Latest news with #Goodmorning
Bloomberg
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Putin Dismisses Trump's Calls for Immediate Ceasefire in Ukraine
Good morning. Putin dismisses a US proposal for a truce in Ukraine. Intel faces a 'show me' moment. And tennis players want a better slice of the sport's revenue. Listen to the day's top stories. Vladimir Putin spurned Donald Trump's bid for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, instead agreeing to limit attacks on the country's energy infrastructure while demanding a halt to the flow of weapons and intelligence to Kyiv. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the call showed Russia isn't ready for peace.
The Guardian
27-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
First Thing: Trump administration to cut more than 90% of USAid foreign aid contracts
Good morning. The Trump administration said it was eliminating more than 90% of the US Agency for International Development's foreign aid contracts and $60bn in overall US assistance around the world. Wednesday's disclosures give an idea of the scale of the administration's retreat from US aid and development assistance overseas amid a drive to drastically shrink the size of the state. The administration outlined its plans in an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press and in filings in a federal lawsuit. It said it would eliminate 5,800 out of 6,200 multi-year USAid contract awards, for a cut of $54bn. Another 4,100 of 9,100 state department grants were being eliminated, for a cut of $4.4bn. What will be the likely impact? Earlier this month, the director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: 'There are actions that the US government is taking … which we're concerned are having a serious impact on global health.' Hamas has handed over the bodies of four hostages, and Israel has released more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, as the five-week-old ceasefire appeared to get back on track after a breach that had brought fears of a return to war in Gaza. From Hamas, the bodies of four hostages were transferred to the Red Cross in southern Gaza and driven to Israel at about midnight. From Israel, the Palestinian Prisoners' Information Office said 642 prisoners had been released, of whom 46 were women or minors. What happens now? With the transfer, the two sides have completed the obligations for the first six-week phase of the ceasefire. Hamas said in a statement on Thursday it was ready to start talks on a second phase. Jeff Bezos, the Washington Post owner and world's third-richest man (worth $228bn), emailed newspaper staffers yesterday with a change to the opinion section that aligns the paper closer to the political right. 'We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets,' Bezos said. 'We'll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.' The move coincides with the departure of the opinions editor David Shipley, although it wasn't immediately clear if he was fired for resisting Bezos, or had resigned. How did Bezos justify the directive? 'There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader's doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views,' Bezos wrote. 'Today, the internet does that job.' Gene Hackman, the Oscar-winning actor, and his wife, the classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead yesterday at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hackman was 95 and Arakawa was 63. There was no immediate indication of foul play. Donald Trump is facing a backlash – from even some of his own supporters – after posting an AI video of him sipping cocktails with a topless Benjamin Netanyahu and money raining down on Elon Musk in 'Trump Gaza', a future imagining of the Palestinian territory devastated by Israel's war. The Vatican said Pope Francis had shown a 'further, slight improvement', as the 88-year-old pontiff remains in hospital with pneumonia. Utah is poised to become the first state to ban fluoride from its water systems, with a bill now before its Republican governor. Elon Musk's so-called department of government efficiency (Doge) claims to have cut $65bn from federal spending, but it recently deleted billions from its itemized 'wall of receipts'. Doge has been criticised for its lack of accountability and transparency, as well as accusations of conflicts of interest concerning federal contracts relating to Musk's businesses. Matt LeBlanc initially refused to do a Friends storyline where Joey dated Rachel. Jenna Ortega said a musical scene in Wednesday was jarring and asked for it to be cut. John Krasinski wouldn't allow Jim to cheat on Pam in The Office. But actors don't always get their way … After a major rainstorm last week, beaches in southern California have been littered with timber, twisted metals, construction materials and charred silt and sediment originating from the Palisades fire in January. That blaze, along with the Eaton fire, killed at least 29 people and destroyed whole neighborhoods. People have started taking pictures with their dogs in front of 'Puppy Mountain' in China's Hubei province, after a man posted a picture of the cliff edge. 'It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,' the original poster said. 'The puppy's posture is like it's drinking water.' First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you're not already signed up, subscribe now. If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@
