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Straits Times
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Less searching, more waiting: The Phoenician Scheme director Wes Anderson's formula for creativity
Director Wes Anderson (in green) with (from far left) Mathieu Amalric, Mia Threapleton and Benicio del Toro on the set of The Phoenician Scheme. PHOTO: UIP Less searching, more waiting: The Phoenician Scheme director Wes Anderson's formula for creativity NEW YORK – Opening in Singapore cinemas on June 5, American writer-director Wes Anderson's new film The Phoenician Scheme is a black comedy starring Benicio del Toro as Zsa-zsa Korda, a ruthless tycoon and arms dealer whose adversaries keep trying to kill him. After narrowly escaping death, he sets out to convince his estranged daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton), a nun, to become his heir and, if need be, avenge his death. But as the pair embark on a globetrotting journey to secure funding for Korda's infrastructure project in the fictional nation of Phoenicia, they are pursued by rivals determined to sabotage his plans. Anderson, 56, brings his signature style – eccentric, stylised and ornate, with whimsical characters played by a large ensemble cast – to a story about a dysfunctional family, one of his pet themes. And as with movies such as comedy-drama The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) – which was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay Oscars – he directed this from an original screenplay he wrote himself. But, asked how he comes up with these ideas, Anderson confesses it is a mystery even to him. Wes Anderson at The Phoenician Scheme's New York City premiere on May 28. PHOTO: AFP 'I don't know the answer to that,' the film-maker says at a recent New York screening of The Phoenician Scheme. 'Usually, when I'm finishing a movie, there's something else that comes along and that I start to get drawn to,' explains Anderson, who was also Oscar-nominated for the family comedy The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and animated feature Isle Of Dogs (2018). 'I don't so much experience the act of searching for a new thing. It's usually, somehow, kind of waiting. Director Wes Anderson on the set of The Phoenician Scheme. PHOTO: UIP 'I think your brain is doing work that you're not totally aware of – something's kind of brewing and suddenly it clicks, and it can tell when you're ready for it,' says Anderson, who won a Best Live Action Short Film Oscar for The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar (2023), a fantasy based on a story by author Roald Dahl. 'But I do think the more you're reading and watching movies and sort of studying, the more it comes to you,' he adds. Puerto Rican actor del Toro, 58, who took home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for crime drama Traffic (2000), agrees this is part of the formula for creativity. 'You have to study for the rest of your life forever, and be a student forever,' says the star, who picked up a Best Actor Oscar nomination for the crime thriller 21 Grams (2003). Anderson is known for attracting big names to his projects and working repeatedly with a handful of actors – notably Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Willem Dafoe and Adrien Brody. Del Toro, who also starred in the film-maker's 2021 comedy The French Dispatch, says it is a singular experience acting with Murray, who appears in The Phoenician Scheme – his 11th collaboration with Anderson – as God. Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro (left) and US actor-comedian Bill Murray at a photo call for The Phoenician Scheme at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19. PHOTO: AFP 'I've always wanted to work with Bill Murray,' del Toro says of the 74-year-old American actor best known for his role in the Ghostbusters supernatural comedies (1984 to 2024). 'And I think I've seen everything – I've seen an actor show up with his own script, his own wardrobe, his own everything – but I've never seen an actor show up with his own soundtrack.' Murray, he reveals, walked onto the set one day blasting English singer-musician Eric Clapton's hit 1991 song Tears In Heaven from a Bluetooth device. 