Author: NY TIMES

After one of Norfolk Southern’s freight trains derailed last year, spilling hazardous chemicals in an Ohio town, the company’s leaders were assailed by lawmakers, regulators and angry residents, an onslaught the executives managed to survive.But Norfolk Southern’s management faces a fresh challenge this week from an investment firm that is asking shareholders to vote to replace the company’s chief executive, Alan Shaw, and appoint new directors to its board.The campaign by Ancora, a Cleveland investment firm, invokes the accident in East Palestine, the Ohio town, but its main aim is to overhaul Norfolk Southern’s business strategy to bolster its profits.The…

A woman who filed a lawsuit accusing Neil Portnow, the former head of the Grammy Awards, of drugging and raping her in a New York hotel room has asked a federal judge for her case to be dismissed.The request by the woman, who filed her suit anonymously in November, was addressed to Judge Analisa Torres of Federal District Court in Manhattan over the weekend via email, and it was posted on Monday to the court’s website. Days before, her lawyers had opposed a statement by Mr. Portnow’s lawyers to require the woman to use her real name in the case.In…

President Biden on Tuesday condemned a “ferocious surge of antisemitism” in the United States following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel and said people were already forgetting the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.Speaking at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Days of Remembrance, Mr. Biden tied the anti-Jewish sentiment that led to the Nazi effort to exterminate Jews directly to Oct. 7.“This ancient hatred of Jews didn’t begin with the Holocaust,” he said. “It didn’t end with the Holocaust, either.”For Mr. Biden, a self-described Zionist, the speech was a clear assertion of his support for Jewish Americans as…

President Biden is warning that a new surge of cheap Chinese products poses a threat to American factories. There is little sign of one in official trade data, which show that Chinese steel imports are down sharply from last year and that the gap between what the United States sells to China and what it buys is at a post-pandemic low.But the president’s aides are looking past those numbers and fixating on what they call troubling signs from China and Europe. That includes data showing China’s growing appetite to churn out big-ticket goods like cars and heavy metals at a…

My husband’s grandfather often gave my husband and his older sister larger financial gifts than the ones he gave their younger sister. After he died, their mother (the grandfather’s daughter) decided to rectify this inequity by giving a large portion of her inheritance to her younger daughter. This seemed totally fair to me; it was her money. But now, the younger daughter, who has lived rent-free for years in an apartment owned by her mother, has asked her to sell the apartment and give the proceeds to her alone — all in the name of canceling out the favoritism by…

Three years ago, a multibillion-dollar investment firm called Archegos Capital Management blew up with little warning, causing big losses for some Wall Street banks and leading to federal criminal charges against the firm’s founder, Bill Hwang.On Wednesday, Mr. Hwang, 60, who was charged with 11 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, racketeering and market manipulation, is set to go on trial in Manhattan federal court. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.Federal prosecutors are seeking to secure a conviction in a major stock market manipulation case in which Mr. Hwang, whose legal name is…

The summer travel season starts in just a few weeks, but if you are looking for software that goes beyond simply booking flights and hotels, you’re in luck. Search engines enhanced by artificial intelligence can help with your research and outline full itineraries. Certain older apps have recently been updated to suggest more eco-friendly travel options. And keeping it all organized on your phone is easier than ever. Here’s an overview.Using an A.I. Travel AgentGeneral-purpose A.I.-powered search tools and chatbots like Google’s Gemini spin up a list of things to do on your vacation when asked, but A.I. bots that…

“Hell’s Kitchen” ran at the Public from October to January — it was sold out, and well-received. Moon is now relishing her Broadway moment.“You know, I got scared that in the stress of all this, I would crumble, and I’m not going to lie — I’ve had my moments,” she said. “During tech I had a huge breakdown where everything hit me at once, and I fell apart during ‘Teenage Love Affair,’ ran offstage, came up into my dressing room, had people praying over me, got through it.”But mostly, she’s good. “I’ve had little moments like that, but overall, this…

Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing into the Gaza Strip, the Israeli agency overseeing aid deliveries in the territory said Wednesday, reinstating one of two critical entry points for humanitarian aid that it had closed.The Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza had been closed since a Hamas rocket attack from Gaza on Sunday killed four Israeli soldiers in the area. On Tuesday, the Israeli military mounted an incursion that closed the Rafah crossing on Gaza’s border with Egypt.Since the start of the war, most of the aid for Gaza has moved through the Rafah crossing. International aid agencies and…

A large Russian missile and drone assault caused serious damage to several power plants across Ukraine early Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said. It was Russia’s fifth attack on energy facilities in the past month and a half, part of a broader campaign aimed at cutting off electricity to swaths of the country and making life miserable for civilians.Ukraine’s largest private electricity company, DTEK, said in a statement that three thermal power plants had been hit, further straining Ukraine’s electricity generation capacity, which was already reeling from previous assaults. The company said that 80 percent of its available generating capacity had been…