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      Fulfilling a Trump Pledge, U.S. Lifts Some Sanctions on Syria

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      President Trump had promised to lift sanctions during his trip to the Middle East, where he met with President Ahmed al-Shara of Syria.The Trump administration on Friday lifted several major sanctions on Syria, a first step toward making good on President Trump’s promise earlier this month to help the country’s new leader establish a stable government after the fall of the brutal dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad last year.The Treasury Department lifted regulations banning U.S. citizens and companies from making most financial transactions with Syrian citizens and entities, including Syria’s central bank, officials said. At the same time, the State Department announced it was suspending for six months other tough sanctions imposed on Syria under the 2019 Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that lifting the sanctions would “advance Syria’s recovery and reconstruction efforts” and “facilitate the provision of electricity, energy, water, and sanitation, and enable a more effective humanitarian response” in the country.The Assad government cracked down on an uprising in 2011, setting off a civil war that caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and forced a mass exodus of Syrians.In December, the Assad regime was finally overthrown by a rebel alliance after more than 10 years of fighting, and Ahmed al-Shara, a rebel leader, became president. Mr. al-Shara once led a branch of Al Qaeda but later broke with the jihadist group, and in recent interviews he has expressed support for democracy, presenting a more pragmatic, nationalist approach to governing.During his trip to Saudi Arabia this month, Mr. Trump agreed to meet with Mr. al-Shara, becoming first U.S. leader in a generation to shake hands with a Syrian head of state.Mr. Trump said he had reached the decision to lift the sanctions on Syria after speaking with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who backed the anti-Assad insurgency, and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.“There is a new government that will, hopefully, succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace,” Mr. Trump said in Saudi Arabia on May 13. “That’s what we want to see in Syria.” More

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      The Israeli Connections to a New Gaza Aid Plan Promoted as Independent

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      Foreign contractors are set to carry out a contentious new food aid system in Gaza, displacing experienced aid agencies like the United Nations. It was conceived and largely developed by Israelis as a way to undermine Hamas.Throughout the war in Gaza, U.N. agencies and experienced aid groups have overseen the distribution of food aid in the territory. Now, Israel is set to transfer that responsibility to a handful of newly formed private organizations with obscure histories and unknown financial backers.Supporters of the project describe it as an independent and neutral initiative run mainly by American contractors. The main group providing security is run by Philip F. Reilly, a former senior C.I.A. officer, and a fund-raising group is headed by Jake Wood, a former U.S. Marine, who said in an interview that the system would be phased in soon.Announcing the arrangement in early May, Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said it was “wholly inaccurate” to call it “an Israeli plan.”But the project is an Israeli brainchild, first proposed by Israeli officials in the earliest weeks of the war, according to Israeli officials, people involved in the initiative and others familiar with its conception, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak more freely of the initiative.The New York Times found that the broad contours of the plan were first discussed in late 2023, at private meetings of like-minded officials, military officers and business people with close ties to the Israeli government.The group called itself the Mikveh Yisrael Forum, after a college where members convened in December 2023. Its leading figures gradually settled on the idea of hiring private contractors to distribute food in Gaza, circumventing the United Nations. Throughout 2024, they then fostered support among Israel’s political leaders and some military commanders, and began to develop it with foreign contractors, principally Mr. Reilly.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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      ‘Un Simple Accident’ Wins Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival

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      The film, “Un Simple Accident,” was directed by Jafar Panahi, a longtime festival favorite. The award capped a contest that was widely seen as the strongest in years.The sun was still shining when the 78th Cannes Film Festival came to an emotional, exhilarating close with the Palme d’Or going to “Un Simple Accident,” from the Iranian writer-director Jafar Panahi.The announcement was met with cheers and a standing ovation in the Grand Lumière Theater. Accompanied by his actors, some who began weeping, an equally moved Panahi kept on his sunglasses as he accepted his award.A longtime festival favorite, Panahi had until recently been barred from making movies in Iran or traveling outside the country. Although the restriction has been lifted, he shot “Un Simple Accident” clandestinely.The movie tracks a group of men and women who join together after one of them kidnaps a man they believe tortured them in prison. Panahi, who has been imprisoned several times, drew his inspiration from stories he heard from other inmates while he was at Evin Prison in Tehran.The Palme for Panahi capped what was widely seen as one of the strongest festivals in years. For some, the selections offered reassuring evidence that the art would continue to endure — and thrive — despite the problems facing the industry. Certainly, President Trump’s recent threat to institute a 100 percent tariff on movies made in “foreign lands” had cast a shadow over the opening ceremony. By the close of the festival, however, the bounty of good and great work had palpably buoyed spirits.The Palme d’Or was decided upon by a nine-person jury led by the French actress Juliette Binoche. “My friends, this is the end — it was such a show,” she said, turning to her fellow jurists, who included the American actor Jeremy Strong and the Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia. Given Binoche’s auteur-rich résumé, it is perhaps unsurprising that this jury gave a special award to the Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan for “Resurrection,” a delirious, elegiac journey through cinema history.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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      Tommy Dorr, a Veteran Vintage Dealer, Brings His Shop Mothfood to Manhattan

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      Tommy Dorr, the owner of Mothfood, has been in the business for more than two decades. But it wasn’t until this month that he brought the shop to his most discerning shoppers: New Yorkers.“The New York eye is the best,” said Tommy Dorr, the owner of Mothfood, a vintage clothing business that this month opened a showroom in Lower Manhattan. “I mean, people here have the best taste in clothes.”Mr. Dorr, 43, is originally from Michigan, where he got his start as a vintage seller working at a bowling alley turned flea market in the late 1990s. Since then, he’s started a few of his own ventures, including Lost and Found, a shop he has kept open just outside Detroit since 2003.Mothfood is probably the project for which New Yorkers know him best, largely because of the Instagram account Mr. Dorr used to establish the brand more than a decade ago under the same name.“I don’t even remember why I picked it, but it’s just a great tongue-in-cheek kind of name,” said Mr. Dorr, who considers it a good litmus test for customers. Are you in on the joke, or do you find the notion of moth-eaten clothing kind of, well, gross?He likes garments that are well worn — sun-bleached jackets, paint-splattered denim and hole-y T-shirts. Historically, they have not been everyone’s thing. But over the years, Mr. Dorr has found a devoted following that counts celebrities, stylists, designers and everyday vintage hunters among its ranks. They are accustomed to ordering from his e-shop or visiting him in Los Angeles, where he opened the first Mothfood showroom in 2015.“I’ve been wanting him to come to New York,” said Emily Adams Bode Aujla, a New York designer and friend of Mr. Dorr’s who has been buying vintage pieces from him both for personal use and for her brand, Bode, for longer than either of them can remember. “I think that I always have thought his business would do so well here, but I’m selfish,” she added with a laugh.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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      1 Dead After Explosion on Barge Near Manhattan Sewage Plant

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      The victim, who worked at the plant, was transporting raw sewage on the boat when part of it exploded on Saturday, the Fire Department said. The cause is under investigation.A worker at a sewage treatment facility died on Saturday after an explosion onboard a barge in the Hudson River near Upper Manhattan, the Fire Department said.The worker was an employee at the North River Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility, a sewage treatment plant just off the Henry Hudson Parkway near 138th Street. He and two other plant employees were transporting raw sewage on the barge at around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday when a compartment holding some of the waste exploded, David Simms, a deputy assistant chief with the Fire Department, said at a news conference on Saturday.The force of the explosion pushed one of the workers into the water, pinning him between the vessel and the pier and ultimately killing him, Chief Simms said. The two other employees were taken to a nearby hospital and are in stable condition, the chief said.The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear on Saturday.According to preliminary information, the burst may have been linked to so-called hot work — construction that can produce flames or sparks — that was taking place aboard the boat, said a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, which responded to the explosion along with several city agencies.In addition to the death, the eruption left raw sewage on the deck of the barge, Chief Simms said. But a spokesman for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the plant, said that operations were not affected and that there did not appear to be any environmental damage.In a statement on Saturday, Mayor Eric Adams said he was devastated to learn about the worker’s death and added that no criminal behavior was suspected in the accident.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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      Frank Moore, a Top Aide to Jimmy Carter, Is Dead at 89