'It was very sad and everyone's attitude on set changed. 'And then Wes, who was very far away, screamed , 'Bill, classical music only!' And Bill went straight from Eric Clapton to Bartok or something. And everybody went back to work,' del Toro recalls, laughing. Benicio del Toro (left) and Mia Threapleton in The Phoenician Scheme. PHOTO: UIP The Phoenician Scheme marks English actress Threapleton's first lead role in a feature film . And even though she is no stranger to celebrities – being the daughter of English actress Kate Winslet, 49 – she was often starstruck on set, especially with American actor Tom Hanks, who plays Korda's business associate. 'I grew up watching all of those people, and the voice of Tom Hanks was my childhood,' says Threapleton, 24, who appeared in the period drama series Dangerous Liaisons (2022) and The Buccaneers (2023 to present). 'I sat down and was, like, 'Oh my god, he's talking to me. And he's telling stories about (the 1998 war film) Saving Private Ryan.' Director Wes Anderson (centre) with The Phoenician Scheme actors (from far left) Jeffrey Wright, Michael Cera, Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton and Rupert Friend at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18. PHOTO: REUTERS But she decided her best strategy was to take a deep breath and collect herself. 'I went, 'I'm just going to sit here and try not to have some sort of panic attack.'' The Phoenician Scheme opens in Singapore cinemas on June 5. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Hindu
22-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Revenue officials visit Jajulabandha to inquire into girl's death
Mandal Parishad Development Officer D.N.V. Prasad and Panchayat Secretary S. Ravindra visited Jajulabandha village on Wednesday to inquire into the death of a seven-year-old girl on May 19 evening, reportedly due to ill-health. Pangi Estheru had fever for a week before passing away, according to her parents. The medical officials, however, attribute her death to native medicine, which she had consumed for stomach pain and vomiting for two days before her death. Meanwhile, some other children are said to be suffering from fever, said the villagers. 'Our staff conducted rapid test with kits for malaria of 52 persons and all of them tested negative. Their blood smears were also taken. Auxiliary Nurse Midwife conducted mass screening for malaria for 28 persons, including Pangi Estheru, and all of them tested negative as per the result obtained on May 17,' said Basha, District Medical and Health Officer of ASR district, told The Hindu on Wednesday. 'Jajulabanda village in Koyyuru mandal, which is 25 km from Downuru primary health centre. The village population is 186, residing in 29 households. There is no road facility from Arla village to Jajulabandha, a distance of 10 km. Ambulance or any other vehicle reaches only up to Arla village. One has to reach the village on foot only. Our staff had also conducted UIP session at Kumberla and Jajulabandha villages but no fevers were identified,' he added. In the absence of protected drinking water supply, the villagers are forced to drink water from the 'geddas'. The contaminated water was causing health issues among the tribal people, said village elders Marri Venkata Rao and Marri Kameswara Rao. 'Though household tap connections were given, motor was not fixed for the supply of water through taps, forcing the residents to fetch water from the geddas, far away from their homes. Though the officials concerned had taken stock of the issue and promised to initiate remedial measures, no action has been taken so far,' says CPI-M district secretariat member K. Govinda Rao. 'In the absence of a road, we are forced to carry the sick in dolis to the road point for shifting patients to the hospital in an ambulance. Though ₹1 crore was sanctioned for construction of a road with funds from the Tribal Welfare Department in 2023. The road work was stopped midway,' he said. He appealed to the Project Officer of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency to visit the village and direct officials concerned for early completion of the road stretch to overcome the problem. He alleged that five other children in Jajulabandha were also suffering from fever.
