Trump’s pledge to the Middle East
The U.S. is done with nation building, foreign intervention and “lectures on how to live,” President Trump told an audience in an opulent ballroom in Saudi Arabia this week, effectively denouncing decades of American policy in the Middle East. He urged the people of the region to chart their own “destinies” in their own way.
Reactions to his speech erupted swiftly across the region. Trump’s remarks came as he continued a four-day jaunt through Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates that’s focused on business deals, but also on his broader diplomatic ambitions.
Trump yesterday met with President Ahmed al-Shara, another milestone in Syria’s bid to break out of its isolation. It was the first time in 25 years that the leaders of the U.S. and Syria had met. Trump later described al-Shara as a “young, attractive guy,” adding: “Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”
Deals: Trump announced that Qatar Airways had agreed to buy 210 Boeing jets, and the U.S. and Qatar signed a statement of defense cooperation. Here’s a look at the other agreements made on Trump’s Gulf tour so far.
Gaza: A hospital director said that Israeli strikes overnight had killed dozens of Palestinians in the north. The fate of the Hamas leader Muhammad Sinwar is unknown. If Israel has killed him, it might not change much.
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| President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was challenged by Ukraine’s leader to attend peace negotiations in Turkey. Pool photo by Alexander Nemenov |
Putin looks unlikely to join peace talks in Turkey
President Vladimir Putin does not appear on a list of Russian officials who will attend peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey today, suggesting that he will not come face to face with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine this week. The delegation will instead be led by Vladimir Medinsky, a hard-line Putin aide.
President Trump, who had hinted that he might consider joining the talks, said he would skip them. Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, is set to attend, along with Trump’s special envoys Steven Witkoff and Keith Kellogg.
The stakes could not be higher for both Russia and Ukraine. Neither side is making much progress, though in talks with the U.S. on ending the war, Moscow has made extreme demands that its small gains in battle do not appear to justify.
Related:
| Three Ukrainian men have been arrested in Germany and Switzerland on suspicion of plotting to damage freight infrastructure in Europe on Russia’s behalf. |
| A government lawyer told a judge that the Trump administration plans to deport a Harvard scientist to Russia, which she fled in 2022.Grigory Melkonyants, the chief of Russia’s only independent election watchdog, was sentenced to five years in prison. |
| Afrikaners at an airport in Johannesburg before their flight to the U.S. Ilan Godfrey for The New York Times |
South Africa’s leader criticized Afrikaners going to the U.S.
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa decried the dozens of white South Africans who have already left for the U.S. as “cowardly.” Over 8,000 more have expressed interest in resettling in the U.S. “They are running away” from a duty to help South Africa solve its problems, he said on Tuesday, adding, “When you run away, you are a coward.”
The government strongly rejected the Trump administration’s assertion that Afrikaners, members of a white minority that ruled during apartheid Africa, should be eligible for refugee status.
Context: Trump has long spread conspiracy theories about the mistreatment of white South Africans. His close adviser Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, has shared similar views on social media. Each has argued that the lives of white farmers are in jeopardy, a claim that the evidence does not support.
| MORE TOP NEWS |
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| Casandra Ventura, shown in 2022, testified for a second day in Sean Combs’s federal trial on Wednesday. Gotham, via Getty Images |
| Entertainment: Casandra Ventura, the singer known as Cassie, testified for a second day in the trial of Sean Combs, her former boyfriend and label boss. Here are the major points from her testimony. India-Pakistan: The two countries exchanged detained soldiers in a sign that their cease-fire was holding. Satellite imagery showed that damage from their four-day military clash was limited. South Korea: Five months after the Jeju Air crash, dozens of relatives of victims filed a joint complaint accusing 15 aviation officials of negligence. France: François Bayrou, the prime minister, was defiant while testifying at an inquiry on claims of physical and sexual violence at a school to which he is closely tied. Iran: The foreign minister has proposed the creation of a nuclear-enrichment venture involving Arab countries and U.S. investment, Iranian officials said. China: The climb-down on tariffs may open the way to a summit with the U.S., but experts say Beijing will not back down from its territorial claims. Italy: A superyacht that foundered last year off Sicily, killing seven people, was likely to have been knocked over by an intense gust of wind, a preliminary investigation found. Media: A court sided with The New York Times in a ruling over a journalist’s request for text messages between E.U. officials about access to the coronavirus vaccine. Art: Why did the star lot of the spring auction season, a bronze head by the master sculptor Alberto Giacometti, fail to sell?Academia: Australia, Canada and European countries are trying to attract researchers cast aside by the Trump administration’s cuts. Here are their pitches. |
Tech & Business
| A.I.: OpenAI is in talks to acquire Windsurf, an A.I.-powered computer programming tool, for around $3 billion. Fashion: The British brand Burberry said that it would slash up to 1,700 jobs as it tries to return to profit after a period of poor sales. Tariffs: Here’s how Trump’s 185 percent tariffs on China hit one shipment of T-shirts to the U.S. |
| SPORTS NEWS |
| F1: See the tracks that hosted the races of the inaugural F1 season, 75 years ago. Soccer: Nottingham Forest forward Taiwo Awoniyi has been placed in a medically induced coma. Cycling: The Australian champion Rohan Dennis received a suspended jail sentence for his role in a car incident that fatally injured his wife. Golf: The sport’s most famous pair of trousers might be worth $20,000. |
| MORNING READ |
Pepe Mujica, who died on Tuesday, didn’t much like Uruguay’s opulent presidential residence, with its chandeliers and marble. So when he was elected he chose to commute from his own home, a three-room shack.
The choice was a political masterstroke that showed the value of world leaders who live like their constituents.
| CONVERSATION STARTERS |
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| Keystone-France, via Getty Images |
| Literary ‘it’ girl: Françoise Sagan’s first novel, “Bonjour Tristesse,” was published in 1954. As a new film adaptation is released, the author still fascinates. Barbie’s feet: Over time, the doll’s feet have gone from permanently arched to, more often, flat. It may be a sign of empowerment. Sea moths: This ocean predator from the Cambrian Period, about 500 million years ago, had three eyes. But that was not its strangest feature. Asking for space: A reader wrote in to ask whether she could tactfully request separate seating assignments for her and her estranged, abusive husband at a wedding. |
| ARTS AND IDEAS |
An author’s return from upheaval
Jeanine Cummins’s 2020 novel, “American Dirt,” was a colossal success by most measures, selling more than four million copies in nearly 40 languages. It also ignited a backlash over her portrayal of Mexican migrants that nearly ended her career and her desire to write.
Five years later, Cummins has just published a new novel, “Speak to Me of Home,” which draws from her family’s history in Puerto Rico and the Midwest. She told us about the period of soul-searching that led her to write it. Read more.
| RECOMMENDATIONS |
| Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Eleni Pappas. |
Bake: These hearty dinner rolls are a joy to bake and surprisingly easy.