The Guardian
12-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Wednesday briefing: Inside the US president's chaos machine
Good morning. Few words can fully capture the first few weeks of Donald Trump's presidency. Dizzying? Unrelenting? Disorienting? Trump's team has described its strategy as 'flooding the zone' – in essence, overwhelming the opposition, the media and the public with a torrent of executive orders, mass dismissals of federal staff and the suspension of trillions in national funding. The logic is simple: create too much chaos for the media to cover, and make your critics struggle to keep up. How long the White House can sustain this approach remains uncertain – as does the question of how soon the systematic purge of government employees will translate into real consequences for the public. Dismantling the systems of government with brute force will inevitably yield blunt consequences. Take US foreign aid, which was, in Elon Musk's words, put through the 'wood chipper': a 90-day funding freeze abruptly halted medical trials for cholera, malaria, HIV and tuberculosis. The department of education recently got this treatment, after Musk's department of government efficiency (Doge) terminated nearly $1bn worth of its contracts. If the newsletter catalogued everything Trump has done so far, the scroll bar on your screen would all but disappear. Instead, today's newsletter focuses on four recent developments. That's right after the headlines. Middle East | Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas does not release more hostages by noon on Saturday, endorsing a threat by Donald Trump that could shatter the three-week-old ceasefire between the two sides. Economy | Nationwide, Britain's biggest building society, has waded into a row over whether the government should cut tax breaks on cash Isas, arguing such a move would reduce the availability of mortgages for first-time buyers. AI | The US and the UK have refused to sign the Paris AI summit's declaration on 'inclusive and sustainable' artificial intelligence, in a blow to hopes for a concerted approach to developing and regulating the technology. Assisted dying | The Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has said her assisted dying bill for England and Wales will still have the strongest safeguards in the world despite the removal of a requirement for scrutiny from a high court judge. Opponents derided the change as 'rushed and badly thought out'. Housing | Rogue landlords in England will face curbs on how much housing benefit income they can receive if their properties are substandard, Angela Rayner has said as she announced an extra £350m for affordable housing. Late on Monday, Hamas announced a delay in the further release of Israeli hostages, citing violations of last month's ceasefire agreement. Among the grievances listed are delays in allowing displaced persons to return to northern Gaza and continued shelling and gunfire. However, as this Guardian report highlights, the warning comes amid increasingly hardline stances from the US and Israel regarding Gaza's long-term future. Last week, Trump's incendiary remarks suggesting the US could 'take over' the Gaza Strip and that the Palestinian population should be relocated were widely condemned as an endorsement of forced displacement amounting to ethnic cleansing. His response to Hamas has only heightened tensions in the region, with the president declaring that 'all hell is going to break out' if all remaining Israeli hostages are not returned on Saturday. Earlier this week, Trump (pictured above with Jordan's King Abdullah II in 2018) reinforced his stance on depopulating Gaza, suggesting he could cut aid to Jordan and Egypt if they refused to permanently absorb most of Gaza's Palestinian population. Both nations, though reliant on US aid and trade, have flatly rejected the proposal, calling it a red line. Experts say, however, that their economic dependence leaves them vulnerable to 'geopolitical blackmail'. Jordanian officials, in particular, fear that postwar plans for Gaza could increase the likelihood of West Bank annexation. Jason Burke's piece delves deeper into these concerns. Jordan's King Abdullah met yesterday with Trump, becoming the first Arab leader to do so since his comments about forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza. The president continued to double down on his position, saying that the US had the authority to 'take' Gaza, despite the king making clear his country was firmly opposed. Trump did seem to slightly walk back his position on withholding aid from countries like Jordan to get his way on Gaza, insisting that he was not using it as a threat: 'I think we're above that.' Bethan McKernan has a helpful explainer on what all of this means for the state of the ceasefire. Ukraine's future Speaking to reporters last week about the three-year war in Ukraine, Trump said: 'I want to end this