Critic’s Notebook: Separating the Grown-Ups From the Newborns at the Video Music Awards

Critic’s Notebook: Separating the Grown-Ups From the Newborns at the Video Music Awards
Losses From California Quake Could Top $1 Billion
Miley Cyrus Steals Video Music Awards Again, This Time by Staying in Her Seat
Peter Theo Curtis, Abducted in 2012, Is Released by Nusra Front
DealBook: Roche to Buy Drug Maker InterMune for $8.3 Billion
This Land: Ronald Johnson’s Steady Voice Makes Itself Heard Above the Shouting
ISIS Militants Capture Air Base From Syrian Government Forces
Great Britain Appeals to Anti-Extremist Imams in Effort to Uproot Seeds of Radicalization
Israel Says Missile Strike Killed Hamas Official Handling ‘Terror Funds’
Karachi Journal: Fishermen Cross an Imperceptible Line Into Enemy Waters
Teenager Cites Ordeal as Captive of Israelis
New Hampshire Town Honors James Foley
Richard Attenborough, Actor, Director and Giant of British Cinema, Dies at 90
Sinosphere Blog: What to Make of China’s New Maps
Critic’s Notebook: On Raury’s Debut Album, Elegant Pop With an Epic Scope
Emmy Awards Gain Luster as Competition Stiffens
Schools in Ferguson Area Prepare for an Emotional Opening Day
Players to Watch at the U.S. Open
‘The Bone Clocks’ Is David Mitchell’s Most Ambitious Novel
Books of The Times: ‘The Teacher Wars,’ Dana Goldstein’s History of Education
On Eve of U.S. Open, Putting Away a Few Tennis Myths
Independence Question Dominates Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Britain Said to Be ‘Close’ to Identifying ISIS Suspect in Journalist’s Beheading
Methane Is Discovered Seeping From Seafloor Off East Coast, Scientists Say
Special Report: U.S. Open Tennis: U.S. Open Preview: Final Major Could Settle Wide-Open Season

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 11:29 PM PDT

The MTV Video Music Awards were dominated by relative youngsters, who were barely famous enough to be at the ceremony last year to watch Miley Cyrus scandalize a nation.

Losses From California Quake Could Top $1 Billion

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 09:58 PM PDT

The magnitude-6.0 earthquake damaged buildings, knocked out power to thousands and injured scores of residents. It was the largest quake to strike the Bay Area since 1989, officials said.

Miley Cyrus Steals Video Music Awards Again, This Time by Staying in Her Seat

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 09:48 PM PDT

Calling it the start of a serious effort to tackle a major social problem, the rowdy pop star had a 22-year-old homeless man accept her video of the year award for "Wrecking Ball."

Peter Theo Curtis, Abducted in 2012, Is Released by Nusra Front

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 08:11 PM PDT

Held for nearly two years, Peter Theo Curtis was freed after extensive mediation by Qatar, which has negotiated the release of numerous Western hostages.

DealBook: Roche to Buy Drug Maker InterMune for $8.3 Billion

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 06:59 PM PDT

The Swiss drug maker Roche is buying InterMune, a specialist in treatments for breathing diseases, for $8.3 billion, as pharmaceutical firms continue to seek new products to bolster their offerings.

This Land: Ronald Johnson’s Steady Voice Makes Itself Heard Above the Shouting

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 06:30 PM PDT

Summoned from relative obscurity, Capt. Ronald S. Johnson has been equal parts police official, preacher, mediator and neighbor in the aftermath of the killing of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Mo.

ISIS Militants Capture Air Base From Syrian Government Forces

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 06:23 PM PDT

The fall of the Tabqa air base followed the group's seizing of two other Syrian military bases and gives it effective control of Raqqa Province.

Great Britain Appeals to Anti-Extremist Imams in Effort to Uproot Seeds of Radicalization

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 06:21 PM PDT

The government estimates that 500 or more men and women have gone to fight for militant groups in Iraq and Syria.

Israel Says Missile Strike Killed Hamas Official Handling ‘Terror Funds’

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 06:04 PM PDT

The Israeli military said the Hamas official had been responsible for the militant group's financial transactions.

Karachi Journal: Fishermen Cross an Imperceptible Line Into Enemy Waters

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 05:39 PM PDT

Several thousand fishermen, both Pakistani and Indian, have been arrested at sea in recent years, accused of crossing a border they cannot see and whose exact location is in dispute.

Teenager Cites Ordeal as Captive of Israelis

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 05:28 PM PDT

A 17-year-old Palestinian said Israeli soldiers detained him for five days, forcing him to search and dig for Hamas tunnels.

New Hampshire Town Honors James Foley

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 05:26 PM PDT

A Mass was held Sunday afternoon in Rochester, N.H., for James Foley, the journalist who was beheaded last week by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Richard Attenborough, Actor, Director and Giant of British Cinema, Dies at 90

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 04:49 PM PDT

A distinguished actor whose career spanned more than 60 years, he found greatest success behind the camera with the monumental biographical film "Gandhi."

Sinosphere Blog: What to Make of China’s New Maps

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 03:00 PM PDT

Maps published in China seem to inspire increasingly frequent commentary from neighboring Asian nations these days.

Critic’s Notebook: On Raury’s Debut Album, Elegant Pop With an Epic Scope

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 02:38 PM PDT

"Indigo Child," the debut album by 18-year-old Raury, mixes elegant pop with tender soul, muscled rock and flickers of hip-hop attitude.

Emmy Awards Gain Luster as Competition Stiffens

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 02:36 PM PDT

As traditional and digital TV networks step up their original productions and attract Hollywood stars, the Emmys Awards are becoming more important for both artistic and financial reasons.

Schools in Ferguson Area Prepare for an Emotional Opening Day

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 02:23 PM PDT

As classes begin after a delay, many teachers say that they must address the shooting death of Michael Brown and the turmoil that has followed.

Players to Watch at the U.S. Open

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 02:21 PM PDT

All eyes will be on stars like Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, but there are plenty of other intriguing players at this year's Open.

‘The Bone Clocks’ Is David Mitchell’s Most Ambitious Novel

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 02:15 PM PDT

"The Bone Clocks," David Mitchell's latest novel and his most ambitious, provides the key to a larger narrative puzzle that he has been assembling across his books.

Books of The Times: ‘The Teacher Wars,’ Dana Goldstein’s History of Education

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 02:10 PM PDT

The journalist Dana Goldstein's "The Teacher Wars" serves up historical commentary instead of a searing philippic on one of the day's hot-button issues: the role of teaching in America.

On Eve of U.S. Open, Putting Away a Few Tennis Myths

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 01:48 PM PDT

Tennis is full of conventional wisdom, including the notion that it is better to serve first, but statistics sometimes run contrary to players' long-held beliefs.

Independence Question Dominates Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 01:04 PM PDT

The Scots are voting for independence from Britain next month, and the referendum was a frequent theme at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Britain Said to Be ‘Close’ to Identifying ISIS Suspect in Journalist’s Beheading

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:19 PM PDT

The British ambassador to the United States was responding to reports suggesting that intelligence analysts had narrowed their search to a few suspects in the killing of James W. Foley, who had been held captive by ISIS.

Methane Is Discovered Seeping From Seafloor Off East Coast, Scientists Say

Posted: 24 Aug 2014 11:31 AM PDT

Scientists said the discovery, off the United States coast where the continental shelf meets the deeper Atlantic Ocean, was unexpected, but had been going on for at least 1,000 years.