Author: NY TIMES

Paramount and Skydance have haggled for months over an ambitious merger that would usher in a new ruler of a sprawling media kingdom that includes CBS, MTV and the film studio behind “Top Gun.”The talks reached an even greater intensity in the past week, but at least one major sticking point has emerged between Shari Redstone, Paramount’s controlling shareholder, and Skydance. In the event that Paramount’s investors sue over the merger, which party is on the hook to defend the deal in court?National Amusements, the parent company of Paramount, wants Skydance to provide legal protection in the event of a…

Chrome and polished steel have some great qualities. They look sleek, sexy and powerful. Onscreen, they really pop.But talk to the team that built the War Rig — the menacingly dazzling, steel-and-chrome 12-wheeler that carries a crucial action scene in “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” — and you’ll learn that these materials can at times be something else: a royal pain in the tailpipe.“Metal gets hot in the Australian sun,” said Guy Norris, the movie’s action designer.That became a challenge for the stunt performers, who, to execute the director George Miller’s vision, threw their bodies every which way around the…

Western leaders are embarking on an extraordinary stretch of summitry this week, which could give them a chance to project unity to adversaries who increasingly view the West as something to be defied, disregarded or even repudiated.But as they gather on the windswept bluffs of Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday, and five weeks later in Washington for a NATO summit, the leaders will be tested across a range of divisive issues: wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the rise of China and, perhaps most daunting, the future of the United States.On one level, D-Day and NATO are…

The executive editor of The Washington Post, Sally Buzbee, will step down from her role, a major and sudden change at one of the nation’s pre-eminent news organizations.Matt Murray, the former editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, will take her place through the presidential election, the company said on Sunday night. Robert Winnett, a deputy editor of the Telegraph Media Group, will take over after the election.Mr. Murray will transition to a new role after the election, building a new newsroom within The Washington Post focused on service and social media journalism.Ms. Buzbee, 58, steered the newspaper for the…

By then, Mr. Hickman said, he was running out of gas as a screen actor and was looking for new opportunities. He began to write scripts for TV series, including “Hawaiian Eye” and “The Loretta Young Show.” He performed onstage in summer stock, which led to his starring in “How to Succeed” for about a year as J. Pierrepont Finch, a window washer who climbs the corporate ladder.In the early 1970s, he became an associate producer of the CBS soap opera “Love of Life.” He was later promoted to increasingly important jobs at the network, including oversight of its daytime…

China successfully landed a lunar lander on the far side of the moon on Sunday morning, the country’s space agency announced, taking the mission one step closer to bringing back the first sample from the part of the moon that earthlings never see.The Chang’e-6 unmanned probe touched down on the moon’s South Pole-Aitken basin at 6:23 a.m., China’s National Space Administration said in a statement.The agency released a video taken by the landing camera as the probe touched down. In the video, the surface of the moon, pockmarked with craters, gets closer and closer as the lander descends.Chang’e-6, named after…

Sam Butcher, the soft-spoken artist whose doe-eyed, pastel-hued porcelain Precious Moments figurines ignited a global collecting frenzy and made him a wealthy man, and whose Christian faith spurred him to build his own version of the Sistine Chapel in Carthage, Mo., died on May 20 at his home there. He was 85.His death was confirmed by his son Jon.Mr. Butcher was the Michelangelo of Missouri, and his adorable snub-nosed Precious Moments characters were “the Beanie Babies of porcelain,” as The Wall Street Journal once put it. Their zealous collectors, who numbered in the hundreds of thousands, built rooms for their…

When it comes to who gets the most attention during the Tribeca Festival, the actors, the directors and the celebrities who walk the red carpet are foremost.But behind the scenes, there are many people who aren’t under the spotlight, yet are integral to the event nonetheless. Without them, the festival, which runs Wednesday through June 16, would not happen.These players include the attendees and the employees — more than 600 of them, according to the festival’s chief executive, Jane Rosenthal, who co-founded the festival with Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff. This staff works across 18 departments, ranging from security…

При содействии украинский властей и посредников из Катара, по меньшей мере семеро детей из Херсонского Дома Ребёнка вернулись в Украину. Среди них – Анастасия и Николай Володины, их мать в феврале этого года ездила за ними в Москву.Позже Анастасия умерла в украинской больнице, всего через несколько недель после того, как ей исполнилось шесть лет. Врач назвал причиной её смерти эпилептический приступ. Николай находится под опекой украинского государства пока его родители ждут решения суда относительно своих родительских прав.Остальные дети из Херсона всё еще находятся под опекой российских властей.КАК МЫ РАБОТАЛИ НАД ЭТОЙ ИСТОРИЕЙЖурналисты The Times в течение года провели более 100…

SCRATCH“I try to make people feel good.” How one New Jersey diner keeps the doors open.By Julia Rothman and Shaina FeinbergJulia is an illustrator. Shaina is a writer and filmmaker.June 1, 2024Just after 5 a.m. on a recent Friday, Bendix Diner, a small, family-run business, began frying up eggs on the griddle to make the first of dozens of dishes it would serve to a steadily rotating cast of regulars.From daybreak through lunch, 46 customers ate over 87 eggs and 36 strips of bacon, and drank gallons of coffee. This classic diner in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., just 15 miles from…