Güncel

Apple, Microsoft and Google are heralding a new era of what they describe as artificially intelligent smartphones and computers. The devices, they say, will automate tasks such as editing photos and wishing a friend a happy birthday.But for this to work, these companies need something from you: more data.In this new paradigm, your Windows computer will take a screenshot of everything you do every few seconds. An iPhone will combine information from many apps you use. And an Android phone can listen to a call in real time to alert you to a scam.Is this information you are willing to share?This change has significant implications for our privacy. To provide new tailored services, companies and their devices need more persistent and intimate access to our data than before. In the past, t...

Israeli troops tied a wounded Palestinian to the roof of a military vehicle on Saturday morning during an operation in the occupied West Bank, a scene that was captured on video and quickly went viral, sparking outrage and promises of an investigation by of the Israeli army.Israeli soldiers raided Wadi Burqin, a Palestinian town on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Jenin, on Saturday morning to arrest Palestinians suspected of involvement in militant groups. Jenin, a long-time stronghold of loosely organized armed groups, has suffered repeated crackdowns by the Israeli army in recent months.A firefight broke out between Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers, the military said. Israeli troops arrested a Palestinian wounded in the shooting. The man's family later identified ...

Pharmacy benefit managers are driving up drug costs for millions of people, employers and the government. New York Times pharmaceutical reporter Rebecca Robbins explains how.

Dal piccolo palco di un pub in una cittadina boscosa della Germania orientale, l’ideologo di destra Björn Höcke ha intrattenuto una folla di seguaci alla fine dello scorso anno con la storia del suo imminente processo. È stato accusato di aver detto “Tutto per la Germania” durante una manifestazione politica, infrangendo le leggi tedesche che vietano di pronunciare slogan nazisti.Nonostante l'avvicinarsi della data in tribunale, guardò la folla e fece loro un sorriso malizioso. "Tutto per?" chiese."Germania!" gridarono.Dopo un decennio trascorso a testare i confini del discorso politico in Germania, il signor Höcke, leader del partito Alternativa per la Germania, o AfD, non ha più avuto bisogno di oltrepassare i limiti da solo. La folla lo ha fatto per lui.Quel momento chiarisce p...

Heather Massey took Ladybird to the vet when the 9-year-old mutt he began to have convulsions. A scan from an MRI machine revealed some bad news: brain cancer.Given the poor prognosis, Ms. Massey decided not to undergo further treatment at the animal hospital near her home in Athens, Georgia, and Ladybird died four months later. Her MRI scan and related care had cost nearly $2,000, which Ms. Massey had put on a special credit card that she had learned about during an earlier veterinary visit.This was in 2018. He is still paying off the debt, with over 30% interest.“Could I afford to do this? Not really,” said Ms. Massey, 52, who is disabled and doesn't work. “Was it worth it for me? YES."Ms. Massey's experience illustrates the new, expensive realities of owning a pet. For dec...

The southern Israeli town of Netivot, a working-class center for mystical rabbis about 10 miles from the Gaza border, escaped the worst of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, a stroke of luck that many residents attribute to miraculous intervention of the Jewish sages buried here.However, many here appear to show little concern for the suffering of Palestinian civilians – practically neighbors – across the Gaza fence.Michael Zigdon, who runs a small food shack in the dilapidated Netivot market and had employed two Gazan men until the attack, expressed little sympathy for Gazans, who have endured a ferocious Israeli military attack for the past eight months.“Who wants this war and who doesn't?” Mr. Zigdon said, as he wiped up red food coloring that had spilled from a crushed ice drink dispens...

If you've ever had trouble getting a prescription drug, chances are you've come across a pharmacy benefits manager.These companies, known as PBMs, play a crucial but often hidden role in deciding which drugs you can get and how much you will personally pay. They are middlemen in America's maddeningly complex healthcare system, working on behalf of employers or government insurance programs like Medicare, which covers most prescription drug costs.The PBM's job is to save money on drugs. But the New York Times found that the three largest PBMs often overcharge you.Here's what to know about your PBM and how to find out if you're being overcharged.How do I know which PBM I have?Most Americans rely on one of the big three PBMs: CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, or Optum R...

When news broke that Pope Francis had used an offensive anti-gay slur while speaking to Italian bishops at a conference last month, many Catholics were shocked and dismayed. How could a pope known for his openness and acceptance of LGBTQ people use homophobic jargon and warn prelates against allowing gay men into seminaries?But the question, and the apparent inconsistency in Francis' message, reflect the profound contradictions and tensions that underlie the Roman Catholic Church's and Francis' relationship with homosexuality.The Church maintains that “homosexual tendencies” are “intrinsically disordered.” When it comes to ordination, church guidelines state that people with "deep-rooted" gay tendencies should not become priests.Yet ordination has also long been a kind of ref...

When the media titans Brian Roberts, John Malone and Barry Diller cast off in early February on Mr. Diller’s 156-foot, two-masted yacht, named Arriva, the waters off the coast of Jupiter, Fla., were placid.The same could not be said for their sprawling entertainment businesses.The three men meet occasionally to discuss the state of the industry, and lively disagreements have a been a staple of their discussions. But by the time they met on the yacht, they had all agreed that the money-losing status quo in the streaming business was unsustainable. The old cable model was a melting ice cube.But what will take its place?“There was peace in the valley for a period of time,” Mr. Malone mused in a rare recent interview, recalling the days before video-streaming upended the lucrative cable busine...

After hundreds of pilgrims died in the scorching desert heat during the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the Egyptian government is cracking down on tourism companies that facilitated travel to Saudi Arabia and said on Saturday it had suspended the licenses of 16 companies.At least 450 people died during the pilgrimage, during which travelers had to endure extreme temperatures which ranged from 108 degrees to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (42 to 49 degrees Celsius). But the actual number of victims is expected to rise much more as governments get more accurate death counts. (Egypt, for example, has officially acknowledged only 31 deaths.)In announcing the suspension of the 16 travel companies, the Egyptian government said the companies had failed to offer pilgrims important services such as med...