Aurelia Butler

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    Have You Seen Evidence of Trade Crime? We Want to Hear From You.

    The New York Times is looking to talk to business owners and employees who have seen evidence of tariff dodging or customs fraud.For as long as the United States has had tariffs, importers have been trying to find ways around them. But the significant increase in tariffs in recent months appears to have prompted an increase trade and customs fraud.I’m Ana Swanson, the international trade reporter for The New York Times. I’m looking for unreported instances of how companies may be avoiding or evading President Trump’s tariffs on foreign goods. To better understand the topic and inform my reporting, I’d like to hear from company owners and employees about what they have seen firsthand. I’d be particularly interested to learn whether companies are trying to avoid tariffs on goods that feed into the supply chains of major corporations. And I want to know what tactics are commonly used to sidestep the impact of tariffs.I’ll read every submission and contact you if we’re interested in learning more. I won’t publish any submission without reaching out to you and hearing back. We don’t use your contact information for any reason other than to follow up with you, and we don’t share it outside our newsroom. More

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    Trump Casts Himself as a Protector of Persecuted White People

    President Trump publicly dressed down the president of South Africa based on a fringe conspiracy theory, providing a vivid distillation of his views on race.In the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Trump positioned himself as the savior of white South Africans.Sitting alongside Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, Mr. Trump said white people were “being executed.” He referred over and over again to “dead white people.” He dressed down Mr. Ramaphosa, who helped his country cast off the racist policies of apartheid, and questioned why he was not doing more when white people were being killed.“I don’t know how you explain that,” Mr. Trump said. “How do you explain that?”The American president was not much interested in the answer, which is that police statistics do not show that white people are more vulnerable to violent crime than other people in South Africa.The confrontation provided a vivid demonstration of Mr. Trump’s views on race, which have animated his political life going back years. After rising to power in part by framing himself as a protector of white America, Mr. Trump has used his platform, in this case the Oval Office, to elevate claims of white grievance.For Mr. Trump, white people are the true victims; Black people and minorities have received an unfair advantage in the United States. And when Mr. Trump looks to South Africa, a majority-Black country emerging from a legacy of apartheid and colonialism, he sees white people who need sanctuary in the United States.Invoking the teachings of his old mentor, Nelson Mandela, Mr. Ramaphosa pleaded for civility in the dialogue between the two leaders.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    End of Federal Oversight Plan for Minneapolis Police Draws Criticism Over Timing

    The Trump administration announced the withdrawal of the plan just days before the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s killing.The Trump administration’s announcement on Wednesday that it was withdrawing from federal oversight plans for the Minneapolis Police Department came as the city was preparing to mark the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s killing at the hands of the police.Officials and residents expressed dismay about the administration’s decision, saying that oversight had been aimed at ending what federal authorities had described as a longstanding pattern of violent, racist and unconstitutional practices by the city’s Police Department.The timing of the announcement, during a week when Mr. Floyd’s death is being observed with panel discussions, concerts, vigils and other gatherings in Minneapolis, struck many in the city as insensitive.Mr. Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020, when a police officer held his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.“The Trump administration is sending a signal that they don’t care about Black lives,” said Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer and activist in Minneapolis.Officials in Minneapolis said they had long anticipated that the Trump administration would withdraw from an agreement that had been signed just days before President Biden left the White House.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    NYT Crossword Answers for May 22, 2025

    David J. Kahn returns with an epic Thursday.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesTHURSDAY PUZZLE — This is David J. Kahn’s 190th puzzle in The New York Times. Yes, you read that correctly — 190 puzzles. He’s introduced nearly 1,250 terms into the crossword lexicon. Some of those have been reused again and again, like AIR BALL (which has appeared 11 times), I’M OUT (34), ARUGULA (8) and ANOUK (18). Others have appeared only once, but could stand to see the light of day again today, like BEVS and POP HIT.Today’s puzzle shows us that Mr. Kahn is sharper than ever. This was an especially satisfying and mind-bending Thursday, with a higher-than-usual quantity of delicious, top-quality theme material, and plenty of enjoyable fill on the side. I particularly liked 37-Down, which I found to be delightfully straightforward and funny.Oh. One other thing. Tomorrow, we’ll be sending out the 100th edition of our Easy Mode newsletter, in which Christina Iverson, a puzzle editor, creates easy clues for the Friday crossword. Make sure you’re signed up; we’ve got some festivities planned.Today’s ThemeI always like to work backward from the revealer, which, in this puzzle, is a three-parter: MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING. The theme answers feature the word “all,” a synonym for EVERYTHING, except it’s been changed to the name of a national currency.For example, at 35-Across, we have the clue [Luminous meteor [South Africa]]. The answer is “fireball,” but since money changes everything, we put FIREBRAND in the grid, because the rand is South Africa’s local currency. Jordan uses the dinar, South Korea the won, Costa Rica the colón and Iran the rial.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Inspector Let Recruits Who Failed Psychological Exam Join the N.Y.P.D.

