Aurelia Butler

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    Gaza Aid Deliveries Begin After Days of Delays

    The U.N. said about 90 truckloads of supplies had begun to arrive at warehouses and other sites in the devastated territory. It was the first significant influx after a two-month Israeli blockade.About 90 truckloads of aid had entered Gaza by Thursday, according to the United Nations, the first major influx of food that Israel has allowed in after a two-month blockade that deepened the humanitarian crisis in the territory.The U.N. humanitarian affairs office and the Israeli military both confirmed that the aid deliveries were reaching warehouses and other points inside Gaza after days of delays. But aid officials said the shipment was a fraction of what was needed.“Desperately needed aid is finally trickling in — but the pace is far too slow. We need more aid trucks coming in daily,” the World Food Program, one of the main U.N. agencies operating in Gaza, wrote on social media.Israel’s two-month ban on the entry of food and fuel led to widespread hunger in the enclave, which has been devastated by more than a year of war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.Israel justified the ban as an attempt to force Hamas to surrender and release the remaining hostages. Israeli officials have asserted that Hamas has largely diverted or made money off aid deliveries, a claim disputed by international aid groups.People with a free meal from a charity kitchen on Wednesday.Saher Alghorra for The New York TimesIsrael conditioned the resumption of assistance on the United Nations signing off on a new mechanism in which they would distribute relief in areas under Israeli security control. The U.N. and many other aid nonprofits refused, saying it would fundamentally compromise their work.After weeks of rising international pressure, Israel finally announced on Sunday that it would let U.N. agencies send small amounts of food into the enclave under the old system. But wrangling between Israel and the United Nations further delayed the provision of aid for days.OCHA, the U.N. agency that coordinates humanitarian relief, said Israel had stipulated that their trucks take an extremely perilous route through Gaza. U.N. officials believed that unless the plans were changed, looting was “highly likely” to ensue, the agency said.A spokesman for the Israeli military agency that works with the aid agencies — known as COGAT — did not respond to a request for comment.Israeli officials have said they hope to set up the new aid system, bypassing the United Nations, in the coming days.In a televised news conference on Wednesday night, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, vowed once again to escalate the war imminently unless Hamas agreed to Israel’s conditions for a cease-fire. Palestinians would be evacuated to a “sterile zone” that would be “Hamas free” in southern Gaza, where humanitarian aid would be provided, he said.“At the end of the effort, all areas of the Gaza Strip will be under Israel’s security control — and Hamas will be totally defeated,” Mr. Netanyahu said. More

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    How ‘The Queen of Spades’ Brought Two Tchaikovsky Brothers Together

    The composer’s brother Modest long wanted to collaborate. They didn’t mean to, but got their chance to bring Pushkin to the opera stage.In 1888, Modest Tchaikovsky wrote a letter to his brother Pyotr, the composer. Modest, a former law student and budding dramatist and critic, had recently been commissioned by the Imperial Theaters in St. Petersburg, Russia, to write his first opera libretto: an adaptation of Pushkin’s “The Queen of Spades.”Modest revered his older brother’s talent and international renown. He had already proposed potential collaborations to Pyotr twice, to no avail. He had a composer lined up for “The Queen of Spades,” Nikolai Klenovsky, but he was disheartened that he and his brother would not be working on it together.Pyotr’s response to the letter was measured but blunt. “Forgive me, Modya, but I do not regret at all that I will not write ‘The Queen of Spades,’” adding: “I will write an opera only if a plot comes along that can deeply warm me up. A plot like ‘The Queen of Spades’ does not move me, and I could only write mediocrely.”Then Klenovsky dropped “The Queen of Spades.” Ivan Vsevolozhsky, the director of the imperial theaters, asked Pyotr to take over. He agreed.And so “The Queen of Spades,” which returns to the Metropolitan Opera on Friday, became the first collaboration between the two Tchaikovsky brothers, men of different disciplines and artistic abilities, despite their closeness. This work was the culmination of nearly 40 years of Modest’s attempt to escape the cool of Pyotr’s shadow and bask in his light. The result, the musicologist Richard Taruskin wrote, was the “first and probably the greatest masterpiece of musical surrealism.” It’s a testament to their camaraderie and fraternity, as well as their openness and intimacy.When stripped to its thematic core, Pushkin’s “The Queen of Spades,” first published in 1834, has all the makings of spectacle — obsession, greed, madness, phantasmagoria — that you could also find in sentimental Italian operas of the 19th century. Pushkin was not just god of Russian letters, but the god, yet his writing wasn’t easy to adapt into a libretto. His storytelling is anecdotal and ironic, lacking in empathy and tenderness for and between its characters. No one evolves, and there are no changes of heart. And “The Queen of Spades” is short; Taruskin counts the text at “barely 10,000 words.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Small Jet Crashes in San Diego, Killing Those Aboard, Officials Say

