Today, we bring you another focus challenge, in which we invite you to spend uninterrupted time looking at a piece of art. This one is called “Where or When (Things Past),” painted by the Chicago artist Gertrude Abercrombie in 1948. (Sign up here to be notified about future challenges, which are published on the first […] More
Voters were choosing the nine members of the Supreme Court on Sunday, along with more than 2,600 other judges and magistrates.Voters across Mexico went to the polls on Sunday to elect thousands of judges, from the local level to the Supreme Court, pressing ahead with one of the most far-reaching judicial overhauls ever attempted by a large democracy.The process will transform the judiciary away from an appointment-based system, a change that leaders of the governing Morena party say will help root out corrupt officials, democratize the courts and give citizens a voice in who administers justice.But although most Mexicans agree that their justice system is broken, the overhaul being enacted on Sunday has drawn sharp criticism from opposition figures and legal experts. They argue that it risks giving Morena extraordinary power over a third branch of government, throws out the old system’s career requirements and opens the door to candidates who could be influenced by drug cartels.Because the election is so ambitious — more than 2,600 judges and magistrates will be elected, out of more than 7,700 candidates — some election experts expected voter turnout to be low. As voting got underway, relatively few voters could be seen lining up to vote around the country.In Tultitlán, in the state of Mexico, Jazmín Gutiérrez Ruiz, 37, was among those who cast ballots. She said that she hoped the election would root out corruption from the judiciary, and that her reasons were personal. Two of her brothers have spent two years in prison, accused of a murder “they didn’t do,” she said.“I want the magistrates and judges to change, and for them to take the time to carefully look at the cases,” said Ms. Gutiérrez Ruiz, who works for a processed meat company. “Just like my brothers, there are many people locked up unjustly.”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
The attack in Boulder, Colo., follows the murders of two Israeli embassy aides in Washington and an arson at the home of the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania.The attack on an event in Boulder, Colo., for Israeli hostages on Sunday afternoon was the latest on the Jewish community, following two others in recent weeks involving assailants who expressed anger over the war in Gaza.On May 21, two people were fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., after which the suspect shouted “Free Palestine.” In April, a man set fire to the residence of Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, who is Jewish. The suspect later said the fire was a response to Israeli attacks on Palestinians.“As the American Jewish community continues to reel from the horrific antisemitic murders in Washington, D.C., it is unfathomable that the Jewish community is facing another terror attack here in Boulder, on the eve of the holiday of Shavuot no less,” Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, said in a statement. “Several individuals were brutally attacked while peacefully marching to draw attention to the plight of the hostages who have been held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza for 604 days. I condemn this vicious act of terrorism, and pray for the recovery of the victims.”Colorado’s attorney general, Phil Weiser, said in a statement that the attack “appears to be a hate crime given the group that was targeted.”“People may have differing views about world events and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, but violence is never the answer to settling differences,” he added. “Hate has no place in Colorado.” More
Los mexicanos eligieron el domingo a los nueve miembros de la Suprema Corte, junto con más de 2600 jueces y magistrados.Los votantes de todo México acudieron a las urnas el domingo para elegir a miles de jueces, desde los tribunales locales hasta la Suprema Corte, impulsando una de las modificaciones judiciales de mayor alcance jamás intentadas por una democracia grande.El proceso transformará el sistema judicial, que dejará de estar basado en nombramientos, un cambio que, según los líderes del partido gobernante, Morena, ayudará a erradicar a los funcionarios corruptos, democratizar los tribunales y dar voz a los ciudadanos para decidir quién imparte la justicia.Sin embargo, aunque la mayoría de los mexicanos concuerdan en que su sistema de justicia es deficiente, la modificación que entra el