Author: NY TIMES

We are not Ukraine.That is the overarching message from officials in the Philippines, who say that they are certain they have the full backing of the United States despite President Trump’s dramatic shifts in foreign policy, including his stunning blowup with Ukraine’s leader. Their confidence, they say, comes from the fact that both Washington and Manila have a common adversary: China.Mr. Trump is embroiled in a trade war with China, while the Philippines has been involved in increasingly tense standoffs with China in the South China Sea over Beijing’s expansive territorial claims. Manila’s biggest deterrent against China is a mutual…

Stocks tumbled on Tuesday as President Trump’s broad tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China reverberated through global markets, intensifying investors’ concerns over the health of the economy.The S&P 500 fell as much as 2 percent, before losses moderated in the afternoon and the day ended down 1.2 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index briefly dropped into what is known as a correction — a drop of 10 percent or more from its recent peak — before investors appeared to “buy the dip,” prompting a modest recovery in afternoon trading.The selling on Tuesday was broad based, with roughly 80 percent of…

In November, Elon Musk asked a federal court to block OpenAI’s plan to transform itself from a nonprofit into a purely for-profit company.On Tuesday, a federal judge in San Francisco denied Mr. Musk’s request, calling it “extraordinary.” But the court allowed Mr. Musk to proceed with other aspects of a lawsuit he filed last year against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman.Mr. Musk helped create OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015, along with Mr. Altman and others. In 2018, Mr. Musk left the organization after a battle for control of the company. Mr. Altman then attached OpenAI to a…

As a measles outbreak expands in West Texas, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary, on Tuesday cheered several unconventional treatments, including cod liver oil, but again did not urge Americans to get vaccinated. In a prerecorded interview that aired on Fox News, Mr. Kennedy said that the federal government was shipping doses of vitamin A to Gaines County, the epicenter of the outbreak, and helping to arrange ambulance rides.H.H.S. officials previously said they were shipping doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine to Texas, but Mr. Kennedy did not discuss vaccination.Texas doctors had seen “very, very good results,”…

When “Moby-Dick” opens at the Metropolitan Opera this week, audiences will experience a deeply American story of unchecked ambition, fomented grievances and a self-destructive desire for revenge.Based on Herman Melville’s 1851 novel, the opera delivers an economical and resolute retelling of the fateful tale of the Pequod, a ship in pursuit of a vengeful white whale. The libretto, by Gene Scheer, hits the book’s main conflicts without losing track of the action. The score, by Jake Heggie, is graceful and propulsive. The opera’s ending is certain and clear.It’s probably fair to say that more people know the story of the…

Arab leaders convened for an emergency summit in Cairo on Tuesday, facing pressure to come up with something that has proved elusive for decades: a comprehensive Arab vision for Gaza, just as the Israel-Hamas cease-fire is teetering and Israel, buoyed by President Trump’s backing, holds the upper hand.“Arab Summit: Rescue mission,” read a stark headline on Saturday in Al Ahram, Egypt’s state-owned flagship newspaper, over an article outlining the “uphill task” facing Arab leaders.The delegates were expected to ratify an Egyptian proposal that would involve spending $53 billion to rebuild Gaza without, as Mr. Trump has suggested, moving Palestinians out…

About a month after Bianca Censori caused a commotion for posing on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards in a completely sheer minidress, another woman with ties to Ye arrived in a similarly nearly naked look to Vanity Fair’s Oscars after-party on Sunday. This time, it was Julia Fox, who previously dated the rapper and designer formerly known as Kanye West.Ms. Fox’s sheer garment of choice, by the Turkish designer Dilara Findikoglu, was a maxi dress that involved some ruching to give it a bit more shape. Strands of Ms. Fox’s wavy hair extensions were strategically placed underneath the…

Jill Saulnier has been an energy line for the Canadian women’s national team for nearly a decade, winning two Olympic medals and a world championship.Now, she can add a new line to her resume: in a fight with Ottawa striker Tereza Vanišová, she throws out the first real punch in the history of the professional women’s hockey league.”We’re fighting there,” Solnier told sports. “She grabbed my stick and put it down, and it was just a green flag to me…. I said, ‘Let’s go.”” exist #pwhl. 🥊 @pwhl_bostonJill Saulnier @pwhl_ottawa’Cross with Tereza Vanišová. #pwhl@Jill_Saulnier @vanisovatereza pic.twitter.com/l6fr5bivmv – Melissa Burgess (@_melissaburgess)…

One day after Israel began halting the entry of all goods and humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip, Palestinians there are already feeling the effects of the sweeping measure, with prices of essential goods on the rise.“It was a complete shock,” Iman Saber, a 24-year-old nurse from northern Gaza, said of Israel’s decision on Sunday to block aid and commercial shipments.Already, said Ms. Saber, who has been living in a tent with her father, a cancer patient, and her mother and sister, prices for sugar, oil and chicken have gone up, and hopes raised by the cease-fire between Israel and…

President Trump’s rancorous threat to abandon Ukraine is stoking support for a long-debated proposal to use billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine and finance its reconstruction.The money — roughly $300 billion owned by Russia’s central bank — was frozen by the United States, the European Union, Britain and others after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The aim was to punish President Vladimir V. Putin for his unprovoked attack and to cut off funds he could use to wage war.As the war grinds on into its fourth year, a growing number of officials in…