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☆ Being a Woman in Magic May be the Hardest Trick of All
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Though it was nearly five decades ago, Gay Blackstone can still vividly recall the first time she was sawed in half onstage. Her screams were an intended element of the illusion, but nerves and fear made them genuine that time. For Ms. Blackstone, that gig assisting the master illusionist Harry Blackstone Jr. turned into a love affair and, later, marriage. After her husband died in 1997, Ms. Blackstone moved center stage and went on to a successful career as an illusionist, coach, producer and director. “I think for many years, no one really thought of the need for women to be the magician,” Ms. Blackstone said.

Persons: Gay Blackstone, Blackstone, Harry Blackstone Jr, ” Ms, can’t, ” Organizations: Academy of Magical Arts, Ms Locations: Los Angeles

Aziz Umerov looks at a portrait of his sister Leniye Umerova, a Ukrainian from Russian-annexed Crimea arrested in Russia, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine August 11, 2023. A Reuters review of Rudenko's social media account on Telegram didn't find any messages critical of the war. Russia's top investigative body, the Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor General's Office didn't respond to requests for comment on the phenomenon of carousel arrests or individual cases. A Reuters review of Russian court records identified seven cases of carousel arrests this year, with the suspects involved arrested and jailed between two and five times in succession. Not all "carousel" arrests lead to more serious criminal charges, and for some detainees, time spent behind bars is frightening enough.

Persons: Aziz Umerov, Leniye Umerova, Gleb Garanich, Rudenko's, Yulia Kiselyova, he'd, Kiselyova, Ivan Vtorushin, Valeriya, Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Alexei Navalny, Lauren McCarthy, McCarthy, Gevorg, Dmitry Golovlyov, Aleksanyan, Rudenko, Mike Collett, White Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Russian, Investigative, Interior Ministry, First Department, PUTIN, WHO, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Federal Security Service, of Russia Legion, Russia Legion, Thomson Locations: Russian, Crimea, Russia, Ukraine, Kyiv, Moscow, Bucha, Rudenko, Crimean Tatars, Ukrainian

The future of transgender women’s participation in high-level women’s chess competitions seems uncertain, after the International Chess Federation introduced new regulations effectively barring many from women’s events for up to two years or more. People who have changed their gender on their FIDE IDs will be able to compete in the “open” section of tournaments, according to the federation. A FIDE ID is an individual number assigned to a chess player by the federation. Official tournaments, ratings and more are linked to that number. The change appears to mostly affect chess players who changed their gender identity after signing up for a FIDE ID.

Persons: “, ” Organizations: International Chess Federation, FIDE

In a long-awaited move, the United States will allow allies to send American-made F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv once Ukrainian pilots are trained to operate them, a U.S. official confirmed on Thursday. However, the requirement that Ukraine’s pilots be fully trained means that the approvals will not come for months. Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which began two months ago, has a chance of prevailing without the fighter jets, experts say, but it is likely to be far more difficult. The U.S. decision had been anticipated since May, when President Biden eased his resistance to NATO allies’ efforts to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s and provide the jets to Ukraine. The official who confirmed the U.S. shift was not authorized to publicly discuss the agreement and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Persons: Yuriy Ihnat, ”, Biden Organizations: U.S, Ukraine’s Air Force, NATO Locations: United States, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Ukraine, U.S

☆ Court Ruling Revives Reparations Claim Filed by Tulsa Massacre Survivors
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The legal fight over reparations for the 1921 massacre of Black residents in Tulsa, Okla., will continue, after the Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the attack’s last three living survivors. The lawsuit, filed in 2020, includes the city, the Tulsa County sheriff, county commissioners and the Oklahoma Military Department, which administers the Oklahoma Army and Air National Guard, as defendants. A Tulsa County district judge dismissed it in July, and the state’s high court agreed last week to hear an appeal. “It is a huge victory for us,” Damario Solomon-Simmons, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an interview on Tuesday. Ms. Benningfield Randle said she still has flashbacks of corpses being stacked on the street as her neighborhood burned, according to the lawsuit.

