Author: NY TIMES

When two longtime business partners established a subsidiary 50 years ago to make zinc out of an industrial complex set up by South Korea’s government, they settled on an unusual division of power.The new venture, Korea Zinc, would be managed by the Choi family. The existing parent company, Young Poong, would be run by the other founder’s household, the Chang family. Both clans agreed to respect each other’s management. The arrangement came to be known as “two families under one roof.”Korea Zinc went on to become the world’s largest producer of zinc and an essential cog of South Korea’s economy.But…

It began on Saturday night at the vice president-elect’s dinner, when she wore a black velvet column from Oscar de la Renta, that being a bipartisan go-to brand for first ladies on both sides of the aisle. The sartorial balancing act continued through the wreath-laying at Arlington, when Ms. Vance appeared in a white Sergio Hudson matching dress and coat, a nod to a Black designer who was favored by Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris.Her outreach was further underscored at the president-elect’s candlelight dinner, when she wore a dress by the Indian designer Gaurav Gupta to honor her Indian heritage.…

At least 10 people were killed and 32 others were injured on Tuesday after a fire broke out at a hotel with more than 200 guests at a skiing resort in western Turkey, the authorities said.The fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the town of Kartalkaya in Bolu Province took place over the winter break for schools across the country, a time when families flock to skiing resorts and other vacation spots.The fire started at around 3:30 a.m. local time, when most occupants were asleep, according to news reports. In an effort to evacuate, some occupants strung bedsheets together…

President Trump signed an executive order on Monday to delay enforcing a federal ban of TikTok for 75 days, even though the law took effect on Sunday and it is unclear that such a move could override it.The order, one of Mr. Trump’s first acts after taking office, instructs the attorney general not to take any action to enforce the law so that his administration has “an opportunity to determine the appropriate course forward.” The order is retroactive to Sunday.As he signed the order, Mr. Trump told reporters that “the U.S. should be entitled to get half of TikTok” if…

On Sunday evening, on the way to the Emporio Armani fashion show here, I did what I always do with … oh, six free minutes of my day: I checked eBay.Perhaps to get in the Armani spirit, I searched “vintage Armani” (a search I’ve had saved in my account for a couple of years now) and prowled through the hundreds of Armani jackets, shirts and knits that have washed up on the site.Half an hour later, watching the Emporio show, I began to feel as if my eBay search had sprung to life.There, in front of me, were sandy-hued chevron…

With help from a failed two-point conversion attempt, the Buffalo Bills defeated the Baltimore Ravens 27-25 in the final divisional game of the weekend on Sunday.Ravens tight end Mark Andrews made a game-tying two-point attempt with 1:33 left, but was unable to catch a pass from quarterback Lamar Jackson. Buffalo recovered the ensuing onside kick and sealed the win. Two points conversion is not good😳 📺： #BALvsBUF on cbs📱: Live broadcast @NFLPlus and Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/s1DAo0tdm1 — NFL (@NFL) January 20, 2025The win puts Buffalo into the AFC Championship Game for the second time in five seasons, setting up a matchup…

As a truce took hold on Sunday in Gaza, potentially ending the longest and deadliest war in a century of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, two men used the same metaphor to describe how they felt.“The weight on my chest has lifted,” said Ziad Obeid, a Gazan civil servant displaced several times during the war. “We have survived.”“The rock lying on my heart has been removed,” said Dov Weissglas, a former Israeli politician. “We want to see the hostages home, period.”Both men also had a “but.”Mr. Obeid has not seen his damaged house in northern Gaza for more than a year. How bad,…

A jury in Florida on Friday ordered CNN to pay $5 million for defaming a private security contractor in a five-minute segment that ran on the network in November 2021.CNN settled the lawsuit hours later for an undisclosed sum, before the jury had an opportunity to award additional punitive damages in the case. Those damages could have been far higher than the initial figure awarded by the jury.News organizations are facing an increasingly adverse legal and political environment. There are robust First Amendment protections for journalists, and plaintiffs in defamation cases must prove that a news outlet published false information…

The Chinese social media app RedNote is full of cute, heartwarming moments after about 500,000 American users fled to it last week to protest the looming U.S. government ban on TikTok.Calling themselves “TikTok refugees,” these users paid the “cat tax” to join RedNote by posting cat photos and videos. They answered so many questions from their new Chinese friends: Is it true that in rural America every family has a large farm, a huge house, at least three children and several big dogs? That Americans have to work two jobs to support themselves? That Americans are terrible at geography and…

Three years ago, when Bob and Sandy Curtis moved into an upscale continuing care retirement community in Port Washington, N.Y., he thought they had found the best possible elder care solution.In exchange for a steep entrance fee — about $840,000, funded by the sale of the Long Island house they had owned for nearly 50 years — they would have care for the rest of their lives at the Harborside. They selected a contract from several options that set stable monthly fees at about $6,000 for both of them and would refund half the entrance fee to their estate after…