Author: NY TIMES

The Chinese internet giant ByteDance has made some of the world’s most popular apps: TikTok and, in China, Douyin and Toutiao.In the United States, TikTok claims 170 million users. But in China, about 700 million use the domestic version, Douyin, and 300 million scroll the headlines on Toutiao, a news app. Every video that ByteDance’s users watch or post gives the company another data point about how people use the internet. For years, ByteDance has applied that wealth of information to make its apps more appealing, improving its ability to recommend content to keep users hooked.ByteDance is also using the…

For months, Nintendo, the maker of famed video game series like Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong, had expected the morning of April 2 to be a celebration.To much fanfare, the company announced the price and release date for the Switch 2, its new video game console eight years in the making. At an event in New York City, Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s president, took the stage as fans cheered the arrival of new games to accompany the console; Mario Kart, Donkey Kong and Kirby among them.Then, later that same day, President Trump announced tariffs that sent global stock…

Companies can set such high prices because of a quirk in Medicare pricing rules, industry experts said. For the first six months of a new bandage product’s life, Medicare will set the reimbursement rate at whatever price a company chooses. After that, the agency adjusts the reimbursement to reflect the actual price paid by doctors after any discounts.To circumvent the reimbursement drop, some companies simply roll out new products.In April 2023, Medicare began reimbursing $6,497 for every square inch of a bandage called Zenith, sold by Legacy Medical Consultants, a company in Fort Worth, Texas. Six months later, Zenith’s reimbursement…

When the Polish musician Hania Rani released her first solo album, “Esja,” in 2019, she knew it was a modest debut. Its subtle piano compositions were moody but pared down, and she worried that its serene atmosphere might limit its mainstream appeal.One year later, the album’s placid vibe turned out to be a blessing. As the world locked down against the Covid pandemic, distressed people were turning to streaming playlists with names like “Calm Vibes” and “Peaceful Rhythms” that featured Rani’s music. It became a breakthrough moment. As one critic told BBC radio during lockdown, Rani’s music “makes your problems…

Hundreds of reservists and retired officers in Israel’s air force signed a letter on Thursday urging the Israeli government to agree to a deal with Hamas to return hostages, even at the price of stopping the war in Gaza.The letter, which was signed by roughly a thousand people, including a former chief of staff and other former senior military leaders, laid bare a growing divide in the Israeli military over the handling of the war. The air force has been a key part of Israel’s effort in Gaza, carrying out strikes that have flattened much of the enclave and left…

On Thursday, in the biggest luxury deal of the year, Prada announced it was buying Versace for 1.25 billion euros ($1.38 billion) from Capri Holdings, a beleaguered New York group that at one point styled itself as the American answer to the great fashion groups of France.The deal is a sign of faith in the continued value of Made in Italy at a time when the financial markets are in chaos because of President Trump’s whipsawing tariff policies. And it marks the end of Capri’s attempt to create an American luxury group to rival LVMH and Kering, while signaling an…

European Union officials had just approved retaliatory levies of 10 to 25 percent on about $23 billion of American imports when President Trump abruptly changed tack on Wednesday, announcing that he would hit pause on some of the tariffs he had placed on Europe and much of the rest of the world.Mr. Trump’s announcement signaled what European leaders had been hoping for: a willingness to negotiate. Financial markets surged on the news, greeting it as evidence that an all-out trade war might be averted.But European leaders on Thursday morning were taking time to assess exactly what the announcement meant and…

The season should have been defined by equality, rather than the end of the two most iconic brands at the women’s basketball conference in the National Championships, UConn added the historic record to the twelfth championship. These programs are again on the 2025-26th in this way.As with these power rankings, the defending champion finished first. But the wave of early entry into the transfer portal, coupled with the double graduation of senior classes and super-advanced classes in the pandemic bonus year, created more throughput below the upper level.Some teams now have few players to implement the roster. When the Transfers…

For the second year in a row, Trader Joe’s has brought a Black Friday-like frenzy to its stores. But instead of lining up for a new video game console or Taylor Swift vinyl, customers are waiting their turn to buy miniature tote bags bearing the grocery chain’s logo for $2.99.Some people camped out in front of stores hours before they opened, while others sent friends to grab the exclusive item for them. On a few occasions, people appeared to wrestle or get into physical altercations over the 11-by-13-inch canvas bags, videos on social media showed.Kevin Burgoon, an employee at a…

OpenAI asked a federal court on Wednesday to bar Elon Musk from unfairly attacking it through a high-profile lawsuit he filed last year, the latest move in a bitter feud between the artificial intelligence start-up and the world’s richest man.In a filing in federal court in San Francisco, OpenAI said Mr. Musk had “made it his project to take down OpenAI.” The company requested that the tech billionaire be stopped from taking “further unlawful and unfair action” against OpenAI and asked the court to hold Mr. Musk responsible for any damage he has caused the firm.The filing was another sign…