Author: NY TIMES

People in older age tend to be generally freer of expectations in dating and relationships. The assumption that you will merge households declines. If parents or your community pushed you to marry a certain type of person in your 20s — because of religion, socioeconomic status, profession, race, sexuality, gender — that pressure may have dissipated or vanished.Indeed, several women, hetero and queer, told me that while they want love and long-term relationships, they can’t imagine returning to commingling finances or giving up their space — their condo, apartment or house — after years of living on their own. Some…

Something deeply unusual has happened in the American housing market over the last two years, as mortgage rates have risen to around 7 percent.Rates that high are not, by themselves, historically remarkable. The trouble is that the average American household with a mortgage is sitting on a fixed rate that’s a whopping three points lower.The gap that has jumped open between these two lines has created a nationwide lock-in effect — paralyzing people in homes they may wish to leave — on a scale not seen in decades. For homeowners not looking to move anytime soon, the low rates they…

“You don’t have to get technical about it,” said Ellie Phillips, a preventive dentist based in Austin. “But I would recommend noting if it’s something affecting your front teeth or the back of your mouth. Is it on the outside, which is the cheek side, or is it on the tongue side?”Visual aids like X-rays or images from an intraoral camera — or even just looking in a mirror — can also help demystify what’s going on in your mouth.Don’t feel pressured to agree to anything — even cleanings.Your dentist should be able to explain why particular problem areas need…

Saratu Dauda had been kidnapped. It was 2014, she was 16, and she was in a truck packed with her classmates heading into the bush in northeastern Nigeria, a member of the terrorist group Boko Haram at the wheel. The girls’ boarding school in Chibok, miles behind them, had been set on fire.Then she noticed that some girls were jumping off the back of the truck, she said, some alone, others in pairs, holding hands. They ran and hid in the scrub as the truck trundled on.But before Ms. Dauda could jump, she said, one girl raised the alarm, shouting…

Elena Bauer and Joshua Fagel weren’t looking for anything serious when they first met at a fraternity party at Stanford. A month after meeting, they had a change of heart. Source link

To gather every last stem and ribbon, Mr. Patrikis is on the phone constantly, negotiating with 15 distributors to get the best deals.“If you don’t know how to buy from the wholesalers, the wholesalers are going to buy you,” he said.Depending on a stem’s length, the size of the bloom and the nation of origin, a dozen roses in New York City can cost a customer from $10 from a street vendor to more than $120 from a high-end florist. Mr. Patrikis prefers the Explorer variety of red roses, which he said tend to have larger blooms and stay fresh…

There are so many true crime offerings dedicated to scams, frauds and con artists that it can be overwhelming. Many of these stories are astonishing and worthy of attention, whether the deceptions are financial, medical, romantic or otherwise. Often most surprising is how relatively painless it seems to lay such traps, and how many people, regardless of personal circumstances, take the bait.Here are four picks across television, film and podcast that stand out, all of which underscore what can unfold when a hunger for money, power or prestige is put above all else.Documentary FilmWith college acceptance season upon us, it…

Within moments of Israel and its allies shooting down a fusillade of Iranian missiles and drones this weekend, many began wondering what the latest exchange between Israel and Iran would mean for the war in the Gaza Strip.The Iranian attack was retaliation for what was widely believed to be an Israeli strike this month on an embassy building in Damascus that killed seven Iranian officials, including three top commanders in Iran’s armed forces. But it occurred against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, where Israel is battling Hamas, a militant group funded and armed by Iran.Israeli military analysts were…

Arab countries, from the United Arab Emirates and Oman to Jordan and Egypt, have tried for months to tamp down the conflict between Israel and Hamas, especially after it widened to include armed groups backed by Iran and embedded deep within the Arab world. Some of them, like the Houthis, threaten Arab governments as well.But the Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel over the weekend, which put the entire region on alert, made the new reality unavoidable: Unlike past Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, and even those involving Israel and Lebanon or Syria, this one keeps expanding.“Part of why these wars were…

More than 75 timepieces and jewels by Van Cleef & Arpels will be on display at Cromwell Place, a gallery space in the South Kensington neighborhood of London, from May 26 to June 9. It will be the brand’s first watch-focused exhibition in Britain, according to Rainer Bernard, director of watchmaking research and development.“Poetry of Time” will showcase heritage pieces alongside modern creations, including novelties introduced this month at the Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva.The free exhibition will begin with a display of older watches, jewels and archival documents. The oldest watch is from 1925 — a platinum, diamond…