Author: NY TIMES

Vladimir Likhvan fled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, hoping to find safety in Europe, only to watch helplessly as his new home was destroyed in the fire that raged Thursday through a high-rise apartment complex in Valencia, Spain, killing at least 10 people.Mr. Likhvan, 37, his sister, Victoria Tudovshi, 42, and her 13-year-old daughter lived in rented accommodation on the 10th floor of the tallest of the two buildings that was destroyed by Thursday’s fire. They had recently arrived in Spain after a year living with relatives in Lithuania.Like the two dozen or so other Ukrainian families also living in the…

On Friday, just outside Palm Springs, Calif., you might have thought a strange mirage had appeared: One or two zillion tweens descended upon an arena, all wearing platform Doc Martens.Had some official communiqué been issued, at a frequency undetectable to those older than 25? Had everyone been subconsciously nudged to pair boots with fishnets and leg warmers?No one seemed to care that it was hot out. What did matter was that the boots, punky symbols of past musical rebellions, were central to the unofficial-but-conspicuously-official uniform of Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour, which began that night.Each recent tour by a major…

Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run for decades by Warren E. Buffett, recorded its highest-ever annual profit last year. But its chief executive found reason to blame government regulation for hurting the results of some of its biggest businesses.In his letter to investors that traditionally accompanies the annual report, Mr. Buffett also paid tribute to Charlie Munger, his longtime lieutenant and Berkshire’s vice chairman until his death in November at age 99.The company — whose divisions include insurance, the BNSF railroad, an expansive power utility, Brooks running shoes, Dairy Queen and See’s candy — disclosed $97.1 billion in net earnings last…

Those health centers have each seen revenue losses of at least $500,000 because of the Medicaid unwinding, according to Amy Simmons Farber, a spokeswoman for the health center association.By the end of December, Family Health Centers, a network of clinics in Louisville, Ky., had lost more than 2,000 Medicaid patients since the policy change took effect in April, an almost 6 percent decline, said Melissa Mather, a spokeswoman for the clinic. For every percent decline in Medicaid patient visits, she said, the clinic experiences a revenue decline of $175,000 to $200,000.Bethesda is now engaged in a “month-to-month game of survival,”…

As a pop star, Olivia Rodrigo wields a rather unusual arsenal of weapons. She is an acute writer and an un-self-conscious singer. She largely abhors artifice. She is modest, not salacious. In just three years, she has achieved something approaching stratospheric fame — a four-times platinum debut album and a Grammy for best new artist — while somehow remaining an underdog.But the weapon she returns to again and again is a very pointed and versatile curse word, one that she used to vivid effect on both her 2020 breakout hit, “Drivers License,” the first single from her debut album, “Sour,”…

In solemn ceremonies and small vigils, state visits, stirring speeches and statements of solidarity, Ukraine and its allies marked the dawn of the third year of Russia’s unprovoked invasion with a single message: Believe.“When thousands of columns of Russian invaders moved from all directions into Ukraine, when thousands of rockets and bombs fell on our land, no one in the world believed that we would stand,” said Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, Ukraine’s newly named top military commander. “No one believed, but Ukraine did!”On the 731st day of the war, Ukrainian soldiers once again find themselves outmanned and outgunned, fighting for their…

Jordan Chiles smiles, a smile that’s almost as bright as the green sweatshirt she’s wearing and the Olympic rings necklace that hangs at the base of her neck. This is not necessarily a departure. Effervescence is often Chiles’ default position.In addition to smiling, which is presented to the public as a mask or polite indulgence, there are Smile. A full 25 minutes into the video call, the photo popped out of Chiles’ face, with her eyes crinkling and hands moving a mile a minute, cheeks flying toward her ears. This is the real artifact.The timing of this particular outburst of…

There are nights when Michael Shields lies awake next to his wife and thinks about Ping-Pong balls. He muses on their arcs and speeds, the ways they bounce off a wooden plank or roll down a Hot Wheels track. In the mornings he often turns his visions into reality, and millions tune in to watch.Mr. Shields, 33, is a creator of trick shots, among the more popular armchair athletes who seek out ever more elaborate and challenging ways to, for example, sink a Ping-Pong ball in a cup or land a CD in a disc tray after bouncing it off…

France’s farmers vented their fury at President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday as he arrived at the annual agricultural show in Paris, a giant fair long seen as a test of presidents’ relationship with the countryside.A large crowd that had camped outside the night before broke in and scuffled with police officers in riot gear while Mr. Macron entered through a side door to meet with unions demanding an end to hardships in the industry.During an hourlong closed-door meeting before the fair opened, with top cabinet members at Mr. Macron’s side, farmers sang the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise,” at the…

The first time Dr. Peter Hackett saw a patient with frostbite, the man died from his wounds. It was in Chicago in 1971, and the man had gotten drunk and passed out in the snow, his fingers so frozen that gangrene eventually set in.Dr. Hackett later worked at Mount Everest Basecamp, on Denali, Alaska, and now in Colorado, becoming expert in treating cold-weather injury. The experience was often the same: There was not much to do about frostbite, except rewarm the patient, give aspirin, amputate in severe cases and, more often, wait and accept that six months later the patient’s…