Author: NY TIMES

A simulacrum of a spy movie offers few pleasures and plenty of headaches. Source link

An Iranian man accused of being the kingpin of a network that targets dissidents has been charged with hiring two Canadians, including a member of the Hells Angels, to kill two Iranian refugees living in Maryland, according to indictments unsealed on Monday.The man, Naji Sharifi Zindashti, 49, is accused of being a drug trafficker and assassin in Iran. In December, a federal grand jury in Minnesota charged him with orchestrating a plot to murder an unidentified Iranian defector and another person in late 2020 and early 2021 using an encrypted messaging app to recruit killers.Mr. Zindashti connected with Damion Ryan,…

The United States and Britain carried out large-scale military strikes on Saturday against multiple sites in Yemen controlled by Houthi militants, according to a statement from the two countries and six allies, as the Biden administration continued its reprisal campaign in the Middle East targeting Iran-backed militias.The attacks against 36 Houthi targets at 13 sites in northern Yemen came barely 24 hours after the United States carried out a series of military strikes against Iranian forces and the militias they support at seven sites in Syria and Iraq.American and British warplanes, as well as Navy Tomahawk cruise missiles, hit deeply…

Boucheron’s Histoire de Style high jewelry collection, presented every January, is inspired by pieces in the house’s archives. But this year, for its fourth iteration, it also highlighted a little-known bit of history: the house’s founder, Frédéric Boucheron, was the son of a textile merchant who specialized in silks and lace.“When I looked at the archives, I saw tons of references to couture — a bow here, a pompom there, a grosgrain there,” said Claire Choisne, the house’s creative director, “but it had never been treated thematically, so I wanted to tie it all together.”The Power of Couture, as she…

President Biden is sitting out the Super Bowl for the second year in a row.CBS said on Saturday that the White House had turned down a request for Mr. Biden to participate in a televised interview with its news division, which would have aired in the highly rated hours ahead of the big game on Feb. 11.In a tradition dating to 2009, presidents have recorded an interview with the network that broadcasts the Super Bowl, although there have been exceptions. Donald J. Trump did not appear on NBC in 2018. Last year, Mr. Biden declined to appear on Fox, home…

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, on Tuesday reported search revenue and a profit margin for its latest quarter that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, in a sign that growth in its flagship business and recent layoffs, intended to cut costs, were not enough to offset its growing investment in artificial intelligence.The internet giant recorded that revenue from its search engine, its largest unit, was $48 billion in the fourth quarter, up 13 percent but slightly lower than analysts’ estimate of $48.1 billion.The company said that a measure of profitability, called an operating margin, was 27 percent in the fourth quarter,…

When you look back on the career of Carl Weathers, who died on Thursday at the age of 76, certain images immediately come to mind. There is Weathers, abs glistening, in American flag shorts in the “Rocky” movies. Or Weathers wearing dirty fatigues in “Predator.” Comedy junkies might immediately picture him waving alongside an alligator in “Happy Gilmore.” Throughout Weathers’s acting career, which followed a stint in professional football, he was associated with franchises that became pop culture sensations. But he was also a performer who was as comfortable goofing on his own persona as he was battling Rocky Balboa…

The Department of Defense on Monday identified three Army Reserve soldiers who were killed at a U.S. base in Jordan on Sunday in what the Biden administration said was a drone attack from an Iran-backed militia. The department said at least 34 other service members were wounded in the attack.Those killed were Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Ga.; Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Ga.; and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Ga.The soldiers, two of them women, were assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, based at Fort Moore, Ga. — a team of soldiers trained…

After months of bluster against financial aid for Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary on Thursday yielded to intense pressure from fellow European leaders, but not before he tried to change the topic in Brussels by meeting with angry Belgian farmers beside a convoy of tractors and voicing support for the protests roiling Europe.In what amounted to a campaign stop ahead of European elections in June that he hopes will shift Europe’s balance of power in his direction, Mr. Orban skipped a dinner with European leaders on Wednesday evening and went to talk to the farmers who had gathered…

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.…