NBA Stars Like Jalen Brunson Enlist Social Media Surrogates to Expand Reach in China

Jalen Brunson first experienced the fervor of the N.B.A.’s biggest international market in 2018 when, as a rookie, he traveled with the Dallas Mavericks to China for a pair of preseason games. The trip itself was brief, but the reception that Mr. Brunson and his teammates received left a lasting impression. “The fandom that basketball … Read more

Ukraine Hopes for Peace, but Skepticism Runs Deep

After hours of exhausting negotiations that ended with Ukraine agreeing to a Trump administration proposal for a 30-day cease-fire with Russia, it was not until the delegation from Kyiv was flying home that it got the news it was most desperate to hear: American military assistance was flowing again. “I will only say that there … Read more

Emboldened by Trump, Serbia’s Leader Cracks Down on Activist Groups

Unable to calm student-led protests that just kept growing, Serbia’s strongman leader, Aleksandar Vucic, reached for some tried-and-tested scapegoats, unleashing his media attack dogs on foreign-financed groups that have nettled him for years. But what started as a familiar ritual of intimidation against groups that document issues like corruption, human rights abuses and electoral fraud … Read more

Musk Email Reaches Italian Workers. It Did Not Go Well.

Italian employees at the Aviano Air Base in northern Italy paused from flipping burgers, unloading trucks and restocking shelves recently to open an email from their bosses demanding that they list five key accomplishments from last week. The email was a by-now familiar demand from President Trump’s chief cost-cutter, Elon Musk, carrying with it the … Read more