Social Responsibility

For generations, she was an iconic American political figure — a leader on issues from the environment to assault-style weapons, the longest-serving senator ever to represent California, the first woman to make it to the top of San Francisco’s political system, catapulted there after a still-shocking burst of gun violence.On Friday, Senator Dianne Feinstein died at the age of 90. In the months leading up to her death, colleagues, critics and an increasingly restive field of aspiring successors had questioned her health and fitness for office — a concern, her supporters noted, that few have raised for male octogenarians in…

His television roles varied from Inspector Maigret to Edward VII, Oscar Wilde to Winston Churchill. And in film he played characters as different as Albert Spica, the coarse and violent gangster in Peter Greenaway’s “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover,” and the benign Professor Dumbledore.Mr. Gambon took over the role of Dumbledore, a central character in the Harry Potter saga, when Richard Harris, who had originated it, died in 2002. Reviewing “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” in which he first appeared in the role, A.O. Scott of The New York Times wrote that the film,…

More than 25 years after the killing of Tupac Shakur became a defining tragedy in hip-hop, a self-described gang member who has repeatedly proclaimed that he participated in the drive-by shooting was indicted on a murder charge, Las Vegas prosecutors said on Friday, reviving a blockbuster investigation that had long stalled.The man, Duane Keith Davis, has said in interviews and a memoir that he was in the front passenger seat of the white Cadillac that pulled up near the vehicle holding Mr. Shakur after a 1996 prizefight between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon in Las Vegas.The 25-year-old rapper was shot…

A New York judge put a spotlight on former President Donald J. Trump’s business empire this week, determining in a ruling that he had inflated the value of his properties by considerable sums to gain favorable terms on loans and insurance.If the ruling stands, Mr. Trump could lose control over some of his best-known New York real estate — an outcome the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, sought when she filed a lawsuit last year that accused him of fraud and called for the cancellation of his business certificates for any entities in the state that benefited from deceitful practices.The…

Donald J. Trump’s civil fraud trial over accusations that he inflated the value of his properties by billions of dollars will likely begin Monday after a New York appeals court rejected the former president’s attempt to delay it.The appeals court, in a terse two-page order Thursday, effectively turned aside for now a lawsuit that Mr. Trump had filed against the trial judge, Arthur F. Engoron. The lawsuit had sought to delay the trial and ultimately throw out many accusations against the former president.The case was brought last year by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, who says Mr. Trump exaggerated…

A New York judge ruled on Tuesday that Donald J. Trump persistently committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets, and stripped the former president of control over some of his signature New York properties.The surprising decision by Justice Arthur F. Engoron is a major victory for Attorney General Letitia James in her lawsuit against Mr. Trump, effectively deciding that no trial was needed to determine that he had fraudulently secured favorable terms on loans and insurance deals.Ms. James has argued that Mr. Trump inflated the value of his properties by as much as $2.2 billion and is seeking…

Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. The 72-story office building in the heart of the financial district. The Trump International Hotel overlooking Central Park.These are Donald J. Trump’s flagship New York properties, embodiments of the rise of a developer who parlayed real estate riches into reality television fame, and ultimately, the White House.Now, Mr. Trump could lose his grip on all three buildings after a state judge on Tuesday ruled that he had persistently committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets. The judge sided with New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, who had brought a civil case against the…

Brooks Robinson, the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Famer who was perhaps the finest third baseman in baseball history, died on Tuesday at his home in Owings Mills, a suburb of Baltimore. He was 86.The cause was coronary disease, Diane Hock, his longtime friend and agent, said.His death was announced by the Orioles in a statement that did not include further information.In his 23 seasons with the Orioles, from 1955 to 1977, Robinson became known as the Human Vacuum Cleaner for his ability to snare just about anything hit his way.Charging topped grounders or bunts, backhanding smashes, ranging to his left…

Pvt. Travis T. King, the American soldier who crossed into North Korea on July 18, was released into U.S. custody on Wednesday after weeks of diplomacy mediated by the Swedish government, American officials said.Private King was to be reunited with his family in the United States and given physical and mental health support after being held by the North Koreans for 70 days.“U.S. officials have secured the return of Pvt. Travis King from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said in a statement.Private King’s first stop after leaving North Korea was China, where U.S.…