Today's Headlines

Sunday, June 15, 2014

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Top News

Cars carrying people who fled Mosul lined up at a checkpoint on the road to Erbil in northern Iraq on Saturday.

Rebels' Fast Strike in Iraq Was Years in the Making

By TIM ARANGO, KAREEM FAHIM and BEN HUBBARD

The group's sweep into Mosul and farther south appeared to catch many Iraqi and U.S. officials by surprise, but the gains were the realization of a yearslong strategy of state-building.

Graphic: In Iraq Crisis, a Tangle of Alliances and Enmities

Moner Mohammad Abusalha, left, is thought to be the man appearing in a video meant to recruit Americans to extremism.

Syria Suicide Bombing Puts U.S. Face on Jihad Video

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

After a young Florida man killed dozens in a suicide attack in Syria, American officials are concerned that others will join extremists there and in Iraq.

An illustration of the International Sun-Earth Explorer-3, which was launched in 1978.

Calling Back a Zombie Ship From the Graveyard of Space

By KENNETH CHANG

After 36 years in space, the International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 appears to be in good working order, and a shoestring group of civilian engineers is trying to bring it back into Earth's orbit.

For more top news, go to NYTimes.com »

Editors' Picks

WORLD

VIDEO: Cambodia's Scam Orphanages

In Cambodia, less than a quarter of children in orphanages are actual orphans.

OPINION | OPINIONATOR | THE GREAT DIVIDE

No Money, No Time

By MARIA KONNIKOVA

The poor are under a deadline that never lifts.

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"Cantor was the hub for finance, the hub for a host of big corporations that could trust him to get things done. He was the one standing between the conservative pitchforks and the business community on a whole host of issues."

SEAN WEST, a top analyst at Eurasia Group, which assesses political risk, referring to Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, who lost his Republican primary.

Today's Video

VIDEO: Bill Cunningham | Strutting

Signs of a new peacock men's wear revolution are in evidence.

VIDEO: The Fight Over New Standards

Backlash reigns in schools nationwide after the introduction of Common Core standards. Critics say they are overly difficult, but others say they challenge students to become better thinkers.

VIDEO: A Stigma of Black Gun Ownership

In recent decades, gun ownership has been taboo among many African-Americans, but that may be changing.

For more video, go to NYTimes.com/Video »

World

An armed pro-Russian separatist gathered ammunition at the site of the crash in Luhansk on Saturday.

Separatists Down Military Transport Jet, Killing 49 in Eastern Ukraine

By ANDREW E. KRAMER

The attack was the deadliest episode for the Ukrainian military since the unrest began in the country's east.

Migrants from the African nation of Eritrea in a refugee camp close to a railway station in Rome. Italy is reeling from a surge of more than 50,000 migrants so far this year.

Palace of Squatters Is a Symbol of Refugee Crisis

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

The overcrowding of Salaam Palace is a crisis within a larger, nationwide emergency set off by a fresh surge of more than 50,000 migrants to Italy since the beginning of the year.

Afghan women lined up to vote at a polling station in Herat on Saturday.

Afghans, Looking Ahead to U.S. Withdrawal, Vote With Guarded Optimism

By AZAM AHMED and MATTHEW ROSENBERG

As voters chose Saturday between an ex-finance minister and an opposition politician, the Taliban appeared not to have launched any major attacks, at least in urban areas.

For more world news, go to NYTimes.com/World »

U.S.

Minority Gun Owners Face Balancing Act, Weighing Isolation and Stigma of Violence

By TANZINA VEGA

At a time when gun issues are volatile nationally and sales are increasing, many minority gun owners are trying to balance the pros and cons of ownership with the N.R.A.'s unyielding stances.

Video: A Stigma of Black Gun Ownership

Leopoldo Dorantes, an interpreter in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court in New Mexico. The state fund that pays for interpreters has grown by 76 percent since 2004.

As the Demand for Court Interpreters Climbs, State Budget Conflicts Grow as Well

By FERNANDA SANTOS

New Mexico and other states with increasingly diverse populations have strained to meet the rising cost of providing court interpreters for non-English speakers.

Clockwise from top left, the actor Dan Futterman at Columbia University; Ruth Simmons, former president of Smith College and Brown University, at Smith College; John Lewis, congressman and civil rights leader, at Emory University; and the singer Aretha Franklin and Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, at Harvard.

COMMENCEMENT SPEAKERS

Graduates Cautioned: Don't Shut Out Opposing Views

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

Several commencement speakers this spring advocated tolerance in the wake of protests that drummed away others who had been invited.

For more U.S. news, go to NYTimes.com/US »

Business

David E. I. Pyott is C.E.O. of Allergan, maker of Botox. Allergan's history of drug development and marketing has made it an appealing acquisition target.

