Author: NY TIMES

Only two days after Taylor Swift bestowed some of her fairy dust on a niche New York Fashion Week label by wearing Area jeans to the Super Bowl, an even more unlikely moment of celebrity-show synergy occurred: Beyoncé showed up in a warehouse in deep Brooklyn for the Luar show.Yup, Beyoncé’s first public appearance after announcing Renaissance “Act II,” and her first appearance at a New York Fashion Week show in years, was in Bushwick.Even in a world that has become somewhat jaded about celebrity frows (a few hours before the Luar show, Blake Lively, Brie Larson, Gabrielle Union-Wade and…

“No landing” Markets are still on edge after Tuesday’s hot inflation report, as Wall Street suddenly and sharply discounted the odds of imminent interest rate cuts.It has also poured cold water on the belief among many investors that the U.S. economy will achieve a “soft landing.”Why so gloomy? The Consumer Price Index report, which came in above economists’ forecasts, is a stark reminder of the challenges that the Fed faces in bringing down inflation to its 2 percent target. Even after excluding volatile energy and food prices, inflation is holding roughly steady and is well above where the central bank…

Like the allure of vinyl records, classic video games and even the early internet, the fascination with older photography standards like point-and-shoot cameras or 35-millimeter film persists — even in people too young to remember when that gear was cutting edge. The appeal of “vintage” photography goes beyond nostalgia and Instagram filters, judging by the huge number of apps designed to emulate the film, lenses and visual quirks of predigital photos and movies.Despite the irony of using a high-end smartphone camera to produce imperfect images that appear oversaturated, jittery, low-contrast, unfiltered or otherwise analog, going for a retro look can…

The Israeli finance ministry has blocked deliveries of food for Gaza because the shipments were intended to reach the main U.N. agency for Palestinians, Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said on Tuesday.Mr. Smotrich, a hard-right settler leader, said in a statement that he had issued a directive not to transfer flour shipments to the agency, known as UNRWA, citing allegations that some of its employees were affiliated with Hamas, including 12 accused of participating in the armed group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.Last week, a subcontractor handling the shipments for UNRWA received a call from Israel’s customs agency — which…

On Spring Street in Lower Manhattan, tourists slide in line for a “cronut.” A group of 20-somethings play pickleball on a court nearby. Along the sidewalk, couples stroll hand in hand, squinting in the sun on an abnormally warm winter morning.Out and about, too, are thousands of creators on the hunt for content. One team in particular, however, takes the (wedding) cake for most likely to capture your heart.Jeremy Bernstein, Victor Lee and Aaron Feinberg run Meet Cutes NYC, which publishes microportraits of modern love on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Each video begins with Mr. Bernstein asking, “Excuse me,…

Motorbikes — the preferred mode of transport in Vietnam — are piling up in impound lots in Ho Chi Minh City as it becomes more cost effective for some owners to abandon them than to pay the fines to get them back.The city, Vietnam’s financial center, has gotten more aggressive in targeting drunken driving in recent years by raising fines and confiscating vehicles. Those fines are now often higher than the value of the vehicles, which many drivers are not reclaiming, officials say.Now the police are wondering what to do with them.Some residents are so frustrated by this that they…

Hackers working for nation-states have used OpenAI’s systems in the creation of their cyberattacks, according to research released Wednesday by OpenAI and Microsoft.The companies believe their research, published on their websites, documents for the first time how hackers with ties to foreign governments are using generative artificial intelligence in their attacks.But instead of using A.I. to generate exotic attacks, as some in the tech industry feared, the hackers have used it in mundane ways, like drafting emails, translating documents and debugging computer code, the companies said.“They’re just using it like everyone else is, to try to be more productive in…

This patchy biopic lauds the Marley of dormitory posters, a snapshot of a lifestyle hero who is always the coolest guy in the room. Source link

Israeli forces have ordered Palestinians sheltering at one of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza to evacuate from the complex, raising fears that troops will attempt to storm a facility crowded with thousands of people, some of whom have been shot at as they tried to flee, according to doctors there.The Israeli military accused Hamas on Wednesday of conducting military activity inside the grounds of the hospital, the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, and alleged that the complex “was used to hold hostages.”Israel’s claims could not be independently verified, but they signaled its intensifying focus on the hospital as…

As Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany broke ground for a new ammunition factory this week, he celebrated a move that should enable the country to restore its almost entirely depleted arsenal of artillery shells.But despite his portrayal of the groundbreaking as another German response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began two years ago this month, it was also a reminder of how slow the European reaction has been. It will be a year before the new factory is able to produce 50,000 rounds annually, with hopes of doubling that in 2026.That is too little and too late to help…