Straits Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Cruise control: A look back at 3 decades, 8 movies as Mission: Impossible franchise wraps
Actor Tom Cruise has guided how his Mission: Impossible character, the operative Ethan Hunt, has changed over the years. PHOTOS: UIP, PARAMOUNT PICTURES Tom Cruise and the Mission: Impossible movies – the two are synonymous, and for good reason. The American actor is not just the star of the eight instalments that started in 1996, but he has creative and financial authority over them too. Other actors act as producers on franchise films. Vin Diesel, for example, has some creative control over the Fast & Furious series (2001 to present). So does Ryan Reynolds over the Deadpool trilogy (2016 to present). But neither has the power that Cruise wields, nor have they held it for as long. Cruise has a say in who gets hired as director. He helps craft the stunts, which he performs himself. He decides on the films' release schedule and budgets because his production company co-finances them. In a leaked video from 2021, he was caught berating crew members who broke Covid-19 social distancing rules on the set of Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) because, naturally, he is in charge of that, too. More importantly, he has guided how his character, the operative Ethan Hunt, has changed over the years. Cruise's control over the screenwriters and casting has determined who snags the job and which characters live to see another film. Cruise and American director Christopher McQuarrie have said The Final Reckoning – which is showing in Singapore cinemas – is the last movie in the current franchise. If it does well at the box office, making the brand too valuable to keep in deep freeze, Cruise might return – but on a sporadic schedule, the same way Harrison Ford keeps coming back as Indiana Jones. But the Hollywood megastar, now aged 62, will most likely not be doing his own stunts should he appear in a sequel, reboot or spin-off. Unless he breaks his rule about using stuntmen, he will have to play a more sedate Ethan Hunt – one that does not walk on airplane wings or ride motorcycles off mountain cliffs. Tom Cruise (left) and director Christopher McQuarrie on the set of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. PHOTO: UIP Solo hero then, visionary leader now: The evolution of Ethan Hunt When film studio Paramount Pictures rebooted the 1960s Mission: Impossible television series as a movie, it had to create a starring role suitable for Cruise, who was then among Hollywood's most sought-after leading men. Ethan Hunt was born. He was a singular hero, a character that never existed in the teamwork-focused show that first aired from 1966 to 1973, with a revival from 1988 to 1990. The first Mission: Impossible film in 1996 kept some elements from its small-screen source material, including the iconic theme music by Argentine-American composer Lalo Schifrin, the use of masks and disguises, high-tech gadgets and the 'this message will self-destruct' recording that kicks off each mission. Also retained was the idea of the IMF ( I mpossible Mission Force), the team carrying out the espionage. But that was all that Cruise and original director Brian De Palma kept. With Hunt's team members killed off early in the story, he would later recruit hacker Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), a friend who would have a role in every film, except for Ghost Protocol (2011), where he appeared in a brief cameo. However, Hunt would battle the villains mostly alone, by dangling on wires in the iconic CIA vault heist, or by clinging to the roof of the Channel Tunnel train, pursued by a helicopter. Hunt the clever and resourceful action hero was born. In Mission: Impossible (1996), Tom Cruise, playing agent Ethan Hunt, dangled on wires in the now-iconic CIA vault heist scene. PHOTO: PARAMOUNT PICTURES In Mission: Impossible II (2000), directed by Hong Kong veteran John Woo using cinematic techniques that made him famous, Hunt became a full-fledged action hero – confident, swaggering and facing a flamboyantly evil villain in Ambrose (Dougray Scott). The motorcycle battle on the beach showcased the change: Skills in spycraft and suspense were traded for slow-motion displays of martial arts prowess and the ability to wield a gun. Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II (2000), directed by Hong Kong veteran John Woo. PHOTO: PARAMOUNT PICTURES Mission: Impossible III (2006) pulled Hunt into a more human direction. With director J.J. Abrams, the story made the protagonist more human – he has a fiancee, Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan), and relies more on his team, which now includes tech expert Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg). Benji provides more than just comic relief with his quips and one-liners. By expressing amazement at Hunt's outlandish stunts, then relief when Hunt scrapes through, he is the audience's relatable point of view. Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible III (2006), directed by J.J. Abrams. PHOTO: UIP Ghost Protocol (2011) marked Hunt's transition to full-time team leader. Though he still carries out his action-hero activities solo, such as free-climbing the walls of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, team members Benji, Luther, intelligence analyst William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and IMF agent Jane Carter (Paula Patton) provide crucial support. Because the IMF is no longer recognised as a legitimate force, Hunt needs his team more than ever. The individual members now carry out side missions without Hunt, a trend that will continue in the coming films. