Güncel

The deaths of more than a thousand pilgrims in Saudi Arabia for the hajj has shone a spotlight on an underworld of illicit tour operators, smugglers and scammers who profit from Muslims desperate to fulfill their religious duty to travel to Mecca.While registered pilgrims are shuttled around shrines in air-conditioned buses and rest in air-conditioned tents, undocumented ones are often exposed to the elements, making them more vulnerable to extreme heat. Some pilgrims this year described seeing people fainting and passing bodies in the street as temperatures reached 120 degrees or more.In an interview on state television on Sunday, Saudi Health Minister Fahd al-Jalajel said 83% of the more than 1,300 deaths occurred among pilgrims who did not have official permission.“The rising temperatu...

Pharmacy benefit managers are driving up drug costs for millions of people, employers and the government. New York Times pharmaceutical reporter Rebecca Robbins explains how.

Tens of thousands of meteorites have been found on Earth, but the vast majority remain shrouded in mystery. These rocks obviously come from space, but pinpointing their exact origin, in the solar system or beyond, is difficult without knowing their flight paths.But researchers now believe they have linked a meteorite discovered in the Austrian Alps decades ago with bright flashes of light from a space rock hurtling through our planet's atmosphere. It's rare to link a meteorite with its parent "fireball," and these findings demonstrate the utility of comparing old data sets, the research team suggests. Their findings were published in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science in May.In 1976, Josef Pfefferle, a forest ranger, was clearing the remains of an avalanche near the Aus...

Heather Massey took Ladybird to the vet when the 9-year-old mutt he began to have convulsions. A scan from an MRI machine revealed some bad news: brain cancer.Given the poor prognosis, Ms. Massey decided not to undergo further treatment at the animal hospital near her home in Athens, Georgia, and Ladybird died four months later. Her MRI scan and related care had cost nearly $2,000, which Ms. Massey had put on a special credit card that she had learned about during an earlier veterinary visit.This was in 2018. He is still paying off the debt, with over 30% interest.“Could I afford to do this? Not really,” said Ms. Massey, 52, who is disabled and doesn't work. “Was it worth it for me? YES."Ms. Massey's experience illustrates the new, expensive realities of owning a pet. For dec...

The southern Israeli town of Netivot, a working-class center for mystical rabbis about 10 miles from the Gaza border, escaped the worst of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, a stroke of luck that many residents attribute to miraculous intervention of the Jewish sages buried here.However, many here appear to show little concern for the suffering of Palestinian civilians – practically neighbors – across the Gaza fence.Michael Zigdon, who runs a small food shack in the dilapidated Netivot market and had employed two Gazan men until the attack, expressed little sympathy for Gazans, who have endured a ferocious Israeli military attack for the past eight months.“Who wants this war and who doesn't?” Mr. Zigdon said, as he wiped up red food coloring that had spilled from a crushed ice drink dispens...

If you've ever had trouble getting a prescription drug, chances are you've come across a pharmacy benefits manager.These companies, known as PBMs, play a crucial but often hidden role in deciding which drugs you can get and how much you will personally pay. They are middlemen in America's maddeningly complex healthcare system, working on behalf of employers or government insurance programs like Medicare, which covers most prescription drug costs.The PBM's job is to save money on drugs. But the New York Times found that the three largest PBMs often overcharge you.Here's what to know about your PBM and how to find out if you're being overcharged.How do I know which PBM I have?Most Americans rely on one of the big three PBMs: CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, or Optum R...

When news broke that Pope Francis had used an offensive anti-gay slur while speaking to Italian bishops at a conference last month, many Catholics were shocked and dismayed. How could a pope known for his openness and acceptance of LGBTQ people use homophobic jargon and warn prelates against allowing gay men into seminaries?But the question, and the apparent inconsistency in Francis' message, reflect the profound contradictions and tensions that underlie the Roman Catholic Church's and Francis' relationship with homosexuality.The Church maintains that “homosexual tendencies” are “intrinsically disordered.” When it comes to ordination, church guidelines state that people with "deep-rooted" gay tendencies should not become priests.Yet ordination has also long been a kind of ref...

When the media titans Brian Roberts, John Malone and Barry Diller cast off in early February on Mr. Diller’s 156-foot, two-masted yacht, named Arriva, the waters off the coast of Jupiter, Fla., were placid.The same could not be said for their sprawling entertainment businesses.The three men meet occasionally to discuss the state of the industry, and lively disagreements have a been a staple of their discussions. But by the time they met on the yacht, they had all agreed that the money-losing status quo in the streaming business was unsustainable. The old cable model was a melting ice cube.But what will take its place?“There was peace in the valley for a period of time,” Mr. Malone mused in a rare recent interview, recalling the days before video-streaming upended the lucrative cable busine...

After hundreds of pilgrims died in the scorching desert heat during the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the Egyptian government is cracking down on tourism companies that facilitated travel to Saudi Arabia and said on Saturday it had suspended the licenses of 16 companies.At least 450 people died during the pilgrimage, during which travelers had to endure extreme temperatures which ranged from 108 degrees to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (42 to 49 degrees Celsius). But the actual number of victims is expected to rise much more as governments get more accurate death counts. (Egypt, for example, has officially acknowledged only 31 deaths.)In announcing the suspension of the 16 travel companies, the Egyptian government said the companies had failed to offer pilgrims important services such as med...

Pets are more popular than ever. According to the American Pet Products Association, about two-thirds of American homes have at least one pet, up from 56% in 1988, and Americans spent $136.8 billion on their pets in 2022, up from 123, 6 billion dollars in 2021. An estimated 91 million households in Europe own at least one pet, an increase of 20 million over the last ten years. India's pet population reached 31 million in 2021, up from 10 million in 2011.And our pets are becoming more and more like us – or at least, that seems to be our goal. We pamper them with personalized nutritional plans and backpack carriers, hydrotherapy for dogs and stays in boutique cat hotels. At All the Best, a high-end pet store chain in Seattle, the most popular items are enrichment toys for cats and do...