Author: NY TIMES

The French poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau always wore two Cartier Trinity rings stacked on his left pinkie. Even after his death in 1963, Cocteau’s name was so closely linked with the ring, made of three interlocking bands in yellow, white and rose gold, that he was often credited with designing or commissioning the piece.But it was Louis Cartier, a grandson of the house’s founder, who conceived the ring in 1924.“It’s part of the myth and stories around Trinity,” said Marie-Laure Cérède, Cartier’s director of watchmaking and jewelry design.This month, Cartier is reissuing the Trinity bracelet in a maximalist version.…

The Federal Trade Commission said its first “undercover phone sweep” of funeral homes across the country had found that dozens didn’t accurately disclose costs for services to callers.Of the more than 250 funeral businesses F.T.C. employees called, 38 either didn’t answer questions about prices or supplied inconsistent prices for identical services, the commission said. Many homes, it said, provided “materially different” prices for the same services during two separate phone calls.Another home promised to send an itemized price list, the agency said, but instead sent a list of package prices, which don’t meet disclosure requirements.The 39 funeral homes received warning…

When Albee Zhang received an offer to produce cheesy short-form features made for phones last spring, she was skeptical, and so, she declined.But the offers kept coming. Finally, Ms. Zhang, who has been a producer for 12 years, realized it could be a profitable new way of storytelling and said yes.Since last summer, she has produced two short-form features and is working on four more for several apps that are creating cookie-cutter content aimed at women.Think: Lifetime movie cut up into TikTok videos. Think: soap opera, but for the short attention span of the internet age.The biggest player in this…

Carl Weathers, who went from doling out bone-crunching hits as a linebacker for the Oakland Raiders to delivering knockout punches on the big screen as Apollo Creed, the nemesis of Sylvester Stallone’s lovable-lug prizefighter in “Rocky,” helping to spark one of Hollywood’s most successful franchises, died on Thursday. He was 76.His family said in a statement that he “died peacefully in his sleep.” The statement did not give a cause or say where he died.Mr. Weathers had a long and varied acting career that took him far beyond the boxing ring. He displayed his range over some 80 film and…

Representatives from four nations have agreed to have Qatar present a nascent framework to Hamas that proposes a six-week pause in the war in Gaza for Hamas to exchange some hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, officials say.The talks are at an early stage, and many details would need to be worked out if Hamas agrees to start building on the framework, they said. Qatar is presenting the proposal to the political leaders of Hamas, who would convey it to the group’s military leaders, who would then send a response. That process could take days or even longer, because…

Senegal’s president has canceled the election for his replacement three weeks before voting was set to take place, saying that a dispute between the legislative and judicial arms of government needed to be resolved first.Speaking on Saturday afternoon from the presidential palace in Dakar, Senegal’s capital, his words live-streamed on his social media platforms, President Macky Sall said that he was repealing the decree convening the electoral body, effectively postponing elections indefinitely.But his opponents said he was essentially carrying out a coup d’état, and accused him of treason.“For the first time in its history, Senegal has just suffered a coup…

Conforme la aventura de Taylor Swift en la NFL comenzaba en el juego de los Jefes de Kansas City contra los Osos de Chicago el 24 de septiembre, la reacción del equipo de transmisión de la cadena Fox (y de gran parte del mundo de la NFL en general) se vio resumida por Erin Andrews, una reportera veterana en el campo.“Necesitamos calmarnos” dijo Andrews poco después de que Travis Kelce anotó en la segunda mitad del partido.La comentarista dijo eso como un guiño a una de las canciones de Swift (“You Need to Calm Down” que se traduce como “Necesitas…

Job gains remain rapid, unemployment is near a historic low and wage gains are robust nearly two years into the Federal Reserve’s campaign to cool the economy with higher interest rates — an outcome that has surprised policymakers and economic forecasters alike.At this time last year, Fed officials were predicting that unemployment would have spiked to 4.6 percent by now. Instead, it stands at 3.7 percent.Central bankers have for months said that they were hearing anecdotal evidence that the job market had begun to slow down: The Fed’s recent Beige Book summaries of anecdotal reports from around the country have…

Two weeks ago, Microsoft topped Apple as the most valuable public company. Last week, it surpassed $3 trillion in market valuation. Next week, Satya Nadella will hit his 10th anniversary as the company’s chief executive.For Microsoft, the pressure to keep delivering is on.In particular, investors are looking for the company to cash in on what they see as its lead in artificial intelligence. It has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI, the start-up behind the ChatGPT chatbot, and spent last year racing to push its A.I. systems into every product it offers. Microsoft has told investors that A.I. will not…

Don Murray, the boy-next-door actor who made his film debut as Marilyn Monroe’s infatuated cowboy in “Bus Stop” in 1956 and played a priest, a drug addict, a gay senator and myriad other roles in movies, on television and onstage over six decades, died on Friday. He was 94. His son Christopher confirmed the death but did not say where he died.In the postwar 1950s, when being sensitive, responsible and a “nice guy” were important attributes in a young man, Mr. Murray was a churchgoing pacifist who became a conscientious objector during the Korean War. He fulfilled his service obligation…