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☆ Two Men Are Charged Over the Felling of the Sycamore Gap Tree
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two men in their 30s were charged on Tuesday in connection with the chopping down last year of the 200-year-old Sycamore Gap tree, which stood in a dip along Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. The beloved sycamore’s mysterious felling, which took place on a stormy September night, led to an outpouring of sorrow, anger and confusion at the senselessness of the act: Why would anyone cut down one of Britain’s most iconic trees? Two men, Daniel Graham, 38, and Adam Carruthers, 31, from Cumbria, England, were charged with damaging both the tree and part of Hadrian’s Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to the local Northumbria Police. Hadrian’s Wall, about 100 miles southeast of Edinburgh and near England’s border with Scotland, was built by the Roman Army after the emperor Hadrian’s visit to Britain in A.D. 122. “We recognize the strength of feeling in the local community and further afield the felling has caused, however we would remind people to avoid speculation, including online, which could impact the ongoing case,” Detective Chief Inspector Rebecca Fenney, the senior office on the case, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Persons: Daniel Graham, Adam Carruthers, Hadrian’s, “, Rebecca Fenney Organizations: UNESCO, Heritage, Northumbria Police, Roman Army Locations: England, Cumbria, Northumbria, Edinburgh, England’s, Scotland, Britain

☆ Internet Traffic Dipped as Viewers Took in the Eclipse
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

According to Cloudflare, a cloud-computing service used by about 20 percent of websites globally, internet traffic dipped along the path of totality as spellbound viewers took a break from their phones and computers to catch a glimpse of the real-life spectacle. The places with the most dramatic views saw the biggest dips in traffic compared with the previous week. In Vermont, Arkansas, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire and Ohio — states that were in the path of totality, meaning the moon completely blocked out the sun — internet traffic dropped by 40 percent to 60 percent around the time of the eclipse, Cloudflare said. States that had partial views also saw drops in internet activity, but to a much lesser extent. At 3:25 p.m. Eastern time, internet traffic in New York dropped by 29 percent compared with the previous week, Cloudflare found.

Persons: Cloudflare Locations: Mexico, United States, Canada, Vermont , Arkansas , Indiana , Maine , New Hampshire, Ohio, New York

☆ Baltimore’s Port Handled a Record Amount of Cargo Last Year
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The port handled a record amount of cargo last year, making it the 20th biggest port in the nation ranked by total tons, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Around the world, about 40 ships, including 34 cargo vessels, have Baltimore listed as a destination, including 10 commercial ships with anchors dropped in nearby waters, according to MarineTraffic, which tracks ships. The arrival of large container ships to the port “continues to demonstrate Baltimore’s capabilities of handling supersized vessels,” Governor Moore said in the statement. The port handled nearly 850,000 cars and light trucks last year, more than in any other U.S. port for the past 13 years. It was the ninth-busiest port in the nation last year for receiving foreign cargo, in terms of volume and value.

Persons: Francis Scott Key, Wes Moore, Georgios Hatzimanolis, ”, Dali, Governor Moore Organizations: Port, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Gov, Maryland Port Administration, Cruise Line Locations: Port of Baltimore, United States, Maryland, Baltimore, New Jersey, North Carolina, Baltimore’s, State

☆ Customers Report Cellular Service Disruptions in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Several phone service providers, including AT&T, were down for many users across the United States early Thursday, according to Downdetector.com, which tracks telecommunication and internet disruptions. The outage, which affected users in cities including Atlanta, Los Angeles and Dallas, was first reported around 3:30 a.m. Eastern time, and appeared to peak an hour later. AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Outages on a smaller scale were reported by some users of Verizon, Cricket Wireless and FirstNet. This is a developing story.

Organizations: Verizon, Cricket Wireless Locations: United States, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas

☆ Tesla Recalls About 2.2 Million Electric Vehicles Over Warning Light Font Size
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tesla is recalling about 2.2 million vehicles because the font on the warning lights panel was too small to comply with safety standards, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a notice published on Friday. “Warning lights with a smaller font size can make critical safety information on the instrument panel difficult to read, increasing the risk of a crash,” the agency said in the notice. Tesla, the world’s dominant maker of electric vehicles, is releasing a software update that will fix the issue, free of charge, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. The models affected include the 2012 to 2023 Model S, the 2016 to 2024 Model X, the 2017 to 2023 Model 3, 2019 to 2024 Model Y, and 2024 Cybertruck vehicles. That recall covered nearly all cars the company had manufactured in the United States since 2012.

