Author: NY TIMES

Hurricane Beryl was churning toward the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico at Category 3 strength on Thursday night after tearing through the eastern Caribbean, where it left islands flattened, communities inundated and at least eight people dead.The storm, the earliest Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, had weakened to Category 2 strength earlier Thursday, but it regained force in the Caribbean Sea, with maximum sustained winds up to 115 miles an hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.With the center forecasting “dangerous” storm surges and damaging waves, in addition to hurricane-force winds, the authorities in Mexico were taking no…

Soon their feelings became obvious, and in December, they went on their first official date at a ceramics studio. The mugs they painted “live in my mom’s kitchen to this day,” Mr. Thakker said. After the semester ended, they took a road trip to Disneyland and had such a good time that they decided to become exclusive when they returned.Six years later, on Dec. 26, 2022, Mr. Thakker booked a spontaneous trip for him and Ms. Vijay to Maui and proposed at sunrise on the Ironwood Cliffs, a hiking area on the Hawaiian island. The couple were legally married June…

Like a globe-spanning tornado that touches down with little predictability, deep economic anxieties are leaving a trail of political turmoil and violence across poor and rich countries alike.In Kenya, a nation buckling under debt, protests over a proposed tax increase last week resulted in dozens of deaths, abductions of demonstrators and a partially scorched Parliament.At the same time in Bolivia, where residents have lined up for gas because of shortages, a military general led a failed coup attempt, saying the president, a former economist, must “stop impoverishing our country,” just before an armored truck rammed into the presidential palace.And in…

It didn’t become part of vaccination programs in Africa until 2024.What if it had come faster?What if the shots had arrived9 years ago?143,000.That’s how many children’s deaths could have been averted.By Stephanie NolenStephanie Nolen interviewed more than 30 scientists, health officials and other key players in the development of the malaria vaccines to report this article.July 5, 2024Nurses in countries from Sierra Leone to Cameroon are packing a new vaccine into the coolers they tote to villages for immunization clinics: a shot to protect against malaria, one of the deadliest diseases for children.Babies and toddlers in eight countries in the…

One pledged he would confront Iran’s enemies, the other vowed to make peace with the world. One intends to double down on social restrictions, the other promises to ease stifling rules for young people and women. One identifies as an Islamic ideologue, the other as a pragmatic reformist.The race to become Iran’s next president has turned into a fierce competition where, for the first time in more than a decade, the outcome is difficult to predict. The winner will be decided in a runoff on Friday after a general election the week before failed to produce a candidate with the…

As far as the authorities in Gelsenkirchen were concerned, every precaution had been taken. Extra stewards patrolled the perimeter of the field at the Arena AufSchalke. Plainclothes security staff members were in the stands. And two imposing security guards stood at the edge of the tunnel that led to the locker rooms.And yet even that was not enough. As Portugal’s players trudged to the dressing room after their defeat to Georgia last week, a fan circumvented the additional layers of security by hurling himself over the top of the tunnel and jumping directly into the path of Cristiano Ronaldo.Rather than…

Magic was in the air the first time Michelle Navarro and Christopher Zegunis met. It was 10 a.m. on a Saturday in November 2016, and the two were the first arrivals for a class at the Magic Castle, a private club for magicians in Los Angeles.“We started talking and I thought, he’s a cute guy,” Ms. Navarro said.Their immediate connection developed during the next six weeks as they learned and practiced magic tricks together. “Crushes developed,” Ms. Navarro said.On the last day of the course, Mr. Zegunis made his move. “I like this girl,” he said. “I should just ask…

Nigel Farage, a supporter of former President Donald J. Trump, a driving force behind Brexit and Britain’s best known political disrupter, was elected to Parliament for the first time.The new insurgent party he leads — Reform U.K. — was projected in the national exit poll to have captured four seats, more than many analysts had predicted, in an electoral system that typically punishes small parties. His party has been buoyed by an anti-immigration platform.Mr. Farage won by a large margin in Clacton, a faded seaside town, where pre-election opinion surveys had suggested he had a strong chance of winning. He…

Keir Starmer is all but certain to become the next prime minister of Britain, after an exit poll projected that his Labour Party would win the general election in a landslide on Thursday. The exit poll, which has accurately predicted the winner of the last five British general elections, indicated late Thursday that Labour was on course to win a commanding majority of seats in the British House of Commons. That would mean Mr. Starmer would replace Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who took office less than two years ago.Mr. Starmer, a 61-year-old former human rights lawyer, has led a remarkable…

Voters streamed into a polling station in Portsmouth, a city nestled along England’s southern coast that is known for its naval base and historic dockyard, on Thursday morning as ballot workers greeted them warmly.Older couples walked hand in hand into the local church, which had been temporarily fitted out with ballot boxes, alongside parents with children in strollers, and young adults rushing in on the way to work.One by one, they weighed in on the future of the nation in a vote that polls suggested could end 14 years of Conservative-led government.“I just want to see change,” said Sam Argha,…