Persons: ” Damario Solomon, Simmons, Viola Fletcher, Hughes Van Ellis, Lessie Benningfield Randle, Benningfield Randle Organizations: Oklahoma Supreme, Tulsa County, Oklahoma Military Department, Oklahoma Army, Air National Guard Locations: Black, Tulsa, Okla, Oklahoma, Tulsa County

PinnedImage Thunderstorms were expected to affect a wide swath of the Eastern United States on Monday, forecasters said. Credit... NOAAA “complicated and active” storm system was sweeping across the Eastern United States on Monday evening, bringing widespread thunderstorms with damaging winds that caused nearly one million homes and businesses to lose power. Around 900,000 homes and businesses across the eastern United States had lost power as of 7 p.m., according to poweroutage.us. The National Weather Service said a couple of tornadoes, small hail and wind gusts up to 70 m.p.h. Ahead of the storms, the United States Office of Personnel Management said federal offices in Washington would close by 3 p.m. Lauren McCarthy and Livia Albeck-Ripka contributed reporting.

Persons: Lauren McCarthy, Livia Albeck, Ripka Organizations: Eastern, NOAA, National Weather Service, Tornado, Environment Canada, New, United States, Management Locations: Eastern United States, New York, Georgia, Airports, McGraw, Syracuse, N.Y, Delaware , Maryland , New Jersey , New York , Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Canada, Ontario, Quebec, United States, poweroutage.us . Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania , Tennessee, New Jersey, New York City, Washington

☆ Hank the Tank, a 400-Pound Bear Behind Lake Tahoe Break-Ins, Is Captured
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

One of the most prolific thieves in the South Lake Tahoe, Calif., area was “safely immobilized” by tranquilizer dart and apprehended Friday morning, according to state officials: a 400-pound black bear that the public had come to know as Hank the Tank. The captured bear was responsible for at least 21 DNA-confirmed home break-ins and extensive property damage in Tahoe Keys dating back to early 2022, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a news release. Based on visual observations made by residents during a string of rummaging and ransacking incidents dating back to 2021, the public initially thought “Hank the Tank” was one male bear. “I guess they all technically are ‘Hank the Tank,’” Jordan Traverso, a spokeswoman for the department, said. She said the “other Hanks” have not “presented themselves as problems” this year in Tahoe Keys, a gated community about 190 miles northeast of San Francisco.

Persons: Hank the, Hank, “, ” Jordan Traverso, Hanks Organizations: California Department of Fish, Wildlife Locations: Tahoe, Calif, Tahoe Keys, Colorado, San Francisco

When a 2-year-old beagle named Fin was carried out in September from the Envigo breeding and research facility in Cumberland, Va., his exit marked the end of a nearly 60-day operation to rescue almost 4,000 dogs that had been living in highly distressful conditions. Beagles that were among those kept there were underfed, had fallen ill or were injured, inspections of the research facility found, and some had been euthanized. Nearly a year later, many of the beagles are thriving in new homes, their new housemates said. They roll on the grass, enjoy long walks and lick birthday cake to celebrate the anniversary of their rescue. I can’t imagine what that must’ve felt like for him,” said Suzanne Brown-Pelletier, who adopted Fin within weeks of his rescue.

Persons: must’ve, ”, Suzanne Brown, Pelletier, “, I’m Locations: Cumberland , Va

☆ Former Tour Dancers Accuse Lizzo of Harassment and Hostile Work Environment in Lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Three of Lizzo’s former dancers filed a lawsuit against her on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing the Grammy-winning singer and the captain of her dance team of creating a hostile work environment while performing concerts on her Special Tour this year. The suit was first reported by NBC. The defendants include Lizzo, using her full name Melissa Jefferson instead of her stage name; her production company, Big Grrrl Big Touring Inc.; and Shirlene Quigley, the tour’s dance captain. It does not specify whether the singer was aware of the plaintiffs’ allegations linked to Ms. Quigley. The suit alleges that Lizzo and Ms. Quigley were involved in several episodes that lawyers for the three dancers said amounted to sexual and religious harassment and weight shaming, among other allegations.

