Author: NY TIMES

While Fratti credits the bulk of her growth as an artist to her involvement with the Mexico City scene, she first became interested in improvisation at a neo-Pentecostal megachurch back home in Guatemala, a giant concrete building now known as City of God.“The cello would come in during the sad songs and the pastor would tell me to play, so I played,” she recalled as she puffed on a pastel vape, her dark blue hoodie bunched around her neck. “I was improvising with zero knowledge of improvisation.” Eventually, she started making her own songs and posting them on SoundCloud.In 2015,…

U.S.WorldBusinessArtsLifestyleOpinionAudioGamesCookingWirecutterThe AthleticJune 25, 2024, 2:24 a.m. ETAn Israeli government panel issued warnings to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and four others on Monday as part of a yearslong inquiry into a multibillion-dollar purchase of submarines and missile boats from Germany, an episode regarded as the worst corruption scandal in the country’s history. In a statement, the panel said that Mr. Netanyahu had endangered Israel’s security and bypassed official channels with the purchase, during a previous term as prime minister. It was not clear if Mr. Netanyahu himself was suspected of corruption in the case, but the panel said it issued the…

Israel’s prime minister says the war in the Gaza Strip will soon enter a new phase.“The intense stage of the war with Hamas is about to end,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a television interview on Sunday. “This does not mean that the war is about to end, but the war in its intense phase is about to end.”But whatever relief those comments may bring after more than half a year of horrific bloodshed, Mr. Netanyahu quickly made two things clear: A cease-fire in Gaza is not at hand. And the next fight might be in Lebanon, with the…

Harry Kane has responded to Gary Lineker’s criticism of England’s participation in Euro 2024, saying former international players have a “responsibility” to consider the impact of their comments.England came under scrutiny following their 1-1 draw with Denmark in their second Euro 2024 group stage match, with former striker Lineker describing the game as “terrible”.Kane said that while he understood pundits had a duty to tell the truth, he added that former players should be aware of the challenges of representing England given their historic and sustained failure at major tournaments.Asked about Lineker’s comments, Kane replied: “Former players have to realize…

The line of Hailey Bieber fans snaked up Greene Street in Manhattan and wrapped around the block, but many were never going to get what they really wanted: a selfie with Ms. Bieber.“I love the Bieber family, Bieber franchise — I’m here for it!” exclaimed Haleigh Francis. Like hundreds of others who descended on SoHo on Monday, Ms. Francis was hoping to be among the first to experience the “pocket-sized” pop-up put on by Ms. Bieber’s popular makeup and skin care brand, Rhode.At 11 a.m., Rhode opened its doors to the public, who were invited to buy tubes of peptide…

There was a time when a Chinese internet company’s initial public offering was the hottest thing on Wall Street.As the e-commerce giant Alibaba prepared to go public on the New York Stock Exchange a decade ago, the world’s biggest banks competed fiercely to underwrite the offering. When the opening bell rang on Sept. 19, 2014, stock traders cheered, wearing hoodies in Alibaba’s signature orange over their suits. The I.P.O. raised $25 billion, the biggest listing ever at the time. Scores of other Chinese companies raised billions in the United States over the next few years.Those days are firmly in the…

When the media titans Brian Roberts, John Malone and Barry Diller cast off in early February on Mr. Diller’s 156-foot, two-masted yacht, named Arriva, the waters off the coast of Jupiter, Fla., were placid.The same could not be said for their sprawling entertainment businesses.The three men meet occasionally to discuss the state of the industry, and lively disagreements have a been a staple of their discussions. But by the time they met on the yacht, they had all agreed that the money-losing status quo in the streaming business was unsustainable. The old cable model was a melting ice cube.But what…

Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThe iconoclastic pop star Charli XCX has long flirted with mainstream success — helping write Icona Pop’s omnipresent 2012 hit “I Love It,” appearing on the hook of Iggy Azalea’s smash “Fancy” and in 2014 scoring a Top 10 hit of her own with “Boom Clap” — but largely exists as a self-proclaimed “cult classic,” a denizen of the club underground known for a string of innovative but niche records. Charli’s brash, strobe-lit sixth album, “Brat,” is in some ways her most daring release yet, but — improbably — it’s also her…

Iran’s election for its next president will take place a year early, on June 28, after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash last month. The vote will usher the Islamic republic into new leadership amid domestic discontent, voter apathy and regional turmoil.While the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has the final say on all state matters, the Iranian president sets domestic policy and has some influence over foreign policy.Why is this election important?The election gives the Iranian leadership the chance to show it can handle a disaster like the unexpected death of a president without destabilizing the country,…

The sidelining of Anne will deprive the royal family of one of its most indomitable workers. She routinely logs more than 400 public events a year — often the most of any family member — and with the thinning of the ranks of senior royals in recent years, Anne has shouldered an even heavier load.With the deaths of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, the illnesses of Charles and Catherine, and the departure of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, for the United States, the royal family has had a much smaller pool of members to pick up…