The New York Times: Η Ινδία είναι «μπερδεμένη» από τον Ντόναλντ Τραμπ – Ο Τραμπ προσπάθησε να απολύσει αξιωματούχο της Fed – Ουκρανία: Για πρώτη φορά, ρωσικές δυνάμεις κατέλαβαν χωριά στην περιοχή του Ντνιεπροπετρόφσκ. Ο ενεργειακός πόλεμος μεταξύ Ρωσίας και Ουκρανίας κλιμακώνεται, με μια αύξηση επιθέσεων σε δίκτυα ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας και σε εγκαταστάσεις πετρελαίου και φυσικού αερίου – Love Story»: Η Τέιλορ Σουίφτ και ο σταρ του ποδοσφαίρου Τράβις Κέλσι αρραβωνιάστηκαν επίσημα

India is ‘perplexed’ by Donald Trump

What, exactly, does the U.S. want from India in 2025?

It wasn’t so long ago that the answer was clear. India was America’s partner in Asia, and its best counterweight to China.

Various policies reflected this. Cooperation on tech and defense had reached unprecedented levels. America was encouraging companies to use India to diversify their supply chains away from China, and giants like Apple were taking up the offer.

The past few months have upended all that. It’s not just that relations between the two countries have suddenly plunged to their lowest levels in decades. It’s also that no one herereally understands why this happened, or what America wants from the relationship now. (India’s foreign minister used the word “perplexed” at a news conference last week.)

As tariff rates of 50 percent went into effect today, officials and experts I’ve been speaking to are scratching their heads over what led to this point, and how to find a way out. Meanwhile, no one seems to be talking about cooperation on China, the shared goal that was once the foundation of this relationship, and which will be fundamental to shaping Asia in the forthcoming decades.

A case study in contradictions

India isn’t the only instance in which America’s tariff policies seem to be at odds with its geopolitical priorities. South Korea and Japan are also facing new tariffs, as are countries in Southeast Asia.

But in India, these contradictions arguably reach their highest heights: India’s tariffs rates are so extreme, and its position in American strategic calculations is — or at least, was — so important.

India does run a trade surplus with the U.S. Officials knew that this, along with India’s protectionist policies for industries like agriculture, could cause some friction. But they thought they’d come up with a solution that would make Trump happy: India would start importing more American energy and defense equipment, to help even out the balance sheet. So far, however, this doesn’t seem to have counted for much with Trump.

And India is buying increasingly large amounts of Russian oil. At the beginning of the Ukraine war, Russian crude accounted for less than one percent of India’s imported oil. It now accounts for about a third.

India’s imports of Russian oil were part of the trade talks. Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg

It would be one thing if the Trump administration had opted to follow through on the threat of secondary sanctions for any country that purchases Russian oil. But the decision to focus solely on India has resulted in perhaps the most confusing policy outcome of all: China, the largest importer of Russian energy, is still purchasing oil at discount prices, and has so far been spared similar punishment.

Moscow, Beijing and beyond

As things sour with the U.S., India’s diplomacy has intensified in recent weeks in the direction of Moscow, Beijing and beyond. India’s national security adviser and foreign minister made back-to-back visits to Moscow this month; both got audiences with President Vladimir Putin and spoke of an imminent visit from the Russian leader to New Delhi. Modi is preparing to visit China next week for the first time in seven years.

More than two decades of U.S.-India policy has been upended in the past four months. Today, America’s counterweight to China is looking for its own counterweight to Trump.

We’re making changes to this newsletter. Let us know what you think at briefing@nytimes.com.

Trump tried to fire a Fed official

A major legal battle loomed in Washington after Trump said that he would fire Lisa Cook, one of the Federal Reserve’s seven governors, over allegations of mortgage fraud. Cook said yesterday that she would sue to challenge the dismissal and that the president had “no authority” to order the firing.

The Fed is supposed to be insulated from the pressures of politics, but Trump has unleashed a string of attacks on its members, all in the hope of getting them to lower interest rates. Here’s the latest.

Every morning in Beijing, hundreds of people from around the country gather at the city’s largest day labor market for a chance at finding work.

But China’s economy is slowing, and there are fewer jobs. That means many older, less skilled laborers are being left out in the cold.

How to get an affordable apartment in a pricey city

Switzerland is notoriously expensive, but affordable apartments can still be found across the country through cooperatives, which are built and run by nonprofits. In Zurich, nearly one in five apartments is already a co-op, and the city wants many more.

The central idea is simple: Residents buy shares to gain admission to a co-op, which uses the money to maintain the building, keep rents well below market rate and provide amenities. Advocates say the model could reshape how the world thinks about affordable housing. Read more.

Cook: Grating super-firm tofu makes it easier to prepare — and deceptively meaty.