Author: NY TIMES

The Oscars are Sunday. It’s been a busy awards season filled with Barbies and biopics. Now that we’re nearing the end, let’s see how much you know. Source link

Facing warnings that the war-ravaged Gaza Strip is on the precipice of widespread famine, the United States on Thursday announced plans for a large-scale, amphibious military operation in the Mediterranean Sea that would ferry food and other aid to desperate civilians in the enclave.U.S. officials sketched out the plan, which would make the United States more directly involved in delivering aid, hours before President Biden was scheduled to give his State of the Union address on Thursday evening. Details for what they described as a floating pier off Gaza would be included in the speech, the officials said.The White House…

It was a private dinner in a Parisian garden on the Boulevard St. Germain, meant to cement the important personal relationship between the leaders of France and Germany.After the meal on July 4, 2022, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said “Merci beaucoup” in a Twitter post praising “close exchanges.” But on the way out, President Emmanuel Macron muttered to a confidant: “This is not going to be easy.”It is hardly a secret that the dealings between the two men have been anything but easy. Barely disguised insults between them in recent days have pointed to deeper differences over Ukraine, how to confront…

The Denver Broncos’ decision to release star safety Justin Simmons could easily be viewed as collateral damage and a regrettable but necessary step in realigning the salary cap.But digging deeper, a trend seems to be forming at Simmons’ position, as a bevy of safeties have hit the free agent market and teams appear to be prioritizing other areas on the roster. Kevin Byard, Jordan Poyer, Jamal Adams, Eddie Jackson, Quandre Diggs , Rayshawn Jenkins and Marcus Maye were all waived (or designated for post-June 1 cut in Maye’s case), while Antoine Winfield Jr. (Antoine Winfield Jr. was tagged for the…

Bonnie McIlvaine has lived in three homes in San Diego County, all on the very same spot.The first was an unheated concrete-block house she bought in 1973 for $32,000. A newly divorced schoolteacher, Ms. McIlvaine wanted a break from urban living. She found herself in a small, hilly town with stretches of undeveloped brushland and woodland, not far from the coastal city of Carlsbad, Calif., where she worked.As she cast her eyes lovingly on the frumpy little building — or, more accurately, on the half acre it sat on — her real estate agent told her, “We can do much…

Decades ago, your vacation most likely began with a visit to a travel agent, who relied on a combination of expertise and connections to find the best deals on plane tickets, hotels, tours and more. Since then, the internet has turned most of us into our own travel agents, and artificial intelligence software is making research and self-booking even easier. But for some trips, that special insider knowledge can still make a big difference.So when should you hire a professional, and how does it all work? Here are some tips.Why should I consider a travel adviser?It’s easy for a traveler…

Last month, Kyle Buchanan was seated at a table at the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., when, midway through the ceremony, a chant erupted outside.Mr. Buchanan could hear the chant — “Free Palestine” — humming in the background of acceptance speeches. He exited the tent to find two protesters behind a barricade, playing the recorded chant over a bullhorn, and began filming them with his phone. Security guards soon yelled at him for filming and threatened to oust him from the premises.Such is a day in the life of Mr. Buchanan, a pop culture reporter for The New…

Iranians have delivered a stinging rebuke to Iran’s ruling conservatives, an analysis of parliamentary election results shows, with millions of Iranians having boycotted the vote and a far-right faction making striking gains.Many well-known conservative lawmakers, including the current speaker of Parliament, Gen. Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, saw their vote counts drop steeply in the voting last week, and in many instances were defeated in their bids for re-election.In numerous cities, including the capital of Tehran, so many blank ballots were cast that some politicians joked that several seats in Parliament should be left empty to…

As the teacher started to count down, the students uncrossed their arms and bowed their heads, completing the exercise in a flash.“Three. Two. One,” the teacher said. Pens across the room went down and all eyes shot back to the teacher. Under a policy called “Slant” (Sit up, Lean forward, Ask and answer questions, Nod your head and Track the speaker) the students, aged 11 and 12, were barred from looking away.When a digital bell beeped (traditional clocks are “not precise enough,” the principal said) the students walked quickly and silently to the cafeteria in a single line. There they…

Last week, U.S. soccer was dealt with two high-profile incidents of extreme weather disrupting professional matches. In both cases, play continued despite conditions not allowing anything close to normal play.The latest two occurred on Wednesday, when persistent heavy rain flooded the pitch at Caife Santiago’s Snapdragon Stadium. The U.S. Women’s National Team’s Gold Cup semifinal matchup against Canada. Due to the conditions, the ball could not travel more than a few feet on the ground in much of the field, which played a direct role in the U.S.’s first goal. JAEDYN SHAW Ride the Storm MMMM 🔥🤩 pic.twitter.com/0gq2tkR2sa – Attacking…