Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.
A truce took hold between Israel and IranAs night fell in the Middle East today, a cease-fire between Israel and Iran seemed to be holding. There was no evidence that either side had launched attacks in recent hours, and leaders in both countries said their side had prevailed in the 12-day war. The nascent truce — the details of which are still unclear — came together abruptly after President Trump asked for Qatar’s help to persuade Iran to stop the fighting. When the president announced the deal last night, he surprised some of his own advisers. For a moment, it seemed like the truce might not hold. This morning, Trump angrily accused both Israel and Iran of violating the cease-fire after strikes continued following his announcement. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing,” the president told reporters. Hours later, Trump took credit for bringing an end to the war. But a preliminary U.S. intelligence report cast doubt on one of his big claims: that American airstrikes over the weekend had crippled the country’s efforts to develop an atomic weapon. The classified report said the American bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites sealed off the entrances to two of the facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings, according to officials familiar with the findings. The early findings concluded that the strikes set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months, the officials said. For more on the conflict:
New Yorkers went to the pollsThe Democratic primary for mayor of New York City is coming to a close this evening with a final sprint to turn out voters in the blistering heat. The primary has narrowed into a two-man contest between former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani, the young assemblyman and democratic socialist who is the favorite of left-leaning young voters. Polls suggest the outcome is a tossup, and whoever prevails will become the clear front-runner in the general election to lead a city at an inflection point. For Cuomo, who has a major financial advantage, a victory would represent a stunning comeback from his sexual harassment scandal. We will be tracking the results here. What to expect: By late tonight, we’ll at least know which candidate is in the lead. But if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of votes — which seems likely — the city’s ranked-choice system will take effect. If so, the final result will not be determined until July 1. Here’s how that system works, and why it could be crucial.
A whistle-blower criticized Justice Dept. leadersA senior Justice Department official, Emil Bove, told subordinates he was willing to ignore court orders to fulfill the president’s deportation efforts, according to a whistle-blower complaint by a department lawyer who has since been fired. The dismissed lawyer, Erez Reuveni, filed his account to lawmakers today, just a day before Bove is scheduled to testify before the Senate for his nomination to a federal appeals court. Read the complaint here.
Amazon is building a computing behemoth in IndianaA year ago, a 1,200-acre stretch of farmland outside New Carlisle, Ind., was an empty cornfield. Now, it holds seven enormous Amazon data centers — and there are plans to erect 23 more. Each building is packed with hundreds of thousands of specialized computer chips, all connected by hundreds of thousands of miles of fiber. The complex, which will consume enough energy to power a million homes, was built with a single customer in mind: the A.I. start-up Anthropic. More top news
High-tech storytelling is surging on BroadwayOver the last year, Broadway stages have been brimming with large-scale and high-resolution videos, deployed not simply for scenery but also as a narrative tool. The phenomenon reflects the ubiquity of digital devices in contemporary life. It was hard to miss across several Tony-nominated productions: Sarah Snook screen-shared selfies, Nicole Scherzinger got her close-up via movie cameras, George Clooney made onstage television and Robert Downey Jr. was superseded by a digital puppet.
Bob Dylan is still committed to drawingFor decades, the singer Bob Dylan has been drawing and painting the things he sees around him. They have not always been well-received. In 2012, our critic said his artworks had “gone from bad to worse,” though one 2016 review credited him with some ability: “This guy can look.” Regardless, Dylan has continued to quietly sketch landscapes, portraits and still lifes. And later this year, he will put out a book of nearly 100 black-and-white drawings.
Dinner table topics
Cook: Serve your next steak dinner with a superflavorful curry paste. Read: In “Make It Ours,” Robin Givhan tells the story of Virgil Abloh’s short, historic career. Plan: Our Frugal Traveler columnist shows how to make your own affordable cruise vacation. Wear: Take inspiration from our fashion photographer’s look of the week. Stay cool: Experts offered tips for getting through the heat wave. Consider: Your TV is probably spying on you. Here’s what it knows. Test yourself: Which cities are in these book titles? Play: Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and |
