Author: NY TIMES

For months, Israel and Hamas have been at odds over a host of issues during talks aimed at brokering a truce, including whether Israeli troops would withdraw and the length of a cease-fire.Now one of the major sticking points to emerge as in-person talks resumed this week is how displaced Palestinians will be able to return to the northern Gaza Strip, according to Israeli, Hamas and regional officials.Despite mounting international pressure, the talks aimed at brokering a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza appear to be stalled.Mediators from Qatar and Egypt…

An American YouTube personality who was kidnapped two weeks ago by a gang leader in Haiti was released over the weekend and was on his way home to the United States on Monday morning, according to his father.The American, Adisson Pierre Maalouf, 26, had traveled to Haiti from the neighboring Dominican Republic to interview Jimmy Chérizier, a former police officer and gang leader known as Barbecue, according to Mr. Maalouf’s family, who spoke to The New York Times after his release.Kidnapped with him was Mr. Maalouf’s guide, Jean Sacra Sean Roubens, a Haitian journalist. Mr. Roubens confirmed to The Times…

In a story originally told to ESPN by Shohei Ohtani’s translator Ippei Mizuhara, the two logged into Ohtani’s bank account together eight or nine times in 2023 and wired $500,000 to Mathew Bowyer, who is an alleged illegal bookmaker who is under federal investigation. Ohtani told the public the story, days after Mizuwon gave up his initial claim and was fired by the Dodgers, that the translator had stolen the money to pay off his gambling debts.Both versions of the story raise a question that has vexed the public: Why would bookmakers extend at least $4.5 million in credit to…

And though she is not the only style-forward coach in the game — Dawn Staley of South Carolina, Adia Barnes of the University of Arizona and Sydney Carter, the director of player development for the University of Texas are lauded for their image-making flair — Ms. Mulkey is the most extreme. She has been compared to a Who from Dr. Seuss’s Whoville, Ric Flair of WrestleMania and a flamingo. (Well, she has been called a “rare bird.”)Whether you consider her looks merely “eccentric,” as Ms. Bordonaro does, or straight from “the Las Vegas clown section,” as Tom Broecker, the costume…

As Narendra Modi was storming to victory in the election of 2014, he said that “acchhe din aane waale hain” — good times are coming.Now as Mr. Modi stands set to secure another term as prime minister in elections starting on April 19, the value of India’s stock market has grown threefold since he first took office. India’s economy is almost twice as big as it was.Stocks have risen so much because the number of Indians with enough wealth and appetite for investment risk has jumped — to nearly 5 percent of the population from barely 2 percent.But the economic…

Covert Chinese accounts are masquerading online as American supporters of former President Donald J. Trump, promoting conspiracy theories, stoking domestic divisions and attacking President Biden ahead of the election in November, according to researchers and government officials.The accounts signal a potential tactical shift in how Beijing aims to influence American politics, with more of a willingness to target specific candidates and parties, including Mr. Biden.In an echo of Russia’s influence campaign before the 2016 election, China appears to be trying to harness partisan divisions to undermine the Biden administration’s policies, despite recent efforts by the two countries to lower the…

The recent cyberattack on the billing and payment colossus Change Healthcare revealed just how serious the vulnerabilities are throughout the U.S. health care system, and alerted industry leaders and policymakers to the urgent need for better digital security.Hospitals, health insurers, physician clinics and others in the industry have increasingly been the targets of significant hacks, culminating in the assault on Change, a unit of the giant UnitedHealth Group, on Feb. 21.The ransomware attack on the nation’s largest clearinghouse, which handles a third of all patient records, had widespread effects. Fixes and workarounds have alleviated some distress, but providers are still…

Lorraine Graves, a ballerina known for her willowy frame and majestic grace who starred as a principal dancer for the groundbreaking Dance Theater of Harlem for nearly two decades, died on March 21 in Norfolk, Va. She was 66.Her nephew Jason Graves said the cause of her death, in a hospital, was yet to be determined.Ms. Graves broke barriers — not only as a celebrated dancer for a multiracial company that showcased African American excellence in a traditionally European art form, but also, at a towering 5-foot-10 ½, as an exceptionally tall one.For a female dancer, “five foot four, five…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel underwent surgery on Sunday night to treat a hernia, his office said in a statement.Mr. Netanyahu’s office said early Monday that the surgery was successful, and that the prime minister was recovering and talking with his family.The operation came as Mr. Netanyahu is under mounting international pressure to negotiate a cease-fire and end the war in Gaza.Mr. Netanyahu’s office said on Sunday that he had been diagnosed with a hernia during a “routine examination” the previous night. The prime minister decided in consultation with his doctors to have the operation, his office said in…

In the first pitched battle of the civil war that shaped a newly independent Ireland, seven centuries of history burned.On June 30, 1922, forces for and against an accommodation with Britain, Ireland’s former colonial ruler, had been fighting for three days around Dublin’s main court complex. The national Public Record Office was part of the complex, and that day it was caught in a colossal explosion. The blast and the resulting fire destroyed state secrets, church records, property deeds, tax receipts, legal documents, financial data, census returns and much more, dating back to the Middle Ages.“It was a catastrophe,” said…