Author: NY TIMES

As the sermon about the Muslim holy month of Ramadan sounded over the speakers from Al Aqsa Mosque, 13-year-old Yousef al-Sideeq sat on a bench outside the compound’s gates.“Most Fridays they prevent me from getting in, for no reason,” the young Jerusalem resident said, referring to the Israeli police.Every Friday, Yousef visits Jerusalem’s Old City to pray at Al Aqsa, the third holiest site for Muslims and part of the compound sacred to Jewish people, who call it the Temple Mount. But since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s ensuing bombardment of Gaza, heavily armed Israeli police forces who…

For Oscar hopefuls, awards season can be a long road. With so many appearances, you can’t swing for the fence every time: The occasional bunt is inevitable.But the time for pulling punches is over. What stars put on their backs to walk the red carpet of the Academy Awards, which are being held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, can be safely assumed to represent their sartorial best.Here’s what the nominees, presenters and performers wore to make their biggest entrance of the year. Source link

Rupert Murdoch decided that at 92, it was time to give up the reins of power at his media empire — but it seems he believes age is no barrier for new love, or a new marriage.On Thursday, Mr. Murdoch’s office said that he planned to marry his girlfriend, Elena Zhukova, 67, a retired molecular biologist whom he started dating in the summer.The nuptials, scheduled for June, would culminate a topsy-turvy romantic journey to a fifth marriage for Mr. Murdoch, whose personal dramas have frequently made him the focus of the tabloid gossip industry he helped create.After he divorced Jerry…

As celebrities began walking the Oscars red carpet on Sunday afternoon, several hundred protesters chanted “Cease-fire now” and “Long live Palestine” in front of the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles, a closed movie theater about a mile away from the Dolby Theater, where the awards ceremony is being held.The protesters then marched down Sunset Boulevard, voicing their opinions about the Israel-Hamas war as car horns honked, a helicopter hovered overhead and Los Angeles police officers in riot gear watched nearby.Smaller groups of protesters also gathered closer to the Dolby Theater.“With people from across the globe watching the Academy Awards, this…

International hopes at reaching a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan were dashed on Sunday, hours before Palestinians and other Muslims were to begin the month of daytime fasting, as Hamas repeated demands for a comprehensive cease-fire, which Israel has rejected.Egypt, Qatar and the United States had sought to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas before the start of Ramadan on Monday, and there had been optimism for a last-minute deal that would allow for the release of some Israeli hostages held in Gaza and Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.But weeks of indirect…

Paolo Taviani, who with his brother Vittorio made some of Italy’s most acclaimed films of the last half century — including “Padre Padrone,” which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1977 — died on Feb. 29 in Rome. He was 92.His son, Ermanno Taviani, said the cause of his death, in a hospital, was pulmonary edema.The Taviani brothers emerged in the late 1950s as part of a generation of Italian filmmakers — including Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Gillo Pontecorvo — who were inspired by the country’s Neorealist movement but determined to push beyond it.…

“It’s like a little party,” Julia Roberts said Friday afternoon, standing in a hotel suite in West Hollywood, decked out in black tuxedo pants and a crisp white shirt from Celine.Her red hair was pulled back in a perfect bun. On her face, she wore hunter-green eyeglasses.To Ms. Roberts’s left was her longtime stylist, Elizabeth Stewart. To her right was her longtime publicist, Marcy Engelman. At a table by the windows was her new friend Edward Enninful, the outgoing editor in chief of British Vogue.It was two days before the Oscars, and the parties were already in full swing.At some,…

Six trade groups sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday over a new rule that would cap most credit card late fees at $8 a month.The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Fort Worth, asks the court to vacate the rule, which the consumer bureau completed two days ago. The complaint says the bureau violated laws about agency rule-making and exceeded its statutory authority, and argues that consumers will be financially harmed if the rule takes effect.“Late fees encourage timely payments, which in turn help card issuers both to manage credit risk and to lower costs, allowing them to…

Jool Baby, a brand of children’s products, has recalled about 63,000 infant swings that were sold at Walmart stores and online because they posed a suffocation risk, federal safety regulators said.The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Thursday that the Jool Baby Nova Baby Infant Swing that was marketed, intended or designed for infant sleep posed a suffocation risk because it had an incline angle greater than 10 degrees.The product was in violation of the commission’s Infant Sleep Products Regulation and the Safe Sleep for Babies Act, the agency said.A study cited in the federal regulation of infant sleep…

After a very long and busy awards season, we have finally made it to end — wrapping things up with the biggest night for film honors.The 96th Academy Awards are set to begin one hour earlier than usual this year — 7 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. Pacific) — from the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. Like last year, the show will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, with ABC broadcasting the ceremony live.According to our Oscars expert, Kyle Buchanan, “Oppenheimer” is the front-runner for best picture, actor and supporting actor; and the director Christopher Nolan might finally take home his first…