Author: NY TIMES

You may have noticed that “The Garfield Movie” was the No. 1 movie in America last week, earning $14 million and taking over the top spot from the infinitely more hyped “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.” It has grossed $55 million in North America and $156 million globally in two weeks.After more than 45 years of daily strips (that still get made every day), three feature films, 76 books, three animated series, dozens of video games and a literal boatload of merchandise, we may ask, how did we get here?In an attempt to answer that question, we took a trip…

The U.S. provided intelligence on the hostages before Israel’s successful rescue operation Saturday, according to American and Israeli officials briefed on the assistance.A team of American hostage recovery officials stationed in Israel assisted the Israeli military’s effort to rescue the four captives by providing intelligence and other logistical support, one American official said, speaking without attribution to discuss the sensitive operation.Intelligence collection and analysis teams from the U.S. and the U.K. have been in Israel throughout the war, assisting Israeli intelligence in collecting and analyzing information related to the hostages, some of them citizens of both countries, according to a…

President Biden and President Emmanuel Macron of France stressed on Saturday how much they agree with each other about world affairs, including the war in Ukraine, even as their countries have expressed sharply different views of the fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.Appearing briefly together before reporters after two days of D-Day remembrances, the two presidents declined to take any questions and papered over their stark differences about the Middle East. Instead, they both asserted the enduring strength of the American-French partnership on climate, the economy, European security and cultural ties.“Today, I proudly stand with France to support freedom…

When Lauren and Jackson England tied the knot with a safari wedding in Ranthambore, India, in January, they wanted the dress code to reflect the surroundings. The mood they communicated to their guests was “classic heritage Ralph Lauren.”“I am an aesthetic person, and we had a clear vision for the hero image we wanted to create on the safari Jeep,” Mr. England, 37, said, referring to their primary wedding portrait. (He and Ms. England are founders of a content and production company in Sydney, Australia.) “It was important to me that guests followed our color palette.”In the end, “our creative…

Gary Friedman hates meetings. A 66-year-old with apparently limitless energy and a perpetual tan, Mr. Friedman is the chief executive of RH, one of the country’s largest high-end furniture sellers, and he never holds meetings. Instead, he convenes “adventures.”To the untrained eye, these look and sound a lot like meetings. But there is a difference. Adventures can last 10 hours, or more.That’s a typical stretch for Mr. Friedman’s adventures with his architecture and design team, a group of about 20 executives overseeing one of the priciest expansions in the history of American retail. The company is doubling the number of…

During the Latin pop star J Balvin’s set at Coachella in April, a surprise guest star suddenly appeared onstage: Will Smith, wearing a familiar black suit and sunglasses, launched into the title song of “Men in Black,” his 1997 Hollywood blockbuster.It was the beginning of a frenetic spring for Smith as he carefully re-enters the public eye to promote “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” his first wide-release movie since he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars in 2022, a move that threatened to derail his career.Smith has been back walking red carpets, bantering on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon”…

Four hostages abducted from the Nova music festival and held by militants in Gaza for the last eight months were rescued by Israeli forces on Saturday.Since the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Oct. 7, Israel has only freed a small number of hostages through military force. Saturday’s rescues occurred in Nuseirat in central Gaza, where health officials reported that dozens of Palestinians had been killed.Here is what we know about the four hostages who were brought back to Israel.Noa ArgamaniNoa Argamani, 26, was taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack alongside her boyfriend, Avinatan Or. Viral footage showed Ms. Argamani being…

In 2011, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, News Corporation, faced a grave threat in Britain. Reporters at one of his tabloid newspapers were exposed for hacking the phones of celebrities, private citizens and, in one case, a murdered child for information.Other misdeeds soon emerged, including the revelation that for years, tabloid reporters had paid for information from police officers and government officials.Desperate to stop the scandal and appease prosecutors in Britain and abroad, News Corp chose Will Lewis, a former editor of The Daily Telegraph, to clean up the mess.He did just that. In his telling, he cooperated with the authorities,…

“Rodent Men”: What are they? Tiny men? Men who eat garbage? Some kind of furry science experiment gone wrong?According to the tabloids, they’re actually the most physically desirable thing a man can be at this particularly disorienting moment in American history. Exemplified by the faces of actors like “The Bear”’s Jeremy Allen White and “Challengers” leads Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor; as well as the 1975 band member Matty Healy and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, hot “Rodent Men” are a loose category that seems mostly to refer to men who look a bit like mice or rats. Several Styles staffers…

When an airline sells you a service, you should be able to receive a refund if it doesn’t deliver. But when is it not worth your time to even bother asking for one?I asked this question last week when I had serious trouble connecting to Wi-Fi during an American Airlines flight. The carrier charged $17 for the privilege. I figured that the nuisance of getting the money back would cost more than $17 of time and aggravation.Turns out I was wrong, according to over 100 readers who set me straight after I asked for advice in our weekly Your Money…