TikTok Quietly Changes User Terms Amid Growing Legal Scrutiny
Technology

TikTok Quietly Changes User Terms Amid Growing Legal Scrutiny

Parents, schools and even attorneys general have increasingly been raising concerns about how TikTok may be hooking children to the app and serving them inappropriate content. But some lawyers say bringing legal action against the company could be more difficult after TikTok quietly changed its U.S. terms of service this summer.In July, TikTok removed rules that had required user disputes to be handled through private arbitration and instead said that complaints must be filed in one of two California courts. While arbitration has long been considered beneficial to companies, some lawyers have recently figured out how to make it costly for companies by bringing consumers’ arbitration claims en masse.The terms were also changed to suggest that legal action must be brought within a year of th...
A Shock for Many Retirees: Social Security Benefits Can Be Taxed
Business

A Shock for Many Retirees: Social Security Benefits Can Be Taxed

Social Security benefits weren’t taxed at all until 1984. Then in 1993, Bill Clinton signed legislation that expanded tax thresholds, making up to 85 percent of benefits taxable for recipients with combined incomes of more than $34,000 ($44,000 for joint filers). Those who earn less could be subject to taxes on up to 50 percent of their benefits. Combined income consists of a filer’s adjusted gross income, untaxed interest (such as from municipal bonds) and half of one’s annual Social Security payments.Over the past 39 years, both Social Security payments and federal income tax brackets have continually shifted upward to compensate for inflation — but the income thresholds that result in a retiree’s benefits being taxed have not. When the tax took effect in 1984, during the Reagan administ...
At Least 61 Migrants Drown Off Libya, I.O.M. Says
Politics

At Least 61 Migrants Drown Off Libya, I.O.M. Says

More than 60 migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Libya, an international migrant agency said on Saturday, another chapter in the unrelenting toll in the Mediterranean Sea as people in Africa flee famine, conflict and other upheavals for distant shores.The International Organization for Migration in Libya said in a post on the social platform X that women and children were among the 61 migrants who died. The Libyan government did not immediately comment on the agency’s report.The boat had set off from the Libyan city of Zwara with about 86 people, the agency said, citing survivors of the shipwreck. It was unclear exactly when it began its voyage. The I.O.M. said “the central Mediterranean continues to be one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes.”Earlier this year, at least 73 migr...
New York City Is Offering Free Online Therapy to Teens: Will It Work?
Health

New York City Is Offering Free Online Therapy to Teens: Will It Work?

For the past month, New York City has been inviting teenagers to participate in one of the biggest experiments in the country aimed at helping struggling adolescents: a program offering free online therapy to all residents ages 13 to 17.The city has entered a three-year, $26 million contract with Talkspace, one of the largest digital mental health care providers. After a parent or legal guardian signs a consent form, teenagers can exchange unlimited messages with an assigned therapist and receive one 30-minute virtual therapy session each month.The rollout of the program, NYC Teenspace, on Nov. 15 took many in the city’s large mental health care community by surprise. In interviews, providers hailed the effort for having made mental health care available to teenagers who otherwise might no...
‘For the District?’ Yeah, right; Ted Leonsis will take Wizards, Capitals angst across the river
Sports

‘For the District?’ Yeah, right; Ted Leonsis will take Wizards, Capitals angst across the river

WASHINGTON — The Prince of Potomac Yard spoke of water.“When I first came to this site,” Ted Leonsis said Wednesday, “and stood on top of the roof of the building next door, and looked over, we forget the power of having two rivers flow right into this community. And, iconic real estate is incredibly important. We have access — you can see the Washington Monument from here, Washington, D.C., the border’s one-and-a-half miles from here.”That must be cool! So nice that the billionaire owner of the Wizards and Capitals will have a swank view of the Potomac and Anacostia confluence from his soon-to-be floor-wide offices in Alexandria, where he will center his entertainment and sports empire. It would be unfair to say he literally will be looking down upon the people who are financing his Jerry...
TikTok’s Bow Trend Gets Absurd
Technology

TikTok’s Bow Trend Gets Absurd

Want to go viral on TikTok right now? Grab some pink ribbon and a random object. A roll of toilet paper, a houseplant, or a kosher dill spear will do. Tie it up in a bow and film it. Post the video online, and voilà.In recent weeks, bows in all the wrong places have become all the rage on the social media platform. Popular TikTok videos have featured ribbons wrapped around a bowl of macaroni and cheese, a knife and a Chick-fil-A order. Another video showed what appeared to be a bowl of cereal at first glance — but instead of cereal, it’s just a bowl of bows.If you can name it, somebody has probably tied a bow on it.The online trend comes in reaction to the recent popularity of bows in fashion and pop culture.Sierra Palian, a 22-year-old nanny in Washington, D.C., recently posted an 8-secon...