Author: NY TIMES

Food and love go hand in hand. For Valentine’s Day, we’re exploring this fiery connection in all stages of a relationship, from a first date to living together to breaking up.When it comes to a first date, Jess Felton refuses to go for drinks, grab a coffee or take a walk. It’s either dinner or no date at all.“Dinner dates used to be the standard,” said Ms. Felton, a 40-year-old influencer in Brooklyn, N.Y., who posts as @ohuprettythings on TikTok. “But dating has become so casual.”To her, a dinner date is more than a meal. It’s a litmus test for…

Bob Edwards, the host of NPR’s “Morning Edition” for nearly a quarter-century, whose rich baritone and cool demeanor imbued his radio broadcasts with authority in reaching millions of listeners, died on Saturday. He was 76.NPR, which announced his death on Monday, did not cite a cause or say where he died.Mr. Edwards, a native of Louisville, Ky., who knew from an early age that he wanted to be in radio, joined NPR in 1974, during the Watergate hearings. That year, he became a co-host of “All Things Considered,’’ the public broadcaster’s signature evening newsmagazine of interviews, analysis and features. Its…

Women who develop high blood pressure or diabetes in the course of pregnancy are more likely to give birth to children who develop conditions that may compromise their own heart health at a young age, scientists reported on Monday.By the time they are 12 years old, these children are more likely to be overweight or to be diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar, compared with children whose mothers had complication-free pregnancies.The research underscores the strong association between healthy pregnancies and child health, though the study stops short of proving a cause-and-effect relationship. The conclusions also…

Toby Keith, the boisterous, unapologetically patriotic country star who died last week at 62, has a posthumous No. 1 on Billboard’s album chart, as a 16-year-old hits collection narrowly edged out Morgan Wallen’s latest — and easily topped releases by the rapper 21 Savage and the Grammy winners Taylor Swift and SZA — to reach the top of the chart.Keith’s “35 Biggest Hits,” with tracks like “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “Who’s Your Daddy?,” “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” and the Willie Nelson duet “Beer for My Horses” — all of them No. 1 country smashes…

The United States opposes an Israeli ground offensive into Rafah unless Israel provides for the safety of more than a million people now crammed into the city, a State Department spokesman said on Monday, adding to the Biden administration’s repudiations of the expected military action.At the same time, officials of the United Nations and the International Criminal Court took a more absolute stand against the expected Israeli invasion of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, warning of catastrophic consequences.So far, however, the escalating international pressure on Israel to restrain its military campaign appears to have had little effect; the Israeli…

LAS VEGAS — Patrick Mahomes has been dominating the San Francisco 49ers’ attention every time they get the ball on Sunday.Facing a third-and-4 from the Kansas City Chiefs’ 9-yard line in overtime, Brock Purdy said he knew the 49ers couldn’t settle for a field goal because it would give Mahomes A counter-attacking chance for the driving style he became famous for.”You just don’t want to give him a chance to win the game with a touchdown,” Purdy said.This is exactly what happened.deeperChiefs defeat 49ers in Super Bowl overtime to solidify dynastyThe 49ers played well on third down. It required Jauan…

The Kansas City Chiefs have just won the Super Bowl, and that is nice. But just to focus on the real news for one second: Could this mean that Taylor Swift — the global superstar, football enthusiast and onetime Biden endorser — is going to visit the White House?Asked on Monday whether the White House would extend an invitation to the singer, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said that decision was up to the team, not President Biden.“That’s going to be up to the Chiefs, and obviously, their decision to figure out who’s going to come with them…

Two former executives of FirstEnergy and a former public utility commissioner have been indicted in a multimillion-dollar public corruption scandal, Ohio’s attorney general, Dave Yost, said on Monday.Charles Jones, who was FirstEnergy’s chief executive from 2015-20, and Michael Dowling, a former vice president of external affairs at the company, are accused of paying Samuel Randazzo, a former chairman of Ohio’s Public Utilities Commission, more than $4.3 million to allow the company to overcharge customers, among other offenses.Collectively, the three men are charged with 27 counts, including theft, bribery and fraud. The charges were filed on Friday but weren’t made public…

From the very beginning of the improv theater Second City, its name made clear that it wasn’t a New York institution and didn’t aspire to be.But after 65 years, the Chicago-based institution that has strongly influenced modern comedy is opening an outpost on Monday in Brooklyn, in what is the First City. It’s a seemingly counterintuitive time to expand. Improv, once a thriving part of the comedy scene in New York, is at an ebb, and the company itself has been through tough times.Two weeks before the lights were set to officially go up, Ed Wells, Second City’s chief executive,…

Educated in the United States and deeply pro-American, Finland’s president-elect, Alexander Stubb, looked perfectly poised to lead his nation into a stronger trans-Atlantic partnership and redefine its role in the global order as a newly minted NATO member.Instead, he will enter office next month at a time when U.S. politics has once again thrown the durability of that relationship — and the wisdom of European nations counting on it — into question.For weeks, the two candidates in Finland’s runoff presidential elections, which Mr. Stubb won on Sunday, had played up their pro-NATO credentials and tough views on Russia. Then the…