Ukraine qualify for Euro 2024: ‘The world is going to watch and see we never give up’
Sports

Ukraine qualify for Euro 2024: ‘The world is going to watch and see we never give up’

More than 40 members of Ukraine’s national-team party were spread around the centre circle of Wroclaw’s Tarczynski Arena.Players, coaches and backroom staff locked their gaze on the 30,000 spectators sporting blue and yellow as they revved up their version of the Viking thunderclap. Iceland, the architects of that celebration during the 2016 European Championship, could only listen in despair having lost this Euro 2024 play-off final to a late strike from Chelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk.Strangers embraced. Families posed for photographs draped in Ukraine flags. Others video-called, possibly home to war-torn Ukraine, sharing the moment with others unable to experience first-hand this release of emotion around 600 miles (1,000km) away in south-west Poland.Ukraine had done it. Uk...
Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for FTX Fraud
Technology

Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for FTX Fraud

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange who was convicted of stealing billions of dollars from customers, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Thursday, capping an extraordinary saga that upended the crypto industry and became a cautionary tale of greed and hubris.Mr. Bankman-Fried’s sentence was shorter than the 40 to 50 years that federal prosecutors had sought after a jury found him guilty of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering — charges that carried a maximum penalty of 110 years behind bars. But the punishment was far above the six and a half years requested by his defense lawyers.Mr. Bankman-Fried, 32, did not visibly react as Judge Lewis A. Kaplan handed down the sentence in Federal District Court in Manhattan. His parents, the law professors Joe Bankm...
How the Israel-Hamas War Has Roiled TikTok Internally
Economy

How the Israel-Hamas War Has Roiled TikTok Internally

When Barak Herscowitz joined TikTok two years ago in the company’s Tel Aviv office, his role was to recruit Israeli government agencies and other public-sector groups to join the video service and take advantage of its popularity. His pitch: TikTok was a powerful communication tool and getting more influential in the country by the day.But Mr. Herscowitz, 38, an Israeli who had worked for the country’s conservative former prime minister, Naftali Bennett, and has at times criticized Palestinians on the social network X, grew disenchanted with the company after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October.His frustrations stemmed from seeing some employees express anti-Israel views in an internal group chat, and what he perceived to be a double standard in how the company approved ads that r...
Top U.N. Court Orders Israel to Ensure Aid to Gaza: Live Updates
News

Top U.N. Court Orders Israel to Ensure Aid to Gaza: Live Updates

The Israeli military has confirmed that Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza and a presumed mastermind of the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, was killed in an Israeli airstrike this month.A senior U.S. official, Jake Sullivan, had previously told reporters that Mr. Issa, one of the highest-ranking officials in Hamas, had been killed. But before a statement Tuesday, Israel’s military had said only that its warplanes had targeted Mr. Issa and another senior Hamas official in an underground compound in central Gaza.With his death, Mr. Issa, who had been among Israel’s most wanted men, became the senior-most Hamas leader to be killed in Gaza since the start of the war. Israeli officials have characterized the strike as a breakthrough in their campaign to wipe o...
Biden Administration Finalizes Rule Curbing Use of Short-Term Health Plans
Health

Biden Administration Finalizes Rule Curbing Use of Short-Term Health Plans

The Biden administration announced on Thursday that it had finalized a new regulation that curbs the use of short-term health insurance plans that do not comply with the Affordable Care Act, reversing a move by the Trump administration to give consumers more access to cheaper but skimpier plans.Under the new rule, the short-term plans will be able to last for only 90 days, with an option for a one-month extension.In 2018, the Trump administration issued a rule allowing the plans to last for just under a year, with the option of renewing them for a total duration of up to three years. Previously, under an Obama-era policy, the plans were required to last for less than three months.The plans, often with lower premiums than those found on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces, do not have to...
Stanford overcomes Iowa State in dramatic OT win, advances to women’s Sweet 16
Sports

