Author: NY TIMES

Nayib Bukele, the millennial president who reshaped El Salvador by cracking down on both gangs and civil liberties, looked poised to win another five years in office after polls closed on Sunday.The electoral authorities had not released official results by Sunday night, but Mr. Bukele claimed victory in a post on X, saying he had won more than 85 percent of the vote. Legal scholars say Mr. Bukele violated the Constitution of El Salvador by seeking a second consecutive term, but most Salvadorans don’t seem to care. Surveys showed that voters overwhelmingly supported his candidacy and were likely to maintain…

The music industry’s biggest stars attended the 66th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in attire as varied as their songs and albums. Much of that attire — whether it was a cutout gown or a sheer shirt — exposed midsections.Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus were two of the many who chose outfits with metallic tones, perhaps in hopes of earning a golden statue to match. Gracie Abrams, Paris Jackson and others opted for black, while Kylie Minogue and Bonnie McKee were among those in red, one of the most popular colors seen on carpets this awards season. (Ms. McKee complemented…

But Mr. Mousa focused on one number: 3,892. That was his position on a New York City food vendor waiting list.Like thousands of the city’s mobile food vendors, Mr. Mousa cannot get a permit for his cart, the Halal Plates. A longstanding cap limited the number of permits to 5,100, before a 2021 law began allowing for 445 new permits a year for a decade. So far, the city has issued 71 new permits.Almost 9,500 people were on waiting lists in January, according to the city’s health department. A spokesman said it had released 1,074 applications — a permit prerequisite…

During a speech at the Grammys on Sunday, Jay-Z criticized the awards show for what he described as its snubs and inconsistencies in giving out honors to Black artists, pointing out that his wife, Beyoncé, has the most Grammys but has never won for album of the year.“Even by your own metrics it doesn’t work,” he said.He added, “We want you to get it right — at least get it close to right.”Jay-Z also referred to Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff’s boycott of the 1989 Grammys because the rap category was not televised at the time. He noted that…

Kenya’s government will not await a court of appeal ruling before deploying its forces to Haiti, a senior government official said, further underscoring the government’s determination to move ahead with the proposed multinational force aimed at bringing stability to the gang-ravaged Caribbean nation.Abraham Korir Sing’Oei, the principal secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The New York Times in an interview that Kenya and Haiti were working to finalize a bilateral agreement in the next two weeks and that, once in place, Kenyan forces would immediately deploy.The declaration from Mr. Sing’Oei comes just a week after the country’s High…

In November, while vacationing on a yacht off the coast of St. Barthélemy, Tamara Mellon took a stroll on the island and ran into Glenn Spiro, a friend who is a high-end jeweler in London. He had opened a seasonal shop on the exclusive island and invited her to visit.“I went straight from the beach in denim shorts and a bathing suit,” the British fashion entrepreneur said. “I went back to the shop three times that week.”Mr. Spiro is one of a handful of exclusive jewelers who have opened seasonal shops or staged weeklong exhibitions in affluent resort towns this…

Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, made clear during a “60 Minutes” interview aired on Sunday night that the central bank is moving toward cutting interest rates as inflation recedes, but that policymakers need to see continued progress toward cooler price increases to make the first move.Mr. Powell was interviewed on Thursday, after the Fed’s meeting last week but before Friday’s blockbuster jobs report. He reiterated his message that lower borrowing costs are coming. But he also said that the Fed’s next meeting in March is probably too early for policymakers to feel sure enough that inflation…

Of this year’s 94 Grammy categories, all but nine were given out during a fast-paced, nontelevised ceremony, where some stars (Billie Eilish, Joni Mitchell, boygenius) showed up to accept their awards, but many others (SZA, Michelle Obama) didn’t.The tallies for the early awards gave no clear advantage to any artist. SZA, the night’s most nominated artist, with nine citations, won two (progressive R&B album and pop duo/group performance, with Phoebe Bridgers) but lost three, which puts her in a challenging position going into the main ceremony.The indie-rock trio boygenius won three early prizes, including best rock song, rock performance and…

The United States launched scores of strikes across the Middle East over the weekend as Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken set out for the region to push forward negotiations to secure the release of Israelis still held hostage in Gaza and get more humanitarian aid into the battered enclave.The latest strike came Sunday in Yemen, where the U.S. military said it had destroyed an anti-ship cruise missile that belonged to Houthi militants and posed “an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region.”It was the third American military action against Iranian-backed militias in as many…

Musicians are a colorful crowd, and as the Recording Academy doesn’t hesitate to remind audiences at every opportunity, the Grammys are “music’s biggest night.” So it may be little surprise that previous Grammys red carpets have been the site of such unforgettable looks as Cardi B swanning about in archival Mugler and Shania Twain cosplaying as Toad. Then there are the moments with a capital M: egg as entry vessel, for instance, or a neckline so low it inspired its own search engine.While the arrivals for the 66th Grammy Awards, held on Sunday in Los Angeles, had much to live…