Author: NY TIMES

In the “Dune” movies, a gigantic sandworm can rise from the desert and devour soldiers and military vehicles in its gaping maw. In real life, humans watching movies devour popcorn. These two ideas have been combined to spawn the “Dune” popcorn bucket, a sandworm-shaped tub that is having a cultural moment. The bucket arrives on the heels of other recent popcorn collectibles, like the 16-inch Barbie Corvette snack holder. But is there more to these vessels than meets the eye?Lindsay Moyer thinks about popcorn. She is the senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit…

In some sense, that bitter, prickly sentiment feels more vulnerable than anything revealed on his latest album.Excess and grandiosity waft through every Justin Timberlake release; he has never made an album under an hour long. Early in his career, his ambition helped clip the puppet strings of his boy band image and establish him as a serious and legitimate solo artist. His penchant for collaborating with talented, imaginative producers like the Neptunes (who worked on the majority of his 2002 solo debut “Justified”) and Timbaland (who produced most of his 2006 artistic breakthrough “FutureSex/LoveSounds”) gave his music a stylish edge.…

A heavy Israeli police contingent checked worshipers on Friday entering the Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, where the threat of unrest loomed over the conclusion of Ramadan, the holiest month for Muslims and one that has taken on added significance during the war in Gaza.Hamas, the militant group that launched the deadly Oct. 7 attack that prompted Israel to go to war in the enclave, issued a statement on Thursday urging Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Israel to go to Al Aqsa Mosque on Friday and “prevent all attempts of the occupation to desecrate it and impose its…

Vladimir V. Putin’s vision of Russia — successful, innovative and borderless — is on display at one of Moscow’s biggest tourist attractions, a Stalin-era exhibition center that currently houses a sleek showcase called Russia 2024. The exhibition promotes what the Kremlin portrays as Russia’s achievements in the past two decades, roughly the period Mr. Putin has been in power, and his promises for the future after he secures another six-year term in rubber-stamp elections this weekend.The exhibition is in many ways a microcosm of a country whose people largely — at least in public — avert their gaze from the…

If anyone could make a baby pink suit look intimidating, it was Barbara Walters. The TV news anchor coolly lobbed questions at the Libyan dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in a 1989 interview while sheathed shoulder to knee in pastel Chanel and pearls.Back then Ms. Walters, who died in 2022 at the age of 93, reigned among the most celebrated, highly paid and formidable journalists in broadcast news. A trailblazer, she made history as the first female co-host of the “Today” show — and then made history again when she became the first female anchor of the ABC evening news. Later…

Artforum named Tina Rivers Ryan its next top editor on Thursday, selecting the curator to lead the prestigious magazine after a tumultuous year.“For decades, the editors at Artforum have ensured that this historic magazine has remained a trusted and indispensable resource for conversations about contemporary art and its role in the broader culture,” Ryan, who specialized in digital art as a curator at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, said in a statement.Five months ago, the magazine fired David Velasco, its editor in chief, after he signed and published a letter calling for Palestinian liberation shortly after the Israel-Hamas war began.…

Russia is ratcheting up its internet censorship ahead of elections this weekend that are all but assured to give President Vladimir V. Putin another six years in power, further shrinking one of the last remaining spaces for political activism, independent information and free speech.The Russian authorities have intensified a crackdown against digital tools used to get around internet blocks, throttled access to WhatsApp and other communications apps in specific areas during protests, and expanded a program to cut off websites and online services, according to civil society groups, researchers and companies that have been affected.Russia, they said, is turning to…

Red carpet photographs are able to convey indelible moments of celebrity magnetism and spectacular glamour. But no step-and-repeat can bottle the crackling anticipation, the eruption of victory, the sting of loss or the quiet exchange between individuals amid a sea of superstars like these candid shots from the audience at Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony.Inside the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, our photographer captured moments viewers may not have caught otherwise. These images offer a peek at the year’s most celebrated actors and filmmakers interacting with one other, and not the camera, as we usually see them. Whether that be Florence…

The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. This week’s issue is written by Julia Bergin, a reporter based in the Northern Territory.No amount of gentle coaxing, regimented training, rehabilitation or punishment could ever prompt cats to ignore their killer instincts. Like their feral counterparts, even the most domesticated felines threaten any potential prey they find.In Australia, where feral cat populations are managed with substantial amounts of federal money, time and resources, the management of domestic animals — specifically, pet cats — falls to state and local governments.But there is…

Benjamin Ryan Cohen can easily recall how he met Lexi Brooke Tobin because it was on his 31st birthday, June 18, 2021.Ms. Tobin was in Montauk, N.Y., for the bachelorette party of her older sister, Perri Tobin Schwartz. Mr. Cohen, then living in Delray Beach, Fla., was sharing a house with friends in nearby East Hampton for the month. One of his housemates, Jeremy Franco, a childhood friend of Ms. Tobin, thought it would be fun to celebrate Mr. Cohen’s birthday by crashing the party.As it turned out, “my sister had known Ben for years,” through Mr. Franco, Ms. Tobin…