Persons: Tesla Organizations: Traffic Safety Administration, U.S Locations: United States

☆ Mail 3 Days a Week? Idea Meets Resistance in Britain
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Britain’s postal service should consider cutting deliveries to five days a week, or even three, from six, the country’s regulator said on Wednesday, drawing resistance from lawmakers and businesses. The Royal Mail, like the U.S. Postal Service, has been increasingly plagued by service issues and financial pressures. Reducing delivery to just three days a week would save the Royal Mail up to 650 million pounds ($830 million) a year, the report found. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose Conservatives hold a majority, said on Wednesday that he remained “absolutely committed” to ensuring that the Royal Mail delivered six days a week.

Persons: “, Rishi Sunak Organizations: Royal, U.S . Postal Service, Ofcom, Royal Mail Locations: U.S, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium

☆ 22 Countries Pledge to Triple Nuclear Capacity in Push to Cut Fossil Fuels
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tripling nuclear energy capacity by 2050, which would also help Europe reduce its dependence on Russia oil and gas, would require significant investment. In advanced economies, which have nearly 70 percent of global nuclear capacity, investments has stalled as construction costs have soared, projects have run over budget and faced delays. On top of cost, another hurdle to expanding nuclear capacity is that plants are slower to build than many other forms of power. President Emmanuel Macron of France said nuclear energy, including small modular reactors, was an “indispensable solution” to efforts to curb climate change. France, Europe’s biggest producer of nuclear power, gets about 70 percent of its own electricity from nuclear stations.

Persons: John Kerry, Biden’s, ”, Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Ulf Kristersson, Kristersson Organizations: International Energy Agency, World Bank Locations: Russia, France, Sweden

This year is “virtually certain” to be the hottest year in recorded history, the World Meteorological Organization announced on Thursday at COP28, the United Nations climate summit in Dubai where delegates from nearly 200 countries, including many heads of state and government, have gathered. The organization said 2023 has been about 1.4 degrees Celsius, or about 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit, above the global average preindustrial temperature from 1850 to 1990. The past nine years have collectively been the warmest in 174 years of recorded scientific observations, with the previous single-year records set in 2020 and 2016. This comes in addition to record greenhouse gas concentrations, sea levels and concentrations of methane. “It’s a deafening cacophony of broken records,” Petteri Taalas, the secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization, said in Dubai.

Persons: ” Petteri Taalas Organizations: World Meteorological Organization Locations: COP28, United Nations, Dubai

☆ Splinter Is Coming for These ‘Game of Thrones’ Trees
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Six trees with long branches that twist up to the sky that were made famous by the series “Game of Thrones” will be cut down in the coming weeks, officials in Northern Ireland said on Monday. The trees are part of the Dark Hedges, an international tourist attraction for fans of the HBO fantasy series. As many as hundreds of tourists visit each day. The beech trees, which form an arch over a road, have become one of the most photographed spots in Northern Ireland. An additional four trees will require remedial work and a fifth will be assessed, the statement said.

Persons: Hedges Organizations: HBO, Northern Ireland’s Department, Infrastructure Locations: Northern Ireland, County Antrim

☆ How Tropical Parakeets Took Over Brussels
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the lively Brussels neighborhood of Flagey, you can be sure of two things: People will be lined up for fries at Frit Flagey, and pigeons will be nearby, pecking at scraps. Hundreds of electric green parakeets, more commonly associated with the tropics of West Africa or India than gray, rainy Brussels, flock to a tree beside a pond. They slumber there for the night, turning the tree into a brighter shade of green, and take flight at dawn. The number of rose-ringed parakeets in Brussels has swelled from just a few in the 1970s to some 10,000 today, becoming one of the most common birds in Brussels, after pigeons and sparrows. As populations of wild parakeets have grown — not only in Brussels but also in London, Paris and more than 100 other cities in Europe — researchers are trying to understand how a tropical bird has flourished in cold climates.

