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      Trump Aides to Meet With Russian Officials About Ukraine Next Week

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      Three top foreign policy aides in the Trump administration plan to meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia next week to discuss a path to ending the war in Ukraine, the first substantial talks between the superpowers on the conflict.The meeting would come less than a week after President Trump spoke on the phone with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Mr. Trump told reporters afterward that talks on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine would take place in Saudi Arabia. The plan for meetings next week in Riyadh was described to reporters on Saturday by a person familiar with the schedule who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss national security concerns.The meeting will most likely draw criticism from some top Ukrainian officials. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said Thursday that his country must be involved in any talks over its own fate, a statement he made after learning about the Trump-Putin call. Ukrainian officials fear Mr. Trump could try to reach a deal with the Russians that would not have strong security guarantees or viable terms for an enduring peace for Ukraine, which has been trying to repel a full-scale Russian invasion for three years.The top American officials who plan to attend are Marco Rubio, the secretary of state; Mike Waltz, the national security adviser; and Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy who also works on Ukraine-Russia issues, the person familiar with the schedule said.When asked whether any Ukrainian officials would attend, the person did not say — a sign that Ukraine will probably not take part in the talks, despite Mr. Trump saying this week that Ukrainians would participate in discussions in Saudi Arabia.Mr. Rubio and Vice President JD Vance met with Mr. Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference on Friday.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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      Shark Bites Tourist Who Was Trying to Take Photo With It

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      The woman was flown off the island to receive medical care, according to the Turks and Caicos government.A tourist trying to photograph a shark in shallow water at a beach in the Turks and Caicos Islands this month was bitten by it and flown off the island to receive medical care, the local government said.The tourist was treated at a hospital before she left the island, Providenciales, a sandy, 38-square-mile magnet for snorkelers and sun seekers that is ringed by turquoise waters.The shark was about six feet long, according to the Turks and Caicos government, but its species was unclear.The tourist had “attempted to engage with the animal” in an effort to take pictures of it before she was bitten on Feb. 7, the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources in Turks and Caicos said in a statement.Her identity was not immediately released, and officials did not describe the extent of her injuries.The beach was closed but reopened on Feb. 9 after the shark was found to have moved into deeper water, according to the environment department. Turks and Caicos, an archipelago, is a British territory and one of the Caribbean’s fanciest tourist destinations.Shark bites are extremely rare and are typically accidents, experts say. But sharks can cause severe wounds when they mistake humans for prey.Across the world, there were 88 confirmed or potential shark bites logged last year by the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida, an organization that tracks shark data.Twenty-four were provoked, meaning that a human had initiated contact with the shark, according to the organization. Four people died from shark bites. One of last year’s recorded bites was in Turks and Caicos; it was not fatal.The file’s director, Gavin Naylor, said on Saturday that it was too soon to say if this month’s bite in Turks and Caicos was provoked or unprovoked.But Chris Stefanou, a New York fisherman and conservationist who tags sharks, said that photographing sharks can carry risks, and that the shark might have confused a phone for a fish.“Sharks, or any predatory animal in the ocean, can confuse that as like a bait fish,” Mr. Stefanou said, referring to small, shiny fish that draw sharks to shore. “The shark didn’t just see a human: ‘Ooh, I’m hungry, I want to go take a bite.’ That did not happen.”The episode was not the only reported shark bite in the Caribbean on Feb. 7. Two Americans were injured in what appeared to be a shark encounter in Bimini Bay in the northern Bahamas, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.Mr. Naylor said two bites in one day in the region was unusual and made him “sit up a little.”But it was not clear whether there was any trend. The number of confirmed unprovoked shark bites dropped to 47 last year, down from 69 the year before, according to the International Shark Attack File. More

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      Utah Bans Collective Bargaining for Public Workers

