Author: News Room

Virginia Giuffre, a former victim of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring who said she was “passed around like a platter of fruit” as a teenager to rich and powerful predators, including Prince Andrew of Britain, died on Friday at her farm in Western Australia. She was 41.Ms. Giuffre died by suicide, according to a statement from the family. Ms. Giuffre (pronounced JIFF-ree) wrote in an Instagram post March that she was days away from dying of renal failure after being injured in a crash with a school bus that she said was traveling at nearly 70 m.p.h.In 2019, Mr. Epstein was…

There are some 48,000 barrels of Scotch whisky quietly aging in Martin Armstrong’s warehouses in southwestern Scotland. Last year, 17 of them became a problem.Mr. Armstrong normally deals with companies that buy hundreds of barrels at a time from distilleries, then pay him to store them as they age. In July, he started getting desperate calls from people who had bought just one or two barrels from an investment outfit called Cask Whisky Limited. They had been told that some of those barrels were stored in Mr. Armstrong’s warehouse.Cask Whisky had promised those investors sky-high returns. But when the company…

It is in a president’s interest to ensure that the economy and the stock market are strong. Yet the Trump administration has been doing just the opposite.The mood in the markets has been upbeat this week, largely because the president and his advisers softened their stances, rolling back some of their threats toward both China and the Federal Reserve. Periods of relative calm like this last one have been a relief, but they haven’t lasted long, for good reasons.Start with President Trump’s imposition of tariffs on countries around the world, especially his decision to start a trade war with China.…

Stock market gyrations. Inflation. Layoffs of federal workers. A possible recession.Children may overhear their parents talking about these things and not fully understand what’s going on or how it may affect their family’s finances. But if the children have questions, parents should be ready to talk, experts say.“Parents are the biggest influence on kids’ financial learning,” said Ashley LeBaron-Black, an assistant professor of family life at Brigham Young University.Here are some tips for having conversations about money.Children don’t pay attention to the national economy, right?The nation’s economy seemed on solid ground at the beginning of the year, but economists expect…

Federal health officials have reversed the decision to fire a few dozen scientists at the Food and Drug Administration’s food-safety labs, and say they are conducting a review to determine if other critical posts were cut.A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the rehirings and said that several employees would also be restored to the offices that deal with Freedom of Information requests, an area that was nearly wiped out.In the last few months, roughly 3,500 F.D.A. jobs, about 20 percent, were eliminated, representing one of the largest work force reductions among all government agencies targeted…

The Trump administration, which has made clear that it aims to slash government spending, is preparing to unveil a budget proposal as soon as next week that includes draconian cuts that would entirely eliminate some federal programs and fray the nation’s social safety net.The proposed budget for the 2026 fiscal year would cut billions of dollars from programs that support child care, health research, education, housing assistance, community development and the elderly, according to preliminary documents reviewed by The New York Times. The proposal, which is being finalized by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, also targets longstanding…

With many Americans concerned that President Trump’s tariffs will make most products more expensive and possibly tip the United States into a recession, some consumers say they are opting out of spending on a wide range of items.Instead of shopping lists, they are making “No Buy” lists.No more outfits destined to be worn only once. No more “just because” T.J. Maxx runs. No more salon haircuts and manicures. No more eating out at restaurants. No more TikTok Shop.This uncertain economic moment is reinvigorating a trend that took off early this year: No Buy 2025. (See also: “Low Buy” and “Slow…

President Trump, whose trade war with China has rattled financial markets and threatened to disrupt huge swaths of trade, suggested on Friday that he had been in touch with Xi Jinping, China’s president, even as Chinese officials insisted that no negotiations were occurring.In an interview with Time on Tuesday, Mr. Trump said Mr. Xi had called him, though he declined to say when, and asserted that his team was in active talks with China on a trade deal. Asked about the interview outside the White House on Friday morning, the president reiterated that he had spoken with the Chinese president…

Three months ago, things were looking pretty good for Tim Fulton and Ramper Innovations, a manufacturer of airplane equipment based in Sitka, Alaska.Mr. Fulton was spending his days inside his workshop doing what he loved: building the company’s main product — a fold-up conveyor belt that unfurls in the belly of a plane to load and unload cargo or luggage. He had an order from the U.S. Air Force that he was confident would serve as a catalyst and bring in new customers from Asia and the Middle East while luring potential investors.Then, the tariffs from President Trump struck.The New…

In late 2023, Israel was aiming to assassinate Ibrahim Biari, a top Hamas commander in the northern Gaza Strip who had helped plan the Oct. 7 massacres. But Israeli intelligence could not find Mr. Biari, who they believed was hidden in the network of tunnels underneath Gaza.So Israeli officers turned to a new military technology infused with artificial intelligence, three Israeli and American officials briefed on the events said. The technology was developed a decade earlier but had not been used in battle. Finding Mr. Biari provided new incentive to improve the tool, so engineers in Israel’s Unit 8200, the…