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011) saw agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) free-climbing the walls of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. PHOTO: UIP In Rogue Nation (2015), Hunt and his team work outside the system, pursued by the Central Intelligence Agency. He is now the team's sole guiding force, not just in tactics, but also in morality. The emotional bond they share with him that began in Ghost Protocol is now fully cemented. In a voice-over narrated by CIA chief Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin), Hunt is shown to be at the apex of his powers – he has transcended human boundaries and has become a myth. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015), starring Tom Cruise. PHOTO: PARAMOUNT PICTURES 'Ethan Hunt is immune to countermeasures. There is no secret he cannot extract, no security he cannot breach. He is a ghost,' says Hunley. Rogue Nation also marks the entry of McQuarrie. He will be the first to helm more than one Mission: Impossible movie after Cruise brings him back for all subsequent projects. Fallout (2018) – the one with the viral clip of the intense toilet fight scene between Hunt, CIA assassin August Walker (Henry Cavill) and a villain played by Chinese actor and stuntman Liang Yang – further positions Hunt as a leader who never puts the mission above the lives of his friends. He even lets a mission fail to not endanger Luther's life. (From left) Vanessa Kirby, Henry Cavill and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018). PHOTO: UIP By the time Dead Reckoning – Part One (2023) rolls around, the franchise's signature elements are in place. There are the suspense-driven action sequences, the team contributions and side quests. And as in Fallout, Hunt is faced with the classic trolley problem – should he save the life of a team member, or stick with the mission and save the world? While in Venice, the pickpocket-turned-operative Grace (Hayley Atwell) is in danger. Hunt drops everything to save her, forgoing the key that will allow him to neutralise the Entity, the artificial intelligence taking over the world's computer systems. By the release of The Final Reckoning in May 2025 – possibly Cruise's final outing as Hunt – Cruise and McQuarrie have nailed the formula: Have Hunt's back, and he will have yours, even if it means failing the mission. (From left) Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell and Simon Pegg in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. PHOTO: UIP In Mission: Impossible, he was the loner – by circumstance and by choice, because getting close to anyone could make that person a target. By The Final Reckoning, he is no longer alone – he has found a family. The women of Mission: Impossible past and present Just when the Mission: Impossible franchise was hitting its stride as a series with memorable recurring femme fatale characters, it now looks as if it might be winding up in its current form. Here is a look at those who rotated in and out of Hunt's orbit, and how they reflect the times they lived in. Claire Phelps in Mission: Impossible Emmanuelle Beart and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible. PHOTO: PARAMOUNT PICTURES The f irst instalment sought to fuse the spy thriller with the action movie, and it worked. Helped by Cruise's star power and De Palma's direction, it earned more than US$457 million globally. Claire, played by French actress Emmanuelle Beart, is the archetypal spy movie temptress – exotically European, beautiful and, ultimately, untrustworthy. She is the wife of Hunt's boss, IMF chief Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), a woman who was at first Hunt's ally, but later betrays him. For her sins, she is killed by her husband in the film's finale. Nyah Nordoff-Hall in Mission: Impossible II Thandiwe Newton and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II. PHOTO: PARAMOUNT PICTURES Like Claire, Nyah (British actress Thandiwe Newton) serves as eye candy and a disposable plot device, placed in the story mainly to display an aspect of Hunt's character. Her fate in the film, helmed by Woo – a film-maker known for his 'heroic bloodshed' films – is to be the tragic heroine, put there to raise the emotional stakes for Hunt. The thief-turned-ally falls for him and they share love scenes, before she sacrifices herself by injecting herself with a deadly virus to stop it from being used as a weapon. Zhen Lei in Mission: Impossible III Maggie Q in Mission: Impossible III. PHOTO: UIP Lei, played by American actress Maggie Q, is the first female character who is a full IMF agent, on equal standing with the men. She marks a shift in the franchise – she is not smitten by Hunt, nor is she a tragic figure. She is a cool professional who does her job of infiltration and rescue flawlessly, while looking good doing it. She does not die at the end, but the threequel marks her first and last appearance, making her yet another exotic-looking here-today-gone-tomorrow eye candy. Julia Meade in Mission: Impossible III Tom Cruise and Michelle Monaghan in Mission: Impossible III. PHOTO: UIP With the introduction of Hunt's fiancee Julia, played by American actress Monaghan , the