Author: NY TIMES

The United States launched scores of strikes across the Middle East over the weekend as Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken set out for the region to push forward negotiations to secure the release of Israelis still held hostage in Gaza and get more humanitarian aid into the battered enclave.The latest strike came Sunday in Yemen, where the U.S. military said it had destroyed an anti-ship cruise missile that belonged to Houthi militants and posed “an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region.”It was the third American military action against Iranian-backed militias in as many…

Musicians are a colorful crowd, and as the Recording Academy doesn’t hesitate to remind audiences at every opportunity, the Grammys are “music’s biggest night.” So it may be little surprise that previous Grammys red carpets have been the site of such unforgettable looks as Cardi B swanning about in archival Mugler and Shania Twain cosplaying as Toad. Then there are the moments with a capital M: egg as entry vessel, for instance, or a neckline so low it inspired its own search engine.While the arrivals for the 66th Grammy Awards, held on Sunday in Los Angeles, had much to live…

Student loan borrowers who are lucky enough to have access to a 401(k)-type plan, but are too stretched to save in it, may soon be helped by a new workplace benefit: Paying off their student loans can generate retirement savings contributions from their employer.Starting this year, workers with student loans can receive employer matching contributions in workplace plans, even if they’re not able to save anything on their own. The loan payments count instead.The new feature was made possible by legislation known as Secure 2.0, which included a package of retirement-related provisions intended to boost savings. It’s hard to know…

Best Country Solo Performance“White Horse,” Chris StapletonBest Country Song“White Horse,” Chris Stapleton and Dan Wilson, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)Best American Roots Performance“Eve Was Black,” Allison RussellBest Americana Performance“Dear Insecurity,” Brandy Clark featuring Brandi CarlileBest American Roots Song“Cast Iron Skillet,” Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit)Best Americana Album“Weathervanes,” Jason Isbell and the 400 UnitBest Traditional Blues Album“All My Love for You,” Bobby RushBest Contemporary Blues Album“Blood Harmony,” Larkin PoeBest Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song“Your Power,” Lecrae and Tasha Cobbs LeonardBest Gospel Album“All Things New: Live in Orlando,” Tye TribbettBest Contemporary Christian Music Album“Church Clothes 4,” LecraeBest Roots Gospel Album“Echoes of…

Runaway forest fires ravaged the coastal hills of central Chile, taking scores of lives, with hundreds of people reported as missing. Thousands of homes were destroyed, especially in the hilly neighborhoods around the resort town of Viña del Mar, where many older residents were not able to escape. The fires exploded on Friday amid unusually warm weather and strong winds.“We’re standing before a tragedy of immense proportions,” President Gabriel Boric said on Sunday, as survivors sought to comprehend their losses. He announced that the nation would observe two days of mourning.SundayUberlinda Silva, 72, in her burned house in El Olivar.Burned…

One day this summer, a man in Seattle gathered ingredients to make hot dogs: sausages, buns, a 50-pound block of aluminum.He outlined his recipe in a breezy, three-minute video he posted on social media. First, boil hot dogs in water. Then use industrial milling equipment to create a frankfurter-shaped aluminum mold. (A drill may be required to carve out the squiggle of ketchup.)Next — and try not to overthink this part — freeze the leftover water into nearly 400 glistening hot dog ice sculptures.The man behind the dogs is a 29-year-old artist who calls himself Sunday Nobody. For the past…

It’s the best news that few people seem to know about: Prescription drug costs are falling this year for more than a million seniors — in many cases, by thousands of dollars.The lower costs are the result of the Inflation Reduction Act, or I.R.A., which was signed into law by President Biden in 2022 and is known mainly for its investment of more than $370 billion into climate and energy programs. Its changes to Medicare, which will help people who are enrolled in the prescription drug coverage plans known as Part D, are significant. Yet a recent survey by the…

Michael Watford, a church-trained club singer whose baritone boomed over the world’s dance floors for much of the early 1990s, and in the process helped birth a subgenre of club music known as gospel house, died on Jan. 26 in Newark. He was 64.His cousin Lorie Watford said the cause of his death, in a hospital, was dementia.Mr. Watford’s signature hit was “So Into You,” a jubilant ditty that paired his romantic, yearning vocal, inspired by Luther Vandross, with insistent strings, a lush piano line, and frequent handclaps and drum rolls. It hit No. 1 on the Billboard dance chart…

Days after devastating wildfires swept through Chile’s Pacific Coast, officials said on Sunday that at least 64 people had been killed and hundreds remained missing and warned that the number of dead could rise sharply.“That number is going to go up, we know it’s going to go up significantly,” President Gabriel Boric said on Sunday, describing the fires in the Valparaíso region as the worst disaster in the country since a cataclysmic earthquake in 2010 left more than 400 people dead and displaced 1.5 million.Thousands of homes were destroyed in the fires, which swept through the coastal hills toward the…

Casarse con un hombre judío —y tener hijos judíos— no era una de las principales prioridades para Irina Barskaya. A pesar de la presión de su madre y su hermana mayor, Barskaya, de 33 años y quien es peluquera y maquilladora en Brooklyn, dijio que, en su búsqueda del príncipe azul, la religión “nunca fue lo primordial”.Sin embargo, lo sucedido el 7 de octubre la hizo cambiar de opinión.Al ver las redes sociales mientras atendía clientes en la peluquería de Midwood donde trabaja, Barskaya derramó lágrimas con las noticias sobre los atentados de Hamás contra israelíes, en los que murieron…