Author: NY TIMES

Louisiana lawmakers passed legislation on Thursday to make the state the first in the nation to designate abortion pills as dangerous controlled substances. Possession of the drugs without a prescription would be a crime punishable with jail time and thousands of dollars in fines.The legislation, which passed the State Senate by a vote of 29 to 7, now goes to Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican who previously defended the state’s stringent abortion ban in court as attorney general. He is widely expected to sign it.By classifying the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV drugs — a category of…

Cassie, the singer who accused Sean Combs of years of physical and sexual abuse in a lawsuit that she settled, on Thursday addressed footage of the music mogul assaulting her that emerged last week, saying in an Instagram post that domestic violence had broken her down to “someone I never thought I would become.”“Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to take this matter seriously,” the singer, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, wrote in the post. “My only ask is that EVERYONE open your heart to believing victims the first time. It takes a lot of heart…

For weeks, the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city, Rafah, was one of the few places where desperate Gazans could find some aid and food. Bakeries sold bread; fuel powered generators; markets were open, if expensive.But since Israeli forces began an incursion in the city this month — effectively closing the two main crossings where aid enters — Rafah has become a place of fear and dwindling supplies. Bakeries have shuttered. So have malnutrition treatment centers. The price of the firewood that many people now use to cook has doubled. Tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers have grown so expensive that they are sold…

A little more than an hour before the game begins, the gates outside the Johan Cruyff Stadium swing open and a thousand or so fans rush inside. Some scurry to the turnstiles. Others wait patiently at the merchandise stalls, anxious to buy a jersey, a scarf, a commemorative trinket.The busiest and longest line, though, forms outside a booth offering fans the chance to have a photo taken with their heroes. Within a couple of minutes, it snakes all the way back to the entrance, populated by doting parents and spellbound preteens hoping they arrived in time.They have come to see…

Last summer, ESPN inexplicably fired NBA Finals game analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson. It’s part of Disney’s network layoffs that happen every few years, a bit like NFL teams pruning their books to make room for millions of dollars in future spending.Van Gundy’s pay cut especially makes no sense because he is probably the best game analyst in sports, with a gym-junkie mentality and “inside the NBA” quirks.In the wake of these moves, ESPN’s performance hasn’t been what it once was. In theory, ESPN should provide great listening to venerable players Mike Breen, Hall of Famer Doris Burke…

Veronica Mae McCracken and Mitchell Henry Karr first met in May 2014 on her first day at the Minneapolis architecture and design firm MSR Design, where she works as an interior designer and he as an architect. The two were dating other people at the time.It wasn’t until the annual Fusion Fashion Show hosted by the Northland chapter of the International Interior Design Association on Nov. 13, 2015, that sparks began to fly. By then, each was single.Ms. McCracken, 33, had volunteered to walk the runway and caught Mr. Karr’s attention wearing silver metallic lipstick, tin foil eyebrows, six-inch platform…

China has a housing problem. A very big one. It has nearly four million apartments that no one wants to buy, a combined expanse of unwanted living space roughly the area of Philadelphia.Xi Jinping, the country’s leader, and his deputies have called on the government to buy them.The plan, announced last week, is the boldest move yet by Beijing to stop the tailspin of a housing crisis that threatens one of the world’s biggest economies. It was also not nearly enough.China has a bigger problem lurking behind all those empty apartments: even more homes that developers already sold but have…

Federal regulators on Thursday approved an investment product tied to the cryptocurrency Ether, the most valuable digital asset after Bitcoin, in a major boost for the crypto industry.The Securities and Exchange Commission said a group of exchanges could begin listing investment products known as exchange-traded funds, or E.T.F.s, linked to the price of Ether. The products would offer an easier and simpler way for people to invest in crypto, potentially boosting prices and promoting wider adoption of digital currencies.In January, the S.E.C. approved similar products that track the price of Bitcoin, leading to a flurry of new investment that helped…

For the first time on record, cannabis has outpaced alcohol as the daily drug of choice for Americans.In 2022 there were 17.7 million people who reported using cannabis either every day or nearly every day, compared with 14.7 million who reported using alcohol with the same frequency, according to a study, published on Wednesday in the journal Addiction that analyzed data from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health.While far more people drink than use cannabis, drinking frequently has become slightly less common than it was around 15 years ago, the study found. But the proportion of people…

The wholesome ocean-breeze look of the Beach Boys could make the group a punchline if it weren’t for their sweet sunshine sound. The origins of their intricate harmonies undergird “The Beach Boys,” a Disney documentary directed by Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny that notes obstacles in the band’s career but mostly tries to keep the good vibrations going.Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson grew up in a musical household in Hawthorne, Calif., and eventually pooled their ample talents with a cousin, Mike Love, and a friend, Al Jardine. As told through a patchwork of polite interviews and mostly mundane clips from…