Author: News Room

Days before the Titanic struck an iceberg, a first-class passenger, Col. Archibald Gracie, described the vessel in a letter written while on board: “It is a fine ship but I shall await my journey’s end before I pass judgment on her.”Colonel Gracie’s journey on the Titanic had a catastrophic end, but he fared better than most.He was on the top deck of the ship, gripping a railing, as it plunged into the sea. He said he was “swirled” under water before he got to a raft, where he spent hours floating on icy waters before being rescued.The letter he wrote…

On a February afternoon at the University of North Carolina, a group of seven students on the diving team sat barefoot on the floor of the college’s muggy natatorium. They were staring expectantly at a petite blond woman in a black sweater perched on a concrete block.Vickie Segar was there, with the blessing of the university’s athletic department, to pitch them on turning their TikTok and Instagram accounts into cash cows.“Let’s talk about the money in the creator economy,” said Ms. Segar, after explaining that she was a graduate of the university who had run a top influencer marketing agency…

President Trump’s tariffs on imported cars and auto parts could stall the growth of electric vehicles, setting back a technology critical to addressing climate change.But the tariffs could also work in favor of some electric models made in the United States, like the Tesla Model Y or Volkswagen ID.4, that are among the cars with the fewest imported parts and, thus, the least vulnerable to tariffs.The tariffs could lead to steep increases in the cost of batteries and other components. By hurting electric vehicle manufacturing in the United States, the tariffs could also cede more ground to Chinese automakers that…

As they flew south along the Potomac River on the gusty night of Jan. 29, the crew aboard an Army Black Hawk helicopter attempted to execute a common aviation practice. It would play a role in ending their lives.Shortly after the Black Hawk passed over Washington’s most famous array of cherry trees, an air traffic controller at nearby Ronald Reagan National Airport alerted the crew to a regional passenger jet in its vicinity. The crew acknowledged seeing traffic nearby.One of the pilots then asked for permission to employ a practice called “visual separation.” That allows a pilot to take control…

The 25 percent tariffs imposed by President Trump on imported cars have added to the pressures on vehicle manufacturers around the world, but the pain could be particularly acute in Britain’s venerable but flagging auto industry.Britain exports more than 70 percent of the cars that it makes. In 2024, it sent about 101,000 of those vehicles — about 17 percent of car exports, worth 7.6 billion pounds (about $10.1 billion) — to the United States, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, an industry group. Tariffs now threaten to close what had been one of Britain’s largest markets.Over…

Somewhere along a roughly 7,500-mile journey that begins in Shenzhen, China, there are 19 shipments bound for Rick Woldenberg, the chief executive of Learning Resources, an educational toy company in Vernon Hills, Ill.Eventually, the containers of puzzle cards, child binoculars and other products will reach a port in the United States, and Mr. Woldenberg will face a difficult and expensive decision. He can pay the sky-high tariffs that President Trump has imposed on most foreign goods, or forgo at least some of the much-needed inventory, perhaps imperiling his bottom line.Mr. Woldenberg expects to do a bit of both. But he…

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is known for its sports programs, but now it has something else to offer its athletes: an opportunity to become an influencer. Sapna Maheshwari, a business reporter who covers social media for The New York Times, returned to her alma mater to learn more.

Insulin, heart treatments and antibiotics have flowed freely across many borders for decades, exempt from tariffs in a bid to make medicine affordable. But that could soon change.For months, President Trump has been promising to impose higher tariffs on pharmaceuticals as part of his plan to reorder the global trading system and bring key manufacturing industries back to the United States. This month, he said pharmaceutical tariffs could come in the “not too distant future.”If they do, the move would have serious — and wildly uncertain — consequences for drugs made in the European Union.Pharmaceutical products and chemicals are the…

Usually, the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner features Hollywood stars, a zinger-filled comedy set and a public display of comity between the White House and the press corps that covers it.On Saturday, the dinner had no comedian and no president. Among the smattering of celebrities on hand was Michael Chiklis, whose best-known television role, in “The Shield,” concluded in 2008.“It’s just us,” Eugene Daniels, the association’s president and an MSNBC host, told his fellow journalists at the start of the night.The reporters who spoke from the dais emphasized the importance of the First Amendment, garnering repeated ovations from the black-tie…

A former employee of Walt Disney World who hacked into menus used by its restaurants and edited them — changing prices, adding profanity and altering listed allergens — was sentenced to three years in prison by a federal judge in Florida this week.None of the changes, including falsified information about food allergens that could have been harmful to visitors, ever appeared before the public, according to court records. The menu alterations were caught and court records show that none of the changes ever reached the printing stage.The former employee, Michael Scheuer of Winter Garden, Fla., was sentenced on Wednesday in…