Members phkrause Posted April 22 Author Members Share Posted April 22 April 22, 2024 By German Lopez Good morning. We’re covering the new aid package for Ukraine — plus Columbia University, bird flu and Lord Byron. Fighting in eastern Ukraine. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Help is on the way You have probably read that the war in Ukraine is a stalemate. But conditions have changed in recent months — in Russia’s favor. It has captured more territory, and it seems likely to launch a larger offensive later this spring or summer. In the meantime, Ukraine’s ability to fight back has deteriorated since the U.S. largely stopped sending aid in December. The $60 billion in Ukraine aid that the House passed over the weekend has the potential to change the situation yet again. The Senate is likely to pass the bill in the coming days, and President Biden has signaled that he will sign it. In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain how the aid package could affect the war. Ukraine’s needs American funds will help Ukraine restock two things that have played pivotal roles in the war: artillery shells and antiaircraft munitions. The war has often revolved around artillery, which are large guns that armies use to fire explosive shells and hit targets from a great distance. Both sides have used artillery to kill troops and destroy tanks and bunkers from miles away, weakening the enemy before an attack. Artillery has also stopped advancing armies. In recent months, though, Ukraine has started to run out of artillery shells. Russian forces have fired five to 10 times as many shells as Ukraine. “That’s just not sustainable,” my colleague Eric Schmitt, who covers national security, told me. “Ukraine would eventually have to give up territory and pull back.” In the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Nicole Tung for The New York Times Ukraine has also relied on antiaircraft weapons, such as U.S.-made Patriot missiles, that can shoot down planes and missiles. The threat of these weapons has kept Russia from unleashing the full might of its air force, because it fears that Ukraine would destroy its expensive planes. Russia has instead resorted to long-range missiles, and Ukraine has shot down many of them. But Ukraine had started to run out of those munitions, too. Last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Ukraine’s short supplies for its inability to stop a Russian missile barrage that killed at least 17 people north of Kyiv. “This would not have happened if Ukraine had received enough air defense equipment,” Zelensky said. The new artillery and anti-air munitions will start to arrive in Ukraine just days after the bill becomes law. The $60 billion will pay for several months’ worth of weapons. Some of the aid will also go for training. That support will help address another Ukrainian shortage — in personnel — by allowing the military to prepare newer recruits for the front lines more quickly. It will also help teach Ukraine’s forces how to use some of the advanced weapons they have previously received from Western allies, including Abrams tanks and F-16 jets. What comes next Once the aid starts arriving, Ukraine is likely to put it to work on the eastern front, where Russia has recently taken the city of Avdiivka. It could halt Russia’s recent progress and prevent much larger advances. Some analysts have worried that an undersupplied Ukraine would struggle to defend the countryside around Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, after Kyiv, and its remaining territory along the Black Sea coastline. By The New York Times “With more aid, Ukraine will probably be able to solidify its defenses and keep its most important cities,” said my colleague Julian Barnes, who covers intelligence and national security. If all goes well, Ukraine could launch an offensive campaign in 2025, perhaps to retake territory in the country’s east and southeast. One important goal: to drive a wedge between Russia’s holdings in the eastern region of the Donbas and the southern peninsula of Crimea. Ukraine’s official goal is to retake all of the Donbas and Crimea. Many experts are skeptical that Ukraine can do that, especially after last year’s disappointing counteroffensive. And some critics of the aid package argue that it won’t even allow Ukraine to stop Russia’s advance. Senator J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican, says that U.S. manufacturing can’t currently keep pace with Russian weapons production. The war simply matters more to Russia than the West, and Russia is dedicating more resources to it, these critics have argued. Still, most experts believe the additional aid will make a meaningful difference. They worry that an easier Russian victory could encourage it to invade other countries, or encourage China to invade Taiwan, by undermining confidence in the U.S. and its allies. The most realistic scenario for Ukraine is probably not a return to the prewar borders. The nation would be smaller, but it could retain most of its territory, then integrate itself economically and strategically with Europe. That’s a lot better than outright defeat. For more Ukraine is building trenches and laying obstacles called dragon’s teeth to fend off Russian attacks. These graphics show the defenses. The Donbas region was an industrial hub for Ukraine. It’s now the focal point for Russia’s ground offensives. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Trump Trial The opening statements in Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York will be heard today. There is a lot of evidence against him, but a conviction isn’t assured. Two prospective jurors who were excused talked to The Times about their experience. One had his social media posts analyzed. In a video, a Times court reporter, Kate Christobek, explains what to expect. Israel-Hamas War Israeli soldiers. Menahem Kahana/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The U.S. is considering sanctions on some Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. Benjamin Netanyahu said such a move would be “a moral low.” The Israeli military has sent troops to address violence between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank, The Wall Street Journal reports. The head of intelligence for Israel’s military resigned after his service’s failures before Oct. 7. Watch a video of one man’s journey to collect airdropped aid for his family back in Gaza. International Reaction Columbia will hold classes virtually today as pro-Palestinian protests at the school continue, NBC