Aurelia Butler

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    Trump Says He’s Reinstating Columbus Day. It Was Never Canceled.

    President Trump said in a post on social media that he was “reinstating Columbus Day.” It was never canceled as a federal holiday.President Trump declared on Sunday that he would bring “Columbus Day back from the ashes” and reinstate its celebration as a holiday.“I am hereby reinstating Columbus Day under the same rules, dates, and locations, as it has had for all of the many decades before!” the president said in a post on Truth Social, referring to the federal holiday named for Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer who sailed to the Americas on behalf of Spain more than 500 years ago.The holiday has long been criticized by those who condemn the explorer for paving the way for European colonialism, which brought catastrophic diseases and led to the decimation of Indigenous populations in America.But Columbus Day was never canceled as a federal holiday, and the second Monday in October is still widely referred to as such in the United States, and for many, it remains an important part of Italian American heritage.With his declaration, Mr. Trump appeared to be referring to a proclamation issued by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2021. That decree also recognized the day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which recognizes the Indigenous communities that have lived in the Americas for thousands of years, and called for it to be celebrated alongside Columbus Day.“The Democrats did everything possible to destroy Christopher Columbus, his reputation, and all of the Italians that love him so much,” Mr. Trump claimed in his social media post on Sunday.In 2021, Mr. Biden became the first American president to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day, vowing to “honor America’s first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive today.”But Mr. Biden did not rename the longstanding holiday, which is still officially known as Columbus Day. While several states and dozens of cities recognize the holiday as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, it is not considered a federal holiday, though there have been occasional efforts in Congress to make it one.Mr. Biden’s 2021 declaration came amid heightened public debate about the erasure of Indigenous people in celebrations of Christopher Columbus, whose landing in North America led to centuries of exploitation and slaughter of Native American populations. At the time, dozens of Christopher Columbus statues were taken down, many in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the death of George Floyd in May 2020. More

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    In ‘Krapp’s Last Tape,’ Gary Oldman Hits Rewind

    The star actor returns to the theater where he started almost a half-century ago, with Samuel Beckett’s bleak one-man play.For Gary Oldman, it is a homecoming of sorts. The English actor got his first professional gig at the Theater Royal in York, a small city 210 miles north of London, playing the titular feline in a 1979 pantomime production of “Dick Whittington and His Wonderful Cat.” He went on, of course, to establish himself as a screen star, achieving global fame through acclaimed performances in movies such as “J.F.K.,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” and “Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy.” Now, almost half a century after his York debut, Oldman — who lives in Palm Springs — has returned to the Theater Royal to direct himself in a revival of Samuel Beckett’s 1958 one-man play, “Krapp’s Last Tape.” The run, through May 17, is almost sold out, and the playhouse has gone to town on merch, with signed posters and T-shirts on sale in the lobby.The story of this production is like an inversion of the play’s: Oldman, 67, fondly revisiting a haunt of his youth in the twilight of an illustrious career, plays Krapp, an unsuccessful writer who, on his 69th birthday, looks back at his past self and sees only abject failure.Krapp emerges onstage, coughing and doddering, into a dusty study and sits down at a desk to rehearse an annual ritual: recording a monologue on a chunky, reel-to-reel tape recorder. First, though, he retrieves an old spool of tape, recorded 30 years earlier, shortly after a romantic breakup, and plays it back, pausing now and then to reflect and ruminate. The tape suggests a life waylaid by misdirected amorous energies and a penchant for drink. When Krapp finally passes comment, it is to condemn, matter-of-factly, “the stupid bastard I took myself for 30 years ago.”The recorded voice has more lines than the flesh-and-blood Krapp; for the actor playing him onstage, the challenge is to achieve the right quality of stillness and silence, and to render the subtle shifts as he listens to the recording. 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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    Dozens Killed in Attack on Migrant Facility in Yemen, Houthis Say

