Author: NY TIMES

A senior Capitol Hill staff member who is a longtime voice on Russia policy is under congressional investigation over his frequent trips to Ukraine’s war zones and providing what he said was $30,000 in sniper gear to its military, documents show.The staff member, Kyle Parker, is the senior Senate adviser for the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Commission. The commission is led by members of Congress and staffed by congressional aides. It is influential on matters of democracy and security and has been vocal in supporting Ukraine.A confidential report by the commission’s director…

The most important First Amendment cases of the internet era, to be heard by the Supreme Court on Monday, may turn on a single question: Do platforms like Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X most closely resemble newspapers or shopping centers or phone companies?The two cases arrive at the court garbed in politics, as they concern laws in Florida and Texas aimed at protecting conservative speech by forbidding leading social media sites from removing posts based on the views they express.But the outsize question the cases present transcends ideology. It is whether tech platforms have free speech rights to make editorial…

Peter Anthony Morgan, the lead singer of the Jamaican reggae band Morgan Heritage, a Grammy Award-winning group that was formed by children of the singer Denroy Morgan, died on Sunday.He was 46, The Associated Press reported.Mr. Morgan’s family confirmed his death in a statement on the band’s social media platforms. It did not give a cause of death and information about his survivors was not immediately available. The statement described him as a husband, father, son and brother.Mr. Morgan, known as “Peetah,” started Morgan Heritage with some of his siblings in 1994.For some early albums, including “Protect Us Jah” (1997)…

Congressional leaders have failed to reach a deal on legislation to keep federal funding going past Friday, with Republicans insisting on adding right-wing policy dictates to the spending bills, pushing the government to the brink of a partial shutdown within days.Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said on Sunday that despite “intense discussions” that were continuing among top lawmakers to break the impasse, Republican recalcitrance was raising the prospect of a “disruptive shutdown” at midnight on Friday.“While we had hoped to have legislation ready this weekend that would give ample time for members to review…

AT&T will offer a $5 credit to customers affected by a widespread outage on Thursday that was caused by technical issues the company encountered while trying to expand its network, its chief executive said on Sunday.The outage, which started around 3:30 a.m. Eastern time, temporarily cut off connections for users across the United States.Some of the affected cities included Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York, according to Downdetector.com, which tracks user reports of telecommunication and internet disruptions.At its peak, the site had received about 70,000 reports of disrupted service for AT&T. Service was fully restored after about seven hours.“No matter…

“‘Outsiders’ is the first novel I read, front to back,” Boone said. He was in fifth grade, and it made an immediate impact. “It was the first time I witnessed that white people could treat other white people the way that I was treated as a Black person,” he said.Boone and the rest of the ensemble are more energized than nervous by the prospect of transforming this adored property into a new medium.“Since 1967, people who have read this novel have invested their souls and their time into putting on the shoes of Ponyboy, reading the narrator as themselves,” Grant…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said on Sunday that progress toward a deal for a temporary cease-fire and the release of some hostages held in Gaza would require Hamas to soften its demands, while asserting that any agreement would delay, but not ultimately prevent, an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah.Speaking to CBS News on its “Face the Nation” program, Mr. Netanyahu said in reference to a deal that would bring more hostages home that “we want it; I want it.” But he reiterated a message he has issued several times recently: That Hamas’s positions in the negotiations were “delusional.”“If…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces would push into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah regardless of the outcome of talks to pause the fighting that appear to have been making some progress in recent days.“It has to be done,” the Israeli prime minister said. “Because total victory is our goal, and total victory is within reach.”Mr. Netanyahu did say that if a cease-fire deal was reached, the move into Rafah, which during 20 weeks of war has served as a last refuge for hundreds of thousands of Gazan families forced from their homes, would be…

“The Independent Spirit Awards, where the dress code is, get dressed,” said John Mulaney during his bit at the 2018 show, which he co-hosted along with comedian Nick Kroll. This year, “Saturday Night Live” alum Aidy Bryant is hosting the Indie Spirit’s 39th annual show, which is being live-streamed, with a presenter list that includes Joel Kim Booster, Greta Lee, Jude Law, Colman Domingo and Emma Corrin. There are substantial differences between these awards and the rest of the seasonal intake of trophies this time of year — including, for the second year, all acting categories are gender-neutral — but…

A drug that has been used for decades to treat allergic asthma and hives significantly reduced the risk of life-threatening reactions in children with severe food allergies who were exposed to trace amounts of peanuts, cashews, milk and eggs, researchers reported on Sunday.The drug, Xolair, has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for adults and children over age 1 with food allergies. It is the first treatment that drastically cuts the risk of serious reactions — like anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction that causes the body to go into shock — after accidental exposures to various food…