franchise at last brings in a female character who lasts for longer than one movie. While her role is more substantial – she is a nurse who knows nothing about Hunt's clandestine activities – she also becomes a trope after she is kidnapped by the villain Owen Davian (the late Philip Seymour Hoffman). She is the classic innocent partner of the good guy who suffers the consequences of his choices. She adds depth to Hunt's character, showing the sacrifices he must make to keep the world safe. Julia makes a brief appearance at the end of Ghost Protocol (2011), revealing that she is alive and living life in peace, without Hunt. She again figures in Fallout (2018), when the remarried ex has her life and her hospital put in danger by Walker's nuclear bomb plan. Hunt looks at her wistfully – she represents an alternate universe he might have lived in had he not chosen the path of espionage. She also symbolises an innocent world filled with people blissfully unaware of the sacrifices he and his team have made to keep them safe. Jane Carter in Ghost Protocol Paula Patton in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. PHOTO: UIP Unlike Maggie Q's Lei, American actress Paula Patton's Carter is an IMF agent with a backstory. She is the classic vengeful widow. In an early scene, her romantic partner and fellow agent Trevor Hanaway (Josh Holloway) is murdered by French assassin Sabine Moreau (French actress Lea Seydoux), and Carter is out to settle scores. Carter is smart and a skilled fighter, but her story arc closes after her showdown with Moreau. The agent gets her revenge, then disappears from the franchise. Director Brad Bird later said that scheduling conflicts stopped Patton from returning for Rogue Nation (2015). Ilsa Faust in Rogue Nation Tom Cruise and Rebecca Ferguson in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. PHOTO: UIP Faust, played by Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson, represents a new direction in the franchise. She is a competent operative who lives to fight another day in Fallout (2018) and Dead Reckoning Part One (2023). She is a British operative working for the MI6 intelligence agency who becomes an ally of Hunt and his team, but on her own terms. In Fallout, despite some romantic tension, she and Hunt never become entangled. They respect and trust each other's motives and skills. But in Dead Reckoning, the fan favourite is felled by the villain Gabriel (Esai Morales). The emotional stakes for a comeuppance for him are raised by her death, but Hunt is driven to chase him down because he has lost a cherished friend and equal. Grace in Dead Reckoning Part One Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. PHOTO: UIP Grace, played by British actress Hayley Atwell, slipped into the franchise as a pickpocket and thief in Dead Reckoning. Like Faust, she is not an IMF agent. Also, like Faust, she begins working with Hunt's team because their goals aligned. Faust, however, has a moral code, while Grace has no ideology – the master criminal works for herself. She does become more trustworthy and competent by the end of the film, so that by the start of The Final Reckoning, she is on an equal footing with Benji and Luther. Her introduction late in the franchise and her significant role in the last two films have sparked rumours that Grace will be a Mission: Impossible main character should the franchise get a prequel or spin-off. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is showing in Singapore cinemas. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Hindu
14-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Expanded immunisation service under UIP launched
The State health department launched the expanded the immunisation services under the Universal Immunisation Programme at all 500 functional health and welfare centres on Wednesday. Health minister M. Subramanian, who launched the programme at a HWC centre in T. Nagar said to achieve 100% coverage of routine immunisation for vaccine preventable diseases in the state, all the UIP vaccines would be made available in all HWCs on every Wednesday. Such an arrangement is currently available in all the 2,286 Primary Health Centres. The government will soon be commissioning another 208 HWCs and the vaccines will be administered there as well, he added. The minister said under the UIP, 11 vaccines are provided to children and pregnant women against 12 vaccine preventable diseases. In 15 endemic districts vaccination against Japanese encephalitis is also provided. According to him the state consistently achieved immunisation coverage of over 99% annually, with around 9.5 lakh pregnant women and 8.76 lakh children/infants being administered the vaccines under UIP. Immunisation sessions will be offered daily in all primary health centres, paediatric units of government medical colleges, district headquarters, taluk and non-taluk hospitals. Every Wednesday outreach sessions will be held in villages and towns. The cold chain is maintained for the vaccines being supplied by the Union government, the minister explained. They are transported through refrigerated vans to regional vaccine stores and then distributed to the district vaccine stores, Mr. Subramanian informed. Senior health department officials, including the health secretary, the director of public health, the director of National Health Mission besides health officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation were present at the launch.