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      Utah joined two other states in prohibiting collective bargaining for teachers, police officers and other public employees in a move that was seen as a possible blow to the country’s labor movement.A new law signed by Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah prohibits unions from negotiating wages and other terms for teachers, firefighters, police officers and all other public employees, joining just two other states that have banned collective bargaining in the public sector.The law, which goes into effect on July 1, could have broader implications for the country’s labor movement, experts said. Its signing comes weeks after the new presidential administration effectively paralyzed — at least temporarily — the federal agency responsible for protecting workers’ rights as part of a broader crackdown on federal spending and regulations.The bill, which was passed by a Republican-controlled Legislature, was signed on Friday by the Republican governor over the pleas of unions representing employees across the public sector, who protested at rallies and spoke in opposition during debate on the Legislature floor.Federal law protects the collective bargaining rights of workers in the private sector, but determining labor law for public employees is up to the states.That’s why bargaining rights for public employees vary by state, with some offering stronger protections for workers and unions and others restricting the kinds of workers who can unionize. In Texas, for example, only police and firefighters can collectively bargain. But only two states, North Carolina and South Carolina, had banned collective bargaining outright.“It’s at the extreme end of the spectrum to have banned it for all,” said Sharon Block, the executive director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School.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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      Israel and Hamas Make 6th Exchange, Keeping Cease-Fire Intact for Now

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      Days after the fragile truce appeared to be teetering, Hamas freed three Israeli hostages as Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners. But it is far from clear whether the deal will reach a second phase.Hamas freed three more Israeli hostages on Saturday as Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners, prolonging a fragile cease-fire in the Gaza Strip that appeared to be teetering only days ago.The hostages — Alexander Troufanov, 29, known as Sasha; Iair Horn, 46; and Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, one of the few Americans still held in Gaza — were noticeably thinner and paler after spending 16 months in captivity. They had been abducted from the Israeli border village of Nir Oz during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that ignited the war in Gaza.But they did not appear as emaciated as the three hostages released last Saturday, whose condition prompted outrage and horror in Israel.Palestinian militants once again used the exchange, the sixth carried out under the first phase of the cease-fire, to stage a show intended to demonstrate that they still dominate Gaza, despite Israel’s devastating bombardment and ground invasion in response to the 2023 attack.Dozens of gun-toting fighters affiliated with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad forced Mr. Troufanov, Mr. Horn and Mr. Dekel-Chen to mount a stage in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis and to give speeches in Hebrew, with portraits of Hamas leaders on the stage behind them.The hostages being freed — Mr. Horn, 46, Mr. Dekel-Chen, 36, and Mr. Troufanov, 29 — on a stage erected by Hamas in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Saher Alghorra for The New York TimesWe 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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      Ukraine Rejects U.S. Demand for Half of Its Mineral Resources

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      President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly faulted the American offer, which is tied to continued aid, because it did not include security guarantees.President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, during a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, rejected an offer by the Trump administration to relinquish half of the country’s mineral resources in exchange for U.S. support, according to five people briefed on the proposal or with direct knowledge of the talks.The unusual deal would have granted the United States a 50 percent interest in all of Ukraine’s mineral resources, including graphite, lithium and uranium, as compensation for past and future support in Kyiv’s war effort against Russian invaders, according to two European officials. A Ukrainian official and an energy expert briefed on the proposal said that the Trump administration also sought Ukrainian energy resources.Negotiations are continuing, according to another Ukrainian official, who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the talks. But the expansiveness of the proposal, and the tense negotiations around it, demonstrate the widening chasm between Kyiv and Washington over both continued U.S. support and a potential end to the war.The request for half of Ukraine’s minerals was made on Wednesday, when the U.S. Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, met with Mr. Zelensky in Kyiv, the first visit by a Trump administration official to Ukraine. The Treasury Department declined to comment about any negotiation.After seeing the proposal, the Ukrainians decided to review the details and provide a counterproposal when Mr. Zelensky visited the Munich Security Conference on Friday and met with Vice President JD Vance, according to the official.It is not clear if a counterproposal was presented.Mr. Zelensky, speaking to reporters in Munich on Saturday, acknowledged he had rejected a proposal from the Trump administration. He did not specify what the terms of the deal were, other than to say that it had not included security guarantees from Washington.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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      Argentine Leader Draws Fire After Cratering of Crypto Coin He Promoted

