Author: Shekari Philemon

Monday night at Madison Square Garden was already one of the most anticipated events in New York sports in decades. Then Donald Trump walked in and made it something else entirely. The president became the first sitting commander in chief to attend an NBA Finals game when he arrived at the arena before tipoff of Game 3 between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, adding a layer of political theater to a night that was already carrying the weight of 27 years of Knicks postseason longing. Trump arrived nearly an hour before the opening tip, settling into…

Nearly six years after his last appearance at the US Open, Roger Federer is coming back to New York. The Swiss tennis icon will take the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Aug. 25 for a special exhibition event, announced this week by the United States Tennis Association. The occasion carries a title befitting the man himself, billing the evening as a homecoming for one of the sport’s most celebrated figures. Federer will be joined by a group of fellow legends whose careers overlapped with his own dominant era. Andy Roddick, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi are all set to…

What had been a tense but manageable standoff between Israel and Iran broke into open military exchange this weekend, raising the prospect that months of American-led diplomacy could collapse under the weight of renewed hostilities. The escalation unfolded rapidly across two days, pulling the United States deeper into an already volatile regional picture and forcing President Donald Trump into the role of active mediator just as he had been describing a potential breakthrough. On June 8, Trump declared publicly that both Israel and Iran were seeking an immediate ceasefire, framing the moment as a pause rather than a resolution. He…

Madison Square Garden has not hosted an NBA Finals game since the summer of 1999, and the city of New York is making sure everyone knows it. On the eve of Game 3 between the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, the scene outside the arena looked less like a basketball event and more like a red carpet premiere crossed with a block party. Rappers and lifelong Knicks supporters were spotted inside the coaching staff’s pregame news conference. Actor Ben Stiller, who has become something of a fixture at courtside this postseason, was there documenting the moment on his phone.…

After skipping every voluntary practice and organized team activity this offseason, Jacoby Brissett is heading back to Tempe. The Arizona Cardinals quarterback is set to appear at the team’s mandatory minicamp this week, choosing to end his holdout rather than face six figures in league-mandated fines. The timing was driven in part by financial reality. Under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, Brissett was looking at more than $107,000 in fines had he continued to stay away. With no new contract in sight, attending became the more sensible option, even if it means arriving without the security he has been pushing…

Every year since tanks rolled through Beijing in 1989, a small but determined slice of the Chinese diaspora has refused to let the world move on. This past Saturday in Flushing, the heart of Queens and one of the largest Chinese communities in the United States, that refusal took on a striking new face. Hundreds of people gathered to mark the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, organized by several pro-democracy organizations including the China Democracy Party. What made this year’s event notable was not the speeches or the banners but the crowd itself. Young Chinese immigrants, many of…

Taylor Swift dropped news this week that sent her fan base into a frenzy and apparently caught at least one fellow artist completely off guard. The pop superstar revealed she is writing and recording an original song that will serve as the soundtrack for an upcoming major animated film, fulfilling what she described as a lifelong creative dream in the process. The announcement was met with immediate excitement but it was a response from another well known artist that quickly shifted part of the conversation in an unexpected direction. Lizzo’s reaction that said everything When news of Taylor Swift’s new…

The numbers have been climbing for years but now they have landed somewhere no artist has ever stood before. Taylor Swift, the 36 year old pop phenomenon who has spent the better part of two decades reshaping the music industry from the inside, has been named the wealthiest musician in history by one of the world’s most recognized financial publications. Her estimated fortune of two billion dollars represents a doubling of her wealth in just one year and the story of how she got there is anything but straightforward. The tour that changed everything The single largest driver of Swift’s…

It started as a lighthearted exchange during a morning show interview and ended with one of television’s most recognizable anchors putting her romantic intentions toward a former NFL superstar on the public record. Gayle King, 71, did not hold back and the internet had a lot of feelings about it. The moment unfolded during a CBS Mornings segment that brought together two guests with their own buzzy connection. When one of them joked that he was writing a film specifically for King, she did not miss a beat. The rom com she is ready to star in King seized on…

For a long time Kelly Rowland thought she simply had sensitive skin. The flare-ups behind her ears, between her eyes, along her neck and across her back were something she managed quietly, the way many people do, without a formal name attached to what she was experiencing. It was not until after the birth of her first child that a doctor gave her the word she had been missing. That word was eczema and the moment she finally heard it changed how she thought about her skin entirely. A pattern that started at home Rowland traces her relationship with the…