Author: NY TIMES

In 2004, four boys’ Grand Slam titles were divided between two 17-year-olds.Three of them are considered the most talented, and the last one is probably the second-best player – and even then, he’s not prepared to accept being the second-best player.The first guy went on to have a very good career: a regular in the top 20 in the world, ranked sixth at his peak, and reached two Grand Slam semi-finals. The second player was an inferior teenager who had a stellar career: three Grand Slam titles, two Olympic gold medals, a Davis Cup title, and a world No. 1…

My boyfriend and I have been dating for nearly a year. It’s going really well! But his close-knit group of friends is not welcoming to me. They are all bilingual, and when they hang out together, they speak Spanish. I am studying Spanish, but when people speak quickly or use slang, I can’t follow the conversation. Even beyond the language barrier, though, they don’t seem all that interested in getting to know me. My boyfriend has asked what he can do to help, but I’m not sure. I’m afraid his friends may resent me if he asks them to switch…

For the past decade, thousands of wealthy Americans have been flocking to Puerto Rico to take advantage of a tax break that can cut their tax bills to zero. For nearly as long, there have been allegations that the benefit enables multimillionaires to avoid paying what they owe when they reap big investment profits.Now, an Internal Revenue Service insider has accused the agency of failing to police the tax break. Despite a high-profile campaign announced more than three years ago to unearth possible abuse, the agency has audited barely two dozen people and has collected back taxes from none, according…

When Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, announced last year that his company would release an artificial intelligence system, Jeffrey Emanuel had reservations.Mr. Emanuel, a part-time hacker and full-time A.I. enthusiast, had tinkered with “closed” A.I. models, including OpenAI’s, meaning the systems’ underlying code could not be accessed or modified. When Mr. Zuckerberg introduced Meta’s A.I. system by invitation only to a handful of academics, Mr. Emanuel was concerned that the technology would remain limited to just a small circle of people.But in a release last summer of an updated A.I. system, Mr. Zuckerberg made the code “open source”…

The chairmen of two Senate committees overseeing health policy, concerned about companies “padding their own profits” at the expense of patients, are looking into the practices of a data analytics firm that works with big insurers to cut payments to medical providers.The firm, MultiPlan, recommends what it says are fair payments for medical care, but the firm and the insurers can collect higher fees when payouts are lower. This business model could “result in an improper conflict of interest,” the chairmen of the two committees, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, wrote in a letter to the…

This week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, includes discussion of:The imperfect rollout of Dua Lipa’s latest album, “Radical Optimism,” and how the narrative around it became poisoned before it was even releasedDua Lipa’s career of smooth and frictionless popThe current pop marketplace favoring eccentricity, humor and meme-abilityWhat it will take for Dua Lipa to break free of her cycleThe struggle of making movies about pop music, including “Back to Black,” the new biopic about Amy Winehouse and “The Idea of You,” about a divorced woman who falls…

Israel’s offensive in the southern city of Rafah has strained medical and humanitarian services to the breaking point, aid workers say, with only one hospital still functioning and several aid operations forced to decamp to other parts of the Gaza Strip.The health care crisis in the city has been compounded by the closure of emergency clinics and other services amid continued clashes and strikes that have killed dozens of civilians.On Sunday, a strike that Israel said was aimed at a Hamas compound set ablaze a camp for the displaced in Rafah, killing 45 people, according to the Gazan health ministry.…

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken suggested on Wednesday that the Biden administration could be open to tolerating strikes by the Ukrainian military inside Russia using American-made weapons, saying that the United States would “adapt and adjust” its stance based on changing conditions on the battlefield.Mr. Blinken said that the United States had neither encouraged nor enabled such attacks. But he said that the Ukrainians needed to make their own decisions on how to best defend themselves — a position he has stated before — and that the U.S. government had “adapted and adjusted as necessary” as the war evolves.When…

PRAGUE, Czech Republic — It’s been three men’s world championships since the International Ice Hockey Federation banned Russian athletes, and the global ice hockey community appears to have completely moved on from one of the most decorated nations in the sport.By any measure, this year’s IIHF World Hockey Championship was a success, shattering previous attendance records while also delivering great games and a memorable gold medal final.The scene certainly didn’t feel like anything was missing or lacking.European countries, in particular, continue to strongly support the IIHF’s ban on Russia and Belarus. The two countries have been excluded from all international…

“I feel like I’m in a movie right now,” Petty Officer Third Class Ayanna Crawford said last weekend as she navigated the bow tie of Times Square, with its hordes of panhandlers costumed as Elmo, Minnie Mouse and Spider-Man. “I’m in culture shock.”Petty Officer Crawford, 20, who serves on the Wasp-class amphibious assault vessel U.S.S. Bataan, had cruised into town with a fellow crew member, Airman Kobe Brents, 22, and many of the roughly 2,300 sailors, Marines and Coast Guard members who alight in New York each Fleet Week for a weeklong annual celebration of those who serve and protect…