    The plane, a Cessna 550, crashed near the Tierrasanta neighborhood and also destroyed several homes. It was not immediately clear how many people were on the plane.A small jet crashed into a residential San Diego neighborhood early Thursday morning, killing the people on board and destroying several homes, officials said.Dan Eddy, San Diego’s assistant fire chief, told a news conference that there had been multiple fatalities, all among people on the plane. The number of people aboard was not immediately known.The aircraft, a Cessna 550, which Mr. Eddy said carries up to 10 people, crashed in Murphy Canyon near the Tierrasanta neighborhood just before 4 a.m. Multiple homes caught on fire and were destroyed, the San Diego Police Department said. More

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    Mahmoud Khalil Meets Infant Son Before Immigration Hearing

    The activist, who has been detained in Louisiana for two months, was allowed to meet privately with his wife and baby. He is fighting deportation.Mahmoud Khalil met his month-old son for the first time on Thursday morning, hours before an immigration court hearing in which his lawyers will seek to convince a judge that he would be in mortal danger if deported.Trump administration officials were initially reluctant to allow Mr. Khalil, who has been detained in Louisiana for two months, to meet privately with his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, and the baby, Deen. They said that other detainees were not allowed such visits, and that it would be unsafe to allow Dr. Abdalla and the baby into a secured part of the facility.But after hours of negotiation Wednesday evening the officials relented, paving the way for a family meeting before Mr. Khalil’s immigration hearing Thursday morning.Mr. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and one of the leading figures in pro-Palestinian protests at the school, was arrested in March and quickly transported to Jena, La. Though he is a legal permanent resident, the Trump administration is seeking to deport him, arguing that his presence in the United States helps spread antisemitism.Students at a Columbia University graduation held photos of Mahmoud Khalil, who had been a student there.Todd Heisler/The New York TimesMr. Khalil’s lawyers have cited instances in which their client has spoken out explicitly against antisemitism; they say his monthslong detention is retaliation for pro-Palestinian speech.Mr. Khalil’s case is playing out in two courtrooms thousands of miles from each other, in Louisiana and Newark.The hearing on Thursday is taking place in immigration court in Jena. The judge there, Jamee Comans, has found that the government has met its burden to deport Mr. Khalil. But Mr. Khalil’s lawyers on Thursday will have a chance to argue that she should nonetheless let him stay, given the danger he might face were he to be deported, likely to Syria or Algeria.“Given the government’s false claims that Mahmoud is antisemitic, and that he is pro-Hamas and that he is a ‘terrorist,’ he is at risk of harm anywhere in the world,” said a lawyer for Mr. Khalil, Johnny Sinodis, at a news conference before the hearing.The lawyers are also seeking to end the proceeding altogether, arguing that Mr. Khalil was arrested without a warrant. In response, administration officials have argued that in March, when Mr. Khalil was arrested, he was attempting to flee, justifying a warrantless arrest. Video footage of the encounter shows no such attempt.Mr. Khalil was the first of several pro-Palestinian protesters to be arrested, setting off concerns about free speech and due process during the second Trump administration.Those concerns are being considered in New Jersey by a federal district judge, Michael E. Farbiarz. While other protesters have been released on bail, Judge Farbiarz has not yet decided whether Mr. Khalil can go free. More

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    Winners of an ‘Exclusive Invitation’ to Dine With Trump Will Gather Tonight

    The sale of access to the president to investors in his memecoin has been assailed by Democrats and even some Republicans as unethical.A group of 220 cryptocurrency enthusiasts who won a dinner with President Trump by investing in his memecoin will gather tonight at his golf club in Virginia, an event that has sparked outrage from critics who call it an unethical sale of access to the presidency.Mr. Trump and his business partners in the venture announced the event last month, calling it the “most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION” in the world. They framed it as a contest: The top 220 buyers of the coin would dine with the president at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., while the top 25 would join him at a more intimate cocktail reception and go on a tour of the White House the next day.A leaderboard on the website of Mr. Trump’s memecoin, called $TRUMP, allowed crypto investors to see how much they needed to purchase to move up the rankings and win a spot.In effect, Mr. Trump was offering access to himself in exchange for an investment in his cryptocurrency, which he started selling just days before his inauguration in January. Democrats in Congress and even some Republicans have assailed the contest as an inappropriate use of presidential power. A protest outside the golf club is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.A memecoin is a type of cryptocurrency tied to an online joke or mascot; it typically has no function beyond speculation. But Mr. Trump’s coins have become a vehicle for investors, including some based overseas, to funnel money to his family.A business entity tied to the Trumps sits on a large stash of the $TRUMP cryptocurrency and collects fees every time the coins change hands. So far, the coin has generated at least $320 million in fees, which the Trumps share with their business partners, according to Chainalysis, a crypto analytics firm.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Sleep-Deprived Lawmakers Stay Up All Night to Pass the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill

