Author: NY TIMES

The composer and pianist Anthony Davis is known for drawing inspiration from real-world figures in his operas.“X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X” — recently mounted by the Metropolitan Opera — and “The Central Park Five,” which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2020, are both grave, ripped-from-the-headlines stories about well-known people.But Davis has also written rollicking adaptations of literary material. Less frequently produced but no less interesting are chamber operas like “Lilith” — a saucy and inventive take on the story of Adam’s first wife that features a divorce court in the Garden of Eden. Similarly, “Lear on the…

Record rains that inundated the United Arab Emirates and surrounding countries, killing at least 18 people in Oman and bringing air travel to a standstill in Dubai, were expected to continue into Wednesday, the authorities said.Dubai typically records around five inches of rain in a year. The deluge that fell by Tuesday evening alone equaled that amount.For the United Arab Emirates, it was the largest rainfall event in 75 years, the country’s National Center of Meteorology and the government announced on social media.Flights heading to Dubai International Airport were being diverted on Tuesday, the airport said, and it suspended operations…

Israeli leaders on Tuesday were debating how best to respond to Iran’s unprecedented weekend airstrike, officials said, weighing a set of options calibrated to achieve different strategic outcomes: deterring a similar attack in the future, placating their American allies and avoiding all-out war.Iran’s attack on Israel, an immense barrage that included hundreds of ballistic missiles and exploding drones, changed the unspoken rules in the archrivals’ long-running shadow war. In that conflict, major airstrikes from one country’s territory directly against the other had been avoided.Given that change in precedent, the calculus by which Israel decides its next move has also changed,…

Nature is all around us, even in New York City. Though it can be difficult to appreciate the magnolia and ginkgo trees when running to catch the subway, we are in fact surrounded.Field Meridians, an artist collective in Brooklyn, wants to help harried New Yorkers stop and smell the Callery pears. The group recently started a six-month program called Nature School that aims to help New Yorkers bring their natural environment out of their peripheral vision and into focus.The project invites local artists to host workshops of all kinds — birding, garden cleanups, making batteries out of soil — that…

The voting technology company Smartmatic reached a settlement on Tuesday in its defamation lawsuit against One America News Network, a far-right broadcaster, over the amplification of election falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election.The terms of the settlement were confidential.Smartmatic filed the lawsuit in 2021, accusing OAN of airing baseless claims that Smartmatic had been involved in rigging the presidential election through its voting machines. On Tuesday, a filing for a dismissal of the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be retried, was submitted by Smartmatic’s lawyers to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Lawyers for Smartmatic and…

Listen along while you read.1. Chappell Roan: “Good Luck, Babe!”Chappell Roan’s voice drips with sarcasm on the verses of this synth-pop tune, as she sends an ex off with a shrugging, “It’s fine, it’s cool.” As the song builds, though, the details of the relationship come into focus and Roan allows herself to admit she is neither fine nor cool with how things ended. Still, she knows she deserves better; as she puts it in her impassioned and theatrical voice, “I just wanna love someone who calls me baby.”▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube2. Margo Guryan: “Moon Ride”This…

For people in eastern Ukraine, where nightly barrages of drones from Russia outpace the military’s overwhelmed air defenses, the response by Western allies to Iran’s aerial assault against Israel this weekend produced uncomfortable comparisons.The militaries of the United States, Britain, France and others stepped in to help Israel defend against the fusillade of more than 300 Iranian drones and missiles, nearly all of which were intercepted. A similar number of aerial weapons are fired at Ukraine on a weekly basis, its officials say, with many of the drones in those attacks designed by Iran and now produced by Russia.Since the…

The possibility that Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, could be extradited to the United States seemed to edge closer on Tuesday, after American officials sent assurances to British authorities that he would not face the death penalty or be persecuted for his nationality, and that he could seek First Amendment protections.The assurances were the latest turn in a prolonged legal battle over the extradition of Mr. Assange, who has been indicted by the United States for violating the Espionage Act by publishing classified documents. They came after a remark from President Biden last week that the administration was considering a…

Britain’s fashion brands have long looked to the United States for a chance to supersize sales — with varying degrees of success. For every Boden, there is a Topshop, Ted Baker or Hunter Boots that failed to successfully crack the market. After all, the United States is much larger, more diverse and already has plenty of fashion labels to choose from. Garments with an appealing English eccentricity or appeal in their home market may feel out of touch in major American shopping hubs.But the pandemic led many Americans to spend more time online seeking out new brands, including ones from…

NPR has suspended Uri Berliner, the senior business editor who broke ranks and published an essay arguing that the nonprofit radio network had allowed liberal bias to affect its coverage.Mr. Berliner was suspended by the network for five days, starting last Friday, for violating the network’s policy against doing work outside the organization without first getting permission.Mr. Berliner acknowledged his suspension in an interview with NPR on Monday, providing one of the network’s reporters with a copy of the written rebuke. In presenting the warning, NPR said that Mr. Berliner had failed to clear his work for outside outlets, adding…