Author: NY TIMES

Forms isn’t a household name, but the Hong Kong jewelry house is drawing attention for its unusual contemporary style.A Japanese buckle from the late 19th century inspired the company’s co-founder Tzvika Janover’s latest obsession. The buckle was crafted in a Japanese gold and copper alloy called shakudo, its velvety brown patina unlike anything he’d seen before.The recipe for shakudo is unknown; each Japanese metalsmith had his own secret recipe. Mr. Janover was determined to recreate it himself, a process that ended up requiring more than a year of experimenting with alloys to achieve what he said was the same rich…

A 14-year-old whose family said he had eaten a chip made with two of the hottest peppers in the world died of cardiopulmonary arrest, according to a medical examiner’s report released on Thursday, which noted that he had eaten a spicy substance and had a heart condition.The report found that the teenager, Harris Wolobah of Worcester, Mass., died on Sept. 1 of “cardiopulmonary arrest in the setting of recent ingestion of food substance with high capsaicin concentration in a person with cardiomegaly and myocardial bridging of the left anterior descending coronary artery.”Capsaicin is the chemical compound found in chili peppers…

The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, one of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, said Thursday that it would allow the Jerusalem Quartet to perform, two days after it had canceled the ensemble’s concerts amid security concerns related to threatened protests.The Concertgebouw said in a statement that the Jerusalem Quartet would be allowed to perform on Saturday after all, with expanded security measures and a more robust police presence. The ensemble had originally been scheduled to perform on Thursday and Saturday, but the Concertgebouw canceled the engagement, saying it could not ensure the safety of audience members, musicians and employees because of…

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that it was expelling Britain’s defense attaché from the country, reciprocating against the British government after it threw out his Russian counterpart last week.The Russian ministry announced that further, unspecified retaliatory steps would be forthcoming because of the “unfriendly” measures taken by London.The ministry summoned a British diplomat to inform him that the attaché had been declared “persona non grata,” according to a statement.Britain had announced on May 8 that it was ordering the Russian defense attaché to leave, describing him as an “undeclared” military intelligence officer.The Russian statement said the ministry viewed…

Love it or hate it, artificial intelligence has become increasingly prevalent in our lives. Now, jewelers are exploring its marketing potential.Frankie Deane, senior vice president of growth for the British brand Monica Vinader, said A.I. was “another form of us utilizing technology to elevate our digital experience for consumers.” When it comes to providing an elevated product and in-store experience, “there is a greater expectation I think on brands like us to translate that digitally,” she said.The brand, whose pieces range from 24 British pounds (about $30) to £1,495 (about $1,870), announced in December that it would begin work with…

Dear Tripped Up,In September 2022, I booked a 17-day Arabian Sea cruise through Vantage Travel Services to celebrate my 80th birthday with my wife. The cruise was to set sail in October 2023. I used my credit card to leave a $2,000 deposit and paid the remaining $17,905 shortly afterward by bank transfer. I also bought the Worldwide Trip Protector plan from Travel Insured International (for $1,954), in part because it covered financial default and bankruptcy of cruise lines. Vantage then canceled the cruise and offered me an alternative date I could not make; I also declined their offer of…

It takes a lot of energy to grow a baby — just ask anyone who has been pregnant. But scientists are only now discovering just how much.In a study published on Thursday in the journal Science, Australian researchers estimated that a human pregnancy demands almost 50,000 dietary calories over the course of nine months. That’s the equivalent of about 50 pints of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream, and significantly more than the researchers expected.Previous estimates were lower because scientists generally assumed that most of the energy involved in reproduction wound up stored in the fetus, which is relatively…

The director of “Back to Black,” Sam Taylor-Johnson, has said repeatedly in interviews that the movie is meant to center Amy Winehouse’s story in her own perspective. That may or may not be meant as implicit criticism of “Amy,” Asif Kapadia’s Oscar-winning 2015 documentary about the singer, which wove together archival interviews — many damning — with family and friends as well as with Winehouse herself to make the case that everyone was at fault for her untimely demise. Either way, Taylor-Johnson’s remarks suggest that Winehouse, who in 2011 died at the age of 27 of alcohol poisoning, has been…

South Africa on Thursday urged the judges of the United Nations’ top court to order Israel to end its ground assault on Rafah in southern Gaza, saying it put Palestinian life in the enclave at imminent risk of destruction.The hearing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague came after South Africa requested last week that the court issue further constraints on Israel in its military campaign in Gaza. In filings disclosed by the court, South Africa cited the “irreparable harm” posed by Israel’s incursion into Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza where half of the territory’s population had…

Only one dog can win best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, and this year the honor went to Sage, a spectacularly coifed miniature poodle whose main-character energy was hard to ignore. But what of the dogs she defeated?Seven dogs entered the final round, each representing distinct canine groups: herding, working, hound, terrier, toy, sporting and non-sporting. (Don’t ask what “non-sporting” means; theoretically the group could just be labeled “other.”) The dogs were big and small, fast and slow, excited and phlegmatic — a dizzying range of canine pulchritude and behavior.Each dog was judged on how well…