reports. Some Jewish students at the university said they felt unsafe, others rejected that view. Pro-Palestinian activists plan to protest this year’s Democratic convention in Chicago. In 1968, antiwar demonstrations overshadowed the convention — also in Chicago. More International News At a polling station in Manipur, India. Reuters Armed men attacked voting booths in northeastern India. The election authorities directed officials to redo voting at several polling stations. Ecuadoreans gave their president more powers to combat drug-related gang violence, a show of support for his hard-line stance. Torrential rain in southern China caused flooding and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate. Spain became the latest European country to end a visa program that offered residency to wealthy foreigners who buy real estate. Other Big Stories On Chepeconde Beach in Peru. Sebastian Castaneda/Reuters Bird flu has adapted to infect more mammals. But a human pandemic is by no means inevitable. Legislators in two dozen states, spurred by teenage girls, are trying to fight deepfake nudes generated by A.I. Hudson Yards, a New York real estate project, went from a ghost town during the pandemic to an office success story. A Tennessee Volkswagen plant voted to join the United Automobile Workers. Experts say the union could replicate its victory throughout the South. Opinions Planting trees is an Earth Day tradition. Cities forget that the preservation of their mature trees is more important, Margaret Renkl writes. This Passover, Jews should not only remember their suffering but also channel it toward compassion, both personally and politically, Shai Held writes. Gail Collins and Bret Stephens discuss Speaker Mike Johnson and Trump’s trial. Here are columns by David French on the differences among Christian movements and Carlos Lozada on the movie “Civil War.” A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. MORNING READS In Guinea Bissau. Cesar J. Pollo/Shutterstock Journey: Green sea turtles swim hundreds of miles to nest on this West African archipelago. A manufacturing boon: Ozempic is transforming a small Danish town. Great outdoors: What to know before you book a trip to a national park this summer. Car key conversations: Asking older people to give up driving can be painful. Experts offer advice to handle it with empathy. Metropolitan Diary: Doing that thing her husband hates. Lives Lived: Terry Anderson was the Beirut bureau chief for The Associated Press when he was kidnapped in 1985 by militants. He spent six years as a hostage. He died at 76. SPORTS Peres Jepchirchir Justin Tallis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Running: Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya won the London Marathon in a women’s only record time of 2:16:16. Alexander Mutiso Munyao, also from Kenya, won the men’s race. N.B.A.: The Los Angeles Clippers, despite missing Kawhi Leonard, beat the Dallas Mavericks. Golf: Nelly Korda won the Chevron Championship to earn a fifth win in her last five starts, which ties a record. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS Toma Vagner Internet scams are everywhere: Strangers send bogus messages on LinkedIn, WhatsApp and Instagram. Deepfakes of celebrities hawk cookware and dental plans. Political donations, employment offers, rental contracts and medical billing can be suspect. They’ve gotten so sophisticated, young people are falling for them, too. “Being digitally native doesn’t inoculate you,” writes the Times reporter Steven Kurutz. “In fact, it makes you a target.” Read his story here. More on culture A painting of Lord Byron. Musée Fabre/Hulton Fine Art Collection, via Getty Images Lord Byron’s life story has sometimes obscured his poetry. Two hundred years after his death, his work is still worth reading, the author Benjamin Markovits writes. The Cut lists the conspiracies and Easter eggs hidden in Taylor Swift’s new album. The vegan chef Matthew Kenney runs a holistic wellness empire. His former employees say it is also full of bounced paychecks. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted artists including Cher and A Tribe Called Quest. An original “Star Trek” Enterprise model was discovered on eBay decades after it disappeared around 1979. It has been returned to the son of the series’ creator. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Romulo Yanes for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Vivian Lui. Try Katharine Hepburn’s famous brownie recipe. Stream these action movies. Eat at the best restaurants in Austin. Dress with sophistication. Locate your keys with a Bluetooth tracker. Test your home’s water quality. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was immunized. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — German Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted April 24 Author Members Share Posted April 24 April 23, 2024 By David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick Good morning. We’re covering the first big day of Trump’s New York trial — as well as campus protests, Narendra Modi and Taylor Swift fatigue. Donald Trump Pool photo by Victor J. Blue Two stories A criminal trial is often a contest between competing stories. In the trial of Donald Trump that’s just begun, prosecutors used their opening statement yesterday to tell a story about a man they say lied — and broke the law — to get elected president. The prosecutors said that Trump had paid $130,000 in hush money to a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair and that he had then filed false business records to pretend that the money was instead for legal fees. His actions were part of a pattern in which he repeatedly lied to shape his image, the prosecutors said, and it worked: He narrowly won the 2016 election. The story that Trump’s lawyers offered in their own opening statements had two main features. First, they urged the jurors not to trust the witnesses who will testify against Trump, including Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, who previously pleaded guilty to making false statements. Second, Trump’s lawyers argued that his attempts to affect the election were ordinary politics. “There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election,” Todd Blanche, one of Trump’s lawyers, said in his opening statement. “It’s called democracy.” (Related: Our colleagues Jonah Bromwich and Ben Protess explain the trial’s opposing visions of Trump.) Beyond the courtroom The immediate audience for these dueling arguments is the jury of 12 New