Author: NY TIMES

Israel and the surrounding region were on edge Wednesday, a day after the assassination of a top Hamas leader in Lebanon heightened worries that the war in Gaza could spill over into a broader conflict.Hamas blamed Israel for the death of Saleh al-Arouri, the senior-most official of the group to be killed since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. Officials with the Israeli military would not comment on whether their forces were behind the explosion that killed him in a suburb of Beirut. Lebanese and U.S. officials also ascribed the attack to Israel.Mr. al-Arouri was killed in the heart of…

Since the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the people of Ukraine have had access to a single source of television news — an all-day broadcast packed with footage of Ukrainian tanks blasting Russian positions, medics operating near the frontline and political leaders rallying support abroad.The show, Telemarathon United News, has been a major tool of Ukraine’s information war, praised by the government officials who regularly appear on it for its role in countering Russian disinformation and maintaining morale.“It’s a weapon,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said last January of the program, which is jointly produced and broadcast…

Falling UpwardIt all began so innocently: snow falling at dusk, a crackling fire, an embrace between three old friends. Soon, I was floating away on a river of love with my husband and our friend. Both men insisted that everything was aboveboard, open and non-possessive. Still, I worried: What would our friend’s girlfriend say about our ménage à trois? “How could you do something so stupid?” she said when she came home later. “We just, uh, fell into bed,” he stammered. “You fell into that bed?” she yelled, pointing to the ladder leading to the high loft. Oops. — Pamela…

Tesla sales jumped during the last three months of 2023 after the carmaker slashed prices and customers rushed to take advantage of tax breaks on electric vehicles — provisions that will be harder to come by in 2024.The company said on Tuesday that it sold 484,500 cars in the fourth quarter, up from 435,000 in the third quarter and 405,000 in the fourth quarter of 2022. For the full year, Tesla sold 1.8 million vehicles. The gains put Tesla on track to sell more than two million cars in 2024, potentially overtaking established carmakers like Mercedes-Benz and Renault.The rebound in…

Crucial Events on the Path Back to the MoonNASA wants to put American astronauts on the moon’s surface in the years ahead with the Artemis III mission. Before that can happen, though, many things have to go right, and two of the most important are scheduled for 2024.The first is the Artemis II mission. NASA introduced the four astronauts of Artemis II last year. As soon as November, the four could travel around the moon and back. They would be the first humans to travel near the moon since 1972, when the Apollo 17 mission concluded. To fly in 2024,…

In the only recent year in which Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs weren’t playing in the Super Bowl, the N.F.L. star was driving around Los Angeles in early February with his business managers, André and Aaron Eanes, marveling at billboards featuring Dwayne Johnson, the actor and entertainer better known as the Rock.“Man, I don’t think I’ll ever be as famous as the Rock,” Mr. Kelce said.His co-managers looked at each other. “We’re like, Yes, you can,” André Eanes said.The twin brothers had known since Mr. Kelce was at the University of Cincinnati that the 6-foot-5 athletic star with…

The eight Israeli justices who struck down a key part of the judicial overhaul on Monday argued that they had little choice given the law’s potential danger to Israeli democracy.On the other side were seven dissenting justices who saw overreach in the decision to annul a law curbing the judges’ ability to use “reasonableness” as a legal standard.Each justice wrote an opinion, with the full decision topping 250,000 words. The ruling capped a landmark case in Israeli jurisprudence. For the first time in Israeli history, the Supreme Court has struck down a quasi-constitutional Basic Law.The justices, led by departing Chief…

Missiles and drones hammered Kyiv on Tuesday morning, officials said, in what appeared to be a large-scale Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital and other cities. The Ukrainian Air Force said the barrage involved some of Russia’s most powerful weapons, possibly including hypersonic missiles that fly at several times the speed of sound.Loud bangs jolted Kyiv as its air defense systems tried to shoot down the missiles. Massive plumes of black and white smoke rose from locations throughout the city, cutting through the gray early morning sky, as several buildings were hit.Vitali Klitschko, the Kyiv mayor, said that debris from…

Track and field team has live coverage Texas State vs Washington State inside college football playoff exist sugar bowl. He’s traveled further than any star player in college football over the past two years — 3,064 miles, from two wins to the College Football Playoff — but on a dreary Monday in Seattle in April, Michael Jr. Michael Penix Jr. showed more than just his actual measurements. The depth of his journey. Even his parents at the time didn’t fully realize this. But now, just days before Penix leads No. 2 Washington against No. 3 Texas in the CFP semifinals…

A new year brings new beginnings. For the Styles Desk, it also comes with an old pastime: Predicting the fashion and lifestyle trends that may bubble up in the months ahead.Last January, when we pondered what might be in store for 2023, some of our thoughts proved rather prescient. Supersize lies (hello, George Santos); fake fashion items (hello, superfake handbags); and an appreciation for “regular degular” people (hello, blue-collar TikTok), to name three.Others didn’t come to fruition. Butter crocks never took off; neither did pet rats.The challenge with seeing the future is you can’t. As much as yesterday’s trends can…