Elections

A country music star embodies the clichés of celebrity in an Off Broadway revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s 2016 comedy.Women fall hard and fast for Strings McCrane, the “third biggest crossover star in the history of country music.” He dates supermodels “at will.” Fangirls who flirt with him at night send him sex tapes in the morning. A hotel masseuse, kneading his sculptural glutes, exclaims: “I’ve had a crush on you since I was in trade school.”Playgoer, he marries her. But not before seducing a young relative at his mother’s funeral. Coming clean to the masseuse, he later owns his indiscretion. “I went to see Essie as a cousin,” he says. “But I stayed there with her as a man.”Did the clichés of country music make Strings (Adam Driver) such a melodramatic, self-justifying, emotional boomerang? Or are his pre-existing gifts in that department what made him a country music star in the first place?These are among the questions you may find yourself asking, in want of much else to do, while watching the baggy, overlong “Hold On to Me Darling,” a comedy by Kenneth Lonergan now being revived at the Lucille Lortel Theater. Well, not so much revived as — like Strings’s mother — embalmed.Other than a few cast changes, most notably Driver in the role first played by Timothy Olyphant, the show is pretty much what it was when it debuted at the Atlantic Theater Company in 2016. The physical production looks as if it had been preserved since then in mothballs, with the same cramped, slowly revolving set by Walt Spangler. The few tweaks to the script are almost invisible. Neither Lonergan nor the director, Neil Pepe, seems to have felt the need for refinement.And why should they have? Lonergan has proved himself a terrific dramatist many times over: “This Is Our Youth,” “The Waverly Gallery,” “Lobby Hero.” This play, too, was well received by most critics, if not by me. It is certainly funny in places, and droll in others; it is occasionally even stinging in its satire of show-business sincerity. We learn that Strings’s most recent celebrity fiancée, making “a statement of solidarity and sexual enlightenment on behalf of the women of Afghanistan,” wore a see-through mesh burqa on a junket there.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

August Lee-Kovach’s puzzle is very punny.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — August Lee-Kovach’s puzzle is very funny if you’ve done what I’ve done and been where I’ve been.I won’t go into detail in this section because it would give the theme away. Let’s just say that I have been on both sides of this conversation in my career and I laughed out loud at Mr. Lee-Kovach’s crossword (in an appreciative way, of course).Today’s ThemeAs a journalist, I appreciate my copy editors. They make me a better writer. As an editor, I appreciate the writers who decide how many spaces they should leave after a period and stick with that number throughout an entire piece.That’s why Mr. Lee-Kovach’s revealer at 56A, an ALTERCATION between an editor and a writer, is so funny to me. Setting aside the pun of having “alter” The four common phrases that make up the puzzle’s theme have been repurposed as puns on what might happen if there is a disagreement about the copy.A PERIOD DRAMA becomes [Much ado about some punctuation]. A TENSE EXCHANGE is redefined as [Harsh words regarding the past and the present?].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

Vice President Kamala Harris may not get another debate with former President Donald J. Trump, but on Wednesday, she got one with Bret Baier.In an interview that turned contentious almost the instant it began, Mr. Baier, Fox News’s chief political anchor, repeatedly pressed the Democratic presidential nominee on illegal immigration, taxpayer support for gender-transition surgery and other areas that closely aligned with Mr. Trump’s regular attacks against her.At one point, Mr. Baier wondered if the vice president considered Mr. Trump’s supporters “stupid.” (“I would never say that about the American people,” she replied.) At another point, he asked if she would apologize to the mother of a murdered 12-year-old Texas girl whose death is frequently invoked by Mr. Trump because two recent Venezuelan migrants were charged with the crime.Mr. Baier’s aggressive demeanor was consistent with the kind of tough coverage of Ms. Harris that blankets Fox News’s daily programming. Lots of viewers were surely eager to hear how she would respond when confronted head-on.Frequently, however, Mr. Baier did not give viewers that chance. Instead, looking frustrated, he cut off several of Ms. Harris’s answers after a few seconds. His first interruption came within the first half-minute of their exchange.“May I please finish responding?” Ms. Harris asked at one point. “I’m in the middle of responding to the point you’re making, and I’d like to finish.”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