Yorkers who will decide the verdict. But there is also a larger audience that will judge the case, of course: American voters. Trump’s lawyers hope to persuade both the 12 jurors and this year’s voters that his behavior amounted to normal campaign tactics. The prosecutors, overseen by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, want to portray Trump as a man who lied and cheated in ways that had little precedent. “The case is not — the core of it’s not — money for sex,” Bragg said recently. “We would say it’s about conspiring to corrupt a presidential election and then lying in New York business records to cover it up.” A guilty verdict would not prevent Trump from serving as president again. Nothing in the Constitution bars people from office because of a conviction. But if Bragg’s team can persuade jurors of the argument, it may have a big impact on the 2024 campaign. In recent polls, a meaningful share of Trump’s current supporters say they would be less likely to vote for him if he were convicted of a crime. And because of how slowly the other three criminal cases against Trump are moving, this case may be the only one to complete a trial before the November election. In the rest of today’s newsletter, we’ll give you the highlights from yesterday’s opening arguments and testimony and preview today’s proceedings. Outside the courthouse in Manhattan. Maansi Srivastava/The New York Times Trial highlights David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, was the trial’s first witness. Pecker used the tabloid to suppress damaging rumors about Trump, and prosecutors say that Pecker helped negotiate the hush-money payment at the center of this case. He’s expected to continue testifying today. Trump made no outbursts inside the courtroom but shook his head when prosecutors said things he disagreed with. He also appeared to briefly fall asleep, as he did during jury selection last week. Trump’s relationship with Stormy Daniels, a former porn star, is crucial to the trial. Trump’s lawyer said yesterday that the two never had sex; Daniels may be called to testify. Trump may testify, though a ruling yesterday made it less likely: The judge said prosecutors could ask him about other cases he had lost, including a recent defamation case from the writer E. Jean Carroll, who has accused him of rape. The judge, Juan Merchan, will hold a hearing this morning on Trump’s gag order, which bars him from criticizing witnesses, jurors and others. Prosecutors have asked the judge to fine Trump for violating it. The court will publish transcripts of each day’s proceedings. You can find them here. On “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart critiqued the news media’s coverage of the trial. To understand more about the case, we recommend reading this Times Magazine profile of Bragg, Trump’s nemesis who was once a standout student and rumpled dresser. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Campus Protests At Columbia University. C.S. Muncy for The New York Times Universities are struggling to contain pro-Palestinian demonstrations; protesters are building encampments, and Harvard closed its yard to the public. See images from campuses. The police arrested protesting students at N.Y.U. and Yale for violating university warnings and rules. Protesters have demanded Yale divest from weapons manufacturers involved with Israel. Columbia held remote classes, days after officers arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian student demonstrators and some Jewish students raised safety concerns. In a statement on Passover, President Biden denounced “harassment and calls for violence against Jews.” An aide said he was referring to Columbia. At encampments, some Jewish protesters prepared Seder dinners. Israel-Hamas War Six months into the war, Israel has weakened Hamas but failed to achieve its primary goals: freeing hostages and destroying the organization. “Another milestone showing how we aren’t whole”: With more than 130 hostages remaining in Gaza, many Israelis marked Passover — but did not celebrate. People in Gaza struggle to find enough food to eat each day. Read the stories of two families trying to keep their children alive. More International News In Bakhmut, Ukraine. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Ukraine’s military has used Silicon Valley military technologies in its war against Russia. The results have been mixed. The British Parliament passed a contentious law that allows the government to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda. Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, called Muslims “infiltrators” who would take the nation’s wealth if his opponents were elected. Two earthquakes shook Taiwan less than a month after the island’s strongest temblor in decades. The world’s military spending last year reached $2.4 trillion, a 35-year high. The United States spent more than one-third of the total. Politics On Earth Day, Biden announced grants for solar power and opened applications for the American Climate Corps. The prime minister of Papua New Guinea criticized Biden for suggesting that cannibals on the island had eaten Biden’s uncle, whose military plane crashed off the coast during World War II. Supreme Court The Supreme Court seems likely to uphold local ordinances that let an Oregon city ban homeless people from sleeping or camping in public spaces. Separately, the justices agreed to hear a case challenging the Biden administration’s regulation of “ghost guns,” homemade firearms assembled from kits. Artificial Intelligence A Californian start-up devised a way to use A.I. to create gene editors. The advance could help researchers combat diseases. A.I.-generated child sexual abuse material could overwhelm the authorities, a Stanford report cautioned. Other Big Stories Chief Murphy Paul of Baton Rouge, La. Dean Majd for The New York Times Baton Rouge’s police chief hoped police overhauls would help reduce gun violence. Measuring the success is complicated. Credit bureaus like Experian and TransUnion want “buy now, pay later” loans to appear on consumers’ credit reports. Karen, a 5-year-old ostrich known for her playful antics, died at a Kansas zoo after she swallowed a staff member’s keys. Opinions A photo by an eight-legged camera thief. The octopus, via Craig Foster An octopus took my camera, and the images changed the way I see the world, Craig Foster writes. The Manhattan criminal case against Trump is a legal embarrassment and a historic mistake, Jed Handelsman Shugerman argues. The Supreme Court should rule quickly on Trump’s immunity claim, Liz Cheney writes. Tesla’s struggles under Elon Musk are a new version of an old story: Pioneers often fail as managers, Peter Coy writes. Here is a column by Jamelle Bouie on Republicans and small businesses. