Author: NY TIMES

After years as an expat, I am finally moving back to the United States, but I worry I will stick out like a sore thumb because of my wardrobe. Not to oversimplify things, but I hate the idea of changing up my wardrobe to leggings and jeans. How can I look as if I belong without giving up my style? — Carmen, Winnetka, Ill.First of all, don’t fall prey to the jeans-and-leggings stereotype — or to any stars-’n’-stripes hogwash. It’s as hard to generalize about style across the United States as it is to generalize about style across Europe. New…

Most of the plastic in your medicine cabinet is high-quality, medical grade — and devilishly difficult to safely dispose of, let alone recycle.The sorting equipment at standard recycling centers typically can’t handle small items, and wishfully including them only prolongs the sorting process that then increases the recyclers’ costs without salvaging the plastic. Some at-home medical products, like needles that have come into contact with bodily fluids, should not even be relegated to household trash.Governments and big pharmacy chains offer some guidance. For example, New York state’s Department of Environmental Conservation has a map of collection boxes for safely disposing…

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday in a pair of cases that could fundamentally change discourse on the internet by defining, for the first time, what rights social media companies have to limit what their users can post.The court’s decision, expected by June, will almost certainly be its most important statement on the scope of the First Amendment in the internet era, and it will have major political and economic implications. A ruling that tech platforms like Facebook, YouTube and TikTok have no editorial discretion to decide what posts to allow would expose users to a greater variety…

Single-use insulin pens changed Brian Brandell’s life.Growing up with Type 1 diabetes in the 1970s, he had to carry glass syringes and vials of insulin wherever he went. So in 1985, when Novo Nordisk debuted a disposable prefilled pen that combined several doses of medication with a syringe, Mr. Brandell readily adopted the new device.“They were a godsend,” he recalled.But more recently, he began weighing the effects of all the plastic in the pens he had thrown away over the years, and the potential harm to people and his surroundings.“I’m using this lifesaving product,” he said with frustration, “but in…

This based-on-a-true-story drama begins with the birth of a baby girl, cuts almost directly to a death five years later — that of the child’s mother — and cuts again to a bar in Louisville, Ky., where a flashy local hairdresser is buying drinks for the house as she contrives her next hangover, which will be a doozy.The mother’s death leaves her husband, Ed Schmitt (Alan Ritchson), a roofer, as a single parent with a stack of medical bills and a daughter, Michelle, 5, who has a congenital condition that requires a liver transplant.Sharon — the hairdresser, played by Hilary…

The United Nations’ top court on Monday was hearing a final day of arguments on the legality of Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories, hearings that have added pressure to Israel at a time when attention focuses on the war in Gaza.The hearings, which began last Monday, are the first time that the court, the International Court of Justice, has been asked to give an advisory opinion on the issue, which has been the subject of years of debates and resolutions at the United Nations. The court is likely to take months before issuing an opinion.Last week’s sessions, held at…

In countries like the United States, he said, there is a “highly sexualized and puritanical culture, where sex is tightly controlled. Attitudes are generally much more conservative concerning what women do and women’s bodies. In Europe that tends to be less of the case.”In a number of studies, Dr. West and his team have found that being naked around others can increase self-confidence and life satisfaction. “If you go to a naturist event, you see a lot of normal people, people who aren’t airbrushed and aren’t Beyoncé, and you realize you don’t look bad compared to the average person,” Dr.…

There’s simply no stopping “Oppenheimer.”On Sunday night, the Producers Guild of America gave its top film award to Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic about the father of the atomic bomb, completing a clean sweep of major industry prizes that suggests “Oppenheimer” will cruise to a best-picture victory at the Oscars next month.“We’ve never won this before,” Nolan noted in his acceptance speech, though the PGA had previously nominated his films “Dunkirk,” “Inception” and “The Dark Knight.” Nolan, who produced the film with Emma Thomas, his wife, and Charles Roven, continued, “Every time we found ourselves invited into this room, we felt…

As the war in Gaza rages on, the situation in the battered enclave is one of devastation and despair. More than 29,000 people have been killed, according to Gaza health officials, the majority in a relentless Israeli bombing campaign. Neighborhoods have been flattened, families wiped out, children orphaned, and an estimated 1.7 million people displaced.While global scrutiny grows over Israel’s conduct in the war, the Israeli military, by its assessment, has delivered a major blow to the capabilities of Hamas, killing commanders, destroying tunnels and confiscating weapons. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal of destroying Hamas remains elusive, according to…

Lee Hoyang, a prolific producer and songwriter of South Korean pop music who was professionally known as Shinsadong Tiger and who helped create some of the biggest K-pop hits of the 2010s, died in Seoul on Friday. He was 40.His management agency confirmed his death in a statement. It did not mention the cause of death, but said that a private funeral was being held in Seoul. The agency, TR Entertainment, did not respond to an emailed request for comment. A police detective in Seoul also confirmed Mr. Lee’s death, but would not disclose further details. Mr. Lee was often…