Stanford overcomes Iowa State in dramatic OT win, advances to women’s Sweet 16

For the second-straight NCAA Tournament, the Stanford Cardinal faced a fourth-quarter deficit on their home court in the second round, staring down the possibility of a stunning upset.As the Pac-12 player of the year Cameron Brink spent most of the night in foul trouble against No. 7 Iowa State, the No. 2 Cardinal turned to their other twin tower to carry them home. After being limited to five scoreless minutes off the bench in the 2023 loss to Ole Miss, Kiki Iriafen scored 41 points, tied for ninth all-time in a single NCAA Tournament game, and added 16 rebounds and four assists, leading Stanford to an 87-81 victory in overtime. The Cardinal advanced to the Sweet 16 to face the winner of No. 3 NC State vs. No. 6 Tennessee. SWEET SIXTEEN BOUND#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/xw0AyZQYor — Stanfo...
TikTok Bill Would Complicate ByteDance Investments if Passed
Technology

TikTok Bill Would Complicate ByteDance Investments if Passed

For years, the U.S. investors who backed ByteDance, the Chinese internet company that owns TikTok, have wrestled with the complexities of owning a piece of a geopolitically fraught social media app.Now it’s gotten even more complicated.A bill to force ByteDance to sell TikTok is winding its way through the Senate after sailing through the House this month. Questions about whether TikTok’s Chinese ties make it a national security threat are mounting. And U.S. investors including General Atlantic, Susquehanna International Group and Sequoia Capital — which collectively poured billions into ByteDance — are facing increased pressure from state and federal lawmakers to answer for their investments in Chinese companies.Last year, a House committee began examining U.S. investments in Chinese comp...
Baltimore Bridge Collapse Creates Upheaval at Largest U.S. Port for Car Trade
Economy

Baltimore Bridge Collapse Creates Upheaval at Largest U.S. Port for Car Trade

Baltimore ranks first in the United States for the volume of automobiles and light trucks it handles, and for vessels that carry wheeled cargo, including farm and construction machinery, according to a statement by Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland last month.The incident is another stark reminder of the vulnerability of the supply chains that transport consumer products and commodities around the world.The extent of the disruption depends on how long it takes to reopen shipping channels into the port of Baltimore. Experts estimate it could take several weeks.Baltimore is not a leading port for container ships, and other ports can likely absorb traffic that was headed to Baltimore, industry officials said.Stephen Edwards, the chief executive of the Port of Virginia, said it was expecting a vessel...
Venezuelan Opposition Blocked from Election, Dimming Democratic Hopes
News

Venezuelan Opposition Blocked from Election, Dimming Democratic Hopes

First, it was María Corina Machado, a popular former legislator. Then, it was supposed to be Corina Yoris, a little-known philosophy professor. Now, an opposition coalition has put forward a former diplomat, Edmundo González, as their third candidate to run against President Nicolás Maduro in elections scheduled in July.That is, at least for now.The coalition of opposing political parties, the Democratic Unity Roundtable, has been hoping for months to unite behind a single candidate who could make a viable challenger to Mr. Maduro.But as the rapidly shifting lineup of potential candidates makes clear, the Maduro government has been putting up a series of obstacles to prevent that goal.On Monday, a national electoral commission controlled by allies of Mr. Maduro used a technical maneuver to...
Orcas Are Considered One Species. Should They Be?
Health

Orcas Are Considered One Species. Should They Be?

Killer whales are some of the most cosmopolitan creatures on the planet, swimming through every one of the world’s oceans. They patrol the frigid waters near both poles and periodically pop up in the tropics, in locations from western Africa to Hawaii.Although their habitats and habits vary widely, all killer whales are considered part of a single, global species: Orcinus orca. (Despite their common name, killer whales are actually part of a family of marine mammals known as oceanic dolphins.)Now, scientists have drawn upon decades of research to suggest that two killer whale populations often observed off the Pacific Coast of the United States and Canada are actually so different from each other — and from other orcas — that they should be considered separate species.In a paper published ...