Author: NY TIMES

Japan is the only country among the world’s wealthiest democracies that has not legalized same-sex unions. Few celebrities are openly gay. Conservative groups oppose legislative efforts to protect the L.G.B.T.Q. community.But now, Netflix is introducing the country’s first same-sex dating reality series.Over 10 episodes of “The Boyfriend,” which will be available in 190 countries beginning on July 9, a group of nine men gather in a luxury beach house outside Tokyo. The format evokes Japan’s most popular romantic reality show, “Terrace House,” with its assembly of clean cut and exceedingly polite cast members, overseen by a panel of jovial commentators.The…

The 2021 settlement angered the crash victims’ families, who have long argued that Boeing and its executives should face greater consequences, including a public trial. Many of those families have reached civil settlements with the company, though a handful are pursuing civil damage trials that are scheduled to begin late this year.In 2022, a jury in Texas acquitted a former Boeing technical pilot, Mark A. Forkner, of defrauding two of the company’s customers, in the only criminal case the federal government brought against an individual connected to the crashes.The Justice Department has also opened a criminal investigation into Boeing over…

Dr. Mildred Thornton Stahlman, a Vanderbilt University pediatrician whose research on fatal lung disease in newborns led to lifesaving treatments and to the creation, in 1961, of one of the first neonatal intensive care units, died on Saturday at her home in Brentwood, Tenn. She was 101.Her death was confirmed by Eva Hill, the wife of Dr. Stahlman’s nephew George Hill.On Oct. 31, 1961, Dr. Stahlman fitted a premature baby who was gasping for breath into a miniature iron lung machine, also known as a negative pressure ventilator, the kind used for children with polio. The machine worked by pulling…

The far right appears to dominate the French electionsThe National Rally party crushed its opponents in the first round of voting for the French National Assembly, according to early projections, bringing its long-taboo brand of nationalist, anti-immigrant politics to the brink of power.Pollsters’ projections, which are normally reliable, suggested the party would take about 34 percent of the vote, far ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party and its allies, which got about 21 percent. A coalition of left-wing parties won about 29 percent of the vote, the projections showed.The scores, in a two-round election that will end in…

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the parent company of the movie rental company Redbox, which is known for its distinctive red kiosks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday.In the filing, Chicken Soup listed debts of about $970 million, and total assets of about $414 million. It owes millions to entertainment and media companies, including Universal Studios, Sony Pictures and BBC Studios Americas, as well as some retailers, such as Walgreens and Walmart, according to court filings.Chicken Soup for the Soul was founded in 1993 by two motivational speakers, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. The company’s inspirational…

Except for the fraying posters of Iran’s presidential candidates plastered on highway overpasses, there were few signs this weekend that the country had held a presidential election on Friday and was heading to a runoff.There were scarcely any rallies to applaud the two top vote-getters who are from opposite ends of the political spectrum and whom Iranians will decide between on July 5.Even from the government’s official numbers, it was evident that the real winner of Friday’s election was Iran’s silent majority that either left their ballot blank or cast no vote at all. Some 60 percent of eligible voters…

At least 18 people were killed and dozens of others were injured in a series of suicide bombings, all carried out by women, on Saturday afternoon in northeastern Nigeria.They included one explosion that went off at the wedding of a young couple and another at a funeral, according to local officials.Barkindo Saidu, the director general of Borno State’s emergency management agency, said that three female attackers had struck distinct locations in Gwoza, a bustling city in Borno State that has been the center of an insurgency by the militant group Boko Haram over the last 15 years.The victims included children…

To mark its 140th anniversary, Bulgari has created its most expensive piece of jewelry: a 200-carat diamond necklace priced at 40 million euros.Jean-Christophe Babin, the house’s chief executive, said the necklace, the Serpenti Aeterna, represented the achievement of a significant goal: When he took the reins in 2013, the house’s tradition of high jewelry had lost its luster so he decided to “push forward the best of our expertise and our most beautiful gems, to create the jewelry of the century.”The $42.9 million necklace — worn by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, one of the house’s celebrity ambassadors — was the star…

“God gave me the voice that people want to hear,” Paul Robeson, the great African American singer, actor and activist, told the Black newspaper “The New York Age” in a 1949 interview.Aware of his powers and obliged by his influence, Robeson inserted himself into an incredibly fraught moment in American history. His powerful advocacy for the rights of Black and working-class Americans made him a hero, but his political leanings put him at odds with the prevailing anti-Communist forces in Congress, which eventually impeded his career. Robeson’s fame was global, however, and he had plenty of opportunities abroad — until…

The National Rally party won a crushing victory in the first round of voting for the French National Assembly, according to early projections, bringing its long-taboo brand of nationalist and anti-immigrant politics to the threshold of power for the first time.Pollster projections, which are normally reliable and are based on preliminary results, suggested the party would take about 34 percent of the vote, far ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party and its allies, which got about 21 percent.The scores, in a two-round election that will be completed with a runoff on July 7 between the leading parties in…