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Trump offers private dinner to meme coin investors

(NYT) — The flashy online announcement called it “the most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the World,” a chance to have “an intimate private dinner” with President Donald Trump at his members-only golf club in Virginia, followed by a tour of the White House.

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A seat would be reserved for each of the top 220 investors in $TRUMP, a cryptocurrency Trump launched on the eve of his inauguration.

A website promoting $TRUMP, the president’s so-called meme coin, announced Wednesday that the coin’s largest buyers would be invited to meet him. The effort was, in effect, an offer of access to the White House in exchange for an investment in one of Trump’s crypto ventures.

As he markets digital currencies to the public, Trump has also appointed regulators who are scaling back crypto enforcement and called for legislation that would boost the industry’s prospects in the United States.

As news of the dinner invitation spread on social media, the meme coin’s price surged more than 60%.

Early this year, the SEC issued official guidance saying meme coins, a type of cryptocurrency based on an online joke or celebrity mascot, would not be subject to oversight by the agency. Crypto skeptics criticized the policy as a risky move that could open the door to fraud.

US pressures Ukraine on plan that favors Russia

WASHINGTON (NYT) — President Donald Trump and his top aides on Wednesday demanded that Ukraine accede to an American-designed proposal that would essentially grant Russia all the territory it has gained in the war, while offering Kyiv only vague security assurances.

The American plan, which would also explicitly block Ukraine from ever joining NATO, was rejected by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. The proposal also appears to call for the United States to recognize Russia’s 2014 takeover of Crimea, a region of Ukraine.

“There is nothing to talk about,” Zelenskyy said. “This violated our constitution. This is our territory, the territory of Ukraine.”

Trump shot back on social media that the Ukrainian president was being “inflammatory” and said he would only “prolong the ‘killing field.’”

Climate activists interrupt New York City Ballet

NEW YORK (NYT) — A small group of climate change activists interrupted a New York City Ballet performance at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center on Tuesday, the opening night of the company’s spring season.

The protest occurred shortly before 9 p.m., as dancers and orchestra musicians performed George Balanchine’s “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux,” the third ballet on an all-Balanchine program for the opening night, which coincided this year with Earth Day.

A woman began yelling from the balcony. Then, she shouted, “We’re in a climate emergency,” and unfurled a banner from a balcony.

The dancers and musicians continued to perform through the demonstration. Some members of the audience booed the protesters and demanded their removal.

Then the curtain came down, an announcer said the show would be paused because of the disruption and security officers removed several protesters from the auditorium. About five minutes later, “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” restarted from the beginning and the performance did not face further interruptions, City Ballet said in a statement.

Activists had also gathered outside the theater before the performance, holding signs reading “Koch killing the planet” and “No billionaire ballet on Earth Day,” according to photos posted online.

The theater is named after David H. Koch, a billionaire who donated vast sums to support the arts but was for some a polarizing figure because of his campaign to counter the science of climate change.

Powerful earthquake shakes Istanbul

ISTANBUL (NYT) — A powerful earthquake shook Istanbul on Wednesday, sending residents of Turkey’s most populous city pouring into the streets as buildings swayed and onlookers screamed.

The magnitude-6.2 tremor, which hit at 12:49 p.m. local time, rattled nerves in a country still traumatized by a devastating 2023 quake that struck the southeast. Turkey straddles two major fault lines and is regularly hit by earthquakes. The residents of Istanbul, in particular, have been bracing for a major quake that experts have warned for years is overdue in the ancient city.

The city of 16 million seemed to have evaded the long-predicted threat Wednesday, with no deaths reported by late afternoon. But widespread panic spurred many people to jump off their balconies, according to the local governor’s office, which said 151 people had been injured doing so.

More than 50 aftershocks followed and shook Istanbul and the area around it throughout the day, with Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya saying the largest recorded a magnitude of 5.9. The governor’s office said it would shut down schools for two days to house people afraid to return to their homes. Many people sought safety in Istanbul’s parks.

The 2023 earthquake in southeastern Turkey forced the country to reassess its preparedness and building standards after entire city blocks collapsed. The 7.8-magnitude quake and its aftershocks killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and about 6,000 more across the border in neighboring Syria.