Author: NY TIMES

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Mookie Betts keeps upping the ante. He talked last season about wanting to be a Hall of Famer. His latest goal: to become, in his words, “a gaming legend.”Betts, 31, made the statement during an interview I did with Fox Sports on Tuesday. I asked him what keeps him going at this point in his career after winning two World Series and an MVP award. What motivates him. What motivates him.”Obviously my family,” said Bates, who is married with two children. “But there’s a drive within me to be great. I want to be great. When I’m…

At the end of May 2021, Ilana Madelya Maier received a tipsy call from Tyler Aldrich, asking: “If someone like Scott Berlin, but not Scott Berlin, but Scott Berlin asked you out, what would you say?” Ms. Maier replied, “I would need to get an invite for him to find out.”Mr. Aldrich was one of Scott Andrew Berlin’s colleagues and best friends. Mr. Aldrich, who worked with Mr. Berlin at Hamilton Campaign Network, a political campaign consulting firm, thought that Mr. Berlin and Ms. Maier would be a good match and decided to take matters into his own hands.Mr. Aldrich…

Nicolle Wallace dedicated most of her afternoon talk show to the implications of the Supreme Court’s move on Wednesday to take up Mr. Trump’s claims of presidential immunity. Ms. Wallace opened her 4 p.m. program by warning that the court had endangered a cherished notion that no individual is above the law. She spoke with Andrew Weissmann, a lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller’s investigation of Mr. Trump, and Charlie Sykes, a former conservative pundit who identifies as a Never Trumper.Ms. Wallace did not notify her viewers when either Mr. Trump or Mr. Biden began speaking in Texas, although later…

Guy Alexandre, a Belgian transplant surgeon who in the 1960s risked professional censure by removing kidneys from brain-dead patients whose hearts were still beating — a procedure that greatly improved organ viability while challenging the medical definition of death itself — died on Feb. 14 at his home in Brussels. He was 89.His son, Xavier, confirmed the death.Dr. Alexandre was just 29 and fresh off a yearlong fellowship at Harvard Medical School when, in June 1963, a young patient was wheeled into the hospital where he worked in Louvain, Belgium. She had sustained a traumatic head injury in a traffic…

Once upon a time, we were promised a movie lover’s utopia: a streaming universe where any movie you could want would be available at the click of a button. But with each passing year, that promise feels more like a pipe dream. The high-profile subscription streaming services (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Hulu and others) have slowly decreased the volume of their cinematic catalogs to spend more heavily on original films. (They’ve now taken to deleting those originals, or not streaming them at all, for tax benefits.)So what’s the serious cinephile to do? Those who are looking for more than…

The top human rights official at the United Nations condemned Israel’s military offensive in Gaza in an especially forceful statement on Thursday and warned that an assault on Rafah would add a new level of horror to the war.The terror attacks by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups on Oct. 7 were “appalling and entirely wrong,” said Volker Türk, the U.N.’s high commissioner for human rights. But, he added, “so is the brutality of the Israeli response.”He laid out the toll of its military campaign: what the United Nations estimates is 100,000 dead, injured or missing Palestinians, amounting to one…

A parliamentary district held recently by Britain’s main opposition Labour Party has slipped from its grip after a chaotic election campaign that became emblematic of the anger that has swept through British politics over the war in Gaza.George Galloway, a left-wing firebrand, won the seat in Rochdale, north of Manchester, with 12,335 votes, according to official results announced early Friday. Voting had taken place on Thursday to replace Tony Lloyd, a Labour Party lawmaker who had represented the district but died of blood cancer in January.Mr. Galloway, founder of the far-left Workers Party of Britain, once represented Labour in Parliament…

INDIANAPOLIS — For the second consecutive year, the NFL Players Association on Wednesday released a team-by-team report card that assesses the working conditions and environment for players throughout the season and offseason.The Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars rounded out the top five overall.Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders finished with the lowest points in the league for the second straight season, while the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs finished 31st overall. The Los Angeles Chargers (30th), New England Patriots (29th) and Pittsburgh Steelers (28th) rounded out the bottom five.Team level categories include training…

Our son was partly paralyzed in a sporting accident as a teenager. Now, years later, he lives a full life — with friends, a job, sports and lots of fun. Still, when we socialize with a certain friend, our son’s disability is her main concern: We get sad eyes, soft touches and pronouncements about how brave we are. I know she means to be supportive, but it makes me uncomfortable. When I respond that his paralysis is not as problematic as she thinks, she goes on and on about how inspirational he is. Sometimes, it casts a pall over the…

A federal judge held a veteran investigative reporter in contempt of court on Thursday for not revealing her sources for articles she wrote about a scientist who was investigated by the F.B.I.The journalist, Catherine Herridge, formerly of CBS News and Fox News, was ordered to pay $800 a day until she divulged the information. The judge, Christopher Cooper of U.S. District Court in Washington, stayed the fine for 30 days to give Ms. Herridge time to appeal.The case, which has alarmed First Amendment advocates, relates to a series of articles that were written by Ms. Herridge and her colleagues in…