Author: NY TIMES

Army engineers on Thursday began construction of a floating pier and causeway for humanitarian aid off the coast of Gaza, which, when completed, could help relief workers deliver as many as two million meals a day for the enclave’s residents, Defense Department officials said. The construction on the “initial stages of the temporary pier and causeway at sea” means that the project’s timing is in line with what Pentagon officials had predicted, Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Defense Department’s press secretary, said. The construction is meant to allow humanitarian aid to bypass Israeli restrictions on land convoys into the…

Israel’s defense minister has said that the country’s military has eliminated half of Hezbollah’s commanders in southern Lebanon. But analysts doubt whether Israel’s increasing use of targeted killings would weaken the militant group.Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and is Iran’s most powerful regional proxy, has had intense cross-border clashes with Israeli forces ever since the Hamas-led attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. With little sign of the conflict abating and with diplomatic talks yet to result in a cease-fire, Israel has in recent months begun killing Hezbollah fighters in targeted strikes, reflecting an apparent shift in military strategy.“Half of…

Microsoft gave more signs on Thursday that its hefty investments in artificial intelligence were beginning to bear fruit, as it reported a 17 percent jump in revenue and a 20 percent increase in profit for the first three months of the year.Revenue was $61.9 billion, up from $52.9 billion a year earlier. Profit hit $21.9 billion, up from $18.3 billion. The results beat Wall Street’s expectations.A year after Microsoft began its push to put A.I. into everything it does, the company said sales of its flagship cloud computing product, Azure, had grown 31 percent. That included seven percentage points from…

On Thursday, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported strong revenue growth in its latest quarter from its search engine and video platform, YouTube, as its market-leading position in online advertising continued to reap rewards despite recent fluctuations in the industry.Alphabet reported $80.5 billion in quarterly sales, up 15 percent from a year earlier, and above analysts’ estimate of $78.8 billion. Profit climbed 36 percent to $23.7 billion. Analysts had expected $18.9 billion.Alphabet announced that for the first time, it would give shareholders a dividend of 20 cents per share, to be paid on June 17. The company’s board also approved a…

Penny Simkin, a childbirth educator and author who was often described as the “mother of the doula movement,” died on April 11 at her home in Seattle. She was 85.The cause was pancreatic cancer, said her daughter, Linny Simkin.Ms. Simkin, a physical therapist turned birth educator, was a pioneer in helping women have a better experience during and after birth. Doula is the Greek word for “female servant,” and it was embraced by alternative birth professionals sometime in the 1970s or ’80s to refer to someone who supports mothers during labor. In books, workshops and training organizations, Ms. Simkin helped…

This article is part of our Museums special section about how institutions are striving to offer their visitors more to see, do and feel.The flute music was, you know, good flute music. But for the hushed audience at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s kickoff event in February of its “Art of Noise” exhibition, the breathy scales constituted only part of the experience.The colorful outfit belonging to the flutist (who was André 3000, by the way) was the experience, too. The crisp speakers were the experience, the smoke machine was the experience. And the two lasers passing through a…

The discovery of the mass grave at Nasser Hospital came two weeks after a similar mass grave was found at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.In a statement this week, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani cited reports that some bodies had been found with their hands “tied and stripped of their clothes.”Those reports, which came from the Gazan authorities, could not be independently verified and the group did not provide evidence for its claim.At least one of the bodies exhumed since Sunday was seen wearing blue medical scrubs in a video posted to social media by a…

A small far-right party that unexpectedly entered the Greek Parliament last year will not be allowed to field candidates for the European Parliament this summer after Greece’s Supreme Court found that it was essentially a reincarnation of the banned neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn.In its decision about which parties can run in the European Parliament elections, issued on Wednesday, the court found that the party, Spartans, “offered their party as a cloak for the new political party of Ilias Kasidiaris,” the former spokesman of Golden Dawn who is currently in prison.Mr. Kasidiaris, the court said, is the true leader of Spartans,…

When Quinnen Mitchell is sprinting at full speed, if you stand 10 feet away from him, you can actually hear his speed. If you asked him a question while standing 10 feet away, you might not hear his answer.A cornerback with world-class speed, Mitchell plays with power and power—almost the opposite of his personality. Mitchell, the No. 11 prospect on Dane Brugler’s updated 2024 NFL Draft Top 100 rankings, has a GPS speed of 23 mph, a 4.3 speed, and has been on target the past two years. Defended more passes (44) than any defensive back on the year. He…

This article is part of our Museums special section about how institutions are striving to offer their visitors more to see, do and feel.Rabbits appear frequently at the New York Botanical Garden. The one that the public will soon see there, however, isn’t a typical little brown cottontail. About 12 feet tall, this creature will hold a pocket watch and have fur made of cream-colored Sedum foliage, a waistcoat of yellowy-green Sedum and a maroon jacket of Alternanthera leaves.But he’s not late for a very important date. Created by the Canadian company Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal, this White Rabbit will…