Author: NY TIMES

Following is an overview of some of Callas’s career highlights at La Scala.“Aida” (Verdi): April 12, 1950Callas’s very first performance onstage at La Scala was as a substitute for the much-adored Renata Tebaldi, who was unwell. It was, by all accounts, a tepid debut. A skin condition had given the 26-year-old soprano facial blemishes that she awkwardly covered with veils. In “Maria Callas: An Intimate Biography,” by Anne Edwards, the director Franco Zeffirelli (who would go on to work with Callas) recalled “this overweight Greek lady, peeping out from behind her trailing chiffon,” with an “unevenness” in her voice. Her…

After more than 100 days of war, Israel’s limited progress in dismantling Hamas has raised doubts within the military’s high command about the near-term feasibility of achieving the country’s principal wartime objectives: eradicating Hamas and also liberating the Israeli hostages still in Gaza.Israel has established control over a smaller part of Gaza at this point in the war than it originally envisaged in battle plans from the start of the invasion, which were reviewed by The New York Times. That slower than expected pace has led some commanders to privately express their frustrations over the civilian government’s strategy for Gaza,…

It was the middle of the night in early January when a Russian missile streaked in and exploded in the center of Kharkiv, blasting down walls and shattering windows.The next day, people went shopping and to work, ate out in restaurants and clogged the streets with traffic jams, almost as if nothing had happened.But behind the business-as-usual veneer, residents of Kharkiv have been seething. Over the past month, Ukraine’s second-largest city has taken the brunt of Russia’s missile campaign, which has killed and wounded dozens of people, blown up buildings and unnerved everyone.It’s an almost daily torment. To vent, Kharkiv’s…

The headline was Gucci. The headline was always going to be Gucci, in the same way the Ever Given was destined to dominate the news cycle when the mammoth vessel, one of the largest container ships ever built, got stuck in the Suez Canal back in 2021.Gucci is, in a way, the Ever Given of the personal luxury goods trade. With more than 500 stores worldwide and an estimated market value in 2022 of $35.3 billion, it is that skyscraper-size tanker, caught sideways. The entire fashion business took a hit during the pandemic and then bounced back, or seemed to,…

The S&P 500 index closed at a record on Friday, crossing above its old high-water mark, set in early 2022. The gains show that investors have overcome fears of rising interest rates and panic about a recession that had governed stock trading for much of the past two years.Instead, they’re now betting that a drop in rates will help expand corporate profits, while the economy stays on a relatively solid footing.Even though the S&P 500 had struggled to push into the record — having bumped up against it for weeks before finally crossing above with jump on Friday — the…

An elite hacking group sponsored by Russian intelligence gained access to the emails of some of Microsoft’s senior executives beginning in late November, the company disclosed in a blog post and regulatory filing on Friday.Microsoft said it had discovered the intrusion a week ago and was still investigating. The hackers appeared to focus on combing through Microsoft’s corporate email accounts to look for information related to the hacking group, which Microsoft’s researchers called Midnight Blizzard.The hackers looked through emails from Microsoft’s senior leadership team as well as employees in cybersecurity, legal and other groups, and took some emails and attachments,…

Annie Nightingale, who became the first female disc jockey on BBC Radio 1 in 1970 and remained a popular personality there until her final show, late last year, died on Jan. 11 at her home in London. She was 83.Her family announced the death in a statement but did not cite a cause.“This is the woman who changed the face and sound of British TV and radio broadcasting forever,” Annie Mac, a longtime BBC Radio D.J., wrote on Instagram after Ms. Nightingale’s death.Ms. Nightingale became well known in music circles in the 1960s as a columnist in British newspapers. And…

For the sixth time in 10 days, the United States on Friday said it had destroyed Houthi missiles in Yemen that were poised to attack merchant and military vessels in the Red Sea, a pattern of strikes that the White House says will continue for the foreseeable future to weaken the militia group.The U.S. military hit three Houthi missiles and launchers, John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters on Friday. He did not say what weapons the United States had deployed in the attack, but previous strikes have used cruiser missiles and munitions dropped by…

Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage in Gaza started bonfires that partially blocked traffic on a major highway in Tel Aviv on Friday morning, in a sign of growing frustration over the government’s failure to bring the remaining hostages home.Police officers detained seven protesters who had “participated in disorderly conduct and unlawful behavior,” questioned and then released them, the police said in a statement. The police quickly cleared the highway and restored the flow of traffic before the start of the Israeli weekend.The Hostage and Missing Families Forum, the main group advocating for the hostages’ return, said it had…

It happened again. Of course it is.Two tennis players battled from midnight until sunrise in front of a crowd of fans, with a group of teenagers chasing the ball around four in the morning. Last year, Andy Murray dueled with Thanasi Kokkinakis until the night sky started to light up around 4am.From Thursday to Friday, it’s Russia’s Daniil Medvedev and Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori is performing a tennis version of 2am jazz. “I’m not going to stay,” Medvedev accepted after coming back from two sets down to defeat Rusuvori 3-6, 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-6(1). said in an interview. 6-0. Judging from the…