Elections

The last night of the Republican National Convention featured glimpses of a more sober tone — and a whole lot of testosterone.Who is Donald J. Trump?After over four decades of tabloid celebrity, reality-TV stardom and presidential politics, you would think this would be a settled question. But after his near assassination in Pennsylvania, the Republican National Convention teased that the former president was going to unveil a softer, changed version of himself. He would recast his acceptance speech to emphasize “unity,” a word that, in four days of TV coverage, was endlessly parroted and rarely defined.Mr. Trump turned himself into his own surprise guest. Would the final night of the convention portray him as a bellicose, combative alpha male, or as a sensitive late convert to empathy and self-reflection?The answer was: Yes, and yes. The night began with a pageant of hypermasculinity, with musclemen and ripped garments. It led to Mr. Trump’s taking the stage with a new, somber voice as he recounted his brush with death. Then, over the course of a digressive hour-and-a-half speech, he somehow changed back before our eyes.First came The Man Show. The introductory hours of the night featured a rotation of admirers, heavily male, who cited Mr. Trump’s close call and defiant survival as testimony to his macho fighting spirit.This is what male identity politics looks like. Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News personality — who has embraced the alt-right angst over testosterone levels — spoke off the cuff, suggesting that the shooting established Mr. Trump as a leader on a biological level. “A leader is the bravest man,” Mr. Carlson said. “This is a law of nature.”Kid Rock retooled his rap-metal anthem “American Bad Ass,” exhorting the delegates to throw up their fists and “Say fight! Fight! Say Trump! Trump!” Dana White, the beefy chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, introduced Mr. Trump.But the splashiest spectacle brought Hulkamania to Milwaukee. Terry G. Bollea, the handlebar-mustached wrestler who performs as Hulk Hogan, took the stage in character to praise “my hero, that gladiator,” working himself into a rage over the attempt on Mr. Trump’s life and ripping open his shirt to expose a “TRUMP-VANCE” tank top.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

As the Republican National Convention drew to a close, it painted a red, white and blue picture.On the final night of the Republican convention, just in time for her husband’s official nomination as his party’s presidential candidate, Melania Trump finally took her place by his side — sort of.She was the last Trump family member to make her entrance at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, stoking the will-she-or-won’t-she anticipation to the end, arriving well after Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who have also been largely absent during the campaign; Don Jr. and his fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle; Eric Trump and his wife, Lara; and Tiffany Trump and her husband, Michael Boulos. (Barron Trump, Donald Trump’s son with Melania, did not appear, but assorted grandchildren did.)She walked in alone, in a red suit and towering red heels, hair down, bestowing queenly waves on an adoring crowd.Melania Trump enters on the red carpet at the final night of the Republican convention.Doug Mills/The New York TimesIf the suit struck a chord, that may be because it had been seen before. Mrs. Trump had worn the ensemble — from Dior, with a New Look silhouette — in 2017, when, as first lady, she visited Paris with her husband for the Bastille Day celebrations. For anyone who remembers that suit, seeing it again was like sliding down a wormhole to the recent past when the Trumps occupied the White House — a further reminder, like the virtual White House projected behind Mr. Trump as he made his speech, of the point of the whole shebang.Mrs. Trump was offering something of a preview of how she may again play her part. (Not to mention the fact that, despite Mr. Trump’s statements about manufacturing in America and buying American, she has never seemed all that interested in that idea.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

The veteran British actress shines in a new revival that is the musical theater highlight of the West End summer.Love affairs in the theater take different forms — between characters onstage, of course, but also between a performer and the public.In a new London revival of “Hello, Dolly!,” the leading lady, Imelda Staunton, grips the audience from the beginning and holds them in a shared embrace throughout. Ths show is the musical theater event of the West End summer, running at the London Palladium, through Sept. 14.“Hello, Dolly!” has always been a star vehicle. Carol Channing first played the matchmaking Dolly Gallagher Levi on Broadway in 1964 and made it her signature part, returning to the role of the deliciously meddlesome widow throughout her storied career. The others to take it on have included Pearl Bailey, Ethel Merman, Bette Midler and, on film, Barbra Streisand. This production, indeed, owes quite a bit to the 1969 movie, the choice of opening song (“Just Leave Everything to Me”) included.But Staunton — who on Wednesday received an Emmy nomination for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Crown” — is probably the only English performer who can command as much respect in the role as those American ladies. She occupies a special place in British playgoers’ hearts, which this production, directed by Dominic Cooke’, taps into directly. Her acquaintance with the classics — Albee, Chekhov, Sondheim — lends a gravity to the performance, so that we understand Dolly as a fully realized person, pain and all, and not just a figure of fun.Staunton plays Dolly Gallagher Levi, a widow who has taken on the role of matchmaker in her community.Manuel HarlanWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

