Author: NY TIMES

Imagine music that you wrote being held against you in a criminal proceeding. In the documentary “As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial,” the Bronx-born rapper Kemba travels around the country and to Britain, interviewing artists and legal experts about how that has been more than a theoretical possibility for rappers.Mac Phipps, for instance, was convicted of manslaughter and spent more than two decades in prison, even though another man had confessed to the crime. (He was released in 2021.) In an interview with Kemba, he describes how references to violence in his lyrics were used at his trial, despite…

Families in Scotland were expecting to taste chocolate treats and observe “optical marvels” at a Willy Wonka-themed event in Glasgow this past weekend. Instead, they got a couple of jelly beans, a short walk around a nearly empty warehouse and a visit from police officers.The event, Willy’s Chocolate Experience, scheduled for Feb. 24 and 25, promised on event listing websites to include chocolate fountains, performances by Oompa Loompas and interactive experiences inspired by scenes from Roald Dahl’s book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”One father, Stuart Sinclair, drove two hours from Dundee to take his three children to the event. “There…

For those who haven’t followed the 2011 World Cup qualifying cycle – the U.S. lost to Mexico in the CONCACAF semifinals before Alex Morgan finally gave the U.S. a try against Italy advances in a playoff series against Mexico that might feel like a rivalry in name only.The U.S. women’s national team hasn’t lost to Mexico since that moment in 2010, and the U.S. women’s soccer team hasn’t lost at home to any CONCACAF opponent since 2000.On Monday night, that story went out the window.The U.S. women’s soccer team lost 2-0 in front of a raucous crowd in Carson City,…

For certain social media influencers, brand-sponsored trips are just part of the job. If they’re lucky, they may find themselves admiring the Instagrammably blue waters of the Greek islands, or perhaps the pink sunsets of Bali. But what about endless ocean views from the metal decks of an offshore oil rig?“So, I need to, like, know by tonight, but I got invited on this brand trip,” a young woman told her boyfriend over the phone last week. “It’s with Exxon Mobil.”A new prank on TikTok has prompted dozens of influencers to call their loved ones and tell them some version…

Starbucks and the union that represents employees in roughly 400 of its U.S. stores announced Tuesday that they were beginning discussions on a “foundational framework” that would help the company reach labor agreements with unionized workers and resolve litigation between the two sides.The union greeted the development as a major shift in strategy for Starbucks, which has taken steps to resist union organizing at the company since the campaign began in 2021, moves that federal labor regulators have said violated labor law hundreds of times.Starbucks, which has denied the accusations, said in a statement that it hoped to have contracts…

Hot air balloons soar above the Mediterranean. Aerial streetcars fly along ropes suspended above the alleys of a candy-colored Lisbon. Pastel green smoke billows into the night sky from the funnels of a cruise ship.This is the eye-poppingly surreal world that Bella Baxter, played by Emma Stone, thrills to in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Oscar-nominated film “Poor Things.”Bella, a 25-year-old woman who, after committing suicide, is reanimated with the brain of her unborn infant, is the daring and unusual creation of Alasdair Gray, whose 1992 novel was adapted for the movie.And it may not even be his most eccentric book. A prolific…

Those pressures have led Israel to make significant concessions in the negotiations, two officials said, including an offer to release 15 Palestinians jailed on serious terrorism charges in exchange for five female Israeli soldiers being held in Gaza.That offer was part of a broader proposal to exchange scores of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange for about 35 other hostages during a roughly six-week cease-fire, the officials said.Hamas’s political leaders have insisted, at least publicly, that any deal to release the more than 100 hostages still being held in Gaza is dependent on a permanent cease-fire and the withdrawal of…

Bruce Newman, a New York antiques dealer once known as the Cecil B. DeMille of his profession for his outsized personality and extravagant wares, died on Feb. 9 at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 94.The cause was congestive heart failure, according to his daughter, Emily Greenspan.Mr. Newman, a dashing figure in impeccably tailored black suits and scarlet pocket squares, was the proprietor of his family’s business, Newel Galleries, which was founded during the 1930s as a prop house for theater and film productions and ran for a time out of a small shop under the Second Avenue…

More than 600,000 Toyota pickup trucks and SUVs in the United States were voluntarily recalled over the past week because of different issues that could increase the risk of crashes, the vehicle manufacturer said.The first announcement, on Feb. 21, stated that about 280,000 vehicles, including certain Toyota Tundra, Tundra Hybrid and Lexus LX600 vehicles from the model years 2022-2024 and Sequoia Hybrid vehicles issued from 2023-2024, were recalled because “certain parts of the transmission may not immediately disengage when the vehicle is shifted to the neutral position,” Toyota said in a statement.The defect “can allow some engine power to continue…

Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThe country music superstar Toby Keith, who died this month at 62, was best known for the songs he released in the wake of 9/11 — especially his big, brawny anthems about American power and soldiers.But while he is most remembered for those tracks, they comprised only a portion of his whole catalog, which also included tenderly lighthearted love songs and numbers about the hollowness of masculinity.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about Keith’s various modes, and the ways in which they bolstered each other; how his most successful songs were used…