Aides said the president was also hopeful that the hostage release could be an early step toward a broader peace in the region once the immediate crisis ends. In an opinion article published in the Washington Post on Sunday, Mr. Biden described how far his ambitions stretch beyond the four-day pause in fighting agreed to…
When Javier Ortiz came home from a secret mission in Syria, the ghost of a dead girl appeared to him in his kitchen. She was pale and covered in chalky dust, as if hit by an explosion, and her eyes stared at him with a glare as dark and heavy as oil. The 21-year-old Marine…
Long before the National Rifle Association tightened its grip on Congress, won over the Supreme Court and prescribed more guns as a solution to gun violence — before all that, Representative John D. Dingell Jr. had a plan. First jotted on a yellow legal pad in 1975, it would transform the N.R.A. from a fusty…
The Secret Service said on Thursday that it had closed its investigation into how cocaine ended up in the guest lobby of the West Wing after security video failed to provide any leads and no fingerprints were found on the bag. A small plastic envelope was found last week in an area of the West…
MINOH, Japan — Strawberry shortcake. Strawberry mochi. Strawberries à la mode. These may sound like summertime delights. But in Japan, the strawberry crop peaks in wintertime — a chilly season of picture-perfect berries, the most immaculate ones selling for hundreds of dollars apiece to be given as special gifts. Japan’s strawberries come with an environmental…
But Kevin’s experience is a reminder that this technology remains in a very rough form. As Sam Altman, the C.E.O. of the company that developed the software that Bing uses and a related product known as ChatGPT, said last week, “ChatGPT is a horrible product.” Kevin’s chat with Sydney is also a reminder that the…
“The surge strategy reset negative trends and set the conditions for longer-term stability,” the memo said. “The coming 18 months, however, may be the most strategically significant in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein,” it added, putting that in boldface. Referring to Al Qaeda of Iraq, it said, “AQI is down but not out…
WASHINGTON — F.B.I. agents are rummaging through President Biden’s private home. Republicans are on the attack. Democrats are reluctant to defend him. Lawyers are being hired. Witnesses are being interviewed. The press secretary is being pelted with questions she cannot or will not answer. But amid the familiar soundtrack of scandal in Washington, the most…
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the attack on the United States Capitol issued a subpoena to the Secret Service late Friday seeking text messages from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, that were said to have been erased, as well as any after-action reports. In a statement, the committee’s chairman, Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of…