Locations: Brussels, Flagey, West Africa, India, London, Paris, Europe

☆ A Bundle of 18th-Century Love Letters Is Unsealed at Last
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For nearly 250 years, the letters, more than 100 of them, sat sealed in Britain’s National Archives, unopened and unexamined until a history professor stumbled upon them. He found, to his delight, a treasure trove bearing intimate details about romance and daily life in mid-18th-century France. Inside the box, Dr. Morieux found three bundles of letters. Only three of the letters had been opened, most likely by a low-level clerk shortly after the British Navy had received them from France. The clerk may have deemed them not worthy of further inspection and put them into storage, where they were forgotten about.

Persons: fiancées, pining, Renaud Morieux, Morieux Organizations: National Archives, British Navy, University of Cambridge Locations: France, London

☆ Whitney Wolfe Herd Is Stepping Down as Bumble’s C.E.O. After a Decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Bumble, which requires women to make the first move, went public in 2021, briefly making Ms. Wolfe Herd one of the world’s few female billionaires, according to Bloomberg. As of June, the dating app had 2.5 million paying users, according to Bumble’s second-quarter earnings report. Bumble will report its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday. About a third of adults in the United States have used a dating app, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted last year. The number of users paying for Tinder, fell 6 percent compared to the same period a year earlier, Match said.

Persons: Wolfe Herd, Bumble’s, Bumble, Morgan Stanley, Jones Organizations: Bloomberg, Pew Research Center, Match, Tinder, Salesforce, Microsoft, Wall Street Journal Locations: United States, Fish, Brazil

☆ Mint, One of the First Budgeting Apps, Is Shutting Down
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mint, one of the earliest and most popular personal finance apps, is shutting down, and its owner, Intuit, is encouraging users to switch to Credit Karma, its platform that offers free credit scores and helps users track their money. Intuit said on Tuesday that it was “reimagining” Mint as part of Credit Karma and that Mint users would be able to transition to Credit Karma. Credit Karma will absorb Mint by Jan. 1, Intuit said in a statement on Friday. Mint has been one of the top online budgeting tools for years, with 3.6 million active users in 2021, according to Bloomberg. The news that Mint would be closing caused an outcry from loyal Mint users, some of whom said they were especially upset that Credit Karma would not offer the same budget tools.

Organizations: Intuit, Karma, Bloomberg

☆ Microsoft Criticized for Embedding ‘Crass’ A.I. Poll Beside News Article
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An auto-generated poll that Microsoft embedded on its news aggregating platform alongside a Guardian article was “crass” and caused The Guardian significant reputation damage, the newspaper said on Thursday. The poll, which was posted last week next to an article about a woman who was found dead in a school bathroom in Australia, asked readers to speculate on the cause of the woman’s death. It gave three choices: murder, accident or suicide. The Guardian said the poll was created using generative artificial intelligence, which can generate text, images and other media from prompts. Ms. Bateson said that The Guardian had already asked Microsoft not to apply its experimental technologies to Guardian news articles because of the risks it posed.

Persons: Anna Bateson, ”, ” Ms, Bateson, Brad Smith, Ms Organizations: Microsoft, Guardian, Guardian Media Group Locations: Australia

☆ Two More Arrests Made Over Destruction of Sycamore Gap Tree
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two men in their 30s were arrested and released on bail on Tuesday in connection with the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree, the latest development in the investigation into who chopped down one of Britain’s most photographed trees, which had stood for two centuries in a dip in Hadrian’s Wall. The two additional arrests brought the total number of suspects to four, according to the Northumbria Police. A 16-year-old boy and a farmer in his 60s, arrested in September, were also out on bail. The Sycamore Gap tree, about 100 miles southeast of Edinburgh, was cut down overnight between Sept. 27 and 28, during a storm with 60-mile-an-hour winds in what the police described as “a deliberate act of vandalism.” Reports of the destruction of the tree, which was featured in the 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” led to an outpouring of emotion, both by those in England’s northeast and by international tourists.

