Author: NY TIMES

Japan’s central bank raised interest rates for the first time since 2007 on Tuesday, pushing them above zero to close a chapter in its aggressive effort to stimulate an economy that has long struggled to grow.In 2016, the Bank of Japan took the unorthodox step of bringing borrowing costs below zero, a bid to kick-start borrowing and lending and spur the country’s stagnating economy. Negative interest rates — which central banks in some European economies have also applied — mean depositors pay to leave their money with a bank and borrowers can take out loans very cheaply, an incentive for…

Steve Harley, the 1970s British rock star who topped Britain’s music charts with the single “Make Me Smile,” died on Sunday. He was 73.He died at his home, his family said on Facebook. No cause was given but Mr. Harley had announced last month that he would step away from the stage to undergo treatment for cancer and previously canceled several concerts scheduled for this year.Mr. Harley was the frontman of the band Cockney Rebel, which he formed in the early 1970s.His biggest hit was the 1975 single “Make Me Smile,” in which Mr. Harley’s even-keeled vocals and melancholic lyrics…

As a second ship towing desperately needed aid prepared to depart for Gaza on Sunday, José Andrés, the founder of the food charity sending the vessels, called for a cease-fire and said that Israel should be doing more to prevent hunger in Gaza.“At the very least,” Mr. Andrés, the celebrity chef, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Israel should “make sure that nobody’s hungry and that nobody’s without food and water.”“This is something that should be happening overnight,” he added. “But for political reasons, I guess it’s not happening there.”Mr. Andrés said he hoped his group, World Central Kitchen, would…

With additional American aid still in doubt, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Tuesday called for “creative, adaptable and sustainable ways” to continue arming Ukraine and praised European allies who were trying to bolster Kyiv’s military as the war against Russia entered a critical stretch.Mr. Austin, in Germany for the start of a semiregular meeting of nearly 50 nations who are supplying Ukraine’s forces, said that allies would “dig deeper to get vital security assistance to Ukraine.” He singled out Denmark, France, Germany and Sweden for recent donations of weapons and noted the Czech Republic’s efforts to provide 800,000…

Welcome back to Bracket Busters! We know you miss us, and we can’t wait to wow you with the unique look at NCAA Tournament upsets provided by our proprietary statistical model, Slingshot. We hope you will follow our work over the years. But if you’re new to Bracket Breakers, here’s the latest explanation of who we are, what we do, and the status of Slingshot.Over the next few days, we’ll be providing in-depth regional previews of every first-round matchup that qualifies for the Bracket Breaker tournament (meaning there must be at least a 5-seed difference). We’ll also provide upset odds…

As Giovanni Botta and Amanda Pinegar began planning their renovation of the house they bought in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, they knew one thing for sure: The kitchen would have to be pink.“We had already decided on the refrigerator, which is pink,” said Ms. Pinegar, 44, a ceramic artist. “And we wanted a kitchen that would enhance that.”To complement the pink kitchen, they considered lots of other bright colors, too.“Amanda wanted it really bold,” said Mr. Botta, 42, a software engineer at Waymo, the driverless car company owned by Alphabet. This was nothing new: In their previous home, they had painted…

Japan’s economy has rocketed into the headlines this year as inflation returns for the first time in decades, workers win wage gains and the Bank of Japan raises interest rates for the first time in 17 years.But there’s another, longer-running trend happening in the Japanese economy that could prove interesting for American policymakers: Female employment has been steadily rising.Working-age Japanese women have been joining the labor market for years, a trend that has continued strongly in recent months as a tight labor market prods companies to work to attract new employees.The jump in female participation has happened partly by design.…

Next season, the New York Philharmonic will be without a full-time maestro or a designate music director for the first time in decades.But Gustavo Dudamel, the superstar conductor who takes over as the ensemble’s music and artistic director in 2026, will help fill the gap, leading three weeks of concerts, the Philharmonic announced on Tuesday.Dudamel, who currently leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is steadily ramping up his commitments in New York. He is already helping to shape programming and tours. And next season he might begin to take part in auditions, though talks are still underway, said Gary Ginstling, the…

At the request of President Biden, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, agreed on Monday to send a team of officials to Washington to discuss alternatives to a promised Israeli invasion of Rafah, the city that has become the last refuge for roughly half of Gaza’s population, according to Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.In a phone call on Monday, Mr. Biden told the Israeli leader that sending ground forces into Rafah, as Mr. Netanyahu has vowed repeatedly to do, could be disastrous when there are other options for defeating Hamas, Mr. Sullivan said.“A major ground operation there would be…

When Catherine, Princess of Wales, confessed last week to digitally altering a photo of her with her children, news agencies began examining Catherine’s gallery of royal family photos for other examples of doctoring.It didn’t take long: On Monday, Getty Images placed an editorial advisory on a second photo taken by Catherine, of Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, saying the image had been altered before it was released by the palace.In a statement, the news agency said that “in accordance with its editorial policy it has placed an editor’s note on a handout image stating the image…