Author: NY TIMES

“Becoming King,” a documentary on Paramount+, traces the actor David Oyelowo’s journey to playing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Ava DuVernay’s 2014 drama “Selma.”Directed by Jessica Oyelowo (the actor’s wife), it’s a lackluster, dutiful affair that plays more like a hagiographic appreciation of David Oyelowo than a tribute to the making of “Selma.” In part, the documentary seems like a reaction to Oyelowo’s Oscars snub the following year in the best actor category, though it does a lousy job at making its case.The first part of the film digs into Oyelowo’s origins: first, as a child who…

The spending showdown that has brought the government to the brink of a partial shutdown this week is being fueled by Republicans in Congress, who, after failing in their efforts to slash federal funding, are still insisting on right-wing policy dictates.House Republicans loaded up their spending bills with hundreds of partisan policy mandates, a vast majority of which had no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate or being signed by President Biden.They include measures to target various pieces of Mr. Biden’s agenda, such as one to restrict access to abortion medication and another to restrict the Department of Veterans Affairs…

Standing on the grand staircase of Lynda and Stewart Resnick’s opulent Beverly Hills mansion at a party last fall — where Diane Keaton, Bob Iger and Brian Grazer were among the luminaries making small talk over crudités and Sazerac cocktails — the author Walter Isaacson took a moment to thank his hosts.Not only were the Resnicks giving the party to celebrate his new biography of Elon Musk, they had also been major supporters of his former professional home, the Aspen Institute, donating $36 million to the think tank over the years.Isaacson was not the only one in the room with…

Everything went out the window. I couldn’t remember the notes to the song. I was so terrified and nervous that I actually walked out. I said, “I’m sorry, but this is not the best of me. I would hate for you all to think this is how I am as an artist.” As soon as that happened, I cried my little eyeballs out, I was just devastated, but I went straight into singing and dance lessons so that when I came into my next audition, I would be ready. And then my next Broadway audition was with that same casting…

Russia warned against NATO troops in UkraineRussia warned yesterday that a ground intervention in Ukraine by any NATO country would lead to a direct clash between the Western military alliance and Russian forces. The response came a day after France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, made a provocative comment about the possibility of allied countries sending in troops.The Kremlin called the open discussion of NATO ground troops in Ukraine “a very important new element” and warned that “this is, of course, not in the interest of these countries.”European countries rushed to distance themselves from Macron’s comment, and the NATO chief said the…

Country Garden, China’s largest real estate developer as recently as 2022, said on Wednesday that a creditor had asked a Hong Kong court to liquidate its operations and pay off lenders, in the latest sign that China’s housing crisis continues unabated.Ever Credit Ltd., a Hong Kong lender, is petitioning the city’s High Court to shut down Country Garden. The court filing involves Country Garden’s failure to repay a loan of $204 million plus interest owed to Ever Credit, the real estate developer told the Hong Kong stock market.Ever Credit’s petition, known as a winding up petition, is meant to force…

The rating for “Mary Poppins,” the beloved children’s musical about a nanny with magical powers that was released 60 years ago, has been raised to PG in Britain because of the use of “discriminatory language,” the British Board of Film Classification said.The rating change follows a wave of recontextualizing and reclassifying of films from bygone eras for modern audiences amid shifting cultural norms and mores.“Mary Poppins” includes two uses of an offensive racial slur to describe an Indigenous group in South Africa. It is first heard when Admiral Boom asks Michael, a child, if he is going on an adventure…

Gathered this month around a campfire on the edge of a forest in central Israel, the soldiers planned their next mission: saving their deeply divided country from itself.Like many of the thousands of Israeli reservists called to fight in Gaza, the soldiers left for war amid a sudden surge of national unity after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel.But as the military has withdrawn soldiers from Gaza in recent weeks and the troops have returned home, they have found their country less like it was after Oct. 7 and more like it was before: torn by divisive politics and…

It took 19 months of broken promises and belligerent rhetoric for Hungary to finally ratify Sweden’s entry into NATO.Why all the foot-dragging, many observers wondered, when Hungary was going to approve the Nordic country’s membership of the military alliance anyway?That question has perplexed even members of Hungary’s governing party, Fidesz, according to Peter Ungar, an opposition legislator. He said he had been approached by one Fidesz lawmaker, in the run-up to Monday’s vote in Parliament to accept NATO’s expansion, and asked: “‘What the hell is going on with Sweden?’”That a member of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s governing party would seek…

Four eye ointments sold in stores including Walmart and CVS are being recalled because of a potential risk of eye infections or related harm, after U.S. investigators raised concerns about the potential lack of sterility.The voluntary recall involves four over-the-counter products manufactured by Brassica Pharma, according to an announcement by the Food and Drug Administration on Monday.Two are from Equate, a Walmart brand; one is a CVS Health brand; and another is an AACE Pharmaceuticals brand. They have expiration dates ranging from February 2024 to September 2025.Brassica Pharma is a drug development and manufacturing company based in the Indian state…