Author: NY TIMES

“What’s the music doing now, and does it need me?” Schulkowsky asks. “Does it need me to be quiet, or does it need me to participate? It’s that open invitation all the time, so it’s hugely political, I would say, listening today.”Beyond his work as a composer, and informing it too, Wolff remained active as a performer, playing in a wide variety of settings over the decades, from a longtime association with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company to a surprising album with Sonic Youth. Unlike Cage, he embraced improvisation, performing as an adjunct member of the English ensemble AMM. Even…

The International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two top Russian military officers, accusing them of war crimes in Ukraine for targeting civilians and destroying crucial energy infrastructure.The two officers — Lt. Gen. Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash and Adm. Viktor Nikolayevich Sokolov — are accused in a court statement of being personally responsible for numerous missile strikes by their forces on electrical power plants and substations in multiple locations between October 2022 and March 2023.The wintertime strikes were defined as war crimes because they were largely directed against civilian targets, causing “excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to…

INDIANAPOLIS — The 2024 NFL Draft cycle has actually been active for several months, dating back to last offseason when teams set their initial boards. But in fact, the most important step between the end of the college football season and the draft happens over the weekend, as 321 prospects head out for the annual NFL Scouting Combine.Which players have done the most for themselves? Our draft team Dane Brugler, Nick Baumgardner and Diante Lee discuss the top ones…1. The projected top three quarterbacks (Caleb Williams, Derek Meyer and Jaden Daniels) all missed live practices. Did someone else in that…

Thaddeus Yan went to Trader Joe’s more than a dozen times last week, but he wasn’t there for groceries. Mr. Yan, a 23-year-old lifestyle content creator in Los Angeles, was searching for a tote bag.Not just any tote bag, though. Trader Joe’s new miniature tote bag, a version of its standard canvas bag that is just large enough to fit your lunch, a water bottle and a few sundries. The mini tote is sold in four colors — blue, red, yellow and green — and Mr. Yan was determined to own them all.Priced at a modest $2.99, the limited-edition bag…

Frank Popoff, a chief executive and chairman who tried to make Dow Chemical more conciliatory toward regulators and environmentalists in the late 1980s and ’90s, and who prodded the chemical industry to adopt safer practices, died on Feb. 25 at his home in Midland, Mich., where Dow is based. He was 88.A spokesman for the company said the cause was cancer.When the Bulgarian-born Mr. Popoff was named Dow’s president and chief executive in 1987, the company had begun trying to shed its image as a pugnacious chemical giant that had manufactured napalm and the defoliant Agent Orange for the U.S.…

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts celebrated on Tuesday, as the price of Bitcoin reached a record high of more than $69,000. For believers, it was a moment of vindication after a 2022 industry downturn that sent several major companies into bankruptcy and tainted crypto’s reputation.But is crypto really back from the dead? While the numbers suggest the industry is starting to thrive again, there are major differences between this bull run and the euphoria that drove crypto prices to previous highs.Here’s what to know about the new crypto surge.Why did cryptocurrencies collapse in the past?The last time Bitcoin hit a record was November…

When Elim Chan arrived in New York last week to prepare for her New York Philharmonic debut, her first stop was not David Geffen Hall, the orchestra’s home, or a rehearsal studio. It wasn’t even in the city.Instead, she visited Smith College, her alma mater in Massachusetts, to meet with young women interested in the arts. In a classroom, Chan, 37, candidly told them that she felt it was getting harder for women to succeed in conducting.“Now the pressure is insane,” she recalled saying. “I was really lucky.”It was only a decade ago that, Chan, a native of Hong Kong,…

The United States made a second round of airdrops of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, as the Biden administration continued its efforts to prevent a greater humanitarian disaster in the Palestinian territory.U.S. Air Force cargo planes dropped 36,800 ready-to-eat meals, in a joint operation with the Jordanian Air Force, “to provide essential relief to civilians affected by the ongoing conflict,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Tuesday.It said that army troops trained in aerial delivery were part of the airdrop, and that it was planning more such missions. However, the Pentagon said on Tuesday that…

In the latest sign of rising tensions with the United Nations, Israel has recalled its ambassador for consultations, claiming on Tuesday that the U.N. chief was failing to take steps to address a new report finding signs that sexual violence was committed during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel.The U.N. report released on Monday, which was largely welcomed in Israel, found “reasonable grounds” to believe that sexual violence had occurred in at least three locations, and “clear and convincing information” that hostages had been subjected to sexual violence, including rape. It said abuse of those hostages still being held…

This author’s childhood crush on Michael Jordan is not unique.If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, you couldn’t help but be drawn to MJ’s mystique. When I was a kid from the Bay Area, I used to photocopy every article written about the Bulls star and organize them in a three-ring binder thicker than a King James Bible. The local “Run TMC” Warriors were fun, but nothing could compare to the basketball magic Michael provided from the time I was 7 until I retired in a Wizards jersey at age 26. He even provided one of my favorite…