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      Issa Lopez on Fear and Horror in Fiction and in Real Life

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      Fictional fear can be beautifully distracting from life’s real terrors.This personal reflection is part of a series called Turning Points, in which writers explore what critical moments from this year might mean for the year ahead. You can read more by visiting the Turning Points series page.Turning Point: The American horror film genre more than doubled its market share in the past decade.As a Mexican — specifically a Mexican child who had to face death early in my life — I learned a nifty trick pretty quickly: the way my culture transfigures fear of death into art. Into storytelling. Into music.Mexican identity is one and the same with death. It is a direct response to the fear of vanishing, yes. But it took some years of living in the United States and in several other countries to understand that this is not just a Mexican thing.All artistic endeavors throughout history, around the world, come from the same source. We tell stories to remain. To deny the void. To fight the void. We sing and dance and make movies and tell jokes to explain a bit of the unexplainable, to tame the endless darkness, all of the things that lurk beyond what we can see, the shadows beyond our tiny campfire.Our relationship with fear is fascinating. It is the feeling, other than pain, that we hate the most. We bottle fear to consume in tiny doses in the form of roller coasters, bungee jumping and our all-time favorite: horror movies.I love horror movies. I just adore them, and I am very much not alone in that. Unlike superheroes or musicals or westerns, the business of horror is perennial; it will never go away. Audiences show up for horror year-round, decade after decade. There are whole streaming services dedicated to horror, and they do well. A single genre, go figure.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Amnesty International Accuses Israel of Genocide in Gaza

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      Israel rejected the charge — the first of its kind by a major human rights organization — saying it was “based on lies.”Amnesty International on Thursday became the first major international human rights organization to accuse Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza, drawing a rebuke from Israeli officials who denied the claim.Amnesty’s contention, outlined in a 296-page report, comes as the International Court of Justice, the principal court of the United Nations, is reviewing similar allegations by South Africa.“Israel committed and is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” the Amnesty report said.The Israeli Foreign Ministry swiftly rebuffed the report, saying it was “based on lies.”“Israeli citizens have been subjected to daily attacks” on multiple fronts, said Oren Marmorstein, the spokesman of the ministry. “Israel is defending itself against these attacks acting fully in accordance with international law.”Amnesty International said it took into account acts by Israel between October 2023 and July 2024, including what it described as “repeated direct attacks on civilians” and extensive restrictions on humanitarian aid.Israel has maintained that it is waging a war against Hamas in Gaza and not civilians. It has also blamed the United Nations for mismanaging the delivery of aid and accused Hamas of looting it.The genocide accusation is acutely sensitive for Israel, which was founded in 1948 in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Many Israelis argue that it is Hamas that should face charges of genocide after its attack on Oct. 7, 2023, when about 1,200 people were killed in Israel and about 240 were taken captive, according to Israeli officials.While the Amnesty report didn’t focus on the Oct. 7 attack, it said militants from Hamas and other armed groups conducted “deliberate mass killings, summary killings and other abuses, causing suffering and physical injuries.” It said war crimes committed by Hamas would be the subject of a separate report.Under a convention adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, genocide is defined as carrying out certain acts of violence with the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”In the case before the International Court of Justice, South Africa has argued that inflammatory public statements made by Israeli leaders are proof of intent to commit genocide. Part of Israel’s defense is to show that whatever politicians may have said in public was overruled by executive decisions and official orders from Israel’s war cabinet and its military’s high command.Amnesty International said it used the 1948 convention to make its determination that Israel was committing genocide and it warned against narrow interpretations of what constitutes intent. More

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      Syrian Rebels Storm Hama as Government Forces Withdraw

