mirrors lining the music room, each more extravagant than the last. Or the Italian monastery table that seats 24, never mind the tapestries, peacock feathers, brass candlesticks and Persian rugs seemingly everywhere.And did we mention entire suites dedicated to Frank Sinatra and Noël Coward?Let others embrace minimalism. Good things come in multiples in the waterfront home that Tom Postilio and Mickey Conlon have created for themselves on two and a quarter acres on the North Shore of Long Island.Even the house…

After one of Norfolk Southern’s freight trains derailed last year, spilling hazardous chemicals in an Ohio town, the company’s leaders were assailed by lawmakers, regulators and angry residents, an onslaught the executives managed to survive.But Norfolk Southern’s management faces a fresh challenge this week from an investment firm that is asking shareholders to vote to replace the company’s chief executive, Alan Shaw, and appoint new directors to its board.The campaign by Ancora, a Cleveland investment firm, invokes the accident in East Palestine, the Ohio town, but its main aim is to overhaul Norfolk Southern’s business strategy to bolster its profits.The…