Author: NY TIMES

Colombia will sever diplomatic ties with Israel over its prosecution of the war in Gaza, President Gustavo Petro announced in Bogotá on Wednesday, describing the Israeli government as “genocidal.” His announcement came in a speech in Colombia’s capital city in front of cheering crowds that had gathered for International Workers’ Day. “The times of genocide, of the extermination of an entire people cannot come before our eyes, before our passivity,” Mr. Petro said. “If Palestine dies, humanity dies.”Colombia is the second South American nation to break off relations with Israel after Bolivia, which cut ties in November over its strikes…

Olga Fikotova Connolly, who won a gold medal in track and field for Czechoslovakia in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, watched Harold Connolly of the United States win one the next day, and, in March 1957, married him as the highlight of a storybook Cold War romance, died on April 12 in Costa Mesa, Calif. She was 91.The cause was breast cancer, her daughter Merja Connolly-Freund said. She died in her son Jim’s home, where she had been receiving hospice care, Ms. Connolly-Freund said.The governing body European Athletics said Olga Connolly had been the last living female gold medalist from the…

It’s a crisp, sunny morning in late March, 40 days before the Kentucky Derby.I’m in a small studio in downtown Manhattan with a showroom filled with handmade hats. One of this week’s to-do items: One hat requires 150 handmade silk roses, each representing the uninterrupted history of the Kentucky Derby. Each rose is individually cut and sewn on site.”So far, we’ve made 44 roses,” said Carol Sulla, director of operations and sales for Christine A. Moore Millinery.This leaves “only” 106 roses to sew before the first Saturday in May.Christine Moore is the woman behind many of Derby’s most coveted hats.…

Congressional Republicans on Wednesday said they had asked NPR’s new chief executive, Katherine Maher, to address accusations of political bias in the radio network’s journalism during a hearing next week.A trio of Republican lawmakers — Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, Bob Latta of Ohio and Morgan Griffith of Virginia — sent a six-page letter to Ms. Maher that notified her of an investigation into the network and requested her appearance on May 8. “As a taxpayer funded, public radio organization, NPR should focus on fair and objective news reporting that both considers and reflects the views of the larger…

Additional testing of retail dairy products from across the country has turned up no signs of live bird flu virus, strengthening the consensus that pasteurization is protecting consumers from the threat, federal health and agriculture officials said at a news briefing on Wednesday.But the scope of the bird flu outbreak in cattle remains unclear, as dairy herds are not routinely tested for the infection, scientists and other experts have noted.Just one human infection, which was mild, has been reported, in a dairy worker in Texas who had direct contact with sick cows. But scientists fear there may be many more…

This week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes segments on:How “The Tortured Poets Department” has aged with the passing of one week since its releaseThe huge commercial success of the first week of “The Tortured Poets Department”The contemporary expectations of immediate album reviewsHow Swift’s pandemic albums “folklore” and “evermore” introduced a new generation of hardcore fansJon and Joe’s picks for the best songs from “The Tortured Poets Department”The rise of a pair of pop’s middle-class stars, Chappell Roan and Sabrina CarpenterCarpenter’s emergence into the shadow of Dua…

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken delivered twin messages to Hamas and Israel on Wednesday, pressing Hamas to accept a cease-fire proposal while at the same time urging Israeli leaders to put off a major ground invasion into the thickly populated southern Gaza city of Rafah.On the last day of a Middle East trip, his seventh visit to the region since the war began in October, Mr. Blinken tried to turn up the pressure on Hamas.“We are determined to get a cease-fire that brings the hostages home and to get it now, and the only reason that that wouldn’t be…

The United States and China may be at odds these days over Russia’s war in Ukraine, cheap Chinese exports, tensions with Taiwan and matters of human rights.But when it comes to giant pandas, diplomacy is back.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China confirmed this week that two giant pandas — Yun Chuan and Xin Bao — would be sent from the China Conservation and Research Center to the San Diego Zoo. The zoo has a longstanding partnership with China on panda conservation research, and a ministry spokesman said the upcoming exchange would focus on prevention and treatment of major diseases…

Follow today’s live coverage of Dortmund vs Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions LeagueAt the end of Tuesday night’s dizzying 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid’s press officer quickly tracked down Vinicius on the pitch and handed him a training top.The Brazilian was half-naked after swapping jerseys with Bayern substitute Brian Zaragoza, with the visitors seemingly not wanting him to catch a cold. That’s because Real Madrid can’t afford any panic from their star player, who just saved the team from the fire with two goals in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.He did it as a No.9…

Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged and signaled that they are wary about how stubborn inflation is proving, paving the way for a longer period of high interest rates.The Fed held borrowing costs steady at 5.33 percent on Wednesday, leaving them at a more than two-decade high where they have been set since July. Central bankers reiterated that they need “greater confidence” that inflation is coming down before reducing rates.“Readings on inflation have come in above expectations,” Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said at a news conference following the release of the central bank’s rate decision.The Fed stands…