Guatemala’s Presidential Inauguration is Delayed, Flaring Tempers
15Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
World

Guatemala’s Presidential Inauguration is Delayed, Flaring Tempers

Opponents of the anticorruption crusader Bernardo Arévalo delayed his inauguration as president of Guatemala on Sunday, ratcheting political tensions higher in Central America’s most populous country.Confusion around the transition of power emerged shortly after Guatemala’s highest court on Sunday allowed conservative members of Congress opposed to Mr. Arévalo to maintain their leadership of the chamber.After that ruling, arguments among lawmakers flared in the chamber around midday when Congress was expected to officially name Mr. Arévalo as president. Some congressional members went behind closed doors; as they remained deliberating, other lawmakers contended they were trying to derail the transfer of power, fueling bewilderment and frustration around the country.“These are the latest st...
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‘Mean Girls’ Musical Triumphs at Box Office, With a TikTok Assist
14Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Business

‘Mean Girls’ Musical Triumphs at Box Office, With a TikTok Assist

The theatrical box office this holiday weekend was awash in “Mean Girls,” and TikTok may have been at least partly responsible for its domination.The new PG-13 rated film, a musical rendition of the 2004 original starring Lindsay Lohan, with songs that turned the 2018 Broadway adaptation (and two national tours) into a resounding hit, grossed $28 million over the holiday weekend. The movie landed in first place, beating the Jason Statham action film “The Beekeeper,” which earned $16.8 million. (Paramount Pictures expects “Mean Girls” to reach $32 million once receipts from the federal holiday on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King’s Birthday are added.)The news was a welcome reprieve for the theatrical box office, which did not benefit from a giant year-end blockbuster that often ca...
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California Has Dealt a Blow to Renewable Energy, Some Businesses Say
14Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Technology

California Has Dealt a Blow to Renewable Energy, Some Businesses Say

California has long championed renewable energy, but a change in the state’s policies last year has led to a sharp decline in the installation of residential rooftop solar in the state.Thousands of companies — including installers, manufacturers and distributors — are reeling from the new policy, which took effect in April and greatly reduced incentives that had encouraged homeowners to install solar panels. Since the change, sales of rooftop solar installations in California dropped as much as 85 percent in some months of 2023 from a year earlier, according to a report by Ohm Analytics, a research firm that tracks the solar marketplace. Industry groups project that installations in the state will drop more than 40 percent this year and continue to decline through 2028.“The solar installat...
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Naomi Osaka, The Comeback Interview: A tale of pregnancy, fear and a ballerina
14Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Sports

Naomi Osaka, The Comeback Interview: A tale of pregnancy, fear and a ballerina

It was late September when Naomi Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion and transcendent star of her sport, finally got on the phone with her former coach to talk about her next comeback. Wim Fissette is a cerebral Belgian who thinks long and hard before taking on a player, even one with a resume like Osaka’s. He had one, very serious question.Is it going to be different this time?There was then another conversation, with Florian Zitzelsberger, a 34-year-old German who is one of the most respected strength and conditioning coaches in the world. Zitzelsberger had worked with Osaka before, too. He asked her the same question, and another important one, too. Why?World-class tennis players worth hundreds of millions of dollars are not used to pushback like this. They get what they ask for, w...
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Federal Scientists Recommend Easing Restrictions on Marijuana
13Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Health

Federal Scientists Recommend Easing Restrictions on Marijuana

Marijuana is neither as risky nor as prone to abuse as other tightly controlled substances and has potential medical benefits, and therefore should be removed from the nation’s most restrictive category of drugs, federal scientists have concluded.The recommendations are contained in a 250-page scientific review provided to Matthew Zorn, a Texas lawyer who sued Health and Human Services officials for its release and published it online on Friday night. An H.H.S. official confirmed the authenticity of the document.The records shed light for the first time on the thinking of federal health officials who are pondering a momentous change. The agencies involved have not publicly commented on their debates over what amounts to a reconsideration of marijuana at the federal level.Since 1970, mariju...
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Jacinda Ardern, Former New Zealand Prime Minister, Is Married
13Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
World