After a torrent of criticism, TMZ removed the image of a body without explanation.TMZ, the Hollywood-obsessed news outlet known for its coverage of celebrities, drew a flood of criticism for publishing an image purporting to show the body of Liam Payne, the former One Direction singer who died in a fatal fall on Wednesday. The site later removed the image.“TMZ is trying to get clicks and ad money off of a young man’s dead body just minutes after the news of his death,” Shayan Sardarizadeh, a journalist at the BBC, wrote in a post on X. “Imagine being a member of Liam Payne’s family and seeing this.”The site initially published a cropped image of a body lying on a wooden deck, saying that it was at a hotel in Buenos Aires, where Mr. Payne died. TMZ said it had identified him from his distinctive tattoos.“We’re not showing the whole body, but you can clearly see his tattoos — a clock on his left forearm, and a scorpion on his abdomen,” text accompanying the photo said, according to screenshots of the article circulating online.In addition to removing the photograph, TMZ also edited the text to remove any reference to showing part of Mr. Payne’s body. Editors did not post a note explaining their decision to amend the story.A spokeswoman for TMZ did not respond to an email and call seeking comment.There are circumstances where publishing images of dead bodies is journalistically defensible, said Kelly McBride, chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership at the Poynter Institute. But such cases are those where the photos call attention to an important story that has a strong public interest element, such as harrowing conditions for migrant children.In those cases, news outlets should be able to explain the decision to take the extraordinary step of publishing sensitive images, she said.“When you don’t have a journalistic purpose, and you find yourself on the receiving end of criticism from your audience, you often are defensive and you have to walk your decisions back,” Ms. McBride said.Sean Elliot, the ethics committee chair for the National Press Photographers Association, said that photo editors should apply reasonable editorial judgment to difficult publishing decisions.“Is this person famous enough, and is their death significant enough that it’s a cultural touchstone?” Mr. Elliot said. “That’s a judgment that only TMZ can make for itself.” More

The settlement is the highest single payout by an archdiocese, experts said, and brings Los Angeles’s cumulative payout in sex abuse lawsuits to more than $1.5 billion.The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the nation’s largest archdiocese, has agreed to pay $880 million to 1,353 people who say they were sexually abused as children. The settlement, which experts said was the highest single payout by an archdiocese, brings Los Angeles’s cumulative payout in sex abuse lawsuits to more than $1.5 billion.The settlement was announced on Wednesday in a joint statement by lawyers for the plaintiffs and the archdiocese. “I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart,” Archbishop José H. Gomez said in a statement. “My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered.”The agreement represents the near conclusion to decades of litigation against the archdiocese, with only a few suits remaining. In 2007, it reached a $660 million settlement in abuse lawsuits brought by 508 people who accused Catholic clergy and members of religious orders of abuse. Over the years, the archdiocese has sold off real estate, liquidated investments and taken out loans to cover the staggering costs of litigation.Archbishop Gomez said in a statement that the new settlement would be paid through “reserves, investments and loans, along with other archdiocesan assets and payments that will be made by religious orders and others named in the litigation.” He said that donations designated for parishes, schools and specific mission campaigns would not be used for the settlement.“It’s never going to be full justice when the harm is a child’s life,” said Michael Reck, a lawyer with Jeff Anderson & Associates who helped represent some of the plaintiffs. “But it’s a measure of justice and a measure of accountability that gives these survivors some sense of closure at least.”This is a developing story. Check back for updates. More

Nunca un candidato presidencial había sugerido utilizar el ejército contra los estadounidenses simplemente porque se oponen a su candidatura.A tres semanas del día de las elecciones, el expresidente Donald Trump está poniendo en el centro de su campaña una amenaza política: que usaría el poder de la presidencia para aplastar a quienes no estén de acuerdo con él.En una entrevista el domingo con Fox News, Trump calificó a los demócratas de pernicioso “enemigo interno” que provocaría un caos el día de las elecciones que, según especuló, la Guardia Nacional podría tener que controlar.Un día después, cerró sus declaraciones ante una multitud en un evento que se anunció como una tertulia electoral en Pensilvania con un duro mensaje sobre sus oponentes políticos.“Son malos y, francamente, malvados”, dijo Trump. “Son malvados. Lo que han hecho, lo han convertido en un arma, han convertido nuestras elecciones en un arma. Han hecho cosas que nadie pensaba que fueran posibles”.Y el martes, una vez más se negó a comprometerse a una transferencia pacífica del poder cuando fue presionado por un entrevistador en un foro económico en Chicago.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

A bridge over the Strong River in Simpson County that was being demolished collapsed in a “work site accident,” the authorities said.Three people were killed and four were critically injured after a bridge in Mississippi that was being demolished collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, the authorities said.The bridge, on State Route 149 over the Strong River in Simpson County, “collapsed this afternoon in a work site accident,” according to the Mississippi Department of Transportation.“Sadly, there were fatalities as a result of the accident, and we extend our deepest condolences to the families who have lost loved ones,” the department said in a statement.Terry Tutor, the Simpson County coroner, told the Times that seven men were working on the bridge, using heavy machinery to tear it down, when it gave way and plummeted nearly 40 feet. Three of the men died, and four were injured, Mr. Tutor said.The remains of two victims had been recovered as of 7:30 p.m. local time, and emergency responders were working to recover the third victim, Mr. Tutor said. “Keep us in your prayers,” he said.It was not clear who the men worked for. Sheriff Paul Mullins of Simpson County told WLBT, an NBC affiliate station in Jackson, Miss., that the four people injured were in critical condition. The sheriff’s department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday evening.It was unclear on Wednesday evening what had caused the collapse. A spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Transportation declined to answer additional questions on Wednesday evening but said that it would share more information when it becomes available.According to the department, the bridge has been closed to traffic since Sept. 18 as part of a bridge replacement project. The contractor was in the process of demolishing the bridge when it gave way, the agency said.Terry Tutor, the Simpson County coroner, was on the scene, a representative with the coroner’s office said. Mr. Tutor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.An inspector with the transportation department was at the work site when the bridge collapsed but was unharmed, the department said.Simpson County, in south-central Mississippi, has a population of about 26,000 people, according to census data. More

