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☆ 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 Footpath in England, Torn Down, Keeps Being Rebuilt by ‘Fairies’
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A small, beloved footbridge in the county of Norfolk has been dismantled twice only to be replaced by “local fairies,” according to village lore, in a long-running dispute between a coastal English village and the National Trust, a conservation charity. The bridge, which provides a pathway to beloved salt marshes on the English coast, had been used for more than 50 years until the National Trust took it down last year, citing safety concerns. Villagers received no warning of the plans to remove a crucial route, said Ian Curtis, a resident campaigning to have the bridge replaced.

Persons: Ian Curtis Organizations: National Trust Locations: Norfolk

☆ 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

☆ At Least 5 Dead in Michigan After Severe Storms
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

At least five people died in Michigan after severe storms on Thursday night brought heavy rain, strong wind gusts and possible tornadoes. Three people — a woman, 21, and two girls, 3 and 1 — were killed in a car accident on Thursday night in Kent County in Western Michigan, according to Sgt. Eric Brunner, a spokesman for the Kent County Sheriff’s Office. Two more were killed in Ingham County, in the central part of the state, the county’s emergency management department said in a post on Facebook. Additional injuries occurred in vehicles on the interstate, the post said, adding that people should be careful of the many power lines that are still down.

Persons: —, Eric Brunner Organizations: Kent, Sheriff’s, Facebook Locations: Michigan, Kent County, Western Michigan, Ingham County, Lansing

☆ New England Storms May Bring Flash Floods and Tornadoes
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Parts of Massachusetts, including Boston, were under flash flood warnings on Friday morning, the National Weather Service said, as thunderstorms swept across the eastern portion of the state. The Weather Service in Providence, R.I., said that a thunderstorm was possible until 1 p.m., and that some of the storms could bring heavy rain. Just after sunrise on Friday, a line of thunderstorms strengthened over parts of New England and probably caused tornadoes. A tornado warning was in effect for parts of Massachusetts until 10:45 a.m., the Weather Service said.

Organizations: National Weather Service, Weather Service Locations: Massachusetts, Boston, Providence, R.I, New England

☆ Two American Tourists Caught Sleeping in the Eiffel Tower
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The opening of the Eiffel Tower was delayed on Monday morning after security officials found two American tourists sleeping in the monument overnight, officials said. “They were detected in the early morning by the Sete security service, during daily rounds of checks carried out before the monument was opened to the public,” according to the Eiffel Tower’s operator, Sociéte d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, also known as Sete. The Paris prosecutor’s office was informed on Monday morning that two American men had been found sleeping on the site of the Eiffel Tower after entering with tickets on Sunday night, according to a spokeswoman for the office, who said that alcohol was involved. She did not know where in the Eiffel Tower the men were discovered. One of the world’s most recognizable landmarks, the Eiffel Tower was built from 1887 to 1889 to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution and stands at 1,083 feet.

Persons: “ Organizations: Eiffel Locations: Sete, Paris

The Russian military’s decision to fire warning shots and board a freighter in the Black Sea this weekend has added a new level of uncertainty to the increasingly intense maritime theater of war, as Moscow, apparently for the first time, made good on its threat to treat Ukraine-bound civilian shipping as potentially hostile. The Russian Ministry of Defense on Sunday announced the action, which was confirmed by Ukrainian officials, and video verified by The New York Times shows a military helicopter hovering above the cargo ship Sukru Okan. A group of people in military gear can be seen walking on the deck and climbing into the helicopter, while eight men in civilian clothes — apparently the ship’s crew — sit nearby. But it reflects the rising tensions on the Black Sea, which Western analysts have warned could escalate into violence involving countries not directly involved in the war. Russia’s warning last month about treating third-country shipping as hostile raised fears of armed clashes, and since then, Ukraine’s increasingly robust naval drone force has launched several attacks on Russian warships.

Persons: —, Ukraine’s Organizations: Russian Ministry of Defense, Sunday, Ukrainian, The New York Times Locations: Russian, Moscow, Ukraine

A utility pole on Friday that had been damaged in the high winds this week in Lahaina, Hawaii. But Hawaiian Electric, the state’s largest utility and the parent company of the power provider on Maui, made wildfire prevention its lowest priority in a state regulatory filing in April. In fact, the utility had no plan to cut power to prevent further ignitions even after flames began consuming the island. The recent devastation on Maui served as a reminder that climate-driven disaster can strike anywhere. “From what we’ve learned, we believe the Lahaina fires could have been prevented had proper safety precautions been taken,” said Gerald Singleton, one lawyer who issued a release about potential lawsuits.

Persons: ”, Jennifer Potter, Potter, Jim Kelly, we’ve, Gerald Singleton, Nicole Lowen, Ms, ” Ms, “ Organizations: Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas &, Hawaiian Electric, Energy, Hawaii State Legislature Locations: Lahaina , Hawaii, Maui, California, Lahaina, “, Hawaii

☆ Satellite Images Show the Scale of Destruction on Maui.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Jenny Gross | More About Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Satellite images showed the extent to which wildfires, fueled by strong winds, devastated Maui’s historic district of Lahaina in several hours on Wednesday. Across the island, hundreds of buildings, including a school, a church, businesses and homes, were damaged. Recovery is expected to take years, authorities said.

Locations: Maui’s, Lahaina

One man was wounded in a stabbing outside the British Museum in central London on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police said, adding that it was an isolated incident and that a suspect had been arrested. The incident occurred at about 10 a.m. near the front entrance of the museum, one of London’s most popular tourist attractions. By midday, there was a heavy police presence outside the museum, and several nearby restaurants had closed. A line of several hundred people formed around the block as they waited for the museum to reopen. The British Museum, which had more than four million visits last year, said in a statement that it had increased security.

Organizations: British Museum, Metropolitan Police Locations: London

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