Economy

Ukrainians have reacted with a mixture of concern and mockery to the narrative pushed by the Kremlin and Russian state media that Ukraine was behind the terrorist attack Friday on a Moscow concert hall, a claim made despite the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.For some Ukrainians — officials and citizens alike — the accusations were typical of a Kremlin playbook, blaming Ukraine to justify Moscow’s violence against their country. That includes the false claim that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia used to begin the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, stating that the country was run by neo-Nazi leaders and that…

Most members of the band subscribed to a live-fast-die-young lifestyle. But as they partook in the drinking and drugging endemic to the 1990s grunge scene after shows at the Whiskey a Go Go, Roxy and other West Coast clubs, the band’s guitarist, Valter Longo, a nutrition-obsessed Italian Ph.D. student, wrestled with a lifelong addiction to longevity.Now, decades after Dr. Longo dropped his grunge-era band, DOT, for a career in biochemistry, the Italian professor stands with his floppy rocker hair and lab coat at the nexus of Italy’s eating and aging obsessions.“For studying aging, Italy is just incredible,” said Dr. Longo,…

This is the first article in a six-part series looking at some of European football’s most innovative up-and-coming managers.Thiago Motta knows a thing or two about success.When your CV includes two La Liga titles, one Serie A title, five Ligue 1 titles and two Champions League winners medals, you tend to command instant respect within a dressing room.That said, few people need reminding that a successful playing career does not directly translate to a successful coaching career — so, what of Thiago Motta, the manager?The 41-year-old has transformed Bologna from Serie A strugglers to one of the most aesthetically pleasing…

The Babynova fertility clinic located in Bogota, Colombia, offers couples of women in Melbourne (Australia) who wish to start a family the opportunity to make it a reality through the ROPA method. This unique assisted reproduction technique, known as "Reception of Oocytes from Partner" (ROPA), enables both women to actively participate in the conception and gestation of their child. By sharing genetic material, they create a special bond with their baby. What is the ROPA method? The ROPA method is based on a process of in vitro fertilization (IVF) with some particularities that make it ideal for female couples. The…

Venezuela’s embattled opposition announced on Friday that it was naming a new candidate to face off against President Nicolas Maduro this summer, giving renewed hope to the country’s push toward democracy.The country’s highest court in January barred the previous candidate, the former lawmaker María Corina Machado, from running, leading many Venezuelans to question how free and fair the election would be. The decision raised questions over whether Ms. Machado’s party, Come Venezuela, would try to insist on her candidacy or coalesce around another candidate.On Friday. leaders of several opposition parties announced that Corina Yoris, a philosophy professor, would run instead…

Last year, Tracy McCubbin — who has been a professional declutterer for two decades and lives by the motto “don’t put it down, put it away” — married a man she described as “very messy.”Both acknowledged the “cosmic joke” of their unlikely pairing. Ms. McCubbin put blue painter’s tape on every drawer and cupboard in the kitchen when the pair first moved in together, offering a map to what goes where. But she has also learned to practice what she preaches to her clients, staying cool and calm about messes that don’t affect her day-to-day functioning. Like his night stand,…

By Zack Meisel, Cody Stavenhagen and Stephen J. NesbittGOODYEAR, Ariz. — A decade ago, on a dusty baseball diamond in Puerto Rico, a veteran pitcher shared with Fernando Cruz the secrets of throwing a splitter, a pitch treated like a black-market product, a dark art best learned in the shadows and deployed at one’s own risk.Cruz was a converted infielder pitching in winter ball back home and trying to catch on with a major league organization. He couldn’t command the splitter. “Started hitting people with it,” he said. “Started bouncing it.” But he stuck with it because, when it was…

A large-scale Russian missile and drone attack damaged power plants and caused blackouts for more than a million Ukrainians on Friday morning, in what Ukrainian officials said was one of the war’s largest assaults on energy infrastructure.At least three people were killed in the assault, and 15 others were injured, according to the office of Ukraine’s general prosecutor.The strikes came as ​the Kremlin escalated its rhetoric over the conflict, saying that Russia was “in a state of war” in Ukraine — and moving beyond the euphemism “special military operation” — because of the West’s heavy involvement on the Ukrainian side.In…

Surgeons in Boston have transplanted a kidney from a genetically engineered pig into an ailing 62-year-old man, the first procedure of its kind. If successful, the breakthrough offers hope to hundreds of thousands of Americans whose kidneys have failed.So far, the signs are promising.Kidneys remove waste products and excess fluid from the blood. The new kidney began producing urine shortly after the surgery last weekend and the patient’s condition continues to improve, according to physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital, known as Mass General. He is already walking the halls of the hospital and may be discharged soon.The patient is a…

He appeared in the dock at Manchester Crown Court like a familiar-looking stranger, a vivid memory from a distant past.Jamie Cassidy had once been one of the most promising young footballers at Liverpool, England’s most successful club, a player deemed good enough to train with his national team ahead of the 1996 European Championship.Today, Cassidy was jailed for 13 years and three months for his part in a conspiracy involving South American drug cartels that saw 356kg (784lb) of cocaine with an estimated street value of £28million ($35.8m) flood cities across northern England.Cassidy, now 46, did not have a “pivotal”…