Author: NY TIMES

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…

A provocative comment by President Emmanuel Macron of France about the possibility of putting troops from NATO countries in Ukraine has prompted a warning from the Kremlin and hurried efforts by European leaders to distance themselves from the suggestion.The fractured messaging underscores how Ukraine’s allies are struggling to agree on new ways to help Kyiv as resolve weakens in the United States and Russia advances on the battlefield.The Kremlin warned Tuesday that a ground intervention by any NATO country would lead to a direct clash between the Western military alliance and Russian forces, fraught with potential dangers, and called the…

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Aleksei A. Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died this month in an Arctic prison, has vowed to continue her husband’s work.Ms. Navalnaya, 47, has been less public than Mr. Navalny, seen at his side and in his documentary, but mostly steering clear of the spotlight. She was, though, an important half of a global power couple: A telegenic duo who expressed unfaltering passion for each other and for their vision of a free and democratic future for Russia. “Everyone wanted a love like theirs,” wrote Julia Ioffe in a 2021 Vanity Fair profile.Mr. Navalny…

Boeing’s safety culture remains flawed, despite improvements made after two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max 8 jet in 2018 and 2019, a Federal Aviation Administration report released on Monday found.The report, written by a group of experts convened a year ago at Congress’s behest, found that there was a “disconnect” between senior management and other employees at Boeing, which makes commercial airplanes as well military aircraft and technology. The company, the panel found, has at times been “inadequate and confusing” in the way it has administered its safety culture.In a statement, the F.A.A. said it would “immediately begin a…