DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Nabila Hamada gave birth to twin boys in Gaza early in the war, in a hospital reeking of decaying bodies and full of displaced people. When Israeli forces threatened the hospital, she and her husband fled with only one of the babies, as medical staff said the other was too … Read more
BEIRUT — Dr. Hassan Hamdan was one of the few trained plastic surgeons in Gaza, a specialist in wound reconstruction. His skills were vitally needed as Israel’s military onslaught filled hospitals with patients torn by blasts and shrapnel, so the 65-year-old came out of retirement to help. Earlier this month, an Israeli airstrike killed him … Read more
ROMNY, Ukraine — Maksym Halinichev won silver at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires in a match described at the time as “two of the best young fighters going for glory.” He considered the bout a loss – it wasn’t gold, after all – but it gave him a map for the future. So Halinichev … Read more
MONTE GORDO, Portugal — Kateryna Tabashnyk’s success depends upon utter concentration on the here and now, on the height of the bar in front of her and her body’s ability to leap it. That focus and drive is a requirement for all high-level athletes. But the 30-year-old Ukrainian high jumper’s mind wanders often to her … Read more
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Thousands of displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza have sought refuge in one of the territory’s largest soccer arenas, where families now scrape by with little food or water as they try to keep one step ahead of Israel’s latest offensive. Their makeshift tents hug the shade below the stadium’s seating, … Read more
NEW YORK — Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. But despite its age, the vitality and fleet-footed movement of Kurosawa’s epic is still breathtaking. To watch it again is to be swept along, all over again, by its flowing action and breadth of vision. Just as swiftly as Kambei Shimada … Read more
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza — Children in sandals trudge through water contaminated with sewage and scale growing mounds of garbage in Gaza’s crowded tent camps for displaced families. People relieve themselves in burlap-covered pits, with nowhere nearby to wash their hands. In the stifling summer heat, Palestinians say the odor and filth surrounding them is just … Read more
SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — It was a peculiar setting to the final act in a legal drama that has now spanned the globe: a rural Western Pacific island, where visitors are usually tourists — attracted by laid-back resorts, snorkeling, diving and golf — and the furthermost reach of the United States. When Julian Assange … Read more
BARCELONA, Spain — Hugging his knees and clad in a bright orange life vest, the giant “Inflatable Refugee” looks vulnerable as he sits alone in a sea of empty red velvet chairs. Belgian visual artists Schellekens & Peleman, who created the figure in 2015 following the refugee crisis in Europe, have brought the installation to … Read more
LONDON — Author-activist Naomi Klein won the inaugural Women’s Prize for Nonfiction on Thursday with “Doppelganger,” a personal account of her plunge into the world of online misinformation. Its sister award, the Women’s Prize for Fiction, went to U.S. writer V. V. Ganeshananthan for her novel “Brotherless Night,” about a family torn apart by Sri … Read more
