First Run News

Has everything become political? Certainly the world of New York theater is doubling down this summer on its commitment to reflection and resistance.

Happy Fourth of July weekend! Fire up the grill, eat good food, hit the beach with friends and family, and take terrible fireworks photos. Not you, though — this year you’ll take better fireworks photos, even with a smartphone.

TABQA, Syria — The young man unburdened himself about the dark years of living under the Islamic State as a crowd of curious onlookers gathered in front of a weathered storefront in the town marketplace. The militants, said the man, a 22-year-old named Abdul Qadir Khalil, killed many residents, doled out precious jobs and severely limited travel to and from the city. “When they left, our situation was much better mentally,” Mr. Khalil said.

TABQA, Syria — The young man unburdened himself about the dark years of living under the Islamic State as a crowd of curious onlookers gathered in front of a weathered storefront in the town marketplace. The militants, said the man, a 22-year-old named Abdul Qadir Khalil, killed many residents, doled out precious jobs and severely limited travel to and from the city. “When they left, our situation was much better mentally,” Mr. Khalil said.

Mexican authorities said Saturday that 17 gunmen were killed on Friday in a clash with members of the security forces in the northwestern state of Sinaloa. Five municipal police officers were wounded in the clash, which began on Friday evening after the authorities received an emergency call that two men had been shot and killed outside a department store in the town of Villa Unión, about 15 miles southeast of the resort city of Mazatlán. Local police officers encountered the convoy of gunmen on a rural road outside Villa Unión, and the groups exchanged gunfire, Cristóbal Castañeda Camarillo,

Katharine Hepburn’s brownies recipe in The New York Times’s Cooking section holds a particular honor: A comment left on the article is the Times moderating team’s all-time favorite. “This has been my go-to brownie recipe for 30 years,” wrote Sydne Newberry. “In the ’80s, an acquaintance in Germany to whom I brought some of the brownies, and who considered herself a great cook, asked for the recipe but was never able to get it to work.

At least four people are dead after a small plane crashed in northwestern Georgia on Saturday afternoon, the authorities there said. The plane, a Piper PA-23, went down around 4:44 p.m.

JERUSALEM — Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was released from prison early Sunday days after a parole board granted him early release from his 27-month corruption sentence. Prison Service spokesman Assaf Librati said Olmert, 71, was whisked away by Israel's security service after his release and driven home after serving 16 months. He said the terms of Olmert's early release stipulate that for the next few months the former prime minister has to do volunteer work, must appear before police twice a month and cannot give interviews to the media or leave the country. He added that Pres

DAMASCUS, Syria — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local): 10:30 a.m. Syrian state TV says at least eight people have been killed and 12 wounded in a series of car bomb explosions in Damascus. A suicide attacker blew himself up early Sunday after being surrounded by security forces. State media says the security forces intercepted the two other car bombs, suggesting they were controlled explosions. Footage on state media showed damaged buildings and scorched vehicles. Such attacks have been relatively rare in Damascus, the seat of power for President Bashar Assad.

HONG KONG — President three-day visit to the semiautonomous Chinese city of Hong Kong, warning against politicizing disputes or challenging the authority of the central government. But he didn’t stick around for the reaction, as thousands of people took to the streets in an annual protest calling for greater democracy. Mr.