Author: News Room

In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with Meta employees on Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive, defended recent changes he had made to loosening restrictions on online speech and ending diversity initiatives, and doubled down on embracing President Trump’s new administration.“I want to be clear, after the last several years, we now have an opportunity to have a productive partnership with the United States government,” Mr. Zuckerberg said, according to a recording of the meeting shared with The New York Times. “We’re going to take that.”Mr. Zuckerberg, 40, said it was “fundamental” for Meta — the world’s biggest social media…

Doug Burgum, a promoter of oil and gas, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday to lead the Interior Department, a role in which he will oversee drilling and mining policies on federal lands and waters.The 79-18 vote for Mr. Burgum puts him in charge of nearly 500 million acres of public land, 1.7 billion acres of offshore waters, and more than 70,000 employees across the country tasked with protecting wildlife and endangered species, managing national parks and maintaining tribal lands. He is expected to be a key player to implement President Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” agenda that calls for…

Starbucks and the union representing thousands of its employees said on Thursday that they were bringing in a mediator in a push to revive contract talks, which had stalled over an impasse on wage increases.In a joint statement, the two sides said that they had made progress over the last nine months, and that they were “committed to continuing to work together — with a mediator’s assistance — to navigate complex issues and reach fair contracts.”Workers United, the union that represents Starbucks workers at more than 500 company-owned stores across the United States, had hoped to finalize a framework by…

During intense questioning Thursday by members of the Senate health committee about his plan to keep a financial stake in major vaccine litigation, Robert F. Kennedy said that he would give away his rights to fees that might flow from it.It appears to be a reversal from the details of the government ethics agreement that he filed for his Senate confirmation hearings to become the nation’s health secretary.Just last week, the ethics agreement he provided to senators stated that he would retain a stake in the continuing litigation, meaning that if confirmed, he could receive payments while overseeing the vast…

Loretta Ford, who co-founded the first academic program for nurse practitioners in 1965, then spent decades transforming the field of nursing into an area of serious clinical practice, education and research, died on Jan. 22 at her home in Wildwood, Fla. She was 104.Her daughter, Valerie Monrad, confirmed the death.Today there are more than 350,000 nurse practitioners in America; it is one of the fastest growing fields, and last year U.S. News and World Report ranked it the top job in the country, a reflection of salary potential, job satisfaction and career opportunities.That success is in large part the result…

Wolfgang Zwiener, who immigrated to New York City from Germany in 1960, ferried thousands of hissing platters of porterhouse to the oak tables as a waiter at Peter Luger in Brooklyn and then founded his own empire of 35 steakhouses stretching from Park Avenue to the Philippines, died on Jan. 23 at his home in Honolulu. He was 85.His son Peter, who confirmed the death, said the cause was lung cancer.In his 39 years at Peter Luger, Mr. Zwiener (pronounced ZWEE-ner) was on his feet six days a week. On Sundays and vacations, he liked to sleep on the beach.…

Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, informed NPR and PBS this week that he had ordered an investigation into the practice of their member stations airing sponsorships.Mr. Carr told Katherine Maher, NPR’s chief executive, and Paula Kerger, PBS’s chief executive, about the investigation in a letter on Wednesday. Mr. Carr, who was appointed by President Trump, said the investigation would focus on the stations’ practice of airing sponsorships.“I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials,” Mr. Carr said in the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times.…

The Justice Department on Thursday moved to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, the first deal to be challenged by antitrust enforcers during President Trump’s second term.In a lawsuit filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of California, the government said the deal “risks substantially lessening competition in a critically important technology market.” The agency said that the deal would end a corporate rivalry in the wireless networking industry that resulted in lower prices.The suit came as many in corporate America had expected that a lighter touch under Mr. Trump would unleash a…

Traveling with a baby or a toddler can be fun, frustrating, even revelatory. Planning is key, and so is your willingness to tailor the trip to the youngest traveler. As Dr. Elizabeth Barnett, the director of the pediatric travel program at Boston Medical Center, advises, “If you take a young child, it’s all about the child.”Choose one (or two) destinationsThis is not the time for a “nine European capitals in seven days” trip. Think about picking one place or splitting your trip between two destinations. That will allow you to settle in and get the sleep schedule sorted out. Most…

We have sad news: We are following the latest on the midair collision near Ronald Reagan National Airport outside Washington between an American Airlines flight carrying 64 people and a U.S. Army helicopter with three crew members aboard. No one was believed to have survived the crash, officials said.The C.E.O. of American Airlines has arrived in Washington to help coordinate with the F.A.A. and the National Transportation Safety Board. Results of the investigation will probably take months. But the crash raises important questions — some of which were being asked before — about the increasing traffic in the skies above…