Jacinda Ardern, Former New Zealand Prime Minister, Is Married

She steered New Zealand through volcanic eruptions, terrorist attacks and a pandemic, won her party a record-breaking majority and, at age 37, became the world’s youngest female head of government.Yet from her earliest appearances on the world stage, fans and watchers of Jacinda Ardern, 43, the former New Zealand prime minister who announced her resignation almost exactly a year ago, have time and again returned to the same question: whether and when she and Clarke Gayford, 47, her television presenter fiancé, would tie the knot.On Saturday, they finally got their answer, when the couple released official wedding portraits to the news media.The ceremony, which took place at the Craggy Range vineyard, in New Zealand’s spectacular Hawke’s Bay, follows one canceled effort and more than five y...
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Supreme Court to Hear Starbucks Bid to Overturn Labor Ruling
13Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Business

Supreme Court to Hear Starbucks Bid to Overturn Labor Ruling

The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a case brought by Starbucks challenging a federal judge’s order to reinstate seven employees who were fired at a store in Memphis amid a union campaign there.Starbucks argued that the criteria for such intervention by judges in labor cases, which can also include measures like reopening shuttered stores, vary across regions of the country because federal appeals courts may adhere to different standards.A regional director for the National Labor Relations Board, the company’s opponent in the case, argued that the apparent differences in criteria among appeals courts were semantic rather than substantive, and that a single effective standard was already in place nationwide.The labor board had urged the Supreme Court to stay out of the case, whose ou...
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Microsoft Tops Apple to Become Most Valuable Public Company
13Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Technology

Microsoft Tops Apple to Become Most Valuable Public Company

For more than a decade, Apple was the stock market’s undisputed king. It first overtook Exxon Mobil as the world’s most valuable public company in 2011 and held the title almost without interruption.But a transfer of power has begun.On Friday, Microsoft surpassed Apple, claiming the crown after its market value surged by more than $1 trillion over the past year. Microsoft finished the day at $2.89 trillion, higher than Apple’s $2.87 trillion, according to Bloomberg.The change is part of a reordering of the stock market that was set in motion by the advent of generative artificial intelligence. The technology, which can answer questions, create images and write code, has been heralded for its potential to disrupt businesses and create trillions of dollars in economic value.When Apple replac...
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Cutter Gauthier received death threats for not wanting to play for Flyers, says he wouldn’t wish them on ‘worst enemy’
12Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Sports

Cutter Gauthier received death threats for not wanting to play for Flyers, says he wouldn’t wish them on ‘worst enemy’

From the moment he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, Cutter Gauthier has been pilloried in some circles, with social media-fueled attacks on his character after the Philadelphia Flyers effectively said good riddance to their former prize prospect.Gauthier answered questions Wednesday about the stunning deal, which saw the Flyers trade the 19-year-old Boston College standout and recent United States world juniors gold medal winner to the Ducks for young defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round draft pick.The reaction to reports about Gauthier’s recent dealings with Philadelphia — or perhaps lack thereof — was so toxic that Gauthier said he received death threats via social media. Most of the questions Gauthier has faced have centered around one simple one: Why didn’t he wa...
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Researchers Scramble to Keep Dog Aging Project Alive
11Jan Avatar photoBy James W. BrownNo Comments
Health

Researchers Scramble to Keep Dog Aging Project Alive

In late 2019, scientists began searching for 10,000 Americans willing to enroll their pets in an ambitious new study of health and longevity in dogs. The researchers planned to track the dogs over the course of their lives, collecting detailed information about their bodies, lifestyles and home environments. Over time, the scientists hoped to identify the biological and environmental factors that kept some dogs healthy in their golden years — and uncover insights about aging that could help both dogs and humans lead longer, healthier lives.Today, the Dog Aging Project has enrolled 47,000 canines and counting, and the data are starting to stream in. The scientists say that they are just getting started.“We think of the Dog Aging Project as a forever project, so recruitment is ongoing,” said...
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