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      In another startling setback for President Bashar al-Assad, government forces retreated from the city of Hama after rebels advanced.Syrian rebels stormed into the city of Hama on Thursday as government forces withdrew, another stunning setback for President Bashar al-Assad.The swift advance on Hama, which was confirmed by both the rebel side and the Syrian government, comes just days after the rebels extended their control over Aleppo, a major hub in northern Syria.The sudden rebel advance has shifted the front lines in Syria’s 13-year-old civil war for the first time in years, adding a new layer of unpredictability to a conflict that has ravaged the country and created a long-term refugee crisis for many neighboring countries.Analysts have attributed the rebel’s surprise success to the cumulative attrition of the war on Mr. al-Assad’s forces and to the fact that foreign allies who have intervened powerfully on his behalf in the past — notably Russia, Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — are now preoccupied with their own crises.Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, is recovering from a war with Israel that killed many of its leaders and displaced many of its supporters. And Russia — which dispatched its military to bomb rebel areas, turning the war’s tide in favor of Mr. al-Assad years ago — has diverted its attention toward its invasion of Ukraine.The rebels behind the offensive are a combination of forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which evolved from an affiliate of Al Qaeda. But the group says it has cut ties with the global terrorist organization. Other groups backed by Turkey and based in Syrian territory just south of the Turkish border have also joined in the fight.The rebels announced on Thursday that they were entering Hama, one of Syria’s largest cities. A rebel commander, Lt. Col. Hassan Abdulghany, said in a social media statement that government forces were in “a significant state of confusion,” with soldiers and commanders abandoning their posts.The Syrian military issued its own statement, saying that its forces had withdrawn from the city after rebels broke through its defenses. More

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      South Korea’s Lawmakers Question Military About Yoon’s Martial Law Order

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      The military has spent decades trying to rehabilitate its image and win public trust after a brutal past. Its role in President Yoon’s martial law raised a specter from that era.South Korea’s military — agents of terror and violence in the 1970s and ’80s — spent decades scrupulously cleaning up its image to become what many people in the country came to see as a modern and disciplined force.But that image was shattered on Thursday when the general who led a short-lived spasm of martial law this week was grilled in Parliament, a rambling appearance that cast the military as ill-prepared and disorganized from the top down.“We were not militarily prepared because it was put into action in such a hurry,” Gen. Park An-su, the Army chief of staff, told a parliamentary hearing on Thursday. “There was confusion.”His testimony offered the first opportunity for lawmakers to question the military about the martial law order handed down on Tuesday night by President Yoon Suk Yeol. The decree plunged the country into a political crisis, sparking widespread anger that drove thousands of protesters to the streets. Mr. Yoon was forced to reverse course after just six hours.General Park insisted that he had not had any role in the planning: He told lawmakers he had been caught off guard, first learning of it when Mr. Yoon announced the extraordinary move on television. The military’s follow-up announcement, under his name, banned “all political activities” and public rallies and asserted control over media outlets, among other steps. But in his account on Thursday, General Park claimed he had not read it until his signature was requested.He described being at a loss over how to proceed as commander, unsure of what steps to take beyond trying to set up a new office.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Millions in Northern U.S. Under Winter Storm Warnings

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      Temperatures are expected to plunge after another round of wet, messy, windy weather moves through the Mid-Atlantic, the Northeast and the Upper Midwest on Thursday.Millions of people across the Midwest, Northeastern United States and southern Ontario, Canada, were under winter weather warnings Thursday morning as snow squalls moved through ahead of another blast of Arctic temperatures.After a week of bitterly cold temperatures and days of lake-effect snow, another shot of cold air was sweeping through the Northeast after sending temperatures in parts of the Midwest plunging into the teens, 10 to 20 degrees below normal. Wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour are expected Thursday, bringing blizzard conditions to areas with lake-effect snow and making travel treacherous.Forecasters with the National Weather Service in New York City said that Thursday night into Friday would be the coldest night and early morning of the season, especially after accounting for wind chill.In New York, which experienced one of its warmest Halloweens ever this fall, some welcomed the return of more-seasonable temperatures. At an outdoor Christmas tree lot in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, Rosie Roop, 25, a hospitality and business student, was buying a wreath. “I’m happy it’s getting colder,” she said. “I just want it to snow.”Ms. Roop said she had worn her puffy coat for the first time this week. “I definitely like the four seasons,” she said. “I have not been a fan of the murky in-between.”The chilly weather inspired Danny Offermann, 28, an assistant principal at a charter school in the South Bronx, to visit a Christmas tree lot and buy a two-foot tree ($60) for his apartment.How Much Snow To Expect More