Allergan, Defending Its Fort Botox

By NATASHA SINGER

The feisty chief of Allergan, Botox's maker, says a takeover would imperil the company's drug-discovery mission.

Graphic: Botox, a Drug With Many (Potential) Uses

THE WORKOLOGIST

Fending Off the Boss's Outbursts

By ROB WALKER

A reader reports a boss's harsh comments to human resources but still hasn't been able to address his blowups at work.

Mr. Vasconcelos started working on riverboats at the age of 12.

VOCATIONS: THE RIVERLORIAN

On the Steamboat, and Striking Up the Calliope

By PATRICIA R. OLSEN

Travis Vasconcelos, a historian and lecturer with the American Queen Steamboat Company, started working on riverboats at the age of 12.

For more business news, go to NYTimes.com/Business »

Sports

Italy's Mario Balotelli, right, headed in the winning goal past Gary Cahill in the 50th minute.

ITALY 2, ENGLAND 1

Carrying Fragile Hopes, England Stumbles in Opener

By JERÉ LONGMAN

England has disappointed its fans since winning the World Cup in 1966, and the national pessimism was confirmed in a loss to Italy in their first match.

England vs. Italy: Match Recap

Notes: Strong Strikers Produce a Goal Barrage

An inmate cleaning a soccer ball ready for shipment from the Nelson Hungria Penitentiary in Contagem, Brazil, where a prison factory produces 400 balls a day.

A Piece of the Game Beyond the Walls

By JERÉ LONGMAN

Dozens of inmates manufacture soccer balls at a Brazilian prison near one of the 12 cities hosting the World Cup games.

University of Tokyo cheerleaders have seemingly little to cheer. Over 89 years, the baseball team has 244 wins, 1,550 losses and 55 ties, finishing last the past 16 seasons.

The Ultimate Underdog

By KEN BELSON

The University of Tokyo, which produces many of Japan's top politicians, doctors and even baseball team owners, is a lightweight when it comes to the nation's most popular sport, baseball.

Slide Show: University of Tokyo's Favorite Disappointment

For more sports news, go to NYTimes.com/Sports »

Arts

Think Big. Build Big. Sell Big.

By CAROL VOGEL

The coming Jeff Koons survey at the Whitney Museum of American Art will consume more space than the museum has ever devoted to a single artist.

Video: Managing 'Play-Doh'

Lana Del Rey at home in front of an Elvis Presley portrait.

Finding Her Future Looking to the Past

By JON PARELES

In her new album, "Ultraviolence," Lana Del Rey sets herself further outside whatever passes for current pop mainstream.

A semi-staged opera production by the Cleveland Orchestra of Janacek's

Giving a Semi-Hearty Cheer for Semi-Staged Opera

By ZACHARY WOOLFE

In an operatic performance, does paring a work down to the bare score make it more potent, or do theatrical trappings enrich the experience?

For more arts news, go to NYTimes.com/Arts »

Magazine

Nathan Fielder (seated), in a tough spot in downtown Los Angeles.

Nathan Fielder's Ingenious Dumb Humor

By JONAH WEINER

How the star of Comedy Central's "Nathan for You" makes the most of uncomfortable moments.

American Green Berets and Uganda People's Defense Force soldiers at an airstrip in Obo, Central African Republic.

Can General Linder's Special Operations Forces Stop the Next Terrorist Threat?

By ELIZA GRISWOLD

As the fight against terrorism broadens to Africa, the United States faces a tricky balance: how to fight an enemy without actually doing the fighting.

INNOVATION

Who Made That Inflatable Noisemaker?

By DANIEL ENGBER

How stadiums got a whole lot louder.

Today's Headlines

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Top News

By TIM ARANGO, KAREEM FAHIM and BEN HUBBARD

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

By KENNETH CHANG

Editors' Picks

WORLD

OPINION | OPINIONATOR | THE GREAT DIVIDE

By MARIA KONNIKOVA

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

Today's Video

World

By ANDREW E. KRAMER

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

By AZAM AHMED and MATTHEW ROSENBERG

U.S.

By TANZINA VEGA

By FERNANDA SANTOS

COMMENCEMENT SPEAKERS

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

Business

By NATASHA SINGER

THE WORKOLOGIST

By ROB WALKER

VOCATIONS: THE RIVERLORIAN

By PATRICIA R. OLSEN

Sports

ITALY 2, ENGLAND 1

By JERÉ LONGMAN

By JERÉ LONGMAN

By KEN BELSON

Arts

By CAROL VOGEL

By JON PARELES

By ZACHARY WOOLFE

Magazine

By JONAH WEINER

By ELIZA GRISWOLD

INNOVATION

By DANIEL ENGBER

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