Author: NY TIMES

Stocks slumped to a second consecutive weekly loss on Friday, as intensifying tension in the Middle East prompted caution among investors, adding to concerns about lingering inflation that had set off a retreat earlier in the week.The S&P 500 fell 1.5 percent on Friday in its worst day of trading since January, and ended the week with a drop of 1.6 percent, its worst weekly decline of the year.Other major indexes, including the Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000, also fell on Friday. The Vix Volatility Index, a measure of investor expectations for market swings over the next 30 days —…

Bennett Braun, a Chicago psychiatrist whose diagnoses of repressed memories involving horrific abuse by devil worshipers helped to fuel what became known as the “satanic panic” of the 1980s and ’90s, died on March 20 in Lauderhill, Fla., north of Miami. He was 83.Jane Braun, one of his ex-wives, said the death, in a hospital, was from complications of a fall. Dr. Braun lived in Butte, Mont., but had been in Lauderhill on vacation.Dr. Braun gained renown in the early 1980s as an expert in two of the most popular and controversial areas of psychiatric treatment: repressed memories and multiple…

Sean Combs, the music mogul whose business empire has been upended by recent lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault and a federal investigation, sold his half of the tequila brand DeLeón for about $200 million this year, according to a public report for investors.Mr. Combs, who has vehemently denied allegations of sexual assault and sex trafficking, came to prominence as a hip-hop impresario but amassed much of his wealth from other businesses, including through work with the liquor giant Diageo. Their partnership, which was thrown into turmoil last year before the sexual assault lawsuits, is now over.Diageo disclosed in a…

The possibility of a direct military confrontation between Iran and Israel has brought renewed attention to Iran’s armed forces. Early this month, Israel attacked a building in Iran’s diplomatic compound in the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing seven of Iran’s senior commanders and military personnel. Iran then threatened to retaliate.Here’s a look at Iran’s military and its capabilities.Why is Iran’s military relevant right now?After Israel attacked the Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus, Tehran responded with a threat to avenge the killings of its military personnel. Israel has said the compound was a legitimate target because it was being used by military…

A new transitional ruling council was finalized in Haiti on Friday to try to bring political stability to a country wracked by escalating gang violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis.The council’s formation, announced in an official state-run bulletin, comes after gangs who have a brutal grip on much of the capital prevented the prime minister, Ariel Henry, from returning to the country after a trip overseas and ultimately pushed him to announce his resignation.The presidential transition council is tasked with restoring law and order through the appointment of an acting prime minister to head a new government as well as…

In November, U.S. Soccer made a bet that hiring Emma Hayes would be worth sacrificing a year of continued preparation under a permanent head coach. An interim management oversees the U.S. women’s national team for eight months following the 2023 World Cup. To her credit, Twila Kilgore helped turn the roster around during her time as a reserve and allowed her team to win two tune-up games this spring.Still, this is a failed year for the project, which desperately needs a clear new vision. There are still two months left before Hayes’ first game as the head coach of the…

Roberto Cavalli, the Italian designer who made a name for himself as the couturier to the rock ‘n roll St. Tropez set and who died this week at age 83, lived as he designed: in his own Wild Kingdom of parrots, Persian cats, a German shepherd, monkeys, racehorses and assorted toys (Ferraris, a helicopter). He founded his own brand in 1970 and almost from the beginning loved zebra, giraffe, leopard and lynx; tiger stripes and leopard spots, and put them not just on the runway but on his poolside loungers and motorcycle seats — often all at the same time.His…

A trained accountant, Mr. Leibner was described in a 1989 profile by Ben Yagoda in The New York Times Magazine as an idiosyncratic character with a “remarkable emotional range.” “He can be plaintive, cajoling, jocular, terse, profane, sentimental, jovial, respectful, dismissive, analytical or expansive: The one constant is the strain of his native Brooklyn in his voice,” Mr. Yagoda wrote.He was also known for telling incredibly dirty jokes.Andrew Heyward, a former president of CBS News, said in a phone interview: “It would have been easy to dismiss him as a Damon Runyonesque showman, but when it came to actual negotiations,…

Toward the end of Thursday’s first run, touring had become a chore. Rule recalled pantomiming a clock-punching motion before taking the stage, laying bare the worst possible scenario for the band since its members dropped out of Rutgers University as teenagers: Thursday had curdled into a deadening day job that most people would still dream of occupying, leaving them feeling “both underpaid and greedy,” Rickly said.After the band’s split, Rule kept busy as a session drummer, including a long stint with the British boy band the Wanted. Pedulla returned to a steady gig doing film work, while Rickly’s curiosity and…

American intelligence analysts and officials said on Friday that they expected Iran to strike multiple targets inside Israel within the next few days in retaliation for an Israeli bombing in the Syrian capital on April 1 that killed several senior Iranian commanders.The United States, Israel’s pre-eminent ally, has military forces in several places across the Middle East. But Iran is not expected to target them in order to avoid a direct conflict with the United States, according to U.S. and Iranian officials who spoke anonymously about intelligence gathered on the expected attacks, which they were not authorized to discuss publicly.Any…