Author: NY TIMES

A Virginia woman who has spent more than a year digging a tunnel under her home and documenting the project on TikTok was recently stopped by officials in her town after the popularity of her account brought their attention to her project.Spending hours heaving dirt and rocks from the ground might seem like an unusual pastime, but it has a history: hobby tunnelists of yore include the Fifth Duke of Portland, who in the 19th century built an underground ballroom on his property, and, more recently, the so-called mole man of London, who spent 40 years making tunnels before he…

Why It Matters: Rishi Sunak met his inflation pledge.About a year ago, with inflation above 10 percent, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made several pledges to the British public on the economy, migration and the health service. Wednesday’s data confirms that he met one of those — to cut Britain’s inflation rate in half. It’s a much-needed win for the government as it begins an election year with Mr. Sunak’s political party trailing in the polls.But even as households may be relieved that prices aren’t rising as quickly, the cumulative impact of high inflation is still being felt. For example, food…

Apple said on Wednesday that it would begin selling its flagship smartwatches without the ability to detect people’s blood-oxygen levels.The tech giant will drop the feature starting Thursday after losing a patent case over its blood-oxygen measurement technology two months ago. The court ordered Apple to stop selling its Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 devices. Rather than discontinue sales, the company sought permission to continue selling the devices after removing the infringing technology.People who buy a new watch in the United States will still see Apple’s Blood Oxygen app on the devices, the company said. But if…

King Charles III will have a procedure to address an enlarged prostate at a hospital next week. The 75-year-old British monarch’s diagnosis is common among men his age, and experts say that typical treatments are not dangerous.An enlarged prostate, known also as benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, is a noncancerous condition that occurs frequently among older men. By age 60, more than half of men have at least mild BPH symptoms, which include difficulty urinating and a sense of urgency to urinate. But often the symptoms are not severe enough to require treatment.The condition is analogous to menopause in women,…

He earned his fifth Grammy, for best classical crossover album, for “Hornsmoke,” which includes his serious compositions “Horse Opera for Brass Quintet,” Piano Concerto No. 2 and other pieces.Mr. Schickele’s classical recordings also include Quartet No. 1, “American Dreams,” by the Audubon Quartet; “Schickele on a Lark,” by the Lark Quartet; and “The American Chamber Ensemble Plays Peter Schickele.”He wrote the score for the 1972 science-fiction film “Silent Running,” starring Bruce Dern. With Robert Dennis and Stanley Walden, he also contributed songs to the Broadway revue “Oh! Calcutta!”Mr. Schickele and his wife, who survives him, split their time between homes…

The Biden administration will designate Yemen’s Houthi militia as a terrorist organization, partly reimposing penalties it lifted nearly three years ago on the Iran-backed group whose attacks on regional shipping traffic have drawn a U.S. military response.Beginning in mid-February, the United States will consider the Houthis a “specially designated global terrorist” group, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday, blocking its access to the global financial system, among other penalties. But Biden officials stopped short of applying a second, more severe designation — that of “foreign terrorist organization” — which the Trump administration imposed on…

The Biden administration will designate Yemen’s Houthi militia as a terrorist organization, partly reimposing penalties it lifted nearly three years ago on the Iran-backed group whose attacks on regional shipping traffic have drawn a U.S. military response.Beginning in mid-February, the United States will consider the Houthis a “specially designated global terrorist” group, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday, blocking its access to the global financial system, among other penalties. But Biden officials stopped short of applying a second, more severe designation — that of “foreign terrorist organization” — which the Trump administration imposed on…

For 10 years, I’ve belonged to a walking group of 12 women. We all raised our children together. We take long walks on Saturday mornings and have a lively group chat. We also go to dinner once a month. I feel lucky to be friends with these women. The problem: A woman who coordinates the group with me recently added her best friend, with whom I had a falling-out several years ago. She broached the idea of including her on the group chat on a day when I wasn’t checking my phone. (She knows about our falling-out.) I have not…

Charging stations in Norway see longer lines in the winter than summer, since vehicles are slower to charge in colder weather, but that has become less of an issue in recent years since Norway has built more charging ports, Mr. Godbolt said, citing a recent survey of members. Also, the majority of people in Norway live in houses, not apartments, and nearly 90 percent of electric vehicle owners have their own charging stations at home, he said.Around the world, 14 percent of all new cars sold in 2022 were electric, up from 9 percent in 2021 and less than 5…

Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, stunned investors by demanding that the company’s board give him shares worth more than $80 billion if it wants him to continue developing products based on artificial intelligence.In the latest demonstration of his disregard for conventional ways of communicating with investors, Mr. Musk said late Monday on X, the social media site he owns, that he needed to own 25 percent of Tesla to avoid takeovers and have enough control of the company as it develops robots and other artificial intelligence technology.If his demands are not met, Mr. Musk said, he would pursue…