More stories

  • in

    2-Year-Old Gorilla Dies After Being Struck by Hydraulic Door at Zoo

    A Calgary Zoo staff member mistakenly activated a door that struck the western lowland gorilla named Eyare, a report found.A 2-year-old gorilla died of traumatic injuries last week at the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada, after being struck by a hydraulic door that a staff member mistakenly activated, according to the zoo.The western lowland gorilla, named Eyare, who was the offspring of gorillas at the zoo, had been interacting with other gorillas on Nov. 12 in an enclosure where they are fed, observed and trained outside their habitat.A staff member was trying to separate Eyare, who weighed about 30 pounds, from the other gorillas for a vaccination training session.“A team member intended to activate a door that they were looking at, but accidentally used the control lever for a different door,” Colleen Baird, the zoo’s director of animal care, said in an interview on Saturday. “And as that door was closing, Eyare was passing through, and she was struck by it.”Teams attempted lifesaving measures, but Eyare died shortly after 9:30 a.m.Ms. Baird said that the staff member operating the door was “devastated,” and that the person was immediately removed from the workplace. The staff member was not a new employee, and was comfortable working with gorillas, Ms. Baird said.The staff member will undergo additional training before returning to work in that area of the zoo, which is home to six other western lowland gorillas.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

  • in

    Kim Kardashian exhibe productos de Tesla y desata teorías políticas

    Sale de fiesta con Ivanka Trump y ha convertido productos de Tesla en accesorios de moda en las redes sociales. Pero asumir que se trata de declaraciones políticas podría ser incorrecto.¿Se ha vuelto Kim Kardashian parte del movimiento MAGA?Esa pregunta circuló por internet esta semana después de que Kardashian, la personalidad de la telerrealidad y preeminente influente de las redes sociales, publicara una serie de fotografías suyas en Instagram y X posando delante y dentro de un Tesla Cybercab.Llevaba tacones negros y medias de encaje sobre su característico conjunto moldeador de color nude, con un liguero y una chaqueta negra abultada. Un robot Optimus —que al parecer será capaz de hacer prácticamente cualquier cosa, ya sea manejar un Cybertruck o freír un huevo— iba sentado en el asiento del conductor.Había fotos de Kardashian de pie fuera del vehículo. Había fotos de ella sentada en el regazo del robot. Un representante de Kardashian, quien ha ocultado algunos contenidos patrocinados en el pasado, dijo que no se recibieron pagos a cambio de las publicaciones.El momento elegido para hacer estas publicaciones fue sin duda curioso. El director ejecutivo de Tesla, Elon Musk, ha ganado nueva prominencia como uno de los aliados más notables del presidente electo Donald Trump, e incluso Trump le ha pedido que se una a Vivek Ramaswamy para dirigir un nuevo “departamento de eficiencia gubernamental”.Esa conexión fue suficiente para que la gente empezara a especular sobre sus motivaciones, y algunos llegaron a conectar esos cargos con la aparente amistad de Kardashian con Ivanka Trump, la hija de Donald Trump, para reforzar la teoría de que había respaldado políticamente a Trump.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

  • in

    Elon Musk recibe un curso intensivo sobre cómo funciona el mundo de Donald Trump

    La persona más rica del mundo, no muy conocida por su humildad, está aprendiendo la despiadada política cortesana del círculo íntimo de Donald Trump, y su influencia final sigue siendo una incógnita.Durante los primeros 53 años de su vida, Elon Musk apenas pasó tiempo con Donald Trump. Luego, a partir de la noche del 5 de noviembre, básicamente no pasó tiempo sin él.Y así, Musk, más que cualquier otro actor clave en la transición presidencial, se encuentra en un entrenamiento intensivo para aprender la política cortesana del círculo íntimo de Trump. Para la persona más rica del mundo —no muy conocida por su humildad o su paciencia— es un reto de ingeniería social mucho más difícil y menos familiar que la fabricación pesada o la ciencia de cohetes.Abundan las dudas sobre si se graduará en 2028 con un título de cuatro años en Trumpismo: en este momento, en Washington y Silicon Valley, es como un juego de salón especular cuánto durará la relación Musk-Trump. La respuesta, como te dirán los asesores descartados del primer mandato de Trump, puede depender de la capacidad de Musk para aplacar al jefe y mantener un perfil relativamente bajo, pero también para apuñalar a un rival cuando llegue el momento.En resumen, cómo jugar a la política en el mundo de Trump.La mayoría de las personas que rodean actualmente a Trump en la transición son ayudantes curtidos en batallas anteriores o amigos personales desde hace décadas. Musk no es ni lo uno ni lo otro. Lo que aporta en cambio son sus 200 millones de seguidores en X y los aproximadamente 200 millones de dólares que gastó para ayudar a elegir a Trump. Ambas cosas han impresionado mucho al presidente electo. Trump, asombrado por la disposición de Musk a despedir al 80 por ciento del personal de X, ha dicho que el multimillonario de la tecnología ayudará a dirigir un Departamento de Eficiencia Gubernamental junto con Vivek Ramaswamy.Musk mostró a Trump y a legisladores republicanos la sala de control antes del lanzamiento de un cohete de SpaceX el martes, en el sur de Texas. Foto de consorcio de Brandon BellWe 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