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      The move, quickly seized upon by his political rivals, was the latest in a series that Javier Milei has made that seem to mirror President Trump.Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei, has caused a political firestorm by promoting an unknown cryptocurrency token that shot up in value after his endorsement and then swiftly cratered.In a post on social media on Friday night, Mr. Milei said that the coin, called $LIBRA, would stimulate the economy and help small businesses grow. While the sudden attention gave the token an initial boost, the huge gains were erased as fear quickly spread that the coin was a scam.Mr. Milei deleted his social media post five hours later and attempted to distance himself from the venture.“I was not familiar with the details of the project,” he wrote on X, “and after having informed myself I decided not to continue disseminating it (that is why I deleted the tweet).”But Mr. Milei rapidly came under fire for his role in pushing people toward a risky investment. His dalliance with crypto also prompted comparisons with President Trump, who launched a memecoin, $Trump, last month. That token surged for a while and then crashed.A center-left coalition that opposes Mr. Milei’s libertarian government called his crypto foray “a scandal without precedent.” Another political bloc said it was seeking to create a commission in Congress to investigate what occurred.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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      Yrjo Kukkapuro, Who Made the Easiest of Easy Chairs, Dies at 91

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      A celebrated Finnish modernist, he designed a variety of furnishings but was best known for his seating — which, his company said, “almost every Finn has sat on.”Yrjo Kukkapuro, a Finnish furniture designer who devoted his restless creative energies to sedentary comfort, creating dozens of chairs that coddled sitters and lent a zesty flair to their surroundings, died on Feb. 8 at his home in Kauniainen, Finland. He was 91.His death was confirmed by his daughter, Isa Kukkapuro-Enbom.In his seven-decade career, Mr. Kukkapuro designed a variety of furnishings for homes, offices and public institutions. But he was best known for his seating.“Almost every Finn has sat on a chair he designed — at a metro station, in a bank, at a school or in a library,” his company, Studio Kukkapuro, said in a news release.An experimental modernist who was invigorated by the availability of lightweight synthetic materials after World War II, Mr. Kukkapuro made abundant use of fiberglass and other plastics, which could be sculpted to the human form. He also favored organic materials like steam-bent plywood and leather.Referring to Mr. Kukkapuro’s relentless pursuit of ergonomics, Jukka Savolainen, a former director of the Design Museum in Helsinki who now heads the Alvar Aalto Museum in Finland, described him as “playful with form and color, but always thinking about the user at the center.”Among Mr. Kukkapuro’s most celebrated designs was Karuselli, a slick fiberglass lounge chair with exuberant leather upholstery rolling over the edges. He attached the bulbous bucket seat to the flowerlike base with a steel bracket that permitted the chair — whose name means “carousel” in Finnish — to both swivel and rock.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 Suggests No Laws Are Broken if He’s ‘Saving His Country’

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      President Trump on Saturday posted on social media a single sentence that appears to encapsulate his attitude as he tests the nation’s legal and constitutional boundaries in the process of upending the federal government and punishing his perceived enemies.“He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” Mr. Trump wrote, first on his social media platform Truth Social, and then on the website X.By late afternoon, Mr. Trump had pinned the statement to the top of his Truth Social feed, making it clear it was not a passing thought but one he wanted people to absorb. The official White House account on X posted his message in the evening.The quote is a variation of one sometimes attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, although its origin is unclear.Nonetheless, the sentiment was familiar: Mr. Trump, through his words and actions, has repeatedly suggested that surviving two assassination attempts is evidence that he has divine backing to enforce his will.He has brought a far more aggressive attitude toward his use of power to the White House in his second term than he did at the start of his first. The powers of the presidency that he returned to were bolstered by last year’s Supreme Court ruling that he is presumptively immune from prosecution for any crimes he may commit using his official powers.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