Persons: Melissa Jefferson, Shirlene Quigley, Quigley, Lizzo Organizations: Los Angeles Superior Court, The New York Times, NBC, Big, Touring Inc Locations: Los Angeles

☆ After Investigation and Complaints, Twitter Removes ‘X’ on Headquarters
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Background: San Francisco was investigating. Twitter representatives told the inspector that it was a “temporary lighted sign for an event,” the complaint said. The changes were reflected inside Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters — X logos were projected in the cafeteria and conference rooms were renamed — as well as outside. Early on July 24, Mr. Musk shared a photo of a giant X projected on Twitter’s office building shortly after announcing the change. Days later, the “X” sign was installed.

Persons: Francisco, ” Mr, Hannan, ”, Elon Musk, Musk, adieu, Innisfree Organizations: San, Twitter, San Francisco, Associated Press, Incorporated Locations: San Francisco

☆ Dogs Die From Heat-Related Injuries on Their Way to Police Training
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

German shepherds that were being transported from Chicago to a training center for police dogs in Michigan City, Ind., died in the heat on Thursday after an air-conditioning unit that was being used to keep the animals cool failed, the local authorities said. The Lake Station Police Department, which responded to a chaotic scene at a gas station off the interstate in Lake Station, Ind., did not specify in a statement issued on Friday how many dogs had been en route to the training center or how many had died. The driver had been stuck in a traffic delay for two hours and had not been aware of the air-conditioner’s failure because the dogs were in a separate cargo area, the statement said. The driver was alerted to their distress when he heard some of the dogs barking. The area near Hobart reached highs of at least 91 degrees on Thursday, according to the Chicago forecast office of the National Weather Service.

Organizations: Lake Station Police Department, National Weather Service Locations: Chicago, Michigan City, Ind, Lake Station, Hobart

☆ A Dusty Fast-Food Costume Sets Off a Very Canadian Bidding War
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“There’s nothing like it, there really isn’t,” he said. Mr. Robinson, 35, is among dozens of people who have placed bids on an adult-size donair costume that is being auctioned off by the provincial government of Alberta in what has become an unlikely demonstration of the Halifax-born street food’s growing popularity across Canada. Bidding for the costume opened on July 14 at 50 Canadian dollars, or about $38. By Wednesday, bidders had pushed the price to just over 16,000 Canadian dollars, or roughly $12,000, with weeks to go before the online auction ends on Aug. 14. Mr. Robinson, a co-founder and owner of Blowers and Grafton, a chain of restaurants with six locations in Alberta that specializes in “authentic Halifax street food,” said he was willing to pay that much, or more, for the suit.

Persons: Josh Robinson, ”, Robinson Locations: Halifax , Nova Scotia, pita, Alberta, Halifax, Grafton

☆ ‘Leave No Bunny Behind’: A Florida Town Works to Rescue Dozens of Rabbits
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two years ago, Courtney Turney encountered the rabbits when her 100-pound hound mix dragged her across a neighbor’s lawn. Rabbits are known to reproduce rapidly; female rabbits typically have between four and eight litters annually, experts say. Some have eaten through wires and gotten in the way of cyclists and motorists, a spokesperson for Wilton Manors said, concerns residents have shared with the city. This spring, plans for the rabbits’ removal became a subject debated in city forums. At a city commission meeting in April, local leaders discussed options proposed by Gary Blocker, the chief of police in Wilton Manors.

Persons: Courtney Turney, ”, Turney, “, Wilton Manors, Gary Blocker, Blocker, Chris Caputo, “ We’re, Caputo, Alicia Griggs, “ it’s Organizations: Wilton Locations: “, Florida, Wilton Manors

☆ Search for a Century-Old Shipwreck Turns Up One Even Older
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In September, a Discovery Channel film crew traveled to Paradise, Mich., searching for two French naval ships that disappeared in 1918. But on a voyage to find them, they stumbled upon another shipwreck that was four decades older. “Finding the Satellite was hugely exciting and unexpected,” said Mr. Gates. On June 21, 1879, the 15-year-old Satellite was on a routine trip to Duluth, Minn., from Detroit, and towing four schooner barges when it sprang a leak. “She gained on us an inch a minute,” he wrote, adding that “there was no logs” in “the way we came.”

