Author: NY TIMES

A Texas man was arrested in Salt Lake City on Sunday after he boarded a Delta Air Lines flight without a ticket by using a photo he had taken of another passenger’s boarding pass while they were not looking, according to court documents.The man, Wicliff Yves Fleurizard, 26, faces one felony count of stowaways on vessels or aircraft, according to a complaint filed on Monday in U.S. District Court in Utah. He was being held at the Salt Lake County Metro Jail, according to the Salt Lake City Police Department.After boarding a Delta flight bound for Austin, Texas, on Sunday,…

This month, many of the 80 million owners of Roku devices, including streaming sticks, set-top boxes and internet-connected TVs running the company’s streaming software, turned on their Rokus to see a block of text. I, the owner of a cheap Roku TV in my bedroom, was among those who got stuck with the screen.The message gave updated terms of service that made it harder for customers to take legal action against the company. Unless they agreed, users were blocked from access to the Roku menu and apps, essentially bricking their devices. The only way to opt out was to mail…

Scientists in a prominent cancer lab at Columbia University have now had four studies retracted and a stern note added to a fifth accusing it of “severe abuse of the scientific publishing system,” the latest fallout from research misconduct allegations recently leveled against several leading cancer scientists.A scientific sleuth in Britain last year uncovered discrepancies in data published by the Columbia lab, including the reuse of photos and other images across different papers. The New York Times reported last month that a medical journal in 2022 had quietly taken down a stomach cancer study by the researchers after an internal…

One spring morning in 1970, the model Pattie Boyd was having breakfast at her ramshackle mansion in the English countryside when she received a letter marked “Urgent.”Inside the envelope was a short, lovesick note. “Dearest L,” the letter began, adding later, “It seems like an eternity since I last saw or spoke to you!” As Boyd read on, the note took on a desperate tone: “If there is still a feeling in your heart for me … you must let me know!”“Don’t telephone,” the emotional scribe added. “Send a letter … that is much safer.”The author signed off with a…

The United States would cut off funding for the main U.N. agency that provides aid to Palestinians in Gaza under a spending agreement on track to soon become law, according to two people familiar with the plan.The ban, part of a massive spending bill negotiated by lawmakers and the White House that is expected to clear Congress by this weekend, would create a shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars for the agency, known as UNRWA. That could have disastrous consequences for Gazans, who are facing an acute hunger crisis and displacement in crowded shelters and tent encampments.The move would…

Former Israeli security officials are split on how to address growing anarchy in the northern Gaza Strip, but many agree that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lack of a workable plan for how the enclave will be governed makes it impossible to chart a path toward a more stable future.Mr. Netanyahu has brought forward a vague plan that calls for Israeli security control over Gaza after the war. He has also outright rejected U.S. calls for an overhauled Palestinian Authority — which now has limited governing powers in the West Bank — to govern the enclave.But there are no simple options.…

Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, is readying for her national close-up. How else to interpret her recent controversial trip to Texas to “fix” her smile, documented in a lengthy video?You know, the one she posted on X, Facebook and Instagram, singing the praises of Smile Texas, the cosmetic dental clinic that remedied what she said had been a problem incurred long ago in an accident while bicycling with her children. The one that chronicled her journey to, she said, “a smile that I can be proud of and confident in.”The result seemed so much like a promotional infomercial…

The Federal Reserve is expected to keep its key interest rate steady on Wednesday, but American households will be listening for clues about whether rate cuts are on the horizon, which could have meaningful implications for their monthly budgets and influence big purchase decisions.The central bank has raised its benchmark rate to a range of 5.25 to 5.50 percent, the highest level in more than two decades, in a series of increases over the past two years. The goal was to rein in inflation, which has cooled considerably from a high of 9.1 percent in 2022.Fed officials have kept rates…

Parrots have much in common with toddlers. The brainy birds can learn to recognize colors and shapes, manipulate objects, build large vocabularies and make their needs known at improbably high volumes. They are also playful, intelligent and curious; without ample cognitive enrichment, they quickly become bored.So owners of pet parrots sometimes turn to a strategy familiar to parents: reaching for the closest available screen. And some owners have found that they can keep their birds occupied with mobile games, drawing apps and music-making programs designed for young children. “Kids apps are quite popular,” said Rébecca Kleinberger, a scientist at Northeastern…

Measles, a highly contagious but preventable disease, is resurging in pockets of the United States, a warning of the dangers of the strengthening anti-vaccine movement.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded more cases this year than the 58 tallied in all of 2023, although the agency is not expected to release exact numbers until Friday. On Monday, the agency advised health care providers to ensure that unvaccinated patients, especially those traveling internationally, stay updated on their immunizations.The number of cases is likely to keep rising because of a sharp spike in measles worldwide, along with spring travel to…