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      After serving as chief of staff when Carter was governor of Georgia, he followed him to Washington, where both men encountered a hostile political establishment.Frank Moore, who as President Jimmy Carter’s congressional liaison toiled with mixed results to sell the agenda of a self-professed outsider to veterans of Washington, died on Thursday at his home in St. Simons Island, Ga. He was 89.His son Brian confirmed the death.Mr. Carter was known for having a “Georgia Mafia” around him during his presidency. Mr. Moore was a leading member of that group, and the two men remained close until Mr. Carter’s death. According to the Georgia newspaper The Gainesville Times, Mr. Moore was the last living person to have worked for Mr. Carter for the entirety of his political career: as an aide from his days as a Georgia state senator all the way through his presidency.In Washington, the two men had what might have seemed like an ideal chance for legislative achievements. For all four years of the Carter administration, the Democrats controlled every branch of government, and from January 1977 to January 1979 they had supermajorities in the House and the Senate.Yet it was a less ideologically homogenous era for the party. The Democratic caucus in the Senate, for example, encompassed liberals like Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, staunch anti-Communists like Henry Jackson of Washington and conservative segregationists like John C. Stennis of Mississippi.These separate factions and their wily tacticians were relatively unfamiliar to Mr. Carter and Mr. Moore, who had first met far away from the nation’s capital — on a local planning panel in Georgia in the mid-1960s.In the 1970s, after Mr. Carter had been elected governor, he made Mr. Moore his chief of staff. During Mr. Carter’s presidential run, Mr. Moore, a soft-voiced 40-year-old who held the title of national finance chairman, was one of a few of Mr. Carter’s Georgia allies to set up his campaign office in Washington.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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      What Dreams Lie Beyond the Carnival?

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      I grew up going to amusement parks and fairgrounds in Quebec and the United States. Back then, the only thing on my mind was worrying about having my head turned upside down on the rides. My memories are full of the bright lights, fast rides and greasy food stands of those carnivals.Years later, when I revisited this world as an adult, all I could see was what was happening behind the scenes: workers busy building a wonderful world for children who aren’t their own, and men and women trying to escape a well-ordered life to find freedom and hope in their own way.The short documentary above was born out of my encounter with Kim Lalonde, who has spent a large part of his life working in carnivals, doing his best to put a smile on strangers’ faces. He also dreams of following other passions, but leaving the close-knit carnival world and his best friend, Billy, would be like losing a family. This tension between freedom, roots, kinship and new possibilities touched me — I wanted to capture this world where people never stop dreaming of somewhere else.Isabelle Grignon-Francke is a director and producer based in Quebec.Op-Docs is a forum for short, opinionated documentaries by independent filmmakers. Learn more about Op-Docs and how to submit to the series.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, WhatsApp and Threads. More

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      2 Novels of America at Particular, Peculiar Moments

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      Florida in the early 1960s; California in the mid-1980s.Angel Franco/The New York TimesDear readers,Long before I realized some of Teddy Roosevelt’s exploits ought to make me squirm, I spent many deliriously happy hours at the Museum of Natural History. Those dioramas! Those tableaux morts! Right after “namer of crayon hues,” the job of positioning dead animals just so seemed like one of the most glamorous vocations out there, an opportunity to freeze Mother Nature herself and examine every last bit of what she was up to.The novels I write about here remind me of my favorite displays. Both capture extremely precise moments in American history: Miami on the eve of the Bay of Pigs, a California peopled by aging hippies in 1984 who dread Reaganite belt-tightening. Best of all, no animal remains were harmed.—Joumana“Mice 1961,” by Stacey LevineFiction, 2024Strange things are going on near Reef Way. Jody and Mice are orphaned half sisters, crushed by the death of their mother and terrified of losing each other. Still, that’s no reason for Jody to be so nasty to Mice, who is forbidden from leaving the house during the day for fear of aggravating her albinism, or for Mice to assault Jody with gnomic questions that would drive even a sphinx bananas.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