  • in

    Sectarian Violence Kills at Least 25 in Northwest Pakistan

    The clashes overnight between Sunni and Shiite tribes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province came a day after gunmen ambushed a convey of vehicles in the area.Violent clashes erupted overnight between Sunni and Shiite tribes in northwestern Pakistan, leaving at least 25 people dead and markets, homes and government properties in flames, officials and residents said on Saturday.The violence occurred in Kurram, a scenic mountainous district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which borders Afghanistan. It took place in the same area where gunmen ambushed convoys of vehicles on Thursday, killing 42 people, all Shia, despite the protection of security forces.Pakistan is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, but Kurram’s population of 800,000 is nearly half Shiite Muslim, a dynamic that contributes to tribal and sectarian tensions. Officials and residents said that the violence started on Friday afternoon in parts of the district where Sunni and Shiite groups live close to each other.Muhammad Shoaib, a resident of a Sunni-populated town where the Shiite convoys came under attack on Thursday, said that hundreds of heavily armed people from the rival sect had attacked the main market on Friday night and set fire to dozens of shops and houses.“For hours on that night, heavy gunfire was exchanged between both sides, with large weapons being used freely,” said Mr. Shoaib, who on Friday morning had moved his family to stay with relatives in a neighboring district out of fear for their safety.“We knew that there would be a retaliatory attack,” he said. “It’s a cycle of violence that we have been witnessing and suffering for years now.”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

  • in

    Donate This Holiday Season: Women and Children Need Your Help

    This column is part of Times Opinion’s 2024 Giving Guide. Read more about the guide in a note from Times Opinion’s editor, Kathleen Kingsbury.Forget the necktie that will sit in Dad’s closet or the perfume that your sister Sue will soon regift, for I have some better ideas.This is my annual holiday giving guide, and I think you’ll like the charities I recommend this year — and so will Dad and Sue if you contribute in their names. You can donate and find out more information through my Kristof Holiday Impact Prize website, KristofImpact.org, which I’ve used for the past six years to support nonprofits in my giving guide.Here’s what your contributions can accomplish this year:Give a woman her life back! One of the most heartbreaking conditions I’ve reported on is obstetric fistula, a childbirth injury that happens in poor countries when a woman endures many hours of obstructed labor and no doctor is available to perform a C-section. The baby usually dies, and the woman is left with injuries affecting the vaginal wall and the bladder or rectum, so she continuously leaks bodily waste.These women — sometimes just teenage girls — can feel stigmatized and humiliated, even that they have been cursed by God.The good news is that together we can help them reclaim their lives, with a corrective surgery that costs just $619 per person. A nonprofit called the Fistula Foundation has financed more than 100,000 surgeries through a network of more than 150 hospitals in more than 30 countries. Yet need remains enormous.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

