Author: NY TIMES

A committee of experts that advises the Food and Drug Administration voted by large majorities on Thursday that a new blood test to screen people for colon and rectal cancers was safe and effective, and that its risks outweighed its benefits.But the group cautioned that the blood test had limitations and added that they were endorsing it with the hope that it would increase the abysmally low number of people who are regularly screened for this cancer.The F.D.A. usually follows the advice of its expert committees.In the United States, about 150,000 people are diagnosed with colon and rectal cancers annually,…

Eilish, 22, said later that she had not meant to single out any artist and added that she had participated in the practice, too. (Both artists’ work remains available in a variety of physical formats, though Eilish has stressed sustainability.)Still, when Swift pre-empted the release of Eilish’s album last week with three special digital editions of “Tortured Poets,” available for 24 hours and including previously unheard “first-draft phone memo” demos, many saw the move as pointed. Especially online, where pop fan allegiance can be a blood sport, the matchup became one to watch.Eilish soon released her own new digital edition…

William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, who has been the lead American negotiator in efforts for a cease-fire in Gaza, plans to travel to Europe this weekend for talks with his Israeli counterpart to try to revive the stalled discussions over a pause in the fighting and the release of hostages, according to a U.S. official and another person briefed on the negotiations.This month, frustration boiled over between officials from Hamas and Israel, and the countries mediating — the United States, Qatar and Egypt — put the talks on hold.Israeli officials were upset with what they saw as shifting negotiating…

The script for the high-profile advertisement had been signed off, the star had been hired and the creative team at the Irish sports betting company Paddy Power was convinced it had scored a win ahead of a big sporting summer.Even with his back turned, and even before the big reveal, the man in the No. 10 England soccer jersey would be instantly recognizable by his build and shock of light hair: Boris Johnson.“I told you I would get us back in Europe,” the script called for Mr. Johnson to say, a glib — and untrue — quip from a man…

For a moment, the annual Gordon Parks Foundation gala felt like a church service.The celestial voices of a choir echoed throughout, resonating from the marble floor to the vaulted ceiling of Cipriani on 42nd Street. They sang and stomped powerfully while patrons took their seats.The service had begun.The night included a reverent performance from Patti Smith, an auction that felt a little like tithing and something of a sermon from the artist Carrie Mae Weems celebrating the artist Mickalene Thomas — who was also in the crowd. It was capped off with a call to action from Myrlie Evers-Williams, the…

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay more than $310 million to settle claims and cover costs stemming from the February 2023 derailment of a freight train carrying hazardous materials in an Ohio town, the federal government said on Thursday.The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency said the settlement, which still needs to be approved by a federal court, requires Norfolk Southern to improve rail safety and pay for cleanup costs and health and environmental monitoring in and around East Palestine, Ohio, where the accident happened.On a Friday night in early February last year, 38 rail cars on a…

The Justice Department on Thursday sued Live Nation Entertainment, the concert giant that owns Ticketmaster, asking a court to break up the company over claims it illegally maintained a monopoly in the live entertainment industry.In the lawsuit, which is joined by 29 states and the District of Columbia, the government accuses Live Nation of dominating the industry by locking venues into exclusive ticketing contracts, pressuring artists to use its services and threatening its rivals with financial retribution.Those tactics, the government argues, have resulted in higher ticket prices for consumers and have stifled innovation and competition throughout the industry.“It is time…

In more than a dozen states, doctors and nurses have resorted to paper and handwritten treatment orders to chart patient illnesses and track them, unable to access the detailed medical histories that have long been available only through computerized records.Patients have waited for long stints in emergency rooms, and their treatments have been delayed while lab results and readings from machines like M.R.I.s are ferried through makeshift efforts lacking the speed of electronic uploads.For more than two weeks, thousands of medical personnel have turned to manual methods after a cyberattack on Ascension, one of the nation’s largest health systems with…

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…

Iran’s president will be laid to rest in his hometown on Thursday, capping days of funeral observances after his death in a helicopter crash left the country without one of its highest-profile leaders.The deceased president, Ebrahim Raisi, will be buried at the Imam Reza shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad, one of the holiest sites of Shiite Islam. Before that, his body was flown from Tehran, the capital, to the eastern city of Birjand for a funeral procession. Photos and videos posted by the state news media showed a smaller crowd in Birjand compared with the tens of thousands…