vigor el domingo ha suscitado duras críticas por parte de figuras de la oposición y expertos jurídicos. Argumentan que se corre el riesgo de otorgar a Morena un poder extraordinario sobre el tercer poder del gobierno, que elimina los requisitos de carrera del antiguo sistema y que abre la puerta a candidatos que podrían estar influenciados por los cárteles de la droga.Dado que las elecciones son tan ambiciosas —se elegirán más de 2600 jueces y magistrados, de entre más de 7700 candidatos—, algunos expertos electorales esperaban que la participación fuera baja. A medida que se iniciaba la votación, se podían ver relativamente pocas personas haciendo fila para votar en todo el país.En Tultitlán, en el Estado de México, Jazmín Gutiérrez Ruiz, de 37 años, se encontraba entre quienes emitieron su voto. Dijo que esperaba que las elecciones erradicaran la corrupción del poder judicial, y que sus motivos eran personales. Dos de sus hermanos han pasado dos años en prisión, acusados de un asesinato “que ellos no hicieron”, dijo.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
She had many memorable roles in her decades-long career, including Lupita in the television series “Weeds.”Renée Victor, best known for voicing the strict but loving grandmother in the Pixar film “Coco,” died Friday night at her home in Sherman Oaks, Calif. She was 86.The cause was lymphoma, a representative for Ms. Victor confirmed on Sunday.Ms. Victor appeared in a number of television series through her decades-long career, including as Lupita on the comedy “Weeds.” But her most well-known role came in 2017 as the grandmother in “Coco,” which follows a 12-year-old boy in Mexico who is transported to the land of the dead.In a post on social media, Pixar said it was “heartbroken” about Ms. Victor’s death. “We will always remember you,” the company added, possibly referring to the signature song in “Coco.”Renée Victor was born on July 25, 1938, in San Antonio. She was raised in a traditional Catholic family and went to an all-girls school. When she was 10, Ms. Victor danced in a production of the opera “Carmen,” according to the entertainment database IMDb.Ms. Victor’s early career included a run as a singer and dancer at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas, according to IMDb. She went on to do more stage work internationally, including in Australia, Europe and Latin America.Ms. Victor later returned to Los Angeles and hosted the local talk show “Pacesetters,” a public affairs program. She also worked as a translator and interpreter at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, as well as for the BBC. In 1996, Ms. Victor starred in the short film “Libertad,” portraying a matriarch fighting to keep her fractured family together. The next year, she played the Hispanic translator in Robert Duvall’s “The Apostle.” She had roles in two other films with Mr. Duvall: “Assassination Tango” and “A Night in Old Mexico.”The director Frank Aragon said Ms. Victor was deft at balancing humor and drama in a way that “unleashes colorful, quirky personas that tickle the funny bone.” She also played the grandmother in the 2014 horror film “Paranormal Activity 5: The Marked Ones.” Her character was originally meant to die midway through the movie, according to Ms. Victor’s IMDb biography, but studio executives decided against that fate because “she’s too lovable and the audience won’t accept it.”She also had recurring roles on the shows “ER,” “Dead to Me” and “Snowpiercer.”In an interview in 2017 about her role in “Coco,” Ms. Victor said that the film would bring a broader awareness of Mexican culture to those who “don’t know enough” about it.Of doing voice-over work, she said, “I love it, because a microphone doesn’t care what you look like.”She added, “It’s what you’re projecting into that microphone that’s important.”She is survived by her two daughters, Raquel and Margo Victor. More
The plan, the first large-scale attempt to address the impact of the 1921 atrocity, will raise private funds for housing assistance, scholarships and economic development.The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, one of the most horrific episodes of racial violence in U.S. history, killed up to 300 Black residents and destroyed a neighborhood. More than a century later, the city’s mayor announced a $105 million reparations package on Sunday, the first large-scale plan committing funds to address the impact of the atrocity.Monroe Nichols, the first Black mayor of Tulsa, unveiled the sweeping project, named Road to Repair. It is intended to chip away at enduring disparities caused by the massacre and its aftermath in the Greenwood neighborhood and the wider North Tulsa