Persons: Josh Gates, ”, Gates, Joshua B, Markee, “ Organizations: Channel, “, Historical Society Locations: Paradise, Mich, Lake Superior, Duluth, Minn, Detroit

☆ Flash Flooding Expected in Southern Arkansas and North Louisiana
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Several flash flood warnings were issued for parts of Arkansas and Louisiana on Wednesday morning, following days of destructive flooding across the Northeast. The National Weather Service office in Shreveport, La., said the radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain could impact Columbia, Hempstead, Lafayette and Nevada counties in southwestern Arkansas and Claiborne Parish in northwestern Louisiana, labeling the forecast as “particularly dangerous.”Between eight and 10 inches of rain had fallen as of Wednesday morning, the agency said, with additional rainfall amounts of one to two inches possible in some of the affected areas.

Organizations: ., National Weather Service Locations: Arkansas, Louisiana, Shreveport, La, Columbia, Hempstead, Lafayette, Nevada, Claiborne Parish

A gunman killed one person and wounded three others on Saturday as he drove a scooter across Brooklyn and Queens, randomly firing at groups of people and at stores in a chaotic two-hour stretch before the police arrested him, the New York Police Department said. The 25-year-old gunman, whose name was not released by the authorities, began his rampage around 11 a.m. in Brooklyn where he shot a 21-year-old man in the left shoulder from behind, prompting officers to respond to the scene near the corner of Ashford Street and Arlington Avenue, Joseph Kenny, an assistant chief at the detective bureau, said at a news conference. Seventeen minutes later, a report came of another shooting, this time in Queens, which mirrored the one in Brooklyn, Chief Kenny said: a man on a scooter firing a gun. At the second attack, the gunman fatally shot an 87-year-old man near a nail salon on Jamaica Avenue near the Richmond Hills section of Queens, the police said.

Persons: Joseph Kenny, Kenny Organizations: New York Police Department, Arlington Locations: Brooklyn, Queens, Ashford Street, Jamaica, Richmond

☆ Coco Lee, ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ and ‘Mulan’ Singer, Dies at 48
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | More About Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Coco Lee, a Chinese American singer and songwriter best known for performing an Oscar-nominated song in the film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” died on Wednesday. She was 48. The cause was suicide, according to a statement from her sisters, Carol and Nancy Lee, who did not say where she died. Ms. Lee was taken to a hospital on Sunday after she attempted suicide at her home, they said. “Coco had been suffering from depression for a few years but her condition deteriorated drastically over the last few months,” her sisters wrote.

Persons: Coco Lee, Oscar, ”, Carol, Nancy Lee, Ms, Lee, “ Coco, “, Coco Organizations: Academy Locations: American, Asia

☆ Costco Is Cracking Down on Membership Sharing
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The wholesale retailer, which uses a membership system, strictly monitors entrances and exits and double checks customer receipts. But for friends and relatives of members, there was a well-known hack for scoring Costco’s low prices without paying an annual fee: the self-checkout lanes. Some users found they could borrow a member’s card, or a member’s QR code from the Costco app, and avoid the identification requirements of the regular checkout lanes. The company said in an emailed statement on Wednesday that it had noticed that nonmember shoppers had been using other people’s membership cards, which according to Costco policy are nontransferable, in the self-checkout lanes. “We are now asking to see their membership card with their photo at our self-service checkout registers,” the company explained, adding, “If their membership card does not have a photo, then we ask for a photo ID.”

Organizations: Costco

☆ A Wellness Chatbot Is Offline After Its ‘Harmful’ Focus on Weight Loss
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The idea behind a chatbot project funded by the National Eating Disorders Association was that technology could be unleashed to help people seeking guidance about eating behaviors, available around the clock. Their creation was named Tessa, and the organization invited people to chat with it in an Instagram post last year, describing it as “a wellness chatbot, helping you build resilience and self-awareness by introducing coping skills at your convenience.” In March, the organization said it would shut down a human-staffed helpline and let the bot stand on its own. But when Alexis Conason, a psychologist and eating disorder specialist, tested the chatbot, she found reason for concern. Ms. Conason told it that she had gained weight “and really hate my body,” specifying that she had “an eating disorder,” in a chat she shared on social media. Tessa still recommended the standard advice of noting “the number of calories” and adopting a “safe daily calorie deficit” — which, Ms. Conason said, is “problematic” advice for a person with an eating disorder.

