Dairy cows in Nevada have been infected with a new form of bird flu that is distinct from the version that has been spreading through herds over the last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Wednesday. The finding indicates that the virus, known as H5N1, has spilled from birds into cows at least…

Prince Rahim al-Hussaini, a son of the Aga Khan IV, was named as his successor on Wednesday, inheriting the role of spiritual leader of millions of Ismaili Muslims around the world. Rahim, 53, became the fifth Aga Khan and the 50th imam of the Nizari Ismaili branch of Shia Islam, whose leaders claim descent from…

Top Trump administration officials attempted today to soften crucial elements of President Trump’s proposal that the U.S. should take over Gaza and drive out the Palestinian population there. The plan, which the president laid out last night, was sharply criticized by allies and adversaries alike. Secretary of State Marco Rubio twice suggested today that Trump…

The White House ordered the C.I.A. to send an unclassified email listing all employees hired by the spy agency over the last two years to comply with an executive order to shrink the federal work force, in a move that former officials say risked the list leaking to adversaries. The list included first names and…

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday told an official with the United States Agency for International Development that foreign aid was “the least popular thing government spends money on” and had become increasingly difficult to defend, according to a transcript of a private embassy event. Mr. Rubio sought to explain his support for the…

Even as much of the United States shivered under frigid conditions last month, the planet as a whole had its warmest January on record, scientists said on Thursday. The warmth came as something of a surprise to climate researchers. It occurred during La Niña conditions in the Pacific Ocean, which tend to lower the globe’s…

Irv Gotti, a music executive who co-founded Murder Inc. Records and built a hip-hop empire that produced some of the biggest rap and R&B albums around the beginning of the 21st century, has died. His death was confirmed late Wednesday in a statement by Murder Inc.’s parent label, Def Jam Recordings, where he also worked…

When President Trump announced his proposal for the United States to take ownership of Gaza on Tuesday, he shocked even senior members of his own White House and government. While his announcement looked formal and thought-out — he read the plan from a sheet of paper — his administration had not done even the most…

The world’s richest man is boasting about destroying the United States Agency for International Development, which saves the lives of the world’s poorest children, saying he shoved it “into the wood chipper.” By my calculations, Elon Musk probably has a net worth greater than that of the poorest billion people on Earth. Just since Donald…

I never wanted to be a writer. I was an information designer. Becoming a columnist, like so many things in my career, was a bit of a fluke. As I end this column, I’d like to share the strange way that it began. After many years in The Times’s newsroom as a graphics editor and…