  • in

    Donate This Holiday Season: Charities That Need Your Help

    Sebastian KönigThis article also appears in the Opinion Today newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it in your inbox each weekday morning and on Saturdays.I’m excited to announce the return of Times Opinion’s annual giving guide. Over the course of the next two weeks you will find recommendations from our columnists and writers for nonprofits that deserve your attention as 2024 comes to a close. Each year that we have undertaken the guide, I’ve been impressed with our readers’ generosity, and I hope you will consider donating again this holiday season.Today, the columnist Nicholas Kristof kicks things off, suggesting several organizations around the globe that positively affect change. “If you’re feeling dispirited by national or global events,” he writes, “remember the adage that it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” Nick has been Opinion’s guiding light when it comes to raising money for worthy causes, and this year his list offers many good options.One of my favorite parts of this tradition is offering you some of my own suggestions: I’d be remiss not to start with The New York Times Communities Fund. The campaign, started by the paper more than a century ago, this year supports nine organizations focused on feeding families, offering educational opportunities and much more. You will hear more about their work from me and our editorial board over the next several weeks, but please consider giving to the Communities Fund.I’ve spent the weeks since the election thinking a lot about the future of education in the United States, as the president-elect and his allies have pledged to rethink the federal Department of Education and its mission. One model that I’ve been impressed with is the Cristo Rey Network. Its Catholic high schools across the country give students a curriculum that helps prepare them for college while also placing them at professional jobs once a week during the school year. Students, on average, come from families of four making $38,000 a year or less.What impresses me is that Cristo Rey’s approach offers students multiple pathways coming out of high school, giving them true choice combined with hands-on work experience. I’m most familiar with and have supported the Cristo Rey campus in Milwaukee, which has proved transformational to its community, but you’ll likely find one of the network’s 40 schools nearby if you are interested in supporting its efforts.There are few things that can bring joy like helping those in need. Wishing you all that satisfaction in abundance this year.This article is part of Times Opinion’s Giving Guide 2024. If you are interested in any organization mentioned in Times Opinion’s Giving Guide 2024, please go directly to its website. Neither the authors nor The Times will be able to address queries about the groups or facilitate donations. More

  • in

    Stock for Sale by Cabinet Members

    Trump’s picks for Treasury secretary and commerce secretary both lead Wall Street firms. Here’s what that could mean for their finances and businesses.As President-elect Donald Trump takes an unconventional approach to stocking his cabinet, he’s also embracing one candidate pool that has plenty of precedent: Wall Street chief executives.On Friday, Trump picked Scott Bessent, a top economic adviser and the founder of Key Square Group, a hedge fund, to be his Treasury secretary. He previously tapped Howard Lutnick, the chief executive of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, for commerce secretary.Executives appointed to government positions are often required to make extensive stock divestitures, so the path from Wall Street to Washington can be particularly complex (while also offering an opportunity to avoid certain taxes).Bessent’s potential departure from Key Square may trigger “key man provisions” that often protect clients of hedge funds if top executives leave. And Lutnick is inextricably linked with Cantor Fitzgerald: He was named its president in 1991 and steered the firm after it was ravaged by the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.Here is what we know — and don’t know — about how Bessent and Lutnick plan to unwind.Lutnick would leave Cantor Fitzgerald. He said Thursday that, upon Senate confirmation, he would step down from the company and the two firms it spun out: BGC Group, a brokerage firm, and Newmark, a real estate firm.He’d be leaving during BGC’s ambitious push to take on the exchange giant CME Group — likely a reason that BGC’s shares were down 8 percent for the week. Shares of Newmark were up 1 percent.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

  • in

    Biden’s Chief Economist Processes the Election With ‘Confusion, Guilt’

    Jared Bernstein, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, was a leading architect of “Bidenomics.”Since the election, Jared Bernstein, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, has often found himself in a down mood — dealing, he says, with “confusion, guilt” and “cognitive dissonance.”President-elect Donald J. Trump’s sweeping victory was fueled in part by lousy consumer sentiment and working-class Americans’ frustration with the underlying state of the economy. That is a big blow to the idea of “Bidenomics,” of which Mr. Bernstein was a leading evangelist and architect.The U.S. economy recovered from the pandemic with greater strength than any of its peers. Unemployment stayed below 4 percent for the longest stretch since the 1960s, and remains low. A widely predicted, long-feared recession never materialized. And data show there is continuing a boomlet in manufacturing construction and business productivity.But price increases also spiked on President Biden’s watch. Several prominent economists, peers of Mr. Bernstein’s, argue that the administration’s robust fiscal response caused the inflation. And other issues of affordability — especially housing — have sapped the optimism of many households in the last couple of years.Calling in from Paris on Friday after serving as chair of an economic meeting of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation at the Château de la Muette, Mr. Bernstein, a longtime Biden confidant, spoke with The New York Times about how he is making sense of the moment.You told me three years ago that one goal of the American Rescue Plan was to intentionally “run the economy with a little bit more heat.” We’ve seen benefits of that, but in light of ensuing inflation, do you regret the size and the scope of the American Rescue Plan?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