Author: NY TIMES

This week’s episode of Popcast (Deluxe), the weekly culture roundup show on YouTube hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, features an interview with the hip-hop and EDM legend Lil Jon in conversation about:Behind the scenes at Usher’s 2024 Super Bowl halftime show, in which Lil Jon was the musical director and a performerThe peak of Lil Jon’s pop fame in the early to mid-2000s, with hits as a performer and producer and sketches on “Chappelle’s Show”The making of the song “Lovers & Friends”Lil Jon’s early days as a D.J., and stories about concerts by the Notorious B.I.G. and Ol’…

The whirl of conspiracy theories that enveloped Catherine, Princess of Wales, before she disclosed her cancer diagnosis last week probably didn’t need help from a foreign state. But researchers in Britain said Wednesday that a notorious Russian disinformation operation helped stir the pot.Martin Innes, an expert on digital disinformation at Cardiff University in Wales, said he and his colleagues tracked 45 social media accounts that posted a spurious claim about Catherine to a Kremlin-linked disinformation network, which has previously spread divisive stories about Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as about France’s support for Ukraine.As in those cases, Professor Innes…

Miami Gardens, Florida— Danielle Collins wants to set one thing straight. She was serious about giving up tennis. real. The fiery 30-year-old Floridian – who has reached the semifinals of the Miami Open, her closest home match on the tennis tour – has heard all the doubters. Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, has known and played against Collins since he was a kid. After a heartbreaking three-set loss to Iga Swiatek in Australia in January, Collins blurted out for the first time that she was done, which she blamed on the frustration of losing. . Coach Jared Jacobs,…

Rosh Mahtani, the founder of the jewelry brand Alighieri, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her company this year. Her handmade gold-plated pieces, inspired by Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” made her a winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design and a mainstay of luxury e-commerce vendors.During Paris Fashion Week last month, buyers came to her showroom to select stock for the upcoming season, including MatchesFashion, a leading multibrand fashion retailer that is responsible for about half a million pounds, or $630,000, of Alighieri’s projected revenues. But there was a problem.“They had owed me 70,000 pounds [about $88,000] in…

Shares of former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company continued to surge on Wednesday, extending the gains on its first official trading session on the Nasdaq the day before.After another double-digit percentage gain, the parent of Truth Social approached $9 billion in market value, a windfall for insiders awarded shares in the company.The biggest beneficiary is Mr. Trump, the company’s largest shareholder, whose stake is worth more than $5 billion, on paper. No other shareholder comes close, according to regulatory filings, but many of Trump Media’s executives have seen their net worth swell this week, in some cases by…

Stephen Adams, a billionaire whose anonymous $100 million gift to the Yale School of Music granted a tuition-free education to talented students embarking on careers in a capricious profession, died on March 14 at his home in Roxbury, Conn. He was 86.His death was confirmed by his wife, Denise (Rhea) Adams.Mr. Adams, who graduated from Yale College in 1959, was not a musician himself. But after he turned 55 and was already a prosperous business executive and wine collector, he became an amateur piano player.In 1999, he marked his class’s 40th-anniversary reunion by donating $10 million to the music school…

Security forces clashed with large crowds of pro-Palestinian protesters near Israel’s embassy in the Jordanian capital on Tuesday night, video recorded by The Associated Press and Reuters showed.It was the third consecutive day that demonstrations in support of Palestinians under Israeli bombardment in Gaza have taken place near the embassy in Amman, Jordan’s capital.The protesters carried Palestinian flags and marched toward the embassy, chanting “betrayal” in Arabic and calling on Jordan’s government to cancel its agreements with Israel.Footage showed the security forces dispersing the crowds and arresting protesters.Israel and Jordan maintain a crucial regional alliance, and the kingdom is the…

The bronze statue in Cambridge, England, is 13 feet tall. The figure wears academic robes and a mortarboard. It doesn’t exactly have a face, since its head appears to be wrapped in a twisted cloth.Who does this statue, titled “The Don,” allegedly depict? It’s, uh, Prince Philip. Sure enough, a plaque under the sculpture reads: “H.R.H. Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, Chancellor, University of Cambridge, 1977-2011.”But the artwork has not conjured up thoughts of Philip, who died in 2021, for many who have seen it. And the statue has also not met with the international acclaim accorded to Michaelangelo’s David…

Auckland — The quarterback wasn’t there. His name was not mentioned for two hours. Maybe it’s not necessary.The mere prospect of a tie-in has served its purpose — to drive the news cycle, stoke speculation and stoke intrigue surrounding an outsider seeking the White House who is intent on flouting political norms. But what about Aaron Rodgers running for Vice President of the United States?Not only does this violate political norms, it is also unbelievable.It’s almost impossible to imagine Rodgers being able to balance the rigors of his day-to-day job as quarterback of the New York Jets with a high-stakes…

Tyler Blevins, the video game superstar known as Ninja, revealed this week that he had been diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.Mr. Blevins, 32, said on social media on Tuesday that a mole was removed from his foot during an annual checkup with a dermatologist a few weeks ago.“It came back as melanoma, but they are optimistic that we caught it in the early stages,” he said.In the post, Mr. Blevins said a second dark spot was found on his foot that had also been removed and was being checked, “with the hopes that under the microscope they…