Author: NY TIMES

The rubber balloon has worn many hats since it was invented 200 years ago. It has been used to spruce up birthday parties and political rallies, operate flying machines and open arteries. The fictional killer clown Pennywise used one to lure in his child victims; some expectant parents deploy them to reveal their unborn child’s sex.Now it’s being pressed into service in the hunt for love.In a popular new dating-show format, a contestant is brought out to face a line of singles, each one holding a red balloon. If the singles like what they see, they hold on to their…

It might seem like a great time to own apartment buildings.For many landlords, it is. Rents have soared in recent years because of housing shortages across much of the country and a bout of severe inflation.But a growing number of rental properties, especially in the South and the Southwest, are in financial distress. Only some have stopped making payments on their mortgages, but analysts worry that as many as 20 percent of all loans on apartment properties could be at risk of default.Although rents surged during the pandemic, the rise has stalled in recent months. In many parts of the…

DELVAILLE Back then, we would just use a sound effect or mute out the bad part. But they came with “Back That Thang Up” and we just knew, OK, this is the one to roll out.CHARLES Every other request, folks calling in, “I want to hear ‘Back That Thang Up,’ ‘Back That Thang Up.’” It just became, “That’s New Orleans, that’s us. And we want to hear it. I don’t care how many times you play it, play it in rotation, play it on the mix show, play it when we are doing a live gig.”JUVENILE I went to the…

From the outside, the past few years looked like the peak of Abdulaziz Almuzaini’s career.As the head of an animation studio in Saudi Arabia, he signed a five-year deal with Netflix in 2020. A sardonic cartoon franchise that he helped create, “Masameer,” likened to a Saudi version of “South Park,” was soon streaming to audiences around the world. And as the conservative Islamic kingdom loosened up, Mr. Almuzaini was being publicly celebrated — as recently as a few months ago — as one of the homegrown talents shaping its nascent entertainment industry.Behind the scenes, though, he was on trial in…

Couture week in Paris is a reminder that the clothes many people consider to be the most splendid in the world are accessible to only a select few with means and connections. That doesn’t mean the shows are not fun to see.The latest installment, in late June, was full of thrills, thanks partly to exceptional presentations by the designers Robert Wun; Nicolas Di Felice, who developed the newest Jean Paul Gaultier couture collection; and Daniel Roseberry of Schiaparelli, whose collection for that house showed off his eye for timeless silhouettes and resplendent details. Another standout was Thom Browne, who used…

The European Union took the next step on Thursday toward collecting new tariffs on Chinese electric cars, telling automakers to obtain guarantees from banks that they would be able to pay the taxes set to be made final in October.The move was expected. The bloc had said on June 12 that it would impose additional tariffs of 17 to 38 percent on electric vehicles imported from China. An investigation by the European Union had found what officials in Brussels describe as unfair subsidies by the Chinese government for electric car manufacturers.The Chinese government has denied that it subsidizes the industry.…

Early last year, a hacker gained access to the internal messaging systems of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and stole details about the design of the company’s A.I. technologies.The hacker lifted details from discussions in an online forum where employees talked about OpenAI’s latest technologies, according to two people familiar with the incident, but did not get into the systems where the company houses and builds its artificial intelligence.OpenAI executives revealed the incident to employees during an all-hands meeting at the company’s San Francisco offices in April 2023, according to the two people, who discussed sensitive information about the company…

More than two decades after the Strokes led an indie rock renaissance in New York City, a Strokes cover band called the Brokes played a sold-out show at Arlene’s Grocery, a small venue on the Lower East Side.Hailing from Toronto, the Brokes were on their first American tour, and this gig held special meaning: The Strokes used to play Arlene’s back when they were the garage rock princes of downtown Manhattan honing their act at clubs like this one.During a 45-minute set, the Brokes blazed through early Strokes hits like “The Modern Age” and “Last Nite” as fans chanted lyrics…

Allegations of possible payments to help secure votes. Claims of abuse of agency funds by top diplomats. A possible job offer to entice a candidate to withdraw from a race.These are not the shenanigans of a corrupt election in an unstable country. Rather, they are efforts in the seemingly genteel parlors of a United Nations-affiliated agency, meant to sway decisions related to the start of seabed mining of the metals used in electric vehicles.It is all part of a nasty fight over who will be the next leader of the International Seabed Authority, which controls mining in international waters worldwide.The…

Extra-long sheets. Shower shoes. The wall hooks and putty that hold things up but don’t leave marks.Most colleges provide a list of things that new students might bring if they’re living on campus, and most big-box stores stock all of it and then some.But there’s another list you may want to consider, containing things that aren’t at the end of any Target aisle or on anyone’s Amazon wish list.It includes the form that can allow you to help with an adult child’s health care — and one of your own creation that gives carte blanche to call you if the…