3 mins read

Afghanistan’s child deaths are rising as food distributions face cuts, UN says

ROME | Child malnutrition has reached critical levels in a third of Afghanistan’s provinces and is expected to worsen as funding shortfalls force cuts in food distributions and other support, the U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday. “We must act now to stem the rise in child deaths, which this crisis is provoking,” John Aylieff, […]

6 mins read

Everyone wants to ‘tax the rich.’ In New York City, it’s getting complicated

NEW YORK | Across the U.S., calls to “tax the rich” have become potent political slogans. But even in Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s New York, getting the wealthy to pay more isn’t playing out as smoothly as supporters hoped. What seemed at first like an easy idea — slapping a new tax on people who own […]

7 mins read

‘Coyote vs. Acme’ was canned by Warner Bros. But 3 years later, that’s not all folks

NEW YORK | Before it was dubbed “the funeral screening,” it was just when Will Forte was going to see the movie. “Coyote vs. Acme” was finished. Director Dave Green, inspired by “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” had completed the editing on the Looney Tunes blend of cartoon and live action. The whole project, which takes […]

8 mins read

The hidden politics of time: How clocks, calendars — and now-contentious time zones — came to be

NEW YORK | It flies. It heals all wounds. It can be of the essence, and it can be money. We thrill in the best of it, lament the worst. We’re warned not to waste it, since we can’t turn it back — even as we try to make up for when it’s lost. And […]

6 mins read

The livin’ is no longer so easy: How carefree dreams of ‘summertime’ are fading in 2026’s swelter

LONDON | Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to consider the death of the summertime state of mind. The season itself is in no danger; climate change, mainly caused by the burning of oil, gas and coal, is warming the weather year-round. Viewed this way, summer-like weather is ascendant. It’s setting records across the […]

7 mins read

‘Coyote vs. Acme’ was canned by Warner Bros. But 3 years later, that’s not all folks

NEW YORK | Before it was dubbed “the funeral screening,” it was just when Will Forte was going to see the movie. “Coyote vs. Acme” was finished. Director Dave Green, inspired by “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” had completed the editing on the Looney Tunes blend of cartoon and live action. The whole project, which takes […]

7 mins read

Ellen Greene revisits Audrey from ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ for the film’s 40th anniversary

Ellen Greene can still do a killer Audrey. In conversation, she seamlessly slips in and out of that singular voice — a little breathy, a little squeaky, a little lispy, a little New York — that made her “Little Shop of Horrors” heroine an instant icon. It wasn’t a register she’d planned on hitting at […]

7 mins read

Reform UK’s Nigel Farage beats a slate of fringe candidates in election boycotted by major parties

CLACTON-ON-SEA, England | Nigel Farage regained his seat in Parliament on Friday, beating a field of fringe candidates led by trash-can-wearing comic Count Binface in a special election boycotted by mainstream parties that called it a farce. Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party who some see as a possible next prime minister, abruptly […]

2 mins read

Hurricane warning is issued for the Big Island of Hawaii as Tropical Storm Lala approaches

HONOLULU | Tropical Storm Lala formed Thursday in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to become a hurricane while approaching the Big Island of Hawaii, where it could bring heavy rain and flooding this weekend, forecasters said. The storm is forecast to bring rain to the Hawaiian Islands starting late Friday as well as high […]

8 mins read

Israel’s Christians rely on faith and allies as they fear rising harassment

MOUNT TABOR, Israel | Sister Mayela wears her black veil and habit as she walks to work near where another Catholic nun was violently attacked in Jerusalem’s Old City — but she’s now accompanied by a Jewish volunteer for protection. Many Christians in Israel, who make up less than 2% of the country’s population, are […]