damn thing.' He is eager to be seen as the peacemaker, not least because it would mean there is no reason to continue to spend so much on aid for Ukraine. There is also the not-so-small matter of his longstanding ambition to win the Nobel peace prize. In an interview with the New York Post, Trump said he had spoken with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over a negotiated settlement and suggested that Russian negotiators are keen to meet with US counterparts. A bit of insight came, perhaps, when Trump cast doubt over Ukraine's future sovereignty, suggesting the country 'may be Russian someday', a few days before his vice-president, JD Vance, meets with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy (above). However, Trump has not ruled out continued US support for Ukraine's war effort – provided there is a financial return. His price: $500bn in rare minerals. Ukraine is rich in resources such as lithium and titanium, crucial for electronics manufacturing. Zelenskyy has been leveraging the country's vast natural reserves in diplomatic talks with Trump, though the idea of tying military aid to resource extraction has already drawn sharp criticism. For more on this, read Shaun Walker's excellent interview with Zelenskyy from Kyiv. Musk, Altman and the AI arms race OpenAI's Sam Altman has not only caught the president's attention but has outmanoeuvred Elon Musk by positioning OpenAI at the heart of the government's emerging artificial intelligence strategy. Musk, the world's richest man, responded as he often does: by attempting to buy control. Leading a consortium of investors, he made an unsolicited $97.4bn offer for OpenAI, which was recently valued at $157bn. Altman swiftly rejected the offer, posting on X: 'No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.' The move comes just weeks after Altman and Musk clashed publicly, following Musk's criticism of Trump's Stargate initiative – a $500bn project involving OpenAI and Altman. 'Diplomatic love bombing' in the UK In the UK, Trump's tendency to hold grudges and wield power ruthlessly against those he perceives as enemies has not gone unnoticed. Over the past few months, the Labour government has taken a conciliatory approach towards his administration, hoping that Trump's transactional nature will either yield diplomatic and economic benefits – or at the very least, keep Britain out of his crosshairs. Several Labour ministers have softened their stance on the president, as has the prime minister. Peter Mandelson, the UK's ambassador to the US (above), has publicly walked back his previous criticism of Trump, admitting that his remarks describing the president as 'a danger to the world' were 'ill-judged and wrong'. In a Fox News interview, Mandelson instead praised Trump's 'dynamism and energy', adding, in an interview with the BBC, that Britain must respect Trump's 'strong and clear mandate for change'. Political correspondent Eleni Courea has written that the UK's 'diplomatic love bombing' appears to be paying off – Trump recently remarked that Keir Starmer 'has been very nice' and that the two leaders are 'getting along very well'. (Courea's full piece is well worth a read.) Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Yet the UK prime minister's reluctance to antagonise Trump has led to a muted response on even the most controversial policies, such as the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. Ultimately, none of these efforts change the fundamental reality that Trump is 'fickle and reactive', as his decisions are seemingly driven primarily by what serves his interests at any given moment. For the latest on Donald Trump – and there will be more – keep an eye on the Guardian's homepage. First Edition's own Archie Bland and his partner, Ruth Spencer, write damningly about a new Netflix feelgood film that offers astounding but ultimately false hope to families of those with severe cerebral palsy. 'Lucca's World perpetuates the idea that children like our son are broken and must be repaired, rather than whole people who deserve every chance to live full and happy lives,' the pair write. Charlie Lindlar, acting deputy editor, newsletters Mehdi Hasan is blistering on the Republicans and their dog whistling about DEI and the liberal media's enabling on the issue. The right do not have good faith critiques of diversity policies, Hasan writes: 'This is the weaponisation of a three-letter term to denigrate Black people and pretend the political and economic advancement of minority communities over the past 60 years was a mistake'. Nimo Jeff Ingold has a unique playlist. Standing (as of now) at 75 songs, the roughly six-hour set list comprises one song for every man with whom Ingold has slept. The result is a meaningful musical extravaganza that transports Ingold through the deep relationships and fleeting romances of his life. 