Persons: Robin Hood :, ” Organizations: Northumbria Police Locations: Wall, Northumbria, Edinburgh

☆ A Timeline of the Shootings in Lewiston, Maine
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Around 7 p.m. A shooting at a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday evening led to “multiple casualties,” according to the authorities. That was followed by reports of a shooting at Schemengees Bar &the Grille, a 12-minute drive away. Hundreds of officers were working across Maine to find the gunman, said Mike Sauschuck, who oversees public safety for the state. Around 11:30 p.m. Mr. Sauschuck said that a vehicle of interest had been found in Lisbon, about eight miles from Lewiston. Classes at Bates College in Lewiston, at Lewiston Public Schools and in neighboring school districts were canceled on Thursday.

Persons: Mike Sauschuck, Schemengees, Robert R, Sauschuck Organizations: Schemengees, Lewiston, Bowdoin, Maine’s State Police, Bates College, Lewiston Public Schools Locations: Lewiston , Maine, Maine, Auburn, Lewiston, Bowdoin , Maine, Lisbon, Portland, Bowdoin

Tens of thousands of women and nonbinary people in Iceland were expected to participate on Tuesday in a one-day strike, which organizers called the country’s largest effort to protest workplace inequality in nearly five decades. Iceland is a global leader in gender equality but still has a long way to go, said Freyja Steingrímsdóttir, a spokeswoman for the Icelandic Federation of Public Workers, the country’s largest federation of public worker unions. “Iceland is often viewed as some sort of equality paradise,” Ms. Steingrímsdóttir, an organizer of the strike, said. “If we’re going to live up to that name, we need to move forward and really be the best we can be — and we’re not stopping until full gender equality is reached.”Organizers urged women and nonbinary people to stop all work on Tuesday, including household errands and child care. Even Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir said she would take part, telling local news media that she would not call a cabinet meeting and that she expected other women in the cabinet to strike.

Persons: Freyja Steingrímsdóttir, Ms, Steingrímsdóttir, Katrín Jakobsdóttir Organizations: Icelandic Federation of Public Workers, ” Locations: Iceland

☆ Man Poses as Mannequin to Steal Jewelry
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In a storefront window in Warsaw, Poland, stood at what first glance appeared to be a mannequin in a mustard-colored sweatshirt. Only it was not a mannequin, but a 22-year-old man. Once the store closed, the man leaped into action, stealing jewelry, according to the Warsaw police. It will most likely be his last meal at the shopping center for some time. The police have arrested the man and charged him with theft and burglary, they said in a statement on Wednesday.

Locations: Warsaw, Poland

☆ Amazon Will Show Commercials on Prime Video Starting Next Year
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Amazon will start featuring advertisements on content streamed on Prime Video, the company said on Friday, making it the latest streaming service to turn to commercials to raise revenue. The changes, which will go into effect early next year, will apply in the United States, Canada, Britain and Germany, unless subscribers pay more to opt out. Ads will be rolled out to Prime subscribers in France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Australia later in 2024, the company said. “To continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time, starting in early 2024, Prime Video shows and movies will include limited advertisements,” Amazon said in a statement. The statement added that Amazon would have fewer ads than other streaming providers and that the company would not make any further changes to the price for the rest of 2024.

Persons: “ Locations: United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Australia

☆ He Drove Into a Creek and Died. His Family Blames Google Maps.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The family of a North Carolina man who drowned last year after he drove off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps directions has sued Google for negligence, saying that the company’s failure to update its maps led directly to his death. Philip Paxson, 47, a medical device salesman, was on his way home from his daughter’s camping-themed ninth birthday party in Hickory, N.C., on Sept. 30, 2022, navigating a rainy night on unfamiliar roads, when he drove off a collapsed roadway into a creek and drowned, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Wake County Superior Court on Tuesday. Alicia Paxson, his wife, also sued two businesses and an individual who the lawsuit says owned, controlled or were responsible for the collapsed bridge, which was unmarked, with no barricades. Mrs. Paxson had taken their two daughters home from the party in her car, while Mr. Paxson stayed late to clean up and drove separately, she said in an interview.

