Top News

Slowly but surely, we’re looking back at the tragic it girls of the aughts and finding out how little we actually knew—or, sadly, cared—about the people they were. Paris Hilton came forward, in last year’s film This Is Paris , with allegations that she was abused as a teenager at a series of residential reform schools—and explained that her airhead-heiress persona was an act devised to achieve financial independence from her family. A devastating court statement and a raft of investigative documentaries have revealed the extent to which Britney Spears has, by many accounts, lived like a prisoner since 2008. Now, the reckoning has expanded to encompass a misunderstood actor who didn’t live to tell her own tale: Brittany Murphy. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] What Happened, Brittany Murphy? , which will arrive on HBO Max on Oct. 14, feels a bit tawdry. Directed by Cynthia Hill ( Private Violence ), the docuseries, such as it is, consists of two hour-long episodes bridge...

T imothée Chalamet and I are on the run, chasing down Sixth Avenue on a bright September day in search of a place to talk. The restaurant in Greenwich Village where we had planned to meet ended up getting swarmed by NYU students while I was waiting for him, chattering excitedly to one another—“Timothée Chalamet is here!” “Shut up!” “Yeah, he’s right outside!”—so, trying to avoid a deluge of selfie seekers, I bolt from the table, tapping Chalamet on the shoulder where he stands under the awning, on the phone, and we make our escape. Face covered with a mask and hoodie pulled up over his curly hair, he’s mostly incognito but still cuts a distinct enough figure that we’d better find a new location fast, and standing at a crosswalk with him, I feel briefly protective, like I should be prepared to body-block an onslaught of fans at any moment. <strong>“I feel like I’m here to show that to wear your heart on your sleeve is O.K.”</strong> [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”...

Monday’s federal holiday dedicated to Christopher Columbus is highlighting the ongoing divide between those who view the explorer as a representative of Italian American history and others horrified by an annual tribute that ignores native people whose lives and culture were forever changed by colonialism. Spurred by national calls for racial equity, communities across the U.S. took a deeper look at Columbus’ legacy in recent years — pairing or replacing it with Indigenous Peoples Day. On Friday, President Joe Biden issued the first presidential proclamation of “Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” the most significant boost yet to efforts to refocus the federal holiday celebrating Columbus. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] But activists, including members of Native American tribes, said ending the formal holiday in Columbus’ name has been stymied by politicians and organizations focusing on Italian American heritage. “The opposition has tried to paint Columbus as a benevolent man...

A U.S. delegation met with senior Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar, over the weekend to discuss issues including security, terrorism and human rights, their first direct talks since the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in late August. The “candid and professional” discussions covered the need for safe passage of U.S. citizens, other foreign nationals and Afghan partners, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Sunday. The U.S. also called for “the meaningful participation of women and girls in all aspects of Afghan society.” “The two sides also discussed the United States’ provision of robust humanitarian assistance, directly to the Afghan people,” Price said, adding that “the Taliban will be judged on its actions, not only its words.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The meetings were among the first formal engagements between the State Department and the Taliban since the U.S. evacuated its diplomats and troops from Kabul. The Biden adminis...

The U.S. labor market will see “ups and downs” as the pandemic lingers but it’s premature to judge that the recovery is in peril, said San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly. “It’s too soon to say it’s stalling, but certainly we’re seeing the pain of Covid, and the pain of the delta variant,” Daly told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “Covid is not behind us, so I don’t expect the job market to just be continuous. It is going to have these ups and downs.” U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased 194,000 last month, data on Friday showed, the smallest advance this year and well below expectations. The unemployment rate fell to 4.8%, partly reflecting a decline in the size of the labor force. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Daly, one of the U.S. central bank’s more dovish policy makers, is a voter this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee and must decide if underlying labor market improvement is sufficient to warrant beginning to scale back the Fed’s e...

Well hello! I’m so glad you’re here. Write to me here , or via Instagram: @SusannaSchrobs. Subscribe to get a new edition of “It’s Not Just You” every Saturday. Many of those who battle the most serious mental health issues have a small galaxy of loved ones who travel that road with them (as much as anyone can). This week’s essay is for those of you who might know a bit about that galaxy. This somewhat abbreviated newsletter is also also a call to action for this year’s World Mental Health Day in the wake of a pandemic that has had disastrous effects on the most vulnerable. Yours, Susanna [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] On Loving Someone Who Battles Inner Demons Every family has its own secret language of nicknames and worn jokes. Ours relied on toddler words from when my youngest sister, Rosemary, was little. There were clean bath talawals in the closet at Mom’s house, and we’d put on our babysuits for the beach long after we became adults and long after we lost Ro...

Facebook’s chief spokesman said the company is willing to subject itself to greater oversight to ensure its algorithms are performing as intended and aren’t harming users.Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global affairs, defended the company’s business practices against accusations from a whistle-blower that it had put profits ahead of users’ well-being. The algorithms “should be held to account, if necessary by regulation so that people can match what our systems say they’re supposed to do from what actually happens,” Clegg said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” one of three U.S. news-show appearances on Sunday. Clegg also said the Facebook is open to changing a 1996 provision of U.S. law that insulates companies from liability for what users post. Facebook is open to limiting those protections, “contingent on them applying the systems and their policies as they’re supposed to,” he said. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Last week, Frances Haugen, a former product man...