Author: NY TIMES

The Friedman sisters have been making art together since they were little girls. Their London childhood was chaotic — they were often left to their own devices — but the family’s four children found solace in storytelling.Now Sonia, 59, is one of the most successful theater producers in the English-speaking world. Maria, 64, is a celebrated actress and singer. Their sister is a scientist, and their brother, who died last year, was a violinist.Sonia and Maria have occasionally worked together over the years, but rarely with as much emotional investment as on the current Broadway revival of “Merrily We Roll…

PINEHURST, N.C. — The toughest shot in golf history came between Bryson DeChambeau and his second major championship.The ball came to rest on the soft sand of Pinehurst. After an approach shot from behind a tree root, the ball had traveled 55 yards—a distance that professional golfers almost universally despise. The hole is located just six steps from the back right edge of the green, bordered by another bunker. The groans that followed after Rory McIlroy missed a par putt on the final hole still hang in the air around Grandstand 18.DeChambeau hit the wedge with a 55-degree wedge. Bogey…

The black T-shirt spells it out in capital letters: “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports.”In the past few months, the message has been hard to miss. Dawn Staley, the coach of the University of South Carolina’s women’s basketball team, kicked off a social media frenzy when she wore the shirt for a pregame interview in January. The comedian and actor Jason Sudeikis wore a version with yellow lettering to the women’s N.C.A.A. tournament finals in April. Jimmy Fallon got one on “The Tonight Show” as a gift from the recently retired W.N.B.A. star Sue Bird.The shirt, which was created by a company…

Toyota Motor’s longtime leader, Akio Toyoda, defended his continued deep involvement in the company’s operations on Tuesday, responding to calls by some big investors that he step back after having resigned as chief executive more than a year ago.“Some infer that what I do and how I act is akin to cloistered rule,” Mr. Toyoda said, referring to an imperial form of government in Japan where an emperor could retain power and influence even after abdication.“I consult with younger-generation executives and give them my advice, and if you call this cloistered rule, then I am happy to continue acting as…

When five men died on June 18, 2023, in the implosion of the Titan submersible during a dive to the Titanic’s resting place, the knowledge of Paul-Henri Nargeolet was lost too. It was Nargeolet’s 38th dive to the sunken liner. Known as Mr. Titanic, he helped retrieve thousands of artifacts that have been displayed in museums and at events around the world.One year later, the company he worked for as director of underwater research is preparing a July expedition that will employ a pair of robots instead of people in submersibles looking for more treasures to bring up in the…

Indeed, the songwriter and producer Dan Tannenbaum, known as Bekon, recalled that in the studio Hozier “would often say, ‘Oh, I don’t know, there’s a lot of people doing that right now’” in response to “overly commercial” suggestions. Tannenbaum, who has writing and production credits on “Too Sweet” and a majority of the tracks on “Unreal Unearth,” said he felt certain that with Hozier’s “sense of self” the music “would be tasteful, yet with the hope of being successful, heard by many.”While Hozier, who lives in the countryside of Wicklow, Ireland, has benefited from listeners sharing their intimate moments on…

A court in Paris ruled on Tuesday that France’s decision to bar Israeli companies from one of the world’s largest weapons shows was discriminatory and ordered the ban to be rescinded.Eurosatory, an exhibition for the defense and armaments industry held every two years northeast of Paris, opened on Monday without any Israeli representatives. The organizers had complied with a French government order to cancel their invitations because of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.The government’s decision, which has prompted legal challenges, was made last month after an Israeli strike killed dozens of Palestinians in a tent camp in Rafah, in southern…

Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to President Biden, met Tuesday with senior Lebanese officials in Beirut, where he pressed for a diplomatic solution as increasingly deadly skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militia, have made the situation on the Israel-Lebanon border dangerously volatile.For the past eight months, as the war has raged in Gaza, another battle has unfurled along Israel’s northern border. In that time, Hezbollah, a well-armed and battle-tested fighting force, and the Israeli military have played a risky game of tit-for-tat, carrying out attacks that have flexed their muscles but avoided full-blown war. Despite the seemingly…

Follow our Olympic coverage in the lead-up to Paris.PARIS — It’s spring in Paris, and the city is about to host the Olympics for the first time in a century.Temporary stadiums are rising at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, in the square next to the Orangerie (the site of Monet’s mural), and in the Gardens of Versailles. But most people will never see the most important Olympic facility, the $1.5 billion underground tunnels and water tanks that will make the Seine River, which flows through the heart of the city, suitable for triathlon and marathon swimming events and beyond.Yes,…

What to do when you have too much stuff and not enough storage space? Celebrate it. Storing some of that overflow out in the open can be a good solution when you’ve got a small space with few closets.Well-planned open storage — with wall shelves, pegs, hooks and other accessories — does two important things. “It’s provides functionality,” said Natalie Papier, the founder of Home Ec., an interior design firm in Charlotte, N.C., and a host of the reality TV show “Artfully Designed.” And “it can look like art on your walls.”Here’s how she and other designers turn what you…