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. MORNING READS Hand-painted motifs. Simone Nocetti Local cooking: Buon Ricordo plates helped make regional Italian food popular in restaurants. Now they’re collectors’ items. Feelings: Researchers are trying to get inside the minds of animals. Prescriptions: Are you taking multiple medications? You might need to scale back. Much ado about nothing? Every year, millions visit a house known as Shakespeare’s Birthplace. The problem is, no one actually knows where he was born. Lives Lived: Lori and George Schappell were conjoined twins fused at their foreheads. Despite their incredible physical closeness, they managed to lead separate lives — and they said they had neither wanted to be surgically separated nor wished to have been born separately. They died at 62. SPORTS Craig Carton Amy Lombard for The New York Times Open conversations: On WFAN radio, the sports broadcaster Craig Carton invites former gambling addicts like himself to tell their stories. N.B.A.: The New York Knicks took a 2-0 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers after a six-point turnaround with just seconds left. Denver Nuggets: The defending champions pushed their series lead to 2-0 over the Los Angeles Lakers thanks to Jamal Murray’s buzzer beater. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS In Oakham, England. Joshua Bright for The New York Times A year and half after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain has begun to memorialize her with statues. While past works depicted monarchs like Queen Victoria as imposing and stern, many of Queen Elizabeth’s statues will show her as approachable. A sculpture in the town of Oakham depicts her with three corgis at her feet. Real-life corgis came out for a look. More on culture After the release of “The Tortured Poets Department,” Taylor Swift-mania has given way to another feeling: Taylor Swift fatigue. The creative team behind the 1999 horror movie “The Blair Witch Project” called for more retroactive compensation and to be consulted on a coming reboot. “Grenfell” at St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York City is a “tense and enthralling” play about a fire in London that killed 72 people. A humble jacket has become a status symbol. Read why is everyone wearing a chore coat. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Craig Lee for The New York Times Roast this classic roasted chicken Provençal. Play a video game about African myths. Check whether you’re eligible for a tax refund. Clean your microwave. Shave with an electric razor. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were corking, crooking and rocking. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David and Ian Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted April 25 Author Members Share Posted April 25 April 24, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering TikTok’s pro-China tilt — as well as Trump’s trial, abortion and Mark Zuckerberg’s style. TikToking. Luke Sharrett for The New York Times A turnabout The debate over TikTok has shifted very quickly. Just a few months ago, it seemed unlikely that the U.S. government would force ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to sell it. The platform is popular, and Congress rarely passes legislation aimed at a single company. Yet a bipartisan TikTok bill — packaged with aid for Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel and Palestinians — is now on its way to becoming law. Late last night, the Senate passed the measure, 79 to 18, three days after the House passed it, 360 to 58. President Biden said he would sign it today. If ByteDance does not sell TikTok within 12 months, it will be banned in the United States. What explains the turnabout? I have asked that question of policymakers and their aides in recent weeks and heard a similar answer from many. Parts of the debate over TikTok — about the overall benefits and drawbacks of social media, for instance — are complicated, and they would not justify the forced sale of a single company, the policymakers say. But at least one problem with TikTok falls into a different category. It has become a leading source of information in this country. About one-third of Americans under 30 regularly get their news from it. TikTok is also owned by a company based in the leading global rival of the United States. And that rival, especially under President Xi Jinping, treats private companies as extensions of the state. “This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government,” Christopher Wray, the director of the F.B.I., has told Congress. When you think about the issue in these terms, you realize there may be no other situation in the world that resembles China’s control of TikTok. American law has long restricted foreign ownership of television or radio stations, even by companies based in friendly countries. “Limits on foreign ownership have been a part of federal communications policy for more than a century,” the legal scholar Zephyr Teachout explained in The Atlantic. The same is true in other countries. India doesn’t allow Pakistan to own a leading Indian publication, and vice versa. China, for its part, bars access not only to American publications but also to Facebook, Instagram and other apps. TikTok as propaganda Already, there is evidence that China uses TikTok as a propaganda tool. Posts related to subjects that the Chinese government wants to suppress — like Hong Kong protests and Tibet — are strangely missing from the platform, according to a recent report by two research groups. The same is true about sensitive subjects for Russia and Iran, countries that are increasingly allied with China. Consider this data from the report: Source: Network Contagion Research Institute | Actual hashtags do not include spaces. Black Lives Matter hashtag is #BLM. | By The New York Times The report also found a wealth of hashtags promoting independence for Kashmir, a region of India where the Chinese and Indian militaries have had recent skirmishes. A separate Wall Street Journal analysis, focused on the war in Gaza, found evidence that TikTok was promoting extreme content, especially against Israel. (China has generally sided with Hamas.) Adding to this circumstantial evidence is a lawsuit from a former ByteDance executive