Social Responsibility

In the darkest moments of the financial crisis in 2008, former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao lectured a group of U.S. government officials and business executives in New York. “In the face of economic difficulties,” he said, “confidence is more precious than gold.”The Chinese economy then was teetering. Today it’s sputtering, facing the dimmest prospects in decades, and China’s leaders are learning the hard way exactly what Mr. Wen meant.Beijing unveiled a 31-point set of guidelines on Wednesday to bolster the confidence of the private sector. After three years in which the government cracked down on private companies, stamped out innovation…

A magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck about 50 miles from the city of Marrakesh in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, killing more than 2,000 people, turning houses and buildings into rubble and terrifying residents.Morocco has a history of serious earthquakes, and the one that hit shortly after 11 p.m. on Friday was the largest to strike the area in more than a century. The full extent of the casualties and damages was not known.“It didn’t last long,” said one person who experienced the quake in Amizmiz, which is about 30 miles southwest of Marrakesh, “but felt like years.”SundayA damaged mosque in…

He still remembers the first gunshot. For an instant, standing on the running board of the motorcade car, he entertained the vain hope that maybe it was just a firecracker or a blown tire. But he knew guns and he knew better. Then came another shot. And another. And the president slumped down.For so many nights afterward, he relived that grisly moment in his dreams. Now, 60 years later, Paul Landis, one of the Secret Service agents just feet away from President John F. Kennedy on that fateful day in Dallas, is telling his story in full for the first…

In New Zealand, one of summer’s great pleasures is known as real fruit ice cream: a scoop of vanilla blended with fruit in a machine that produces an airy, barely sweet twirl with a buttery texture. The dessert, which likely originated in the country’s berry orchards, has become a national favorite over the last few decades, prized for its freshness and simplicity.In the United States, it’s just beginning to catch on in cities like Boston, Portland, Ore., and Austin, Texas. But along the way, the no-frills treat has undergone a full-bore makeover.At most American shops that sell it, real fruit ice cream can…

Long before he became an award-winning filmmaker, Lynn Lynn was already a star.His voice was ubiquitous on the radio, belting out rock songs, and he played sold-out shows in stadiums across the country. Everywhere he went, fans hounded him for selfies and autographs.But all that fame was confined to Myanmar, a country he had to flee after a February 2021 military coup.It wasn’t only his lyrics about the suffering of people under military rule that had made him a target of the country’s generals. He was also close to the country’s now-imprisoned civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, having…

Peter Navarro, a former trade adviser to President Donald J. Trump, was convicted on Thursday of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.The verdict, coming after nearly four hours of deliberation in Federal District Court in Washington, made Mr. Navarro the second top adviser of Mr. Trump’s to be found guilty in connection to the committee’s inquiry. Stephen K. Bannon, a former strategist for Mr. Trump who was convicted of the same offense last summer, faces four months in prison and remains…

Even by the standards of London’s white-hot real estate market, it was a property with seemingly limited appeal: an unused stairwell, attached to the back of a suburban building, next to a parking garage.Nevertheless, the four-story metal stairwell, enclosed by translucent panels, sold at auction on Tuesday morning for 25,000 pounds (about $32,000), 20 percent more than the starting bid.Simon Squibb, the longtime entrepreneur who bought the stairwell, said he saw what the property listing called its “development potential.”Mr. Squibb recently co-founded HelpBnk, a company that supports budding entrepreneurs, possibly with the help of his new stairwell.The plan is to…

A more sophisticated and productive critique of elites comes from Fredrik deBoer, known to those who read his popular newsletter as Freddie. DeBoer, a Marxist, activist and the author of the book “The Cult of Smart,” is one of the sharpest and funniest writers on the internet. I don’t agree with everything he says, but he’s always thoughtful and he pushes me to think. I hope his new book, “How Elites Ate the Social Justice Movement,” will be read especially by those on the left, because the left is where his heart lies and the failings of the left seem…

Danny Masterson, the actor best known for his role in the sitcom “That ’70s Show,” was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Thursday for the rapes of two women when he was at the height of his career more than 20 years ago.Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo of Los Angeles Superior Court handed the sentence down after hearing statements from the women, who described the lasting impact of Masterson’s actions on their lives.“The body is a relentless witness,” one of the accusers, identified as N. Trout, said in a statement that was read aloud in the courtroom on…