    Some napped, others pulled all-nighters, and most were bleary-eyed as they slogged to the end of a marathon House debate over President Trump’s signature domestic policy legislation.As they arrived at the Capitol not long after dawn on Thursday to vote on a sweeping domestic policy bill to deliver President Trump’s agenda, members of the House of Representatives were divided by more than just partisan lines.The far more visible split was among those who had managed to get some sleep and those who hadn’t.“Here come the troops,” Representative Glenn Thompson, Republican of Pennsylvania, said cheerfully as he welcomed a bleary-eyed procession of lawmakers to the marble corridors just after 6 a.m.“Clock in on your left,” he added with a smile, gesturing toward the House chamber, where members would soon cast their votes on the wide-ranging bill overhauling key government programs.Many arrived clutching coffee cups or cans of energy drinks, struggling to stay alert after a week’s worth of all-night committee sessions capped off by an overnight floor debate that unfolded as House Republican leaders raced to deliver Mr. Trump a major victory on what he calls the “big, beautiful bill” before a self-imposed Memorial Day deadline.As party leaders delivered their final remarks, some lawmakers stood at attention, clapping and cheering the concluding arguments for and against the bill. Others slumped in peripheral seats or disappeared into the far corners of the chamber, barely awake and struggling to stay that way until the final vote.In a room near the floor, Republican leaders had laid out provisions — not the legislative kind — that would have to suffice for breakfast: dozens of boxes of pizza and a polished silver bowl of fruit snacks, pretzels and chips.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Kneecap Member Is Charged With Terror Offense Over Flag at London Concert

    A member of the Northern Irish rap group Kneecap was accused of illegally displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah. Kneecap denied the offense.The authorities in London have charged a member of the Northern Irish hip-hop group Kneecap with a terrorism offense, accusing him of displaying a flag in support of the Hezbollah militant group at a concert in November.Liam Og O Hannaidh, who goes by the stage name Mo Chara, was charged on Wednesday under a law that makes it illegal to show public support for organizations that Britain has deemed terrorist groups. London’s Metropolitan Police said that Counterterrorism officers had investigated Mr. O Hannaidh for displaying a flag during a concert at the O2 Forum in London that appeared to be in support of Hezbollah, the militant group based in Lebanon and banned by Britain. The police charged him under the name Liam O’Hanna, and the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed in an email that they had authorized the charges. If convicted, he faces up to six months in prison and a fine. “We deny this ‘offense’ and will vehemently defend ourselves,” Kneecap said on Thursday in a statement shared on Instagram. “This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction.” In their statement, the group pointed to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israel’s restrictions on aid and emergency supplies have caused severe shortages of food and medicine that doctors have called “catastrophic.”“We are not the story. Genocide is,” the Kneecap statement added.A video posted online of the group’s concert in London on Nov. 21 shows Kneecap performing its song “H.O.O.D.” to a cheering crowd as a member of the group unfurls a yellow flag around his shoulders. The same member can be heard later yelling: “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah!”The Met Police said it began an investigation after being informed in April about an online video of an event on that date.Kneecap performing at Coachella in April. Valerie Macon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesA court summons relating to the charges was sent by mail, the police said. Mr. O Hannaidh was set to appear at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on June 18, the police said. The police added that they were also investigating another video from a music event where Kneecap performed in London in November 2023.Kneecap, a Belfast-based trio that released its first single in 2017, has built a following around its music, which features Irish lyrics over hip-hop and electronic beats. The group is known for its vocal support for Irish nationalism and a polarizing style of political messaging.The band members played fictionalized versions of themselves in a drama about their lives and music called “Kneecap,” which won a British Academy Film Award this year. They were scheduled to perform in London on Friday as headliners at the Wide Awake festival. More

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    Suspect in Shooting of Israeli Embassy Staff in Washington, D.C., Had Protested for Palestinian Rights

    The man detained after the shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington is from Chicago, where he had marched in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.The man accused of killing two Israeli Embassy aides in Washington is a Chicago resident who has participated in pro-Palestinian activism and worked for a health care nonprofit, according to his online profile.Elias Rodriguez, 30, previously held jobs in production, research and writing. An online job biography said that he was born and raised in Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago with a degree in English.He posted video from a pro-Palestinian march in Chicago on the social media site X in 2023.Mr. Rodriguez’s parents, reached by telephone, declined to comment on Thursday morning.Mr. Rodriguez lived in Albany Park, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Chicago, on the city’s northwest side. It is known as a community that has long welcomed immigrants. A century ago, it was home to many Jewish families from Europe, but it is now a draw for Latino, white and Asian residents of Chicago.Windows in what appeared to be the suspect’s apartment were adorned with two signs about Palestinians, including one that referenced the 2023 killing of a Palestinian American boy in Illinois. More