Author: News Room
The stakes behind Musk’s China briefing The boundaries of Elon Musk’s influence appear to be expanding by the day: The Times broke the news that the Pentagon was scheduled to brief him on its plans for any war with China.While the highly unusual development raises all sorts of questions, it underscores just how deeply entwined the billionaire is becoming in the federal government — and raises fresh concerns among critics about how his businesses could benefit from those ties.By any standard, Musk’s request was extraordinary. The Times notes that the Tesla chief and government contractor, who asked for the briefing,…
As Heathrow Airport, Britain’s busiest travel hub, shut down on Friday because of a nearby fire and power outage, airlines told thousands of travelers not travel to the airport and to check online for updates.About 80 airlines operate at Heathrow, and they were diverting inbound flights to others airports in Britain, elsewhere in Europe or sending them back to their origin, while scrambling to rebook journeys.“This will clearly have a significant impact on our operation and our customers,” British Airways said in a statement. The airline was the most affected as it had about 340 flights scheduled to land at…
A retro-futuristic diner is rising on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, Calif. Curved, silvery and flanked by two outdoor film screens, it looks as if a flying saucer had sailed out of a 1950s drive-in movie and come to rest in the parking lot.An opening date has not been announced, but Tesla’s all-night diner, theater and charging station is clearly on its way. Which means that the company’s leader, Elon Musk, is about to enter the hospitality business.In 2023, when Mr. Musk posted on X that Tesla would build a diner in Los Angeles, he described it as “Grease…
When Lewis Lapham died last year, it appeared that his magazine might go with him.Lapham’s Quarterly, a beloved journal of history and reportage he started, had stopped putting out issues. The fate of the publication was uncertain without Mr. Lapham, a nattily dressed former editor at Harper’s who seemed to personify a bygone era of magazines.But Mr. Lapham’s magazine will live on, though under a much different owner. Bard College, a private liberal arts institution in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., is acquiring it at no cost from the American Agora Foundation, the nonprofit that had published the magazine.“This will benefit all our…
Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.Millions of readers know David Leonhardt as — until recently — the voice of The Morning, The New York Times’s flagship newsletter that he founded in 2020.But his byline goes way back. In his 25-year career at The New York Times, Mr. Leonhardt has held more than half a dozen titles. He joined the paper in 1999 as a Business reporter, covering management and the workplace. He became the Washington bureau chief in 2011, reshaping the desk’s operations to become more…
Buried in China’s latest government budget were some numbers that add up to an alarming trend. Tax revenue is dropping.The decline means that China’s national government has less money to address the country’s serious economic challenges, including a housing market crash and the near bankruptcy of hundreds of local governments.Weak tax revenue also puts China’s leaders in a box as they square off with President Trump, who has imposed 20 percent tariffs on goods from China and threatened more to come. Beijing has less spare cash to help the export industries that are driving economic growth but could be hurt…
When President Trump ordered military strikes last weekend against the Houthi militia in Yemen, he said the militia’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea had harmed global trade.“These relentless assaults have cost the U.S. and World Economy many BILLIONS of Dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk,” he said on Truth Social.But getting shipping companies to return to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal could take many months and is likely to require more than airstrikes against the Houthis. For over a year, ocean carriers have overwhelmingly avoided the Red Sea, sending ships…
The deal had the imprint of a Hong Kong billionaire nicknamed “Superman” for his empire building. One of the tycoon’s companies, which for years has run two ports on the Panama Canal, had been thrust into a broader showdown between China and the United States.So the billionaire, Li Ka-shing, got out of the firing line by notching a $19 billion deal to sell the business to a group of deep-pocketed American investors.Or so it seemed.China’s leaders are now threatening to stop Mr. Li and the company he controls, CK Hutchison, from seeing the deal through, accusing the conglomerate of betraying…
The newly appointed head of one of the nation’s top housing regulators is moving quickly to reshape not only the agency but also Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-controlled mortgage finance giants he oversees.The Federal Housing Finance Agency, now under the direction of William Pulte, placed 35 unionized employees on administrative leave over the past two days, according to an email sent to members on Wednesday evening by the National Treasury Employees Union. The email, which was reviewed by The New York Times, said there had been no advance notice for the employees, who work in consumer protection,…
In recent weeks, a flurry of international visitors attempting to enter the United States from other countries have been denied entry at border checkpoints, leading to either deportations to their home countries or days or weeks of detention.A 28-year-old British woman arrived in Britain earlier this week after she was held at an immigration detention center in Washington State for three weeks. She had attempted to enter the United States from Canada, and questions arose at the land-border crossing whether she had the correct visa.Her ordeal came shortly after two German tourists in separate incidents were deported after trying to…