Royal Dutch Shell Posts Rise in Earnings Despite Lower Oil Prices
LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday that earnings in the fourth quarter of 2014 rose as improved performance in marketing and refining offset the effects of lower oil…
Author: The New York Times
Microsoft Brings Outlook to iPhone, Other Mobile Devices
Sure, Gmail has its converts, and many millennials shun email entirely for iMessage, Snapchat and other alternatives. But the world still has plenty of power email users and, for them,…
Deutsche Bank Posts Fourth Quarter Profit, Beating Predictions for a Loss
The quarterly net profit, which also reflected a lower tax bill, was better than expectations. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a loss for the latest quarter. Deutsche Bank had…
Michelle Obama Praised for Bold Stand She Didn’t Take in Saudi Arabia
Open Source By ROBERT MACKEY As images of President Obama and the first lady, Michelle Obama, with the new Saudi leader, King Salman, circulated online after their brief visit to…
1989 Cables Offer New Detail, and Questions, on Tiananmen
But perhaps the most explosive assertion — that the top level of China’s leadership sought to transfer money to Switzerland — has raised questions among scholars of the period. The…
U.S. Suddenly Goes Quiet on Effort to Bolster Afghan Forces
WASHINGTON — The United States has spent about $65 billion to build Afghanistan’s army and police forces, and until this month the American-led coalition regularly shared details on how the…
Maria Sharapova Breezes Past Compatriot to Reach Final
MELBOURNE, Australia — As it turned out, an Australian Open semifinal was not Maria Sharapova’s toughest all-Russian match in Melbourne this year. That came in the second round, when she…
Video Feature: Signs That Virtual Reality Is on the Verge of Taking Off
Now that the Oculus Rift has some competition, the virtual reality content race has begun. Molly Wood MACHINE LEARNING READY or not, here comes virtual reality. Gaming was the focus…
White House’s Dismay Over Netanyahu Visit Extends to Ambassador
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, after days of mounting tension, signaled on Wednesday how angry it is with Israel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted Republican leaders’ invitation to address Congress on…
G.O.P.’s Invitation to Netanyahu Is Aiding Obama’s Cause on Iran
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s relations with Democrats on Capitol Hill have never been especially close. But one man is helping to bring them a little closer together: Benjamin Netanyahu. The…
All-but-Forgotten Prisoner in Jordan Is Suddenly at Center of Swap Demand by ISIS
AMMAN, Jordan — During the nine years that Sajida al-Rishawi, 46, has been sitting in self-imposed solitary confinement in her cell at the Juweidah Women’s Prison here in Jordan, refusing…
Ukraine Clamps Down on Travel to and From Rebel Areas
DONETSK, Ukraine — For Larisa Horlova, a cashier, making the trip from rebel-held territory to Ukraine proper had been a routine matter, despite the shells that sometimes pounded into fields…
After Alibaba Spinoff, Yahoo May Become a Takeover Target
Its $39 billion stake in the Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce behemoth — accounting for about 85 percent of the market value of Yahoo — has obscured both the weakness…
Nick Hornby’s ‘Funny Girl,’ About a 1960s BBC Sitcom Star
Books of The Times By JANET MASLIN – Illustrated. 452 pages. Riverhead Books. $27.95. A version of this review appears in print on January 29, 2015, on page C1 of…
The People vs. Boko Haram
Through the fall and winter, the Islamist militant group Boko Haram has seemed nearly unstoppable. It has captured town after town in northeastern Nigeria and laid siege to the fishing…
Amid Trial Over Silk Road, an Online Black Market, a Debate Over Emoji
The trial of Ross W. Ulbricht, a California man charged with running an online black-market bazaar called Silk Road, had barely begun when an unusual objection was lodged. At issue…
Over-the-Top Amenities: Sweating the Details
The hamam at the Cast Iron House was designed by Shigeru Ban, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect. It has a plunge pool, a steam room, a dry sauna, a ribcage shower…
Scholars at Odds on Ukraine
Since the crisis in Ukraine began, the Russia scholar Stephen F. Cohen has cast himself in the role of the unbowed dissenter, whose sharp criticisms of America’s foreign policy in…
Facebook Earnings Beat Expectations, Driven by Mobile Advertising
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook’s advertising machine shows no signs of slowing down. The company reported on Wednesday that revenue increased 49 percent in the fourth quarter, exceeding Wall Street’s expectations….
Ancient Skull Adds New Insight to Story of Human Evolution
Anthropologists exploring a cave in Israel have uncovered a rare 55,000-year-old fossil skull that they say has a story to tell of a reverberating transition in human evolution, in the…
Old Port City Has New Role as Locus of Grief After AirAsia Crash
SURABAYA, Indonesia — Ten-year-old Made Putri, known as Keisha, was so excited about her first trip abroad, a family vacation to Singapore and Malaysia, that she wore her favorite jacket…
Fed Says It Will Be Patient in Raising Interest Rates, Citing ‘Solid’ Growth
WASHINGTON — In its most upbeat economic assessment since the recession, the Federal Reserve cited “solid” economic growth and “strong” job growth in a statement issued Wednesday that suggested the…
Argentine Officials Point to Aide in Prosecutor’s Mysterious Death
BUENOS AIRES — Argentina’s government on Wednesday cast greater suspicion on an aide to Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor whose mysterious death this month has shaken the country, by describing the…
German Anti-Immigrant Movement Leaders Resign Posts
BERLIN — The protest group that shook up German politics and spawned large rallies around the country for and against immigration announced on Wednesday that several of its leaders had…
New Rules in China Upset Western Tech Companies
HONG KONG — The Chinese government has adopted new regulations requiring companies that sell computer equipment to Chinese banks to turn over secret source code, submit to invasive audits and…
Charles H. Townes, Physicist Who Helped Develop Lasers, Dies at 99
Charles H. Townes, a visionary physicist whose research led to the development of the laser, making it possible to play CDs, scan prices at the supermarket, measure time precisely, survey…
Hillary Clinton vs. Elizabeth Warren Could Be a Dream Match, for Republicans
They have called Senator Elizabeth Warren “an extremely attractive candidate” in the 2016 presidential campaign. They have said that she is the “hottest commodity” in the Democratic Party and that…
North Korean Leader to Visit Russia in May
MOSCOW — North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, plans to visit Moscow this May in his first trip abroad since assuming power in 2011, a Kremlin spokesman announced on Wednesday. The…
How Weight Training Can Help You Keep the Weight Off
Exercise may help people avoid regaining weight after successful dieting, according to a new study. It shows that exercise can crucially alter the body’s response to weight loss and potentially…
Alexander Litvinenko Murder Suspect Calls Accusations ‘Nonsense’
LONDON — Andrei K. Lugovoi, a Russian entrepreneur and former K.G.B. bodyguard accused of poisoning Alexander V. Litvinenko with radioactive polonium 210, was quoted on Wednesday as saying the charges…