In Hospitals, Viruses Are Everywhere. Masks Are Not.
Health

In Hospitals, Viruses Are Everywhere. Masks Are Not.

Liv Grace came down with respiratory infections three times over the course of four months. Each occurred after a visit to a medical provider in the Bay Area.Mx. Grace, 36, a writer who uses they/them pronouns, was infected with respiratory syncytial virus, which led to pneumonia, in December, after they were treated by a nurse wearing a surgical mask who complained about her children being ill with the virus.Mx. Grace got Covid after a visit to a cancer center for an infusion in February. And there was the pale, coughing phlebotomist who drew blood in April, just before they came down with Covid again.Mx. Grace was born with a rare immune deficiency related to lupus and takes a medication that depletes the cells that produce antibodies. The combination renders the body unable to fend off ...
Egypt, Senator Menendez and U.S. Aid
News

Egypt, Senator Menendez and U.S. Aid

After decades as one of the world’s largest recipients of United States foreign aid, the Egyptian government was nervous about how long the largess would continue at that level. But when the United States cut a sliver of the aid in 2017 over Egypt’s grim human rights record, stunning Cairo, Egyptian officials found an ally in Senator Robert J. Menendez of New Jersey.He happened to be the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position that Egypt evidently felt could help its footing in Washington. And even as he accused the Trump administration of being lax when it came to Egypt, prosecutors say he was doing favors for Egyptian officials who had gotten to know him through his then-girlfriend — signing off on arms sales and secretly helping it lobby Washington to ...
A Tech Checklist for the Dark Side of Summer Weather
Technology

A Tech Checklist for the Dark Side of Summer Weather

Summer is in full swing now, but along with vacation trips, camp and lazy days, extreme weather has arrived for many parts of the country. If you live in an area that’s prone to such conditions, it helps to be ready. Here are some tips to help you use your tech through major meteorological moments — sometimes, even when power and cell service are shaky.Stay UpdatedGetting accurate local weather information helps you stay ahead of nearby threats like hurricanes, flash floods, tornadoes or wildfires. Setting up alerts on Apple’s default Weather app, the Google app or a specialized weather app keeps you notified. Bookmarking government web pages in your browser — like those for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Hurricane Center or the U.S. Air Quality Index — i...
Why Did They Stop Celebrating Walk-Off Wins at Home Plate?
Sports

Why Did They Stop Celebrating Walk-Off Wins at Home Plate?

Ray Knight scored one of the most famous runs in baseball history, jumping onto home plate and into a sea of gleeful Mets teammates to end Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. It was a wild outpouring of joy from a team that played hard and celebrated harder.But if that same play happened today, the scene would look much different. The Mets would have streamed out of their dugout and, instead of turning left toward home plate, almost certainly sprinted to their right to chase Mookie Wilson, the batter who put the ball in play, slapping his helmet and hugging him tight.At some point the philosophy of celebrations shifted entirely, with the player who was at bat being the ultimate hero, even if the winning run scored on a fielding error. The one who touches home plate, no matter how dramatic his...
TV Networks’ Last Best Hope: Boomers
Economy

TV Networks’ Last Best Hope: Boomers

This coming week, as the network fall television season gets underway, ABC will begin airing “The Golden Bachelor,” a spinoff of “The Bachelor” that centers on an offbeat twist: The main contestant is a 72-year-old man, and the 22 women vying for his affection range in age from 60 to 75.On Sunday nights, the network will carve out three hours for “The Wonderful World of Disney,” a television tradition that dates back to the 1950s. On Tuesdays, there’s “Dancing With the Stars.” On Wednesdays, there will be special prime-time episodes of decades-old standbys like “Wheel of Fortune" and “Jeopardy!”It’s no secret that network television ratings have plummeted in recent years as viewers have fled prime-time lineups in favor of stream-at-your-leisure outlets like Netflix and Hulu.But there’s one...
Sufjan Stevens Says He Lost Ability to Walk From Guillain-Barré Syndrome
Health

Sufjan Stevens Says He Lost Ability to Walk From Guillain-Barré Syndrome

Sufjan Stevens, the indie-rock singer-songwriter, said in a statement on his website on Wednesday that he was in recovery from a rare neurological condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome that had taken away his ability to walk, saying he had been hospitalized for several weeks but was expected to recover.“Last month I woke up one morning and couldn’t walk,” Stevens said on his website. “My hands, arms and legs were numb and tingling and I had no strength, no feeling, no mobility.”The musician said that his brother drove him to an emergency room and that neurologists diagnosed him with the autoimmune disorder, which can cause muscle weakness and paralysis. He was treated with immunoglobulin infusions, which he said were effective, and was eventually transferred to rehab for intensive physi...
Investigators Comb Through Bus Crash That Killed 2 and Injured Dozens
News

Investigators Comb Through Bus Crash That Killed 2 and Injured Dozens

Investigators continued on Friday to comb through the wreckage of a bus that went off a New York highway and overturned while carrying a Long Island high school marching band to Pennsylvania the day before, killing two people and injuring dozens of others.Although Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Thursday that a faulty front tire appeared to have caused the bus to veer off the road, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, the New York State Police and the Orange County, N.Y., Sheriff’s Office were seeking to determine whether other factors may have been involved, officials said. In a news conference on Friday afternoon, John Humm, an investigator with the N.T.S.B., said it was too early to determine what had caused the incident, but said several people had been ejected from t...
How to Use Social Media, According to Teen Girls
Technology

How to Use Social Media, According to Teen Girls

Teen-to-Teen AdviceYou don’t have to reply right away.Reminders to do your homework. DMs in every app. Multiple group chats blowing up. All of these notifications can feel endless and overwhelming. Niki Shiva, 17, from Hayward, Calif., said she sets her phone to “do not disturb for everyone except mom” to mitigate her anxiety. Niki explained that she often obsesses about whether people have written back to her, so she tries to minimize the temptation to check her phone constantly. She also said she removed her messaging app from her home screen — it’s now tucked away in a folder in her app library — “so I didn’t have to look at the number of notifications.”Unfollow people and pages that make you feel bad.Several of the teens we spoke to said that, when possible, they remove accounts from t...
Inside IMG Academy — the high school football factory that teams love to hate
Sports

Inside IMG Academy — the high school football factory that teams love to hate

BRADENTON, Fla. — In the moments after IMG Academy once again finishes lighting up a scoreboard somewhere across the country, its players are often swarmed. Kids tap players asking for a pair of gloves worn during another IMG rout. They even ask for sweat-stained towels. Teenage contemporaries have their Snapchat apps open on their phones and ask for selfies. Those who show up to watch IMG know they’re watching brightening stars who will soon explode onto the national college football scene.“These kids are rock stars,” IMG coach Billy Miller said.These are also high school students.IMG, however, is not your average prep football powerhouse. IMG’s sprawling 600-acre campus, bathed in sunshine and palm trees, includes a 5,000-seat stadium for track and football, a state-of-the-art performanc...
U.S. Issues Final Rules to Keep Chip Funds Out of China
Economy

U.S. Issues Final Rules to Keep Chip Funds Out of China

The Biden administration on Friday issued final rules that would prohibit chip companies vying for a new infusion of federal cash from carrying out certain business expansions, partnerships and research in China, in what it described as an effort to protect United States national security.The regulations come as the Biden administration prepares to disburse more than $52 billion in federal grants and tens of billions of dollars of tax credits to build up the U.S. chip industry. The new rules aim to prevent chip makers that benefit from U.S. grants from passing technology, business know-how or other benefits to China.The final restrictions will prohibit firms that receive federal money from using it to construct chip factories outside the United States. They also restrict companies from sig...