Author: NY TIMES

As a rule of thumb, sneakers with suits are a terrible idea. Unless, perhaps, you are Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire media mogul who — seeming to chase Elizabeth Taylor’s lifetime tally of eight marriages — married his fifth wife on Saturday in a ceremony at his Tuscan-style vineyard in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles.Mr. Murdoch’s new bride, Elena Zhukova, 67, is a retired molecular biologist who was previously married to Alexander Zhukov, the billionaire Russian energy investor. She was dressed for the occasion in an ankle-length off-white cocktail dress with a squared-off portrait neck and matching pumps.Age appropriate…

On Sunday night, minutes after Will Lewis, the chief executive of The Washington Post, informed employees that the newspaper’s executive editor, Sally Buzbee, was being replaced, managers gathered on a conference call to hear from their boss one last time.Ms. Buzbee told them that a new organizational structure created by Mr. Lewis — effectively splitting the Washington Post newsroom and opinion section into three smaller divisions — didn’t work for her. She added that Mr. Lewis was pushing for aggressive moves to turn around The Post, and asked editors to reserve judgment for now.“I would have preferred to stay to…

“My blood speaks Spanish to me,” Angélica Garcia sang in “Red Moon Rising,” a track on her 2016 debut album, “Medicine for Birds.” Garcia, who was born in California, was living in Virginia; the album leaned toward indie-rock and Americana. But the lyric turned out to be prophetic.She was already thinking about the legacy of her maternal grandparents, who are from Mexico and El Salvador, and the musical heritage her parents maintained. Garcia’s second album, “Cha Cha Palace,” delved further into what it meant to be a Chicana growing up bicultural in the San Gabriel Valley — a quintessentially American…

But Egypt has refrained from taking more serious steps against Israel. Unlike Jordan, it has not withdrawn its ambassador from Tel Aviv.“No one is interested in any kind of escalation, so I believe they will find a solution to satisfy the Israeli side,” said Mohamed Anwar el-Sadat, an independent Egyptian politician and who is a nephew of the president who signed the 1979 treaty. “It’s in both our interests to reach an understanding or agreement to avoid any kind of confrontation.”The government-managed news media appears to have been helping with efforts to limit public outrage.Before Israel said that it had…

“It’s not a bag,” said Julio Torres, indicating the purse that dangled from his shoulder on a delicate gold chain.Whatever it was, it was shaped like a fish, and roomy enough to carry a small shell or maybe a couple of grapes. Mr. Torres had purchased the non-bag at a flea market in Paris and brought it to a reception in Manhattan on Saturday for his new HBO series, “Fantasmas.”Mr. Torres, 37, is a former “Saturday Night Live” writer whose galactic visual sensibility extends to his Instagram handle, @spaceprincejulio. He wrote, directs and stars in “Fantasmas,” a string of vignettes…

For much of the last four years, automakers and their dealers had so few cars to sell — and demand was so strong — that they could command high prices. Those days are over, and hefty discounts are starting a comeback.During the coronavirus pandemic, auto production was slowed first by factory closings and then by a global shortage of computer chips and other parts that lasted for years.With few vehicles in showrooms, automakers and dealers were able to scrap most sales incentives, leaving consumers to pay full price. Some dealers added thousands of dollars to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price,…

How much longer can Taylor Swift hold at No. 1 with “The Tortured Poets Department”?This week she is atop the Billboard 200 album chart for a sixth consecutive time, after a monster debut in April and a series of challenges — each handily fended off — from Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and the rapper Gunna. The numbers for “Tortured Poets” are now cooling slightly, but don’t count on it slipping down the chart anytime soon. Swift’s momentum remains strong, she has plenty of tricks up her sleeve and doesn’t face much superstar competition in the near future, pending any surprise…

Nigel Farage, the pro-Brexit campaigner and serial disrupter of British politics, announced plans on Monday to run as a candidate in Britain’s general election next month, dealing a new setback to the prospects of the country’s embattled prime minister, Rishi Sunak.The surprise announcement from Mr. Farage, who represents an insurgent hard-right movement that campaigns to curb immigration, threatens to upend the campaign by taking votes from Britain’s governing Conservative Party. In doing so, he could make it even harder for Mr. Sunak and his party to narrow a double-digit gap in the polls with the opposition Labour Party.Divisive, charismatic and…

When Betsy and Gabriel Martinez planned their wedding for April 23, 2023, at the Cordelle, an event space in Nashville, they envisioned an enchanted outdoor garden — with plenty of daylight.“We really wanted to be able to enjoy being outdoors in the spring,” said Ms. Martinez, 31, a nonprofit community outreach manager. “And then to have the rest of the night to decompress,” added Mr. Martinez, 30, who works in youth ministry.The couple wed on a Sunday afternoon and hosted a rehearsal brunch the day before in lieu of a rehearsal dinner, which gave them more time with their guests,…

Alex Lawrence, a dealer in Salt Lake City who specializes in used electric cars, has seen a change over the last year in the kinds of customers who are coming into his showroom. They used to be well-heeled professionals who could drop $70,000 on a Rivian luxury pickup truck.Recently, Mr. Lawrence said, customers have been snapping up used Teslas for a little over $20,000, after applying a $4,000 federal tax credit.“We’re seeing younger people,” Mr. Lawrence said. “We are seeing more blue-collar and entry-level white-collar people. The purchase price of the car has suddenly become in reach.”Regarded by conservative politicians…