Author: NY TIMES

Ivan F. Boesky, the brash financier who came to symbolize Wall Street greed as a central figure of the 1980s insider trading scandals, and who went to prison for his misdeeds, died on Monday at his home in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego. He was 87.His daughter Marianne Boesky said he died in his sleep.An inspiration for the character Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone’s movie “Wall Street” and its sequel, Mr. Boesky made a fortune betting on stock tips, often passed to him illegally in exchange for suitcases of cash. His guilty plea to insider trading in November…

Days before OpenAI demonstrated its new, flirty voice assistant last week, the actress Scarlett Johansson said, Sam Altman, the company’s chief executive, called her agent and asked that she consider licensing her voice for a virtual assistant.It was his second request to the actress in the past year, Ms. Johannson said in a statement on Monday, adding that the reply both times was no.Despite those refusals, Ms. Johansson said, OpenAI used a voice that sounded “eerily similar to mine.” She has hired a lawyer and asked OpenAI to stop using a voice it called “Sky.”OpenAI suspended its release of “Sky”…

At the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting, a patient described a restraint that haunts him, more than eight years later. Source link

A federal judge has dismissed a sexual assault lawsuit against the former head of the Grammy Awards, after the plaintiff fell out with her lawyers and said in court papers that she feared for her safety and well-being if her real name were revealed during the case.The suit was dismissed on Friday “without prejudice” by Judge Analisa Torres of Federal District Court in Manhattan, meaning it could be refiled again in the future.The plaintiff filed her suit anonymously in New York State Supreme Court in November, saying that Neil Portnow, the former chief executive of the Recording Academy, had drugged…

One of former President Donald J. Trump’s closest foreign policy advisers, Robert O’Brien, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday as part of a delegation of former Trump officials that visited a number of Israeli leaders.Mr. O’Brien, who served as national security adviser to Mr. Trump and is expected to play a significant role in any second Trump administration, was joined in the meetings by two other former Trump officials — the former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, John Rakolta, and the former ambassador to Switzerland, Ed McMullen. The members of the delegation were described by…

With the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, becomes acting president. Mr. Mokhber is a conservative political operative with a long history of involvement in large business conglomerates closely tied to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.In a statement on Monday, Mr. Khamenei said that Mr. Mokhber must work with the heads of the legislature and judiciary to hold elections for a new president within 50 days.Vice presidents in Iran are typically low profile, operating more as players within the government than as public figures.“Iran’s vice presidents have traditionally not been contenders to succeed their…

The fashion world loves a little black dress. But what if you look like a corpse in dark colors? What suggestions do you have for an alternative that can go on trips, on dates and to parties and can be accessorized in such a way that people see it as a different outfit each time you wear it? Is there such a thing? — Robin, Dammeron Valley, UtahThe little black dress has been regarded as a holy grail of fashion ever since Coco Chanel championed the concept back in 1926, proffering it as an alternative to the fussier, more colorful…

A congressional investigation found that BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen purchased parts that originated from a Chinese supplier flagged by the United States for participating in forced labor programs in Xinjiang, a far western region of China where the local population is subject to mass surveillance and detentions.Both BMW and Jaguar Land Rover continued to import components made by the Chinese company into the United States in violation of American law, even after they were informed in writing about the presence of banned products in their supply chain, the report said.BMW shipped to the United States at least 8,000…

The bird flu virus that is spreading through American dairy cows can probably be traced back to a single spillover event. Late last year, scientists believe, the virus jumped from wild birds into cattle in the Texas panhandle. By this spring, the virus, known as H5N1, had traveled hundreds of miles or more, appearing on farms in Idaho, North Carolina and Michigan.The virus did not traverse those distances on its own. Instead, it hitched a ride with its hosts, the cows, moving into new states as cattle were transported from the outbreak’s epicenter to farms across the country.Live animal transport…

In turn, Gastr del Sol directly widened the scope of indie rock, not only folding in jazz players and digital pioneers, but also repeatedly partnering with the minimalist composer Tony Conrad. After helping name the Velvet Underground and working with La Monte Young, Conrad had mostly receded into academia and experimental films. (During the interview, O’Rourke sported the same Conrad T-shirt he wore for Gastr del Sol’s press photos 30 years earlier.) Conrad’s sessions with Gastr del Sol forged a renaissance that lasted until his 2016 death.“Jim is a tremendous electroacoustic composer, and David is full of sophisticated nuance —…