'When most people hear Candle in the Wind, they think of Diana. Me? A threesome I had with a couple in south London.' Charlie After Kendrick Lamar's stellar Super Bowl performance, what is left for Drake (besides his millions), many of us wonder. Ben Beaumont Thomas explains that though the rapper has endured a public evisceration, he can still regain his relevance – and perhaps even his cool. Nimo 'Not so much drifting slowly downwards as nose-diving at a frightening rate.' After last weekend's galling defeat to Italy in the Six Nations, Robert Kitson is frank about the worrying state of Welsh rugby in this week's edition of the Breakdown newsletter (sign up here!). Charlie Football | Jude Bellingham put Real Madrid 3-2 ahead with the last kick of the game to give his side an advantage in the Champions League playoff against Manchester City. More Champions League results Rugby | Wales have appointed Cardiff's Matt Sherratt as interim head coach after Warren Gatland's second spell as head coach abruptly ended on Tuesday. Gatland has paid the price for Wales's dismal recent record, having presided over the worst losing run in the country's 144-year international rugby history. Football | Sam Kerr has been found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment after calling a police officer 'fucking stupid and white' when he doubted her claims of being 'held hostage' in a taxi. The captain of the Australian women's football team and Chelsea's star striker faced up to a maximum sentence of two years in prison. 'Zelenskyy: Europe cannot protect Ukraine without Trump's support' – an exclusive interview is the Guardian's lead story. 'Court gives Gazans right to settle in UK' reports the Telegraph while the Mirror says 'Left to rot' as it investigates NHS dental care or the lack of it. 'Judge tweak hits support for assisted dying bill' reports the Times while the Express insists 'MPs must back 'crucial' right to die law'. 'Absurd we cannot sack rogue cops' is the Metro's splash while the i has 'UK savings rates cut by 30 banks – and first mortgage deals under 4%'. Top story in the Financial Times is ''Trump trades' backfire as greenback weakens and bond yields come down' while the Mail splashes on 'Labour's new borders watchdog will WFH … in Finland!'. Why giving up the Chagos Islands could cost Britain £9bn Eleni Courea discusses the UK's historic deal to sign sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, and why some inside the Labour party are now regretting it. Campaigner Olivier Bancoult outlines why he hopes the deal will go ahead A bit of good news to remind you that the world's not all bad Established in 1942, the Women's Timber Corps saw upwards of 15,000 young women work during the second world war as 'lumberjills'. Aged between 17 and 24, they assumed roles traditionally filled by men in Britain's forests, felling trees to aid the war effort. Joanna Foat's new book, The Lumberjills, tells their story through stunning archive photography – and this gallery gives an enthralling taste. Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday And finally, the Guardian's puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply
New York Times
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
When a Bar Closes, Who Gets the Neon Sign?
Good morning. It's Friday. Today we'll look at a fight over a once familiar neon sign on the Upper East Side. We'll also get details on a federal investigation involving Shen Yun Performing Arts, the touring dance group run by the Falun Gong religious movement. This is about a bar fight, but not one that involves drunk customers throwing boilermakers — or haymakers — at each other. At issue is a distinctive neon sign that used to frame a dive bar on the Upper East Side, a place where the playwright Wendy Wasserstein said 'it makes a lot of sense not to order wine.' The sign spelled the name of the Subway Inn in red letters — and followed the bar, as it moved from one storefront to another, and another. Then, last month, the sign disappeared — taken, by all accounts, by the new tenant in the storefront that the Subway Inn vacated in December. The new tenant said that the sign belonged to him because the Subway Inn had not removed it. Steve Salinas, whose family operated the Subway Inn for more than 15 years, disputed that claim and went to the police. The Subway Inn was one of those places that drew everyone from doormen and construction workers to businesspeople and tired shoppers needing pick-me-ups. At 143 East 60th Street, the home of the Subway Inn for 70 years, one entrance to the 59th Street subway station was steps from the door, and Bloomingdale's was right across the street. When the bar opened in the 1930s, the Third Avenue El clattered at the other end of the block. The writer Robert Simonson called the Subway Inn 'an endearing dump of a saloon' that had become 'something of a cultural rebuke' to its surroundings. Wasserstein, who died in 2006, said that the bar's ambience came from customers 'who look like they're something out of Eugene O'Neill's 'The Iceman Cometh.'' The original owner, Charlie Ackerman, was in his 90s when he died in 2007. Marcello Salinas, who had started as a porter, became the owner, and he left the bar to his wife, Patricia, and their son Steve when he died in 2016. By then, the Subway Inn had relocated to 60th Street and Second Avenue, next to the Queensboro Bridge. In 2022, after the landlord moved to demolish the building, the Subway Inn moved a few doors up Second Avenue, to No. 1154. But 'things have never quite been the same,' the Salinases said when they announced that they were closing the bar in December. 