Persons: Tessa, Alexis Conason, Conason Organizations: Eating Disorders

Fires are burning across the breadth of Canada, blanketing parts of the eastern United States with choking, orange-gray smoke. So much wildfire smoke pushed through the border that in Buffalo, schools canceled outdoor activities. The average global temperatures today are more than 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than in the preindustrial era. The trees and grasses of eastern Canada turned to tinder. “We should expect a stunning year of global extremes,” he wrote.

Persons: It’s, El Niño, Justin Trudeau, ”, Alexandra Paige Fischer, Park Williams, Wiliams, Brendan Rogers, haven’t, La, Jeff Berardelli, El, Ada Monzón Organizations: Northern, University of Michigan, Stanford, University of California, Climate Research, El, Twitter Locations: Canada, United States, Puerto Rico, North America, El, Buffalo, Detroit, Los Angeles, Alberta, Vietnam, China, Siberia, WFLA, Tampa Bay, Fla, WAPA

For Felisha Robinson, it was the scene in the biopic “What’s Love Got to Do With It” in which Tina Turner runs across the highway, face bloodied from having been beaten by her then-husband and performing partner, Ike Turner, to escape her abusive marriage with nothing but 36 cents and a Mobil card in her pocket. As Robinson, 42, was getting out of her own abusive marriage in 2020, she found herself gravitating toward the 1993 film that made waves around the world for starkly depicting the violence Tina Turner had endured. She had watched it when she was younger, but felt she now understood all that it took for Turner get there. Looking back at the singer’s interviews, books and songs helped Robinson process her own experience. “The desperation that was in her, like, ‘I have got to get out of this situation.

Persons: Felisha Robinson, Tina Turner, Ike Turner, Robinson, “, ”, Turner Organizations: Mobil

A meeting of the word panel was held on Sunday at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., to finalize the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee words. Here is a guide to the rules for the Scripps National Spelling Bee — and their small changes for this year’s competition, including a shorter allotted time to answer. A speller advances through them by correctly spelling a word and answering a multiple-choice question about its meaning. After the pronouncer says the spelling word, the clock starts. If one speller is correct, that person will be given a spelling word drawn from the Championship Word List.

Persons: spellers, Corrie Loeffler, “, ”, Jacques A . Bailly, Loeffler, Merriam, Johnny Diaz Organizations: Scripps, Spelling, Webster Locations: Oxon Hill, Md

☆ Student Cannot Wear Sash of Mexican and U.S. Flags at Graduation, Judge Rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A federal judge on Friday upheld a decision barring a student from wearing a sash honoring her Mexican American heritage to her graduation ceremony after the high school senior sued her Colorado school district. In the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, lawyers for the student, Naomi Peña Villasano, said she was told by the school principal’s secretary that she could not wear the sash because “allowing that regalia would ‘open too many doors.’”Lawyers for Ms. Villasano, 18, wrote in the suit that “the sash is a reminder that not all Mexican Americans, including her parents, have the opportunity to graduate from high school and to walk across a graduation stage.”They added, “By wearing the sash, Naomi represents her family, her identity as a Mexican American and her culture during this important occasion.”

☆ Disney to Close ‘Star Wars’-Themed Hotel Less Than Two Years After It Opened
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build an immersive “Star Wars”-themed hotel at Walt Disney World, Disney said on Thursday that, amid sweeping corporate cost-cutting, it would close the underperforming attraction in September, only about 18 months after it opened. The attraction, called Galactic Starcruiser, was marketed as part luxury hotel, part theme park ride, part role-playing game. Guests are welcomed aboard a 275-year-old space liner and take a celestial voyage on which they might be asked to deliver a secret message, head to the engine room to help repair a fuel valve, or participate in lightsaber training. Disney said the hotel’s “final voyage” would take place Sept. 28 to 30. Guests who had already booked the hotel after September will be contacted to discuss options to modify their plans, the company said, and new bookings were being paused to prioritize those guests.

☆ Hank Green, Novelist and YouTube Star, Announces He Has Cancer
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Lauren Mccarthy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Hank Green, a novelist and longtime host of quirky YouTube educational videos, announced on Friday that he was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer. “Good news and bad news. One, it’s cancer,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers. “Good news, it’s something called Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” he added. “It’s one of the most treatable cancers.

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