    Terrell Anderson, the former head of a unit charged with assessing candidates, has been transferred. He has been praised as an innovative officer.A New York police inspector was transferred after allowing dozens of prospective officers to continue in the hiring process even though they failed to meet mental health standards set by the department, according to two people briefed on the matter.Terrell Anderson, who had commanded the candidate assessment division, was sent to the housing unit because officials learned he had overridden negative psychological reports for 80 candidates. That allowed them to go into the Police Academy even though they should have been disqualified based on their psychological assessments, according to the two people.It is not clear how many of the candidates went on to graduate from the academy and become police officers. The psychological reports had been overridden over the past several years, according to one of the people.In a statement, the police said that Inspector Anderson had been transferred and that the matter was under investigation. The inspector declined to comment.The inspector’s decisions came as the department, the nation’s largest police force, has been hemorrhaging officers. The department’s head count has been falling since 2020. There were 33,531 uniformed officers in the department as of April 1, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office, down from a peak of 40,000 in 2000.Chris Monahan, the president of the Captains Endowment Association, the union representing Inspector Anderson, said the inspector was always “open and above board” about overriding psychological reports he did not agree with. “He’s not wrong here,” Captain Monahan said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Trump Claimed a Video Showed ‘Burial Sites’ of White Farmers. It Didn’t.

    During a meeting with South Africa’s president, President Trump played the video as evidence of racial persecution. A Times analysis found he misrepresented the contents of the video.In a White House meeting on Wednesday, President Trump showed President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa a social media video of a rural road lined with white crosses and hundreds of vehicles.Mr. Trump told Mr. Ramaphosa that the footage showed “burial sites” of “over 1,000” white farmers in South Africa.A New York Times analysis found that the footage instead showed a memorial procession on Sept. 5, 2020, near Newcastle, South Africa. The event, according to a local news website, was for a white farming couple in the area who the police said had been murdered in late August of that year.The crosses were planted in the days ahead of the event and were later removed.The misrepresentation of the footage took place during a stunning meeting in which Mr. Trump made false claims about a genocide against white farmers. Mr. Trump dimmed the lights to play the footage, presenting it as evidence of racial persecution against white South Africans.As the clip played, Mr. Trump said: “These are burial sites right here. Burial sites. Over a thousand of white farmers.”Contrary to Mr. Trump’s statements, the crosses are not gravesites for farmers and were not permanently placed along the road. Footage posted to social media before the remembrance event, in early September 2020, shows people setting up the white crosses, and Google Street View images from 2023 indicate they have since been taken down.There have been a number of protests against the killing of white farmers in South Africa. White crosses are known to be used at these events to represent slain farmers. Videos and photos at the Sept. 5 event also showed tractors adorned with flags condemning farm murders and a large banner reading, “President Ramaphosa, how many more must die???” stretched between two vehicles above the roadway. South Africa has an exceptionally high murder rate, but police statistics do not show that white South Africans or farmers are more vulnerable to violent crime than other people.A White House official told The Times each cross represented a white farmer who had been killed but did not comment on why Mr. Trump had characterized the video as showing burial sites.It’s unclear where Mr. Trump got the video from, or who, if anyone, characterized to him what the video showed. Elon Musk — who is originally from South Africa and is one of Mr. Trump’s advisers — had posted the video on the social media site X at least twice before today’s meeting.In Wednesday’s meeting, when Mr. Ramaphosa asked where the video was from, Mr. Trump said, “I mean, it’s in South Africa.” More

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    Jim Irsay, Colts Owner and CEO, Dies at 65

    He took over the business from his father in 1997 and turned the team into one of the best in the league, with a Super Bowl win during the 2006 season.Jim Irsay, the straight-shooting, hard-living, football-loving owner and chief executive of the Indianapolis Colts who spent his entire adult life around the team that his father bought more than a half-century ago, died on Wednesday. He was 65.His death was announced in a statement by Pete Ward, the Colts’ chief operating officer, noting that he died in his sleep that afternoon. No cause was given.Mr. Irsay had health issues in recent years, including hip surgery, which left him reliant on walking poles. He was also battling an addiction to alcohol.But through it all, Mr. Irsay remained an active and forceful presence in N.F.L. circles. He was on the powerful finance committee and, unlike his fellow owners, rarely shied away from offering his opinions to reporters, commenting even on sensitive topics, like contract disputes, fellow owners and their worthiness to own their teams.He was also an active and visible cheerleader for the Colts, sending inspirational messages on social media to fire up fans before games.By his own proclamation, Mr. Irsay considered himself one of the standard-bearers for the N.F.L. He would often point out that George Halas Sr., the founding owner of the Chicago Bears and a co-founder of the N.F.L., attended his wedding in 1980. Mr. Irsay also did not hide from one of the most controversial episodes in N.F.L. history: his father’s decision to move the Colts team from Baltimore to Indianapolis on a snowy night in 1984. The move was derided as an example of the N.F.L.’s bottomless greed and willingness to abandon fans and their city in search of more money.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More