community in Tulsa, Okla.The centerpiece of the project is the creation of the Greenwood Trust, a private charitable trust, with the goal of securing $105 million in assets — including private contributions, property transfers and possible public funding — by next spring, the 105th anniversary of the attack.The plan does not include direct cash payments to the two last known survivors of the massacre, who are 110 and 111 years old. But such payments could be considered by the trust’s Board of Trustees, according to Michelle Brooks, a city spokeswoman.Mr. Nichols said a plan to restore Greenwood — a neighborhood that was so prosperous before the attack that it inspired the name Black Wall Street — was long overdue.“One hundred and four years is far too long for us to not address the harm of the massacre,” Mr. Nichols said in an interview before the announcement. He added that the effort was really about “what has been taken from a people, and how do we restore that as best we can in 2025, proving we’re much different than we were in 1921.”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
Anthony V. Grubb wears down our defenses.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesMONDAY PUZZLE — Most crossword themes are just language patterns. Perhaps I shouldn’t say “just” — I’m in awe of the way that constructors identify subtle links between given sets of words, sounds or expressions. Discovering them in the puzzle is always fun, often thrilling, and sometimes leaves me downright speechless.The theme of today’s crossword, constructed by Anthony V. Grubb, follows a familiar format — follows it to a tee, one might say in this case. There are echoes of recent puzzle themes by Rena Cohen, Ilana Levene and Scott Hogan. I can assure you, however, that Mr. Grubb’s grid is bespoke. Not only is it fresh, funny and smart, but everything in it just fits.Today’s ThemeThis one comes together slowly, slowly and then all at once. The revealer at 64A reads: [Where duds are draped to dry … or a literal description of 18-, 28- and 49-Across?]The answer is CLOTHESLINE. Each of today’s themed entries are lines, or expressions, that use clothing metaphors. A brushoff that echoes [“Go fly a kite!”] at 18A is EAT MY SHORTS (popularized by Bart Simpson). At 28A, telling someone to [“Pipe down!”] means you want that person to PUT A SOCK IN IT. And at 49A, [“No skin off my nose!”] is another way of saying SUIT YOURSELF!It’s funny to observe that the expressions in the themed clues are as figurative as the entries themselves. Flying a kite means eating shorts, and piping down (of nautical origin) is the same as stuffing a sock in one’s mouth (of World War I origin). We may be able to hop from metaphor to metaphor without ever saying exactly what we mean.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
He was the No. 2 at the Federal Reserve and the I.M.F. during periods of economic turmoil, and he mentored future economic leaders, like Ben Bernanke.Stanley Fischer, an economist and central banker whose scholarship and genial, consensus-seeking style helped guide global economic policies and defuse financial crises for decades, died on Saturday at his home in Lexington, Mass. He was 81.The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, his son Michael said. Mr. Fischer served as the head of Israel’s central bank from 2005 to 2013, as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board from 2014 to 2017 and as the No. 2 officer at the International Monetary Fund from 1994 to 2001, when that agency was struggling to contain financial panics in Mexico, Russia, Asia and Latin America.As a professor at M.I.T., he was a thesis adviser or mentor to an extraordinary range of future leaders, including Ben S. Bernanke, later chairman of the Fed; Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank; and Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan. His former students also included two people who chaired the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers, Christina D. Romer and N. Gregory Mankiw, as well as Lawrence H. Summers, who served as secretary of the Treasury and president of Harvard University.“He had a role in shaping a whole generation of economists and policymakers,” Mr. Bernanke said in a February 2024 interview for this obituary. That included spurring Mr. Bernanke’s initial interest in macroeconomics and monetary policy.In 1998, The Times described Mr. Fischer as “the closest thing the world economy has to a battlefield medic.” He helped negotiate a rescue package for Russia by cellphone while standing atop a sand dune on Martha’s Vineyard, where he was on vacation. 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