who claimed that its Beijing offices included a special unit of Chinese Communist Party members who monitored “how the company advanced core Communist values.” Many members of Congress and national security experts find these details unnerving. “You’re placing the control of information — like what information America’s youth gets — in the hands of America’s foremost adversary,” Mike Gallagher, a House Republican from Wisconsin, told Jane Coaston of Times Opinion. Yvette Clarke, a New York Democrat, has called Chinese ownership of TikTok “an unprecedented threat to American security and to our democracy.” In response, TikTok denies that China’s government influences its algorithm and has called the outside analyses of its content misleading. “Comparing hashtags is an inaccurate reflection of on-platform activity,” Alex Haurek, a TikTok spokesman, told me. I find the company’s defense too vague to be persuasive. It doesn’t offer a logical explanation for the huge gaps by subject matter and boils down to: Trust us. Doing so would be easier if the company were more transparent. Instead, shortly after the publication of the report comparing TikTok and Instagram, TikTok altered the search tool that the analysts had used, making future research harder, as my colleague Sapna Maheshwari reported. The move resembled a classic strategy of authoritarian governments: burying inconvenient information. The coming fight The fight over TikTok won’t end even when Biden signs the bill. Chinese officials have signaled that they will not allow ByteDance to sell TikTok, and ByteDance plans to fight the law in court. It will have some American allies, too. On the political left, groups like the A.C.L.U. say that the TikTok bill violates the First Amendment. (You can read the A.C.L.U.’s argument here.) On the right, Jeff Yass, who’s both a TikTok investor and a major Republican campaign donor, is leading the fight against the bill. He is also a former board member at the Cato Institute, which has become a prominent TikTok defender. Yass may be the person who convinced Donald Trump to reverse his position and oppose the bill. These opponents hope to use TikTok’s popularity among younger Americans to create a backlash in coming weeks. And they may have some success. But they are in a much weaker position than they were a few months ago. As Carl Hulse, The Times’s chief Washington correspondent, told me, “The fears that TikTok gives China too much of a way into the U.S. seem to be overriding any political concerns.” There is a long history of members of Congress overcoming partisan divisions to address what they see as a national security threat. Even in today’s polarized atmosphere, it can still happen. For more Under the proposed law, ByteDance will have to sell TikTok within 270 days. It will probably have a hard time finding a buyer with enough money. Read more about the U.S. push to force a sale of TikTok. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Trump on Trial Donald Trump Pool photo by Timothy a Clary David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified yesterday that he hatched a plan in 2015 with Trump and Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, to help Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. That effort entailed publishing positive stories about Trump and negative stories about his rivals, including one falsely linking Ted Cruz’s father to the J.F.K. assassination. It also meant buying and then burying information about possible scandals. Pecker called Trump “very cautious and very frugal” and “almost a micromanager,” which may help prosecutors show that Trump paid hush money and falsified records to hide a sex scandal. The judge didn’t rule on whether Trump had violated the gag order that bars him from attacking witnesses and others. But he scolded Trump’s lawyer for not offering evidence in Trump’s defense, saying, “You’re losing all credibility with the court.” Trump appeared frustrated. At times he yanked his lapels, frowned and shook his head. On social media, he accused Merchan of taking away his rights. The N.Y.P.D. appears to be using a dump truck to block news photographers from seeing Trump as he enters and exits the courthouse. The late-night hosts discussed the gag order hearing. “Has Trump ever considered paying himself hush money?” Jordan Klepper asked. More on Politics Biden won Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary. A sizable share of Republican primary voters cast ballots for Nikki Haley, even though she dropped out. Here are more takeaways. In Florida, Biden criticized the state’s six-week abortion ban and urged voters to support a referendum to restore abortion access there. Tennessee’s legislature passed a bill to allow teachers to carry concealed handguns on school grounds. The governor is likely to sign it. Israel-Hamas War Israel says it will expand a humanitarian zone along the Gaza coast if it invades Rafah, a southern city where more than a million displaced Palestinians are living. Palestinian officials claim to have found mass graves outside two hospitals in Gaza after the withdrawal of Israeli troops there. The U.N. called for an independent investigation. A class of university students finished training in Gaza a week before the war began. The Times spoke with them to learn how their lives had changed. Campus Protests A student at the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.” Bing Guan for The New York Times At Columbia, pro-Palestinian student protesters agreed to remove some tents and bar discriminatory language. The school delayed police action to disband the protests while talks continue. The university’s officials are trying to balance student safety with free speech. Read the inside story of the crisis on campus. Many universities expect protests to disrupt the end of the school year. Columbia will allow students to attend the last week of classes remotely, and the University of Michigan told students to expect demonstrations at graduation ceremonies. More International News In Myanmar. Adam Ferguson for The New York Times Myanmar’s military has cut off phone and internet service in areas controlled by rebel groups. Locals play music to pass the time. Residents of Kharkiv, Ukraine, are trying to live as normal despite daily Russian attacks. See life in the city. At least five people died during an attempt to cross the English Channel, including a young girl. They were on an inflatable boat that was overloaded with more than 100 passengers. Germany arrested an E.U. lawmaker’s aide on suspicion of spying for China. Horses on the loose galloped through London this morning. One appeared to hit a double-decker bus and smash the windshield. Other Big Stories The Justice Department will pay $139 million to resolve claims by women who said they were abused by the former U.S.A. Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. The Federal Trade Commission banned noncompete clauses, which restrict workers from switching to a rival company in the same industry. Tesla’s first-quarter profits fell 55 percent. Sales are down, even as the company lowered the price of its cars to attract buyers. No, officer, he wasn’t drinking: A Belgian man suspected of drunken driving was instead diagnosed with auto-brewery syndrome, a rare condition in which the gut makes its own beer. Opinions Administrators allow discrimination against Jewish students that they would never tolerate against other minorities, Bret Stephens argues. Parents of students suspended by Columbia University and Barnard College wrote a letter to the editor to express their outrage. Student protesters can make their point without shutting down campus life, John McWhorter, a Columbia professor, writes. And here is a column by Thomas Edsall on polarization in 2024. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. MORNING READS Near the Norris Back Basin at Yellowstone. Diane Renkin/National Park Service Yellowstone: Wolves were thought to have rebalanced the national park’s ecosystem. New research questions that story. Ask Well: Are nasal sprays addictive? Read what to know. Creativity: Artists, including Joan Baez, offer advice on squashing self-doubt and procrastination. Lives Lived: Phyllis Pressman began working at Barneys so she could spend more time with her husband, who had taken over the store from his father. She created Chelsea Passage, the store’s home goods bazaar, a pivot point in Barneys’ evolution from a discount men’s wear store to an elite lifestyle behemoth. She died at 95. SPORTS N.B.A.: Luka Doncic scored 32 points to help the Dallas Mavericks tie their series with the Los Angeles Clippers at 1-1. N.H.L.: The New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals, 4-3, to take a 2-0 series lead. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS Arizona cowboys in 1879. C.S. Fly/Buyenlarge, via Getty Images Cowboy aesthetics are back in fashion, as seen in Beyoncé’s release of her album “Cowboy Carter.” In his critic’s notebook, the Times reporter Guy Trebay tries to explain what exactly cowboy style is. “How do you arrive at any single meaning of ‘cowboy’ when the stylistic variants run from western to modern to rhinestone to preppy to line-dancing Saturday night buckaroo to Black?” he writes. More on culture Mark Zuckerberg Yonhap/EPA, via Shutterstock Meta-morphosis: Mark Zuckerberg, once known for wearing the same outfit regularly, has had a makeover. A former cameraman for Megan Thee Stallion said he was forced to watch her have sex, and has filed a lawsuit against her for harassment, NBC reports. The celebrity bag designer Nancy Gonzalez was sentenced to 18 months in prison for smuggling handbags made from protected wildlife skins from Colombia. David Beckham is suing the fitness brand F45, which is co-owned by Mark Wahlberg, for an alleged breach of a financial agreement. X introduced a dedicated app for smart TVs. Elon Musk is trying to expand the company’s video ambitions, according to The Hollywood Reporter. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Armando Rafael for The New York Times Bake sweet and spicy chicken thighs with hot honey and lime. Build a better grocery budget. Add a sprint to your exercise routine. Play pickleball with a good paddle. Work out with earbuds that won’t fall out. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was ambulant. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted April 26 Author Members Share Posted April 26 April 25, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering the protests roiling college campuses — as well as the foreign aid bill, soccer and the Venice Biennale. Outside Columbia University. Adam Gray for The New York Times Dueling priorities Arnold Kling, an economist, published a book a decade ago that offered a way to think about the core difference between progressives and conservatives. Progressives, Kling wrote, see the world as a struggle between the oppressor and the oppressed, and they try to help the oppressed. Conservatives see the world as a struggle between civilization and barbarism — between order and chaos — and they try to protect civilization. Like many frameworks, Kling’s is a simplification, and it’s easy to find exceptions. But his book has been influential because the framework often sheds light on political arguments. The debate over pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia and other universities has become an example. If you want to understand why university leaders are finding the situation so hard to resolve, Kling’s dichotomy is useful: The central question for colleges is whether to prioritize the preservation of order or the desire of students to denounce oppression. In today’s newsletter, I’ll lay out the cases of the dueling sides. Confronting injustice A Jewish student wearing a watermelon kippah, a symbol of Gaza. Bing Guan for The New York Times For the student protesters, the injustice in Gaza is so horrific that it takes precedence over almost anything else. The death toll in Gaza since Oct. 7 is more than 30,000, the Gaza Ministry of Health reports. Entire neighborhoods are rubble. Israel has slowed the entry of basic supplies into Gaza, and many families are hungry. (My colleagues Vivian Yee and Bilal Shbair profiled two families trying to find their children enough to eat.) The protesters view this suffering as an atrocity that demands action, much as Jim Crow laws, the Vietnam War and South African apartheid did for earlier students. In a statement yesterday, a pro-Palestinian group at Columbia cited as inspiration the anti-Vietnam War demonstrators who were killed at Kent State University in 1970. If classes must be canceled and graduation ceremonies can’t happen, all the better, the students say. The disruptions will force the world to confront what the protesters describe as a genocide. “Big picture, genocide is happening, and this is where we stand,” one Columbia graduate student told the publication Hell Gate. Many protesters specifically call for their universities to divest from companies that do business in Israel or help produce military equipment. Some students