George RR Martin gives impatient readers the finger

Game of Thrones author says readers’ worries that he might die before finishing novel series the TV show is based on are ‘pretty offensive’ George RR Martin: ‘Fuck you to those people. Photograph: Still from Tages Anzeiger’s video interview George RR Martin has issued a definitive “fuck you” to fans wondering if he will finish his […]

Race Is On to Profit From Rise of Urgent Care

Dr. Jeannie Kenkare, left, and Michelle Flannery treating Roberta Giordano, who severed a foot tendon.CreditAndrew Sullivan for The New York Times NORWALK, Conn. — Start in Room 4, just beyond the reception area: A man is having blood drained from a bruised finger. Over in Room 1, a woman is being treated for eye trouble. […]

Detroit’s Art May Be Worth Billions, Report Says

A new expert appraisal of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ collection, which some creditors are demanding be sold to help pay municipal debts in the city’s bankruptcy case, has found that the works could be worth $2.7 billion to $4.6 billion. The appraisal, commissioned by the city and the museum in advance of a federal bankruptcy trial […]

Former Bradford & Bingley FD fined again over botched rights issue

Chris Willford failed to tell his fellow board members of the bank’s worsening finances in time for the 2008 rights issue Bradford & Bingley branch during the 2008 financial crisis. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian The accountancy watchdog has fined the former finance director ofBradford & Bingley for failing to alert his board to a serious worsening […]

The Past as Road to Tomorrow

At Dior, Marie Antoinette-worthy corsets and crinolined brocade gowns displayed a deft interplay between the past and the future. CreditValerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times PARIS — Fashion can occasionally seem as if it exists in its own bubble. (An allover sequined diaper catsuit? Who would wear that?) But this season, the Paris couture shows […]

IBM invests $3bn in post-silicon world as earnings show the chips are down

Company hopes research initiative will result in breakthrough that could improve revenue for its struggling hardware sector IBM’s Tom Rosamilia: ‘The message to our investors is that … we believe there is great innovation possible.’ Photograph: Philippe Wojazer/Reuters IBM is to invest $3bn (£1.7bn) over the next five years in chip research and development in hopes […]

Neonicotinoids linked to recent fall in farmland bird numbers

Research demonstrates for the first time the knock-on effects to other species of class of insecticides known to harm bees A barn swallow hunting over a flowering oilseed rape field, Spain. Photograph: Alamy New research has identified the world’s most widely used insecticides as the key factor in the recent reduction in numbers of farmland birds. […]

Reading Hobby Lobby in Context

To grasp the full implications of the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision, it helps to read it not in isolation but alongside the court’s other major religion case of the term, Town of Greece v. Galloway. Issued eight weeks before Hobby Lobby and decided by the same 5 to 4 division, Town of Greece rejected a challenge to […]