Straits Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
James Foley, director of Fifty Shades Of Grey sequels and House Of Cards, dies at 71
James Foley, director of Fifty Shades Of Grey sequels and House Of Cards, dies at 71 LOS ANGELES - American veteran director James Foley, whose films included Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and the Fifty Shades Of Grey sequels (2017 and 2018), and who also worked on the hit television series House Of Cards (2013 to 2018), died this week at his home in Los Angeles. He was 71. His death came after a year-long battle with brain cancer, according to Mr Taylor Lomax of ID, the firm that represents Foley. Foley made his directorial debut with the film Reckless (1984), a drama about a high school romance between a rebellious, motorcycle-driving football player and a cheerleader. In the decades that followed, he built a career directing movies, television shows and music videos, working with some of Hollywood's biggest stars. Among his most celebrated works is the film adaptation of Glengarry Glen Ross, the play by American playwright David Mamet that won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1984. The movie, about real estate salesmen trying to make ends meet in a tough economy, starred Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris and Alan Arkin. Foley also directed Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018), the final two instalments of the Fifty Shades Of Grey franchise (2015 to 2018). Those films were adapted from the second and third books of the Fifty Shades trilogy by British author E. L. James. James Foley's directorial credits include Fifty Shades Freed, which starred Dakota Johnson (right) and Jamie Dornan. PHOTO: UIP Foley told the The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that he was pleased that his career had not been pigeonholed. 'I think in terms of what fascinates me and what intrigues me and what I feel is engaging for the year that you spend making the movie, what's personally engaging, not adhering to any kind of conventions,' he said. Foley was born on Dec 28, 1953, in New York City and grew up on Staten Island. He studied psychology and graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1974. He planned to attend medical school, but he decided instead to pursue directing after taking a six-week film production course at New York University. He went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts in 1979. Foley recalled screening the short film he made during the six-week course in New York while speaking to film and media studies students at Johns Hopkins University in 2013. 'That was the first time that something I had done got a reaction out of a lot of people,' Foley said. 'From that moment on, I decided I wanted to do that again.' Foley directed At Close Range (1986), the crime drama starring Sean Penn and Christopher Walken. Several years later, he directed and co-wrote the film adaptation of After Dark, My Sweet (1990), the crime novel by late American novelist Jim Thompson. Foley's directorial credits also include Fear (1996), starring Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon; The Chamber (1996), with Chris O'Donnell and Gene Hackman; and Perfect Stranger (2007), with Halle Berry and Bruce Willis. Foley also directed several music videos for American pop diva Madonna, including Live To Tell (1986), True Blue (1986) and Papa Don't Preach (1986). Foley made his foray into television directing an episode of Twin Peaks in 1991. He later directed 12 episodes across Seasons 1, 2 and 3 of House Of Cards, the hit Netflix series about the underbelly of American government that was adapted from a BBC series of the same name. He also directed episodes of Wayward Pines (2015 to 2016) and Billions (2016 to 2023). Foley is survived by a brother, Kevin Foley; two sisters, Eileen and Jo Ann Foley; and a nephew, Quinn Foley. He was predeceased by his brother, Gerard Foley. 'I've had a very fluid career of ups and downs and lefts and rights, and I always just responded to what I was interested in at the moment,' James Foley said in the 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. 'I've always just followed my nose, for better or for worse, sometimes for worse.' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
