Author: NY TIMES

With Israel continuing to warn that it plans a ground invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, South Africa has asked the International Court of Justice in The Hague to issue new constraints on Israel’s military offensive to prevent genocide.In a filing on Monday, the South African government said that it was “gravely concerned” by Israel’s planned ground advance into Rafah, where more than a million Gazans have sought shelter, which it said “has already led to and will result in further large-scale killing, harm and destruction.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who has described Rafah as Hamas’s last…

President Biden denounced former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday for encouraging Russia to attack certain NATO allies, calling the comments “dumb,” “shameful,” “dangerous” and “un-American” as he implored House Republicans to defy their putative nominee and pass new security aid for Ukraine and Israel.In a televised statement, Mr. Biden said a $95 billion spending package that the Senate passed earlier in the day on a bipartisan vote was imperative to help defeat the “vicious onslaught” of President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia against Ukraine. And he linked the legislative debate to Mr. Trump’s campaign speech siding with Moscow over European…

It’s been a big week for Usher. After delivering a dynamic halftime performance at the Super Bowl, the R&B star married his partner, Jennifer Jean Goicoechea, in Las Vegas on Sunday.“We can confirm that Usher and Jennifer Goicoechea took the next step in their relationship and did get married on Sunday night in Las Vegas surrounded by close friends and family,” said Lydia Kanuga, a representative for Usher. “They both look forward to continuing to raise their children together surrounded by love and thank everyone for the well wishes.”According to a court document, Ms. Goicoechea and Usher Raymond IV married…

Stock markets tumbled on Tuesday as investors slashed their bets on the Federal Reserve taking the brakes off the economy in the coming months, after hotter-than-expected inflation data led traders to expect interest rates will remain higher for longer.The benchmark S&P 500 stock index fell 1.8 percent, putting it on course for its worst one day drop since the banking crisis in March last year. The index has suffered only one other loss greater than 1 percent this year, with bullishness about the resilience of the economy and corporate profits continually pushing stocks to new highs.Investors still expect the Fed…

OpenAI is giving ChatGPT a better memory.The San Francisco artificial intelligence start-up said on Tuesday that it was releasing a new version of its chatbot that would remember what users said so it could use that information in future chats.If a user mentions a daughter, Lina, who is about to turn 5, likes the color pink and enjoys jellyfish, for example, ChatGPT can store this information and retrieve it as needed. When the same user asks the bot to “create a birthday card for my daughter,” it might generate a card with pink jellyfish that reads, “Happy 5th Birthday, Lina!”With…

▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube4. Alicia Keys: “You Don’t Know My Name”Look, let’s not talk about that opening note on Sunday night. (At least she course corrected quickly!) Let’s instead revisit this sumptuous story song from 2003, on which Alicia Keys imagines an entire relationship with someone who doesn’t even know her name. Yet. This is also one of the most romantic songs ever about a Thursday, but perhaps that’s a whole other playlist.▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube5. Lil’ Kim featuring Lil’ Cease: “Crush on You (Remix)”Though the Junior M.A.F.I.A. rapper Lil’ Cease handles…

France imposed sanctions on dozens of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, accusing them of committing acts of violence against Palestinians. It was one of the largest rounds of penalties levied against Israelis in the West Bank to date and follows Britain and U.S. restrictions imposed on four settlers this month.France’s foreign ministry said it had banned 28 settlers from entering France or any of its territories, calling on Israel’s government to pursue legal action against them.The French government said that the West Bank settlements were illegal under international law and incompatible with the creation of a…

On Monday, Puppets and Puppets, the six-year-old New York fashion brand/art project, had its last show.Its founder and designer, Carly Mark, had decided it was too hard and too expensive to keep making clothes and trying to build a business in this city, despite being known as “downtown N.Y. gold,” as Highsnobiety called her, and despite developing the sort of culty following that is supposed to be an indicator of success. She is pulling up stakes and moving to London, she told The New York Times last week. She will keep her more lucrative and successful handbag business going from…

Inflation cooled less than expected in January and showed worrying staying power after volatile food and fuel costs were stripped out — a reminder that bringing price increases under control remains a fraught, bumpy process.The overall Consumer Price Index was up 3.1 percent from a year earlier, which was down from 3.4 percent in December but more than the 2.9 percent that economists had forecast. That figure is down from the latest peak of 9.1 percent in the summer of 2022.But after stripping out food and fuel, which bounce around in price from month to month, “core” prices held roughly…

Upgrades to aging utility equipment and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have combined to drive up electricity costs across the country, with the national average increasing from one year to the next.As a New York Times business reporter, I have been looking into the impact of the rising costs of electricity on consumer bills. With my colleague Madeleine Ngo, I recently examined how higher rates have strained the budgets of low-income consumers — many of whom cannot afford clean energy technologies like solar panels and electric vehicles.We are planning more stories about the rising cost of energy and how…