    There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military, which the Iran-backed Houthi militia blamed for the attack in Saada.Dozens of people were killed in an attack on a migrant facility in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen, the Iran-backed militia and aid officials said on Monday.The Houthi militia said that an American strike hit what they called a migrant center in Saada, killing at least 68 African migrants. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the claim.The attack came hours after the U.S. military said that American forces had conducted more than 800 strikes in Yemen since mid-March in a campaign against the Houthis. It said the campaign targeted “multiple command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities and advanced weapons storage locations” — but made no mention of civilian casualties.Houthi officials have said that more than 100 civilians have been killed, and condemned the latest strike as a “heinous crime against African migrants.”The Houthis and the U.S. military have made competing claims about who was responsible for civilian deaths in recent strikes. Last week, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command said that an explosion on April 20 that killed 12 people in the Yemeni capital had been caused by a misfired Houthi missile, not an American strike as the Houthis had claimed.On Monday, graphic footage broadcast by the Houthi-controlled al-Masirah news channel showed bodies scattered amid the rubble in Saada. In addition to the dozens who were killed, at least 40 migrants were injured, according to two aid officials in Yemen who spoke on the condition of anonymity while they further verified the circumstances of the attack.Each year, tens of thousands of African migrants attempt the perilous journey across the narrow strait separating the Horn of Africa from the Arabian Peninsula, hoping to reach wealthy Gulf States north of Yemen. Nearly 60,900 migrants have arrived in Yemen in 2024 alone, according to the International Organization for Migration.Over the past year, the Houthis have launched rockets and drones at Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea, saying their actions are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.The United States intensified a bombing campaign against the Houthis starting on March 15, under orders from President Trump, who has vowed to continue military operations until the Houthis no longer pose a threat. More

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    ‘Grandpa Robbers’ Go on Trial in Paris Over 2016 Kim Kardashian Heist

    The reality TV star and entrepreneur was tied up and held at gunpoint, and jewelry worth nearly $9 million was stolen in the incident.Ten people tied to a group nicknamed the “grandpa robbers” went on trial in Paris on Monday over accusations that they plotted and carried out a brazen robbery against Kim Kardashian in the French capital nearly a decade ago.The defendants are accused of involvement in a violent attack on the reality TV star and entrepreneur that prosecutors have attributed to a group of veteran criminals, some of whom are in their 70s.Ms. Kardashian was gagged, tied up and robbed at gunpoint of jewelry worth at least 8 million euros, or nearly $9 million, at a luxury residence she had rented during Paris fashion week in October 2016.The overnight robbery of a prominent American celebrity shocked the world and raised safety concerns for tourists in Paris, which at the time was still traumatized by a string of terrorist attacks.Five men dressed in police uniforms and wearing balaclavas burst into Ms. Kardashian’s residence. They forced the night watchman to guide two of them to her apartment and to translate as they tied her up. They took jewels, including her diamond engagement ring, and other valuables and left on foot and on bicycle minutes later.Most of the jewelry was not recovered. But investigators found DNA, including on the zip ties that were used to bind Ms. Kardashian’s hands and feet, and police made a number of arrests three months later. Prosecutors said several of those arrested, who were in their 50s and 60s at the time, were longtime criminals.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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    Boat Collides With Ferry in Florida, Causing Injuries, Police Say

    Forty people were aboard the ferry that was struck near a bridge in Clearwater, Fla., according to the police. It was unclear how many had been injured.Multiple people were injured on Sunday night when a boat struck a ferry with dozens of passengers aboard near the Memorial Causeway Bridge in Clearwater, Fla., the authorities said.The boat that hit the Clearwater Ferry, which was carrying more than 40 people, fled after the crash, the Clearwater Police Department said in a statement. At least two people were taken to local hospitals by helicopter, the police said. It was unclear what had led to the crash, and the police did not say how many people had been injured.The Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were investigating the incident. The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.This is a developing story. More