The best of our readers’ love letters to California.The Golden Gate Bridge in 2023.Jim Wilson/The New York TimesA year and a half ago, I left the Los Angeles neighborhood that I had lived in for a decade and relocated to San Francisco. The move was daunting — just me and my rescue cat, Kit, in a quiet apartment overlooking Golden Gate Park.I felt awed by the beauty of the Bay Area, but the transition wasn’t all roses. Building a social life from scratch, I soon learned, was considerably harder than it had been in my 20s. I had heaped more tumult onto an already stressful, pandemic-inflected few years.There was, however, one helpful constant: the community built in this newsletter. As I’ve often said here, the observations, suggestions and notes that you send me are drops of delight in my inbox. And they’ve allowed us to find connection and common ground in a time when that feels increasingly rare.Together we’ve chronicled California culture, creating a comprehensive Golden State playlist, reading list and movie list. We’ve tapped into the California psyche by sharing how we mark time with disasters and rely on wacky roadside attractions to tell us that we’re almost home.And, of course, we’ve discussed why we continue to live in California, despite its myriad problems. Hundreds of you have sent me thoughtful emails over the years about your experiences in the state — how your family arrived here, what you adore about your block, your favorite places to visit on summer break. Reading these missives feels like indulging in a conversation among friends.Today, as I end my tenure leading this newsletter, I’m sharing some of my favorite California love letters from you. Thanks for sending them in.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Taking a safe driver course can save you 10 percent on the premium, one expert said. Improving your credit score can also help as can getting married.Even as inflation has eased, car insurance rates are rising by double digits. But drivers have some options for reining in premiums.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, auto insurance costs were 19.5 percent higher in June than a year earlier. Insurers blame the higher cost of automobiles, parts and repairs, as well as more accidents because of lingering bad driving habits that spread during the depths of the pandemic. They have also cited increased losses from severe weather, including hail storms.Most drivers already know about discounts available for “bundling” auto and homeowner insurance policies with the same carrier or for insuring multiple cars. But other tactics can help as well.Becoming a better driver may help. Just one accident can mean you’re paying an average of 43 percent more than drivers with clean safety records, according to the financial website Bankrate, which analyzed insurance data from Quadrant Information Services. The average annual premium for a driver with full-insurance coverage and a pristine driving history is just over $2,300, the analysis found, while the average for a driver with one at-fault accident is about $3,300.Cultivating safe habits behind the wheel — like setting your phone to “do not disturb” to avoid distraction, and keeping a safe distance from the car in front of you — can help avoid accidents, said Ryan Pietzsch, a driver safety expert with the National Safety Council, a nonprofit focused on reducing preventable injuries and death. He suggested following the “three second” rule: Note the car ahead of you as it passes a fixed object, like a sign along the road. Then, start counting slowly from one to three (say, “one, one thousand; two, one thousand; three, one thousand”). If your car passes the sign before you reach three, you’re too close.Taking a safe driver course may save you 10 percent on your auto premium, said Benjamin Preston, an auto writer at Consumer Reports. Check with your agent to see if it’s an option in your state. Some courses charge a fee.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Financial transactions around the world were affected by a tech outage on Friday, hampering operations as workers at several firms struggled to log into their corporate systems.Employees at companies including JPMorgan Chase and Instinet, a brokerage firm owned by the Japanese bank Nomura, have had trouble gaining access to their work stations, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.That has led to delays in some trades, though the companies have been working on workarounds, the people said.The London Stock Exchange said that its RNS corporate news service was unable to publish, citing a “third-party global technical issue” that it was investigating. The exchange operator added that the matter was not affecting securities trading and other services.Norway’s central bank said that it had suffered disruptions when conducting a securities auction on Friday, with participants having been asked to submit bids by phone or email. It later said that the system was operating normally.Other central banks, including the Bank of England and the European Central Bank, said they were not experiencing any technical issues.A representative for Nasdaq said in a statement that the exchange operator’s European and American pre-market trading businesses were working, and that its U.S. market would open for business as normal.And a representative for the New York Stock Exchange said that its market was fully operational and expected to open normally.Eshe Nelson More

A “historic” tech failure alarmed investors, after a security update caused problems for Microsoft devices and services, and took down businesses worldwide.A major IT outage involving Microsoft and CrowdStrike has caused major delays at airports around the world.Clemens Bilan/EPA, via ShutterstockThe glitch felt around the world Grounded flights, emergency services unreachable, payment systems not functioning — the world is assessing the damage caused by a cascade of IT outages that is spooking investors and grinding many businesses and government services to a halt.“This outage is historic in scale,” Mikko Hypponen, a research specialist at the software company WithSecure and a cybercrime adviser to Europol, told DealBook.The problem is being attributed to a tech upgrade gone wrong. All eyes are on CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company. It issued a software update that is causing Microsoft systems, including its Azure cloud service, to crash or not function properly. George Kurtz, the C.E.O. of CrowdStrike, said on X that a fix is being deployed, adding it’s “not a security incident or cyberattack.”Here’s the latest: American, United and Delta had grounded flights, according to the F.A.A. Airlines in Europe and Asia, including Air France-KLM and Japan Airlines, also had reported delays or cancellations. Some had reported a partial return to service.Long queues of airline passengers could be seen at airports around the world, with some resorting to manual check-in. In France, the television networks TF1 and Canal+ told the public on X that they could not go on the air on Friday morning. Comcast’s Sky News in the U.K. also went dark for a spell.The incident points to how reliant the global economy is on a handful of major tech companies to run vital infrastructure. CrowdStrike, a major cybersecurity vendor, is taking the brunt of the hit. Its stock was down nearly 12 percent in premarket trading. Microsoft was down about 1.4 percent, and also said a resolution was forthcoming.Security has become a big focus in the cloud wars. Google is trying to bolster its cloud operations with an eye on cybersecurity. The company is in talks to buy Wiz, a New York-based cybersecurity firm, in what would be its biggest acquisition ever, and an effort to take market share from Microsoft.Expect tough questions about the business world’s computing systems. Financial regulators in the U.K. have already begun speaking with financial services companies to learn the extent of the damage on banks and payment companies, The Financial Times reports.In other IT news: A U.S. judge dismissed most claims against SolarWinds, an IT security company, and its chief information security officer; the S.E.C. had sued the company after it was hacked by Russian agents in 2020.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Shake intensity Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 4 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “light,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. The New York Times More