Author: NY TIMES

In this city of high-rise apartments and uber-hip coffee shops selling $8 lattes, the handiwork of maintaining hanoks is a devotion to a slowly vanishing piece of history.In two neighborhoods, a pair of hanoks — traditional Korean homes, both built over 100 years ago — are being carefully preserved. One a museum, the other a renovated home, these hanoks remain much as they always have, even as Seoul continues its vertical ascent around them.On one fall afternoon — what turned out to be the final day of work before another South Korean winter set in — Choi Jae Pil, a…

Inflation sped up slightly in February on an overall basis and a closely watched measure of underlying price increases was firmer than economists had expected.The fresh data underscore that fully returning inflation back to a normal pace is likely to be a bumpy process — and back up the Federal Reserve’s decision to proceed carefully as officials consider when and how much to lower interest rates.The Consumer Price Index climbed 3.2 percent last month from a year earlier, up from 3.1 percent in January. That’s down notably from a 9.1 percent high in 2022, but it is still quicker than…

As online dating became as easy as swiping a finger across your phone screen, the companies who own apps like Tinder and Bumble became Wall Street darlings. But about a decade later, those platforms are now struggling to live up to expectations, and investors have grown frustrated and eager for something new.Match Group and Bumble — which make up nearly the entire industry by market share — have lost more than $40 billion in market value since 2021. Even in an age when the apps are a staple on people’s smartphones, the two companies are laying off workers and reporting…

Al Pacino put a room full of Hollywood stars a little bit on edge to close out the 96th Academy Awards.Rather than listing all 10 nominees while presenting the best picture Oscar, or offering a conventional “And the Oscar goes to,” Pacino simply said “Here it comes” before slowly opening the envelope.“And my eyes see ‘Oppenheimer,’” Pacino said next, to tepid applause from an audience that seemed unsure whether that statement was the most important proclamation of the night.“Yes, yes,” Pacino, 83, said of the movie that was considered the favorite to win best picture and finished with a night-best…

Marwan Issa, who was the target of an Israeli strike in central Gaza over the weekend, is one of three leaders of Hamas in Gaza who Israel says were the main planners of the Oct. 7 attack, which killed over 1,200 people and led to the kidnapping of about 240 others, according to Israeli officials. It remained unclear on Tuesday whether the strike had hit him.Here is what to know about the most senior Hamas leaders in Gaza:Marwan IssaMr. Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing, would be the highest ranking Hamas military official to be killed by Israel…

Andrew Tate, an online influencer known for his displays of wealth and his misogynistic views, is facing criminal accusations over sexual misconduct in two separate cases.Mr. Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, have since 2022 been battling charges from Romanian prosecutors that include human trafficking.They were detained this week on a separate arrest warrant issued by the British authorities, a spokesman for the brothers said, this one accusing them of acts of sexual aggression.Here’s what to know about the situation.Who is Andrew Tate?Mr. Tate, who is both British and American, is a former kickboxer who has gained a large online…

Thirty years later, Christian Leitner isn’t sure he knew it was coming. In 1994, he entered the NBA in his second season with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Maybe someone notified his agent, but he doesn’t think so.The former Duke star remembers seeing the ad on ESPN one day. Chris Farley, in his prime on “Saturday Night Live,” wore Laettner’s No. 32 jersey and recreated his buzzer-beater against Kentucky that made NCAA Tournament history iconic moments.”All I know is, it came out and it was hilarious and it was great,” Lightner told Competitor.Farley aired three commercials on ESPN, all promoting college basketball,…

The cedar-shingled house that Andre Dubus III built for his family in the seaside town of Newbury, Mass., has four levels that sprawl across 6,000 square feet, with plenty of rooms that could have made a nice writer’s office. But Mr. Dubus plies his trade down in the mechanical room, near the exercise equipment and the boiler, in a lofted space that he built himself out of plywood.Reached by a staircase nearly as steep as a ship’s ladder, the room is no wider than an outstretched arm and not much longer, with low ceilings that amplify the feeling of being…

Ce’Yann Irving, a mother of a 1-year-old daughter, pays $990 a month for a two-bedroom apartment on the site of a former dairy processing plant in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans. She has amenities, like a 24-hour gym and an on-site community clinic, at arm’s reach.“I’m a first-time mom, so if my daughter coughs too long, I’m trying to take her to a doctor,” said Ms. Irving, 30, who is a disaster case manager for Catholic Charities. “Here, I can literally walk to the clinic, and if there’s a wait, just wait in my own apartment.”The affordable housing…

Since queer characters are today put at the center of many more stories than they used to be, it’s probably no surprise that most of the attempts to revive the Gay Best Friend are period pieces — including “And Just Like That … ,” which, for all of its contemporary inclusiveness (there are nonwhite and nonstraight “Sex and the City” ladies now!), still has one Manolo Blahnik planted firmly in the late ’90s. In the second season, Anthony is granted a boyfriend, a handsome, sweet, literary, affectionate, prodigiously endowed Italian poet decades younger (honestly, even as wish fulfillment, it’s a…