A Georgia judge has declared that seven new election rules recently passed by the state election board are “illegal, unconstitutional and void”.Fulton county superior court judge Thomas Cox issued the order Wednesday after holding a hearing on challenges to the rules. The rules that Cox invalidated include three that had gotten a lot of attention – one that requires that the number of ballots be hand-counted after the close of polls and two that had to do with the certification of election results.Cox found that the rules are “unsupported by Georgia’s Election Code and are in fact contrary to the Election Code”. He also wrote that the state election board did not have authority to pass them. He ordered the board to immediately remove the rules and to inform all state and local election officials that the rules are void and not to be followed.The Associated Press has reached out to the lawyers for the state election board, as well as the three Republican members who had supported the rules, seeking comment on the judge’s ruling. They could appeal but time is running short with less than three weeks to go until election day.The state election board, which is controlled by three Republicans endorsed by Donald Trump, has passed numerous rules in recent months mostly dealing with the processes that happen after ballots are cast. The former president narrowly lost Georgia to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election but claimed without proof that widespread fraud cost him victory in the state.Democratic party organizations, local election officials and a group headed by a former Republican state lawmaker have filed at least half a dozen lawsuits over the rules. Democrats, voting rights groups and some legal experts have raised concerns that some rules could be used by Trump allies to delay or avoid certification or to cast doubt on results if he loses next month’s presidential election to Kamala Harris.Cox’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Eternal Vigilance Action, which was founded and led by former state representative Scot Turner, a Republican. The organization had argued that the state election board overstepped its authority in adopting the rules.Reached by phone Wednesday evening, Turner said he was “thrilled with the victory”.“It was a complete and total victory for the constitution of the United States,” he said. “These rules were opposed by citizens that are Republican, as well as Democrats and independents. This is not about party. It’s about doing what’s constitutional and re-establishing separation of powers, and that’s something that every conservative in this country should be concerned with and support.”One new rule that the judge blocked requires that three separate poll workers count the number of election day ballots by hand to make sure the number of paper ballots matches the electronic tallies on scanners, check-in computers and voting machines.Georgia voters make selections on a touchscreen voting machine that prints out a piece of paper with a human-readable list of the voter’s choices as well as a QR code. That is the ballot that the voter puts into a scanner, which records the votes. The hand-count would be of the paper ballots – not the votes.Critics, including many county election officials, argued that a hand-count could slow the reporting of election results and put an extra burden on poll workers at the end of an already long day. They also said there isn’t enough time to adequately train poll workers.Fulton county superior court judge Robert McBurney on Tuesday had temporarily blocked the hand-count for the November election while he considers the legal merits. He said the hand-count may ultimately prove to be good policy, but it’s too close to the general election to implement it now.Cox wrote that the rule “is nowhere authorized” by Georgia laws, which “proscribe the duties of poll officers after the polls close. Hand-counting is not among them”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionTwo other new rules that Cox invalidated were passed by the state election board in August and have to do with certification. One provides a definition of certification that includes requiring county officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying results, but it does not specify what that means. The other includes language allowing county election officials “to examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections”.Supporters argued those rules are necessary to ensure the accuracy of the vote totals before county election officials sign off on them. Critics said they could be used to delay or deny certification.The first certification rule is not part of Georgia law and “adds an additional and undefined step into the certification process”, Cox wrote, saying it is thus “inconsistent with and unsupported by” Georgia law, making it “void and unenforceable”. The second rule is “directly inconsistent” with Georgia law, “which provides the time, manner, and method in which election-related documents must be produced and maintained”, he wrote.The other rules Cox said are illegal and unconstitutional are ones that: require someone delivering an absentee ballot in person to provide a signature and photo ID; demand video surveillance and recording of ballot drop boxes after polls close during early voting; expand the mandatory designated areas where partisan poll watchers can stand at tabulation centers; and require daily public updates of the number of votes cast during early voting.At least half a dozen lawsuits had been filed challenging some or all of the new rules. The Democratic National Committee and the Democratic party of Georgia had filed two lawsuits and joined others. Election boards in some counties and individual election officials in other counties had also sued. More