Author: NY TIMES

When millions of AT&T customers across the country briefly lost their cellphone service last month, Francella Jackson, 61, of Fairview Heights, Ill., said she picked up her well-worn Southwestern Bell push-button landline phone and called her friends “just so we could laugh at the people who could not use their phones.”“Why, isn’t it great that we can talk and have a great conversation?” she recalled saying. “We had a good laugh.”Derek Shaw, 68, of York, Pa., said he has an Android mobile phone, but prefers talking on his black cordless landline at home. The sound quality is better, he said,…

Uber and Lyft are threatening to pull out of Minneapolis after a City Council vote there guaranteed a minimum hourly wage to drivers.The council voted 10 to 3 on Thursday to override a mayoral veto of an ordinance that requires ride-hailing services to pay drivers a minimum rate of $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute to ensure that they earn the equivalent of local minimum wage of $15.57 per hour.The wage ordinance was first approved last week, but was vetoed by Minneapolis’s mayor, Jacob Frey.Both Uber and Lyft said they would stop operating in the city when the…

The letter came from the state department of human services in July 2021. It expressed condolences for the loss of the recipient’s mother, who had died a few weeks earlier at 88.Then it explained that the deceased had incurred a Medicaid debt of more than $77,000 and provided instructions on how to repay the money. “I was stunned,” said the woman’s 62-year-old daughter.At first, she thought the letter might be some sort of scam. It wasn’t.She asked not to be identified, because the case is unresolved and she doesn’t want to jeopardize her chances of getting the bill reduced. The…

Becky G knows better than to keep returning, like a boomerang, to a liar who doesn’t love her — but she can’t resist. And the ingenious, rhythm-forward production of “Boomerang” makes her obsession sound like a village-wide celebration, with the plink of a thumb piano, flamenco-like handclaps, a thudding reggaeton bass line and a rowdy backup chorus that cheerfully supports her misplaced affections.In “Fire Excape,” Zsela croons what turns out to be a love song — but only eventually, after she notes, “There’s a fire in the ocean when the oil starts spilling.” The song takes shape over a lurching,…

Senator Chuck Schumer’s harsh critique of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government revealed the widening gap between Israel and its most important ally, the United States, analysts said on Friday, but was unlikely to prompt Israel’s government to chart a new course.Mr. Schumer — Democrat of New York, the majority leader and the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States — repeatedly slammed Mr. Netanyahu in a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday as one of the main stumbling blocks to Israeli-Palestinian peace. While not explicitly calling for Mr. Netanyahu’s ouster, Mr. Schumer said Israelis must soon…

A new sign went up a few miles from the front line recently on the main billboard of an occupied town in Ukraine’s Luhansk region.“Vote for our president. Together we’re strong,” read the sign in the white, blue and red colors of the Russian flag, according to Anastasiia, a resident.The message was clear to her: that the president was Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, not Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, and that Mr. Putin was the only choice in the Russian presidential vote taking place in the occupied parts of Ukraine over the past three weeks.Mr. Putin long ago transformed Russian…

When Micah Richards doesn’t smile, you know you’re in trouble.It was tough to watch as Jamie Carragher took digs at Kate Abdo, hurled verbal grenades and seemed to jokingly suggest she wasn’t committed to co-star Malik Scott.If you were at CBS Sports Golazo’s coverage of Arsenal’s Champions League match against Porto, you’d immediately recall the awkward scene. You might have messed up your face, you might have covered your eyes, you might have put your T-shirt over your head, Fabrizio Ravanelli style.Even if you don’t live in the United States or watch CBS’ Champions League coverage, there’s a chance that…

Sabrina Carpenter may already be dating an Irish hunk: The actress and singer attended the Vanity Fair Oscars party with the Irish actor Barry Keoghan last Sunday, adding fuel to rumors of their romantic involvement.But any feelings Ms. Carpenter may have for Mr. Keoghan did not stop her from saying she had eyes for Cillian Murphy, another Irishman, in an interview with Vanity Fair filmed before the party. Ms. Carpenter joked that if she saw Mr. Murphy at the event, she would leave with him.After a video of the interview was shared on Instagram, Mr. Keoghan left a comment. It…

Gray AreasI lead a small software company in a niche industry. Our head of product and I both shared a boss earlier in our careers. I considered him a mentor and friend, but she decidedly did not. Years after we all worked together, she shared that the two of them had an intimate relationship that did not end amicably. They were both single and consenting adults, but she was younger and junior to him. She considers the relationship exploitative and unethical. She never told any superiors back then but is frustrated that he skirted accountability.Now, our company has reason to…

After a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell the app or face a nationwide ban sailed through the House at breakneck speed this week, its progress has slowed in the Senate.Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader who determines what legislation gets a vote, has not decided whether to bring the bill to the floor, his spokesman said. Senators — some of whom have their own versions of bills targeting TikTok — will need to be convinced. Other legislation on the runway could be prioritized. And the process of taking the House bill and…