'The excitement and momentum that we had anticipated just never materialized,' they wrote. 'It became apparent that the landscape had changed irreversibly.' 'We've seen a shift in the way people live, work and spend their time,' they wrote. 'The rhythms of the city that once sustained places like Subway Inn no longer feel the same. The vibrant nightlife and bustling atmosphere we relied on have gradually given way to quieter, more introspective times.' The result, they wrote, was that 'our ability to keep up with operational costs and overheads became unsustainable.' Steve Salinas said that the landlord had found a new tenant — Gerry Doyle, who runs Kelly's, a sports bar on the Lower East Side. Salinas said that the deal had called for him to leave behind the restaurant equipment. But he said that the deal did not cover the sign, so he had made arrangements to have it removed and stored. He said that the person who had maintained it for him could not tackle the job until after Jan. 1. Salinas said he had figured that would be fine: Doyle had not obtained a liquor license and could not open without one. When the man who had looked after the sign for Salinas arrived at the bar, there was no sign to remove. Salinas said he had telephoned the building superintendent, who told him, 'Gerry took it down,' referring to Doyle. Salinas then called Doyle, who maintained that the sign now belonged to him. 'He hadn't taken it down,' Doyle said on Wednesday. 'He has no legal right to it. He's trying to say it's his. It's not. When you leave stuff behind, you give up ownership of it.' 'I can't open my business with somebody else's sign above,' he said. Salinas said he had filed a police report saying the sign was removed without permission. The police confirmed that the report had been filed and said that the matter was under investigation. Doyle said that the sign was in Brooklyn and that he had paid $5,000 to have it taken away. 'It's out of my hands,' he said. Expect sunny skies and moderate wind with a high around 40 degrees. The evening will be partly cloudy with temperatures dropping to around 27 degrees. In effect until Feb. 12 (Lincoln's Birthday). The latest Metro news Shen Yun is said to be under federal investigation over possible visa fraud Shen Yun Performing Arts, the touring dance group run by the Falun Gong religious movement, is under federal investigation for possible visa fraud, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Agents conducting the investigation have also sought information about Shen Yun's financial and labor practices, including whether performers were directed to smuggle cash into the United States when returning from tours overseas, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. My colleagues Michael Rothfeld and Nicole Hong write that the full scope of the inquiry is not clear, and it may not result in any charges. The investigation is being overseen by the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department, as well as by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. But the investigation is taking place during a period of intense scrutiny for Shen Yun. Last year, a New York Times investigation revealed that the group paid its young performers little or nothing to work long hours and keep grueling schedules. Ying Chen, a representative of Shen Yun, said that the group had yet to hear from federal authorities but would 'cooperate fully' if contacted. Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan all declined to comment. The inquiry, which has been in progress since at least 2023, has also focused in part on whether Shen Yun's leaders arranged romantic relationships for the group's performers, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Times reported in August that Shen Yun's leaders have tried to set up foreign students with American citizens in relationships that some former performers believed were for visa purposes. Male and female performers in Shen Yun were not supposed to speak to one another unless necessary for work, and dating required permission from Shen Yun's leaders, according to interviews with former performers. Chen, in her statement, wrote that 'all marriages within our community are genuine.' Good Sign Dear Diary: My son had just turned 16 and was eager to get his learner's permit. So after school one day, we headed to the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Coney Island. My son filled out and submitted the paperwork just before the last exam of the day was announced. A clerk called his name. 'But I haven't looked at the manual yet,' my son said. The clerk looked at him and then at his paperwork. 'Come on,' he said. 'You're a Capricorn. You know everything.' — Susan Hulkower Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here. Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. P.S. Here's today's Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here. Natasha Cornelissen and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@ Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