have framed the debate as being about free speech, and free-speech principles do play a role. But I don’t think they are as central as Kling’s frame. Both sides, after all, have tried to restrict speech. Supporters of Israel have doxxed pro-Palestinian students and tried to penalize slogans like “From the river to the sea.” Pro-Palestinian protesters have ripped away Israeli and U.S. flags and tried to prevent pro-Israel students from speaking. The protesters’ abiding principle is not freedom of speech. It is justice for the oppressed. Preventing chaos The “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.” Bing Guan for The New York Times For the protesters’ critics, the breakdown of order is the central problem — because a community that descends into chaos can’t function. Protesters have frequently violated colleges’ rules. They have erected tents in public places and overwhelmed those areas. Columbia has switched to hybrid classes because of the turmoil. Even worse, some protests have involved harassment and violence. The University of Michigan had to cut short an honors ceremony for students. At Vanderbilt, more than 20 protesters stormed the president’s office, injuring a security guard and shattering a window. At Columbia, videos have shown protesters threatening Jewish students with antisemitic vitriol, including a sign talking about Hamas’s “next targets.” If universities do not enforce their own rules against such behavior, the rules have no meaning, administrators fear. Other protesters, seeing their own causes as existential, could likewise halt normal life. Perhaps they would be climate activists or students outraged by China’s oppression of Uighurs — or even demonstrators with right-wing views unpopular on American campuses. If anti-abortion protesters were to take over a quad for days, would university administrators ignore their own campus rules? Jason Riley, a Wall Street Journal columnist, has compared the protesters’ tactics to those of the white residents of Arkansas who tried to use physical intimidation to prevent the enforcement of a law they didn’t like: school desegregation. President Dwight Eisenhower responded by proclaiming that “disorderly mobs” could not triumph, Riley noted. College administrators are not making such analogies. Many express sympathy for the protesters’ concerns. But some insist that society can’t function if people violate rules without consequence. “We cannot have one group dictate terms and attempt to disrupt important milestones like graduation to advance their point of view,” Minouche Shafik, Columbia’s president, wrote to the campus this week. What’s next? I recognize that not everybody will accept Kling’s framework for this debate. Pro-Palestinian students will say that Israel is the true source of disorder, while pro-Israel students will say that Hamas is the true oppressor. Still, I think the Kling dichotomy captures the dilemma that university leaders face. The protests continue, and graduation season is approaching. Those leaders will have to make difficult decisions about what values to prioritize. The latest on the protests “Go back to class,” Speaker Mike Johnson told protesters while visiting Columbia. He suggested calling in the National Guard. At the University of Texas, police officers in riot gear blocked protesters and arrested at least 20 of them. The protests at Columbia, and the school’s response, have galvanized demonstrations at universities across the U.S. Columbia’s president is fighting for her job. Some professors now oppose her, but she has the support of the school’s board. Benjamin Netanyahu called student protesters in the U.S. “antisemitic mobs.” Trump said the demonstrations were worse than the violent 2017 white supremacist protests in Charlottesville, where a woman was killed. Brandeis, a historically Jewish university outside Boston, extended its deadline for transfer applications, promising an environment “free of harassment and Jew-hatred.” Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Foreign Aid Bill President Biden signed a bill with aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, calling it “a good day for world peace.” The administration plans to send Ukraine more weapons this week. The bill includes $1 billion in humanitarian aid. “Israel must make sure all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay,” Biden said. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, was a linchpin in winning aid for Ukraine, pushing back against isolationists in his own party. Elections An Arizona grand jury charged Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows and others over their efforts to help Donald Trump overturn his 2020 election loss. The indictment names Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator. Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial resumes this morning. This graphic shows the links between Trump and other figures in the case. Biden mocked Trump for suggesting as president that disinfectant injections might treat Covid. The bleach “all went to his hair,” Biden said. More on Politics In Shanghai. Pool photo by Mark Schiefelbein Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, is in China. Economic tensions are high. The Supreme Court sounded divided over whether to allow doctors to perform emergency abortions in states with strict bans. Today the court will hear Trump’s claim that he’s immune from prosecution over Jan. 6. Three Arizona Republicans voted with Democrats to repeal the state’s 1864 abortion ban. The bill heads to the State Senate. Building union leaders endorsed Biden. They plan to mobilize their members to support him in swing states, CNN reports. Donald Payne Jr., a six-term Democratic congressman from New Jersey known for wearing bow ties, died at 65. International In Nairobi, Kenya. Daniel Irungu/EPA, via Shutterstock Floods across Kenya have killed at least 32 people and displaced more than 40,000. The U.S. secretly shipped new long-range missiles to Ukraine. Hamas released a video showing for the first time that Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli American taken hostage on Oct. 7, remains alive. Other Big Stories The Justice Department is investigating the consulting firm McKinsey over its role helping drug companies sell opioids. The Agriculture Department finalized new school meal guidelines with less salt and sugar. To combat avian flu, the Biden administration will require tests for cows that cross state lines. NPR is in turmoil: The broadcaster’s audience is shrinking, its sponsorship revenue is declining, and its leaders are struggling with political strife. Opinions Trump’s criminal trials make him seem like a victim. That could help him on Election Day, Stuart Stevens, a Republican political consultant, writes. The federal government should test people for avian flu now, before an outbreak starts, Zeynep Tufekci writes. Here’s a column by Charles Blow on the Vietnam War and the Gaza protests. