Author: NY TIMES

Iran projects its military power through dozens of armed groups across the Middle East, but how much does it control their actions?That question has taken on new urgency as the United States considers its next steps after an attack by an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia on an American base in northwest Jordan. The attack on Sunday killed three soldiers and injured dozens of others.Iranian-backed groups have varying histories and relationships with Tehran, but all share Iran’s desire for the U.S. military to leave the region, and for Israel’s power to be reduced. Iranian rhetoric, echoed by its allied groups, often goes…

Neck braces will be mandatory at U.S. youth hockey games.Canada and many other countries have asked USA Hockey, which governs the sport at the amateur level in the United States, to long hold its position of “recommending” tear protection — namely neck braces, but also cut-resistant socks, sleeves and underwear.The decision, announced on Sunday and set to take effect on August 1, comes after former NHL player Adam Johnson died from a skate cut to his neck during a game in England. About nine months later.In the months since, more and more NHL players have begun wearing neck protection, either…

You are who you know — a truism forcefully demonstrated this week when Kristin Juszczyk, who happens to be married to the San Francisco 49ers fullback, Kyle Juszczyk, signed a deal with the N.F.L. to use its logos on the football jersey-like puffer jackets she designs.That agreement, first reported by Sportico, came on the heels of Taylor Swift wearing one of Ms. Juszczyk’s puffer jackets to a Kansas City Chiefs game last month. On the jacket was 87, the number worn by her boyfriend, Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce. Brittany Mahomes, the wife of the Kansas City quarterback, Patrick…

Meta’s stock price soared on Friday, adding hundreds of billions of dollars to the market value of the social media giant that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.The company said on Thursday, after the market closed, that its latest quarterly profit more than tripled, as it benefited from a rebound in digital ads. It also announced its first dividend and authorized an additional $50 billion in share buybacks.Meta’s stock rose more than 20 percent on Friday, pushing it further into record territory. The company recently regained its trillion-dollar status, and because of its size it holds major sway over indexes like…

After 15 years of dictating how apps are distributed on iPhones, Apple has been forced to take marching orders from European regulators. A new law to bolster tech competition has demanded that Apple open its devices to competing app stores and payment alternatives.But app makers say Apple’s response to the law, which is intended to give consumers and developers more choice, is a false choice. Tucked inside the plan, they argue, are new fees and rules that make it prohibitively expensive and risky to make the changes that the law was intended to bring.The backlash is the latest chapter in…

About 3.8 million people in the United States — four times the number two years ago — are now taking the most popular weight-loss drugs, according to the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, an industry data provider.Some of these prescriptions are for diabetes. The medicines are Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy (the same drug sold under different brand names), and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound (also the same drug).Pent-up demand is even higher, because many people who want the drugs cannot find or afford them. Without insurance coverage, people have to pay out of their own pockets. If they…

1. Victoria Monét: “On My Mama”The R&B singer Victoria Monét has been a behind-the-scenes presence in pop music for well over a decade, but this 34-year-old Sacramento native finally broke out as a solo artist in 2023 with the sleek, sultry hit “On My Mama.” In a charming interview with Gayle King on “CBS Mornings” earlier this week, Monét said that she recorded the song about six weeks after giving birth to her daughter, and used its confident swagger to help lift herself out of postpartum depression: “I had to step out of myself and say, ‘What would Victoria need…

President Biden honored three Army reservists killed in the Middle East as their bodies were returned to the United States on Friday in a silent, somber ceremony marking the first deaths under fire in a proxy war with Iranian-backed militias since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.Mr. Biden attended a short event known as a “dignified transfer” at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware along with his wife, Jill Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and General Charles Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. No speeches were given but the president and others stood solemnly…

After two years of political gridlock, Northern Ireland is set to finally have a functioning government again. Elected representatives will meet in the Assembly building on the outskirts of Belfast on Saturday and revive the power-sharing government that rules the territory.There will be one significant change since the last time they gathered: The first minister role will be held for the first time by a Sinn Fein politician, Michelle O’Neill, a significant moment in the history of Northern Ireland.Here’s what to know.What is Sinn Fein, and why does it matter that the party will hold the ‘first minister’ role?Sinn Fein…

After another disappointing loss early in the season, Jalen Brunson stood in front of the locker room preparing to speak to the media in Milwaukee.When the point guard turned around, he was as straight-faced as ever after the Knicks lost their fourth in six games and put on a homemade T-shirt, all black with a white top. The letters look like they came straight from a Vistaprint press. .Brunson has a familiar saying written on his chest: The magic is in the work.“It’s a Sandra Brunson piece,” Brunson said, referring to his mother, who emblazoned the family’s long-standing motto on…