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Today — 13 December 2025NYT | Top Stories

Phil Upchurch, Jazz Guitarist and Sideman to Stars, Dies at 84

13 December 2025 at 06:03
A self-taught session man extraordinaire, he played with a constellation of stars, including Michael Jackson, Curtis Mayfield, Chaka Khan and Dizzy Gillespie.

© Frans Schellekens/Redferns via Getty Images

Phil Upchurch in 1983, playing at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague. Although he was known for his versatility across multiple genres, he considered himself a jazz player — albeit one with his own vision.

In a Hamlet Built on Forbidden Love, a Cyclone Buried It All

Three generations of a family built their homes and lives in Sri Lanka’s highland tea country. The biggest storm in decades wiped out their hamlet in a landslide.

Villagers carrying bodies for burial at a cemetery in Kandy in Sri Lanka.

T.S.A. Is Providing Air Passenger Data to Immigration Agents for Deportation Effort

13 December 2025 at 05:45
The Transportation Security Administration is providing passenger lists to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to identify and detain travelers subject to deportation orders.

© Graham Dickie/The New York Times

Travelers at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Harvard Replaces Leader of Health Center Said to Have Focused on Palestinians

13 December 2025 at 04:54
The center at the university’s public health school was also a focus of the Trump administration after having been examined in a Harvard antisemitism report earlier this year.

© Sophie Park for The New York Times

The François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard’s public health school will have new leadership. An interim was named in the meantime.

Transportation Dept. Threatens to Withhold Funds From N.Y. Over Noncitizen Licenses

13 December 2025 at 04:15
The Trump administration gave New York 30 days to pause issuing all non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses, among other demands, or risk losing $73 million in highway funds.

© Kent Nishimura for The New York Times

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said New York’s commercial driver’s license standards represented “a systematically grossly unacceptable deviation from federal safety regulations.”

‘Did We Do That?’ Gen Z Protesters Help Tip Balance Against Bulgaria’s Leaders

Young Bulgarians turned out in protests that helped unseat their government. Whether that will translate into higher turnout in upcoming elections is up to them.

© Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

Demonstrators in Sofia, Bulgaria, rallying against the government.

Alvin Holsey, Admiral Who Oversaw Boat Strikes Off Venezuela’s Coast, Retires

13 December 2025 at 03:38
The admiral had abruptly announced that he would step down as the head of the U.S. Southern Command. His departure leaves several issues about the strikes unanswered.

© Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press

Adm. Alvin Holsey, right, became the latest in a line of at least two dozen military leaders, many of them people of color and women, who have left their jobs this year.

Germany Accuses Russia of Sabotage, Cyberattacks and Disinformation

13 December 2025 at 02:59
The German foreign ministry’s announcement, which Russia denied, was the latest suggestion of growing Russian aggression in Europe.

© Jens Schlueter/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

People lining up to vote in federal elections in eastern Germany last February. A spokesman for the German foreign affairs ministry said Friday that Russia spread misinformation about major candidates in the general election this year.

The Fine Art of Managing Christie’s

12 December 2025 at 18:01
As more people tune in for the “theater” of high-end auctions, Bonnie Brennan is trying to convert them into clients.

© George Etheredge for The New York Times; Chagall painting © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, via ADAGP, Paris

Bonnie Brennan joined Christie’s in 2012, after a 15-year stint at its rival auction house Sotheby’s, and became its chief executive in February.

For 2 Hours, a Soccer Match Offers Palestinians a Rarity: Joy

The national soccer team made it to the knockout stages of the Arab Cup for the first time, uniting fans from Gaza to the West Bank to Cairo to Arab cities in Israel.

© Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

A Trickle of Aid Reaches a Captured, War-Ravaged City in Sudan

13 December 2025 at 01:46
A local group negotiated permission from the paramilitary force controlling El Fasher, offering a rare glimpse into conditions after a massacre.

© Malam Darfur Peace and Development

A photograph released by Malam Darfur Peace and Development showing residents receiving sacks of millet the group delivered to El Fasher, in Sudan, on Dec. 2.

Businesses Are Cashing In on Trump’s Tax Cuts

13 December 2025 at 01:08
Corporate tax revenue has quickly dipped since Republicans passed tax cuts this summer. But economists think these tax breaks might be worth it.

