Author: NY TIMES

In a field on the outskirts of Kyiv, the founders of Vyriy, a Ukrainian drone company, were recently at work on a weapon of the future.To demonstrate it, Oleksii Babenko, 25, Vyriy’s chief executive, hopped on his motorcycle and rode down a dirt path. Behind him, a drone followed, as a colleague tracked the movements from a briefcase-size computer.Until recently, a human would have piloted the quadcopter. No longer. Instead, after the drone locked onto its target — Mr. Babenko — it flew itself, guided by software that used the machine’s camera to track him.The motorcycle’s growling engine was no…

The new policy, released by Etsy on Thursday and reported by Mashable on Friday, is the company’s attempt to “continue to keep our users safe,” Alice Wu, the head of Etsy’s trust and safety team, wrote in a public letter. The company declined to comment further.Not all sex-related products will be banned. Accessories like handcuffs and harnesses will still be allowed, along with paintings or sculptures that show “visible breasts and buttocks.” But the “more rigorous guidelines,” as Ms. Wu’s letter referred to them, mean that some Etsy sellers will have to leave the platform entirely or substantially shift their…

North Korea said on Tuesday that it had tested a new ballistic missile with a “super-large warhead,” the most recent development in an arms race with South Korea as the countries vie to introduce weapons of increasingly destructive power.Two of the new missiles, known as the Hwasong-11Da-4.5, were launched on Monday, each with a dummy warhead that weighed 4.5 tons, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said. ​Ballistic missiles often carry warheads that weigh less than a ton.South Korea already has similar missiles that can deliver large warheads. Col. Lee Sung-jun, a spokesman for the South’s military, said the…

Major components of President Biden’s student loan repayment plan can continue to operate as lawsuits challenging it wind through the legal system, a federal appellate court ruled on Sunday. That frees the administration to cut certain borrowers’ payments by as much as half, a benefit that had been previously scheduled but blocked.The order, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver, is the latest twist in a saga that began to unfold last week after two federal judges temporarily suspended parts of the plan known as SAVE. That program, which has about eight million enrollees, ties…

Keir Starmer, the leader of Britain’s Labour Party, nodded sympathetically as a young mother recalled, in harrowing terms, how she had watched closed-circuit television footage of the fatal stabbing of her 21-year-old son, whose heart was pierced with a single blow.“Thank you for that,” a somber Mr. Starmer said to the woman and other relatives of victims of knife attacks, as they stood around a wooden table last week, discussing ways to combat violent crime. “It’s really, really powerful.”It was not the most feel-good campaign event for a candidate the week before an election that his opposition party is widely…

Before the official start of the second day of the women’s competition at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials, 80% of the five-person team was almost locked in. Simone Biles, Suny Lee, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey emerged from the injury-stricken squad on night one to claim a top four all-around spot as the Tokyo Olympics The foursome work together to form a well-rounded team. But unlike the Tokyo Olympics, the rhythmic gymnastics event at the Paris Olympics will consist of five-person teams. Three staunch contenders for the team, Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello, withdrew due to injuries sustained…

[Estamos en WhatsApp. Empieza a seguirnos ahora]Después de tantos años de trabajo arduo y preparación, los atletas de clase mundial que lleguen a los Juegos Olímpicos de París el mes que viene podrían enfrentarse a un último obstáculo antes de competir por las medallas: ver el modo de mantenerse frescos.Como parte de un objetivo declarado para hacer de estos los Juegos Olímpicos “más ecológicos” de la historia, los organizadores de París 2024 optaron por no poner aire acondicionado convencional en la villa de los atletas. En su lugar, se instaló un extenso sistema de tuberías de agua bajo el suelo…

Severe turbulence on an Air Europa flight to Uruguay from Spain on Monday injured more than two dozen passengers, officials said, leaving several with neck and skull fractures, in at least the second case of severe injuries from turbulence worldwide in less than a month.Flight UX045 made an emergency landing early Monday in the seaside city of Natal, Brazil, after experiencing turbulence more than four hours into the flight from Madrid, according to flight data.Some passengers hit their heads during the turbulence, resulting in head, neck and chest injuries, according to Brazilian public health officials. Thirty-six passengers were treated for…

A powerful hurricane began sweeping through the eastern Caribbean Islands on Monday, making a devastating landfall on Carriacou, a small island north of Grenada, officials said.In a briefing broadcast on social media, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell of Grenada said that Carriacou had been “flattened” in just half an hour and that government officials also expected “extreme” damage on the neighboring island of Petite Martinique.One death was reported in Grenada’s capital, St. George’s, after a tree fell on a house. “This hits home,” Mr. Mitchell said. “The deceased person is in fact the relative of one of the persons who spent…

PHOENIX — Caitlin Clark sat on the bench for the first time Sunday and clapped in the final seconds of the game. The Indiana Fever rookie celebrated an 88-82 victory over the Phoenix Mercury with her teammates before being surrounded by television cameras and photographers. When Diana Taurasi spoke to an ESPN reporter, she walked 20 feet away toward the home locker room.The game was significant for the Fever, marking their first win over a winning team in 20 games, but it also presented a before-and-after picture that shouldn’t be ignored. Clark, 22, is a hot prospect and the future…