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      Pantone’s 2025 Color of the Year Is Mocha Mousse

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      Is this shade of dusty brown a repudiation of “Brat” green?On Thursday, Pantone announced its 2025 color of the year: Mocha Mousse. Far softer than the “Brat” green that dominated 2024, the shade is a nougaty brown that reminded Styles staff members of everything from luxury knitwear to swamp water.Pantone’s trend prognosticators surveyed fashion and design to land on a color “infused with subtle elegance and earthy refinement,” Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said in a statement. But in an oversaturated, digital world, does Mocha Mousse stand a chance at defining 2025?Reporters and editors for the Styles desk sat down to debate. Let us know what you think in the comments.VANESSA FRIEDMAN: So, after Viva Magenta and Peach Fuzz … Mocha Mousse! This is the first time in the 25-year history of Pantone’s color of the year that they’ve chosen a shade of brown, which is kind of a big deal. I admit, my mind went immediately to comfort eating.ALEX VADUKUL: I also got warm and comfort-food vibes. I was getting 1990s java and internet cafe vibes.STELLA BUGBEE: My mind went to what happens after comfort eating.JEREMY ALLEN: Pantone’s official imagery tries to guide us in a more appetizing direction by showcasing a goblet of tantalizingly-whipped mousse. But my mind keeps pivoting to the ubiquitous swirled, smiling emoji that shares a similar tone.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      DealBook Summit: 2024’s Speakers

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      Kelly Pieklo and Listen and follow DealBook SummitApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicDealBook Summit includes conversations with business and policy leaders at the heart of today’s major stories, recorded live at the annual DealBook Summit event in New York City.DealBook Summit 2024 took place on Wednesday in New York. Andrew Ross Sorkin sat down with some of the most important business and policy leaders of the year for an open discussion. Listen to a selection of the speakers.Bill ClintonBill Clinton Says ‘There Was No Plan’ After Biden Dropped OutThe 42nd president of the United States discusses the Democratic Party’s election loss, the chaotic moments after President Biden dropped out of the race, and Mr. Biden’s decision to pardon his son.Sam AltmanSam Altman on the Future of A.I. and SocietyWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Musk, Trump, A.I. and Other DealBook Summit Highlights

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      The economy, inflation, tariffs, the future of media, pardon politics and other big topics that made headlines this year.Jeff Bezos was cautiously optimistic that President-elect Donald Trump would be more measured in his second term.Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesFour takeaways from the DealBook Summit The U.S. election dominated the news agenda this year, and the two people at the center of Donald Trump’s win came up in nearly every conversation yesterday at the DealBook Summit. The president-elect and Elon Musk may not have been in the room, but questions about how they will shape business and politics were front and center.The general view of the day was cautious optimism, even among those who had publicly criticized Trump and Musk — or been targeted by them.But many questions remain. What will Trump and Musk mean for government, business and the economy? Will they succeed in cutting regulation and government spending? And will they go after their perceived enemies and rivals?Here are four big themes from this year’s event.What will happen with the economy?Most of the speakers were willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt, or at least played down worries about his most disruptive policy ideas.Jay Powell, the Fed chair, addressed one of the biggest questions hanging over the next administration: Will the president-elect go after the central bank’s independence? No, Powell said emphatically. The Fed, he said, was created by Congress and its autonomy is “the law of the land.”“There is very, very broad support for that set of ideas in Congress in both political parties, on both sides of the Hill, and that’s what really matters,” he said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More