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    ‘60 Minutes’ Rebukes Paramount On-Air Over Executive Producer’s Exit

    The show’s top producer abruptly said last week he was quitting. “Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,” the correspondent Scott Pelley told viewers.In an extraordinary on-air rebuke, one of the top journalists at “60 Minutes” directly criticized the program’s parent company in the final moments of its Sunday night CBS telecast, its first episode since the program’s executive producer, Bill Owens, announced his intention to resign.“Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways,” the correspondent, Scott Pelley, told viewers. “None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires.”A spokesman for Paramount had no immediate comment, and has previously declined to comment on Mr. Owens’s departure.Mr. Owens stunned the show’s staff on Tuesday when he said he would leave the highest-rated program in television news over disagreements with Paramount, CBS’s corporate parent, saying, “It’s clear the company is done with me.”Mr. Owens’s comments were widely reported in the press last week. The show’s decision to repeat those grievances on-air may have exposed viewers to the serious tensions between “60 Minutes” and its corporate overseers for the first time.Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount, has been intent on securing approval from the Trump administration for a multibillion-dollar sale of her media company to a studio run by the son of Larry Ellison, the tech billionaire.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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    Rough Night for Republican at Town Hall in N.Y. Swing District

    Representative Mike Lawler faced shouts, groans and mockery at a high school auditorium in Rockland County.No one was expecting a love fest when Representative Mike Lawler, Republican of New York, faced constituents in his suburban swing district on Sunday night. Still, even he seemed surprised by the night’s first clash — over the Pledge of Allegiance.“Please tell me you’re not objecting to the Pledge of Allegiance,” Mr. Lawler asked incredulously after some members of the audience inside a high school auditorium audibly groaned when he suggested reciting it.They acquiesced, and several hundred attendees labored to their feet to say the pledge, but not without indicating why they believed its words had come to ring hollow.“Authoritarian!” one man yelled, an apparent reference to President Trump.“Support the Constitution!” bellowed another.So it went for nearly two hours as Mr. Lawler, one of the House’s most vulnerable Republicans and a potential candidate for governor of New York, faced a torrent of criticism from liberal constituents over almost everything, from Republicans’ multitrillion-dollar tax cut plan to how brightly the room was lit.It was a scene that has repeated itself across the country over the past two weeks for the small group of Republicans who have defied party leaders’ advice and convened feedback sessions with the people they represent, many of them anxious, angry and primed to vent over a president who they believe is acting with unchecked power.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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    U.S. Military Says Its Air Campaign Has Hit More Than 800 Targets in Yemen

    President Trump ordered a start to the strikes against the Houthis on March 15. Congressional officials say the campaign has cost well over $1 billion.American forces have hit more than 800 targets in Yemen during an ongoing air campaign that began six weeks ago against the Houthi militia, the U.S. military said on Sunday.The military said the targets of the strikes, called Operation Rough Rider, included “multiple command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities and advanced weapons storage locations.”Among the arms and equipment in stockpiles struck by the Americans were antiship ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, the types of weapons that the Houthis have used against ships in the Red Sea, the military said. The details were outlined in an announcement issued by U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations and forces in the Middle East.Congressional officials say the campaign has cost well over $1 billion so far, based on closed-door briefings Pentagon officials gave to Congress early this month, just three weeks into the campaign. The New York Times reported in early April on the rapid rate of munitions used in the campaign, a rate that has caused concern among some strategic planners in the U.S. military.The Houthis have been firing projectiles and launching drones at commercial and military ships in the Red Sea as a show of solidarity with the residents of Gaza and with Hamas, the militant group that controls it. They have been under assault by Israel since Hamas carried out a deadly strike in southern Israel in October 2023 and took hostages.On March 15, President Trump ordered the U.S. military to begin a continual air campaign against the Houthis, after the Biden administration carried out some strikes. Until Sunday, the U.S. military had not publicly disclosed the number of targets struck in Operation Rough Rider.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