Persons: Philip Paxson, Alicia Paxson, Paxson Organizations: Google, Wake County Superior Court Locations: North Carolina, Hickory , N.C, Wake County

☆ Burberry Street or Bond Street? Fashion Week Stunt Sows Confusion
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Bond Street tube station on the London Underground was temporarily renamed “Burberry Street” as part of a London Fashion Week marketing campaign for the British luxury brand, leading to confusion among Londoners and tourists alike. The signs, heralding the opening of Burberry’s redesigned flagship store on Bond Street, were in place from Friday until late Monday and early Tuesday, and led to numerous complaints from disoriented customers, according to Transport for London staff members. “I heard all different things, to be honest, but nothing positive, unfortunately,” one staff member said. “People were saying, ‘Why is it like this? We saw ‘Burberry Street’ so thought we were at the wrong place.’”

Persons: Burberry’s, ’ Organizations: London Underground, Burberry, Bond, Transport, London

☆ ‘Unhappy Hour’: U.K. Pub Chains Adopt Surge Pricing for Pints
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A pint of beer may cost more during peak hours at some pubs owned by Britain’s largest pub company, which has in recent weeks adopted surge pricing. About 800 of the 4,000 pubs owned by the company, Stonegate Group, are either using “dynamic pricing,” in which prices rise at times of increased demand, or may use it in the future to help cope with higher costs for staffing and licensing requirements, Maureen Heffernan, a spokeswoman for Stonegate, said on Tuesday. Stonegate owns the popular pub chains Slug & Lettuce and Craft Union. Ms. Heffernan said that the timing of surge pricing, in which a pint of beer would cost about 20 pence (25 cents) more, would vary by pub, but that generally prices would be higher on weekends and evenings. In July, the average price for a pint of draft lager was 4.31 pounds (about $5.37), up from £4 a year earlier, according to Britain’s Office for National Statistics.

Persons: Maureen Heffernan, Stonegate, Ms, Heffernan Organizations: Britain’s, Stonegate, Craft Union, National Statistics

With debris and fallen rock blocking roads to Moroccan villages hit hardest by an earthquake, many residents began burying their dead and foraging for scarce supplies on Sunday as they waited for government aid. That wait may be lengthy. The most powerful quake to hit the region in a century spared neither city apartment dwellers nor those living in the mud-brick homes of the High Atlas Mountains, but many in the remote and rugged areas of Morocco have been left almost entirely to fend for themselves. Survivors, faced with widespread electricity and telephone blackouts, said they were running low on food and water. Some bodies were being buried before they could be washed as Muslim rituals require.

Locations: Morocco

☆ British Bees Face a Deadly Invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A sharp increase in the number of an invasive species of hornets in Britain is raising concerns that they could threaten native bee populations. There have been 22 sightings of the so-called Asian hornet, or Vespa velutina, this year, more than in the past six years combined, according to British officials. Smaller than Britain’s native hornet, most Asian hornets are about an inch long and have brown thoraxes, yellow legs and black heads with orange faces. Since arriving in France, the population of Asian hornets has grown rapidly. As of last year, the hornets have been seen in European countries including Germany, Spain, Portugal and Italy, according to the National Bee Unit, a British agency.

Organizations: Secretariat, hornets, National Bee Unit Locations: Britain, Asia, Pacific Northwest, United States, France, China, British, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy

For five weeks, almost everything seemed to go wrong for one commercial vessel waiting in the Danube River to load Ukrainian grain bound for Spain via the Black Sea. First, Russian drones exploded mere miles away from where the vessel was anchored. Then, heavy congestion on the river led to weeks of delays, costing the vessel’s operator $8,000 a day in extra running costs. Finally, around midnight after its cargo of over 12,000 metric tons of grain had finally been loaded, Russian drones hit grain warehouses in an hourlong raid at the port the vessel had just left. For months, ships traversed the Black Sea and the Danube River without incident to load Ukrainian grain and deliver it around the world, even as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine intensified.

Persons: “, ”, Alan Locations: Spain, Russian, Ukraine, Russia

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