© Dave Sanders for The New York Times

While Americans won’t begin to see tax savings until next year, some corporations, including Walmart, are already reporting reductions to their tax payments in 2025.

How Matt Dinniman’s ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl’ Became a Blockbuster

12 December 2025 at 23:49
Matt Dinniman introduced his series about an alien reality TV show free on the web. But readers ate up the goofy humor, now to the tune of 6 million books sold.

© Dolly Faibyshev for The New York Times

Matt Dinniman signing books at New York Comic Con this fall.

Record Flooding Swamps Western Washington

13 December 2025 at 04:22
Rivers hit record flood levels across the region after nearly a week of rain, with another storm on the way.

© Grant Hindsley for The New York Times

Floodwaters overtook Skykomish River Park and some nearby apartments in Monroe, Wash., on Thursday night.

Trump Commuted David Gentile’s Sentence. His Victims Are Seething.

David Gentile spent just days in prison for his conviction in what prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of investors.

© Dave Sanders for The New York Times

David Gentile, convicted of defrauding investors, spent less than two weeks in prison before being pardoned by President Trump.

New Photos From Epstein Estate Show Ties to Trump, Clinton and More Powerful Men

13 December 2025 at 06:14
The images, released without context by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, revealed little new about the deceased sex offender’s ties to prominent men in politics, entertainment and finance.

© Uma Sanghvi/The Palm Beach Post, via Associated Press

Jeffrey Epstein, center, in court in West Palm Beach, Fla., in 2008. Wealthy and famous men once in his orbit have faced questions about what they knew about the accusations that he was trafficking girls.
Yesterday — 12 December 2025NYT | Top Stories

Behind the Supreme Court’s Push to Expand Presidential Power

For more than a decade, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority has chipped away at Congress’s power to insulate independent agencies from politics. Now, the court has signaled its willingness to expand presidential power once again.

A Seized Oil Tanker Off Venezuela and the Big Business of Dark Fleet Smuggling

The U.S. seizure of a vessel off Venezuela is likely to squeeze the country’s government, but do little to counter the tankers that secretively move oil from sanctioned countries.

© Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times

Oil tankers anchored at a refinery in Punto Fijo, Venezuela, in 2022. The country relies heavily on a so-called dark fleet to export its oil.

Tech Support Scammers Stole $85,000 From Him. His Bank Refused a Refund.

12 December 2025 at 18:01
A retired lawyer lost the money in a tech support scam, a type of online fraud that is surging. Citibank said it couldn’t recover the funds, which criminals wired from inside his account.

© Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

David Welles, 87, was ensnared in a tech support scam that allowed fraudsters to take over his personal devices with remote access software. They made a wire transfer of $85,000 from his bank account.

Elon Musk Tests Europe’s Willingness to Enforce Its Online Laws

12 December 2025 at 22:00
Backed by White House officials, the tech billionaire has lashed out at the European Union after his social media platform X was fined last week.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Elon Musk has grown increasingly confrontational toward Europe over the past year.

Russia Sues Holder of Frozen Assets Europe Wants for Ukraine Loan

12 December 2025 at 22:01
The lawsuit was a warning to European officials who are racing to agree to a plan to use Russian government assets in Europe to lend money to Ukraine.

© Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Associated Press

The headquarters of the Euroclear depository in Brussels. Russia’s Central Bank said it had filed a lawsuit in Moscow against the depository.

How Power Cuts Are Affecting Ukrainians

Russia has been targeting energy infrastructure in Ukraine, leaving multiple cities without electricity. Kim Barker, who’s been covering the war, gives us a glimpse into the daily life of Ukrainians living with power cuts.

How Ukraine Has Responded to Trump’s Peace Plan and Russia’s Demands for Territory

A Ukrainian peace plan, sent this week to Washington, pushes back against President Trump’s proposal that Ukraine give up more land for peace, although Russia is unlikely to accept it.

© Pool photo by Maxwells

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian peace proposal now being discussed consisted of three documents, one of which lays out plans for rebuilding the country.

Republicans Defy Trump in Indiana, and Hundreds Quarantined in Measles Outbreak

Plus, your Friday news quiz.

© Jon Cherry for The New York Times

Republican members of the Indiana Senate voted on Thursday to reject an effort led by President Trump to pass a congressional map that would have given the party two more House seats.
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