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. MORNING READS In Athens. Angelos Tzortzinis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Athens: A Saharan dust cloud has turned the city orange. Meet Cait Bailey: She’s a publicist to major celebrities, and her boyfriend is a famous chef. But she’d prefer to keep a low profile. Diet: Could calorie restriction or intermittent fasting help you live longer? Read what scientists know. Broods: Trillions of cicadas are emerging after more than a decade of feeding on tree roots. Get ready. Lives Lived: Helen Vendler’s power as a poetry critic derived from her close and impassioned readings. A fellow critic called her a “colossus.” Vendler died at 90. SPORTS In England. Team Green Photography Queens Park Ladies: An under-12 girls’ soccer team in England joined a boys’ league — and went undefeated. “They definitely underestimated us,” Edith Wragg, one of the players, said. N.F.L. Draft: Four quarterbacks are expected to go in the first round tonight. N.B.A.: The Miami Heat shocked the Boston Celtics in a 111-101 road win to even the series at 1-1. College football: Reggie Bush’s 2005 Heisman Trophy was reinstated, nearly 14 years after he forfeited it during a scandal. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS In Venice. Casey Kelbaugh for The New York Times The Venice Biennale, the world’s best event to discover new art, opened with a Prosecco-soaked weekend. Artists, along with critics and collectors, filled the city. The Times’s critic Jason Farago was one of them. While he loved some of the work, he didn’t love the theme, “Foreigners Everywhere,” which he felt reflects a problem in our culture. “It’s often preachy, but that’s not its biggest problem. The real problem is how it tokenizes, essentializes, minimizes and pigeonholes talented artists,” he writes. Read his review. Related: Venice is trying to limit tourism with a small fee on busy days. More on culture A scene from “Challengers.” Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures “Challengers,” from the director Luca Guadagnino, is about love and tennis. The Times spoke with its stars, including Zendaya, about the film and life in the public eye. The American Film Institute is giving Nicole Kidman a lifetime achievement award this week. See what makes her work singular. The Getty Museum agreed to return an ancient bronze head to Turkey. A long-lost Gustav Klimt painting sold for $37 million at auction. Jimmy Kimmel dunked on Trump’s billion-dollar stock bonus. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Orzo & Asparagus with Lemon, Garlic Breadcrumbs & Herbs. Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Toss a 20-minute lemony orzo with asparagus and garlic bread crumbs. Navigate grief with these books. Understand the new airline refund rules. Buy a gift for a green-thumbed friend. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was topiary. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David P.S. Lauren Jackson — one of the Times journalists in London who update this newsletter while you’re sleeping — has been promoted to associate editor. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted April 27 Author Members Share Posted April 27 April 26, 2024 SUPPORTED BY GE AEROSPACE Good morning. Today my colleague John Eligon is writing about an important anniversary for South Africa. We’re also covering the Supreme Court, Harvey Weinstein and bird flu. — David Leonhardt Nelson Mandela in 1994. Joao Silva/Associated Press After apartheid By John Eligon He is The Times’s Johannesburg bureau chief. South Africa’s apartheid government died in an election 30 years ago tomorrow. For the first time, Black South Africans were among those casting ballots. In the regime’s place, voters inaugurated a democracy led by people who look like the country’s majority. Hopes ran high: Nelson Mandela became president and vowed to help Black communities prosper by giving them access to the wealth, land and mines — South Africa is rich in gold and diamonds — colonizers had taken. Toppling the racist regime, it turns out, was just the beginning. Three decades later, Mandela’s vision is far from realized. Most Black South Africans don’t earn enough to meet their basic needs, and many lack reliable services like electricity and water. Racial disparities in employment, education and income are still massive. Communities where people live in tin shacks and use latrines sit alongside suburbs with swimming pools and electrified walls. With a major national election next month, my colleague Lynsey Chutel and I have been reporting to understand how South Africa got here. We’ve sifted through data, interviewed experts and chatted with dozens of residents from every walk of life. (Read our story here.) Today’s newsletter will explain what happened. Joyful progress In Soweto, South Africa. Joao Silva/The New York Times For all its problems, South Africa has still achieved something remarkable. After apartheid, its democratic government, led by the liberation movement, the African National Congress, drafted a constitution that enshrines equal rights for everyone. Since 1994, the country has held six peaceful and credible democratic elections. Even though the A.N.C. has had a grip on power, the political arena is fierce and combative. This year, a record 52 parties will be on the national ballot. In many places, you see an inclusive joy these days that would not have been possible under apartheid. On any given night, you’ll find Black partygoers in swanky nightclubs or high-end restaurants, sucking on hookah pipes or posing for Instagram snapshots. Some townships, which the apartheid government had designed to keep the Black population ostracized, have vibrant arts and culture scenes. Festivals are frequently held in all parts of the country and draw multiracial crowds. Many thump with amapiano, a South African brand of house music, and revelers doing smooth robotic jiggles. The economic situation is not uniformly bleak. The upscale shopping malls and modern office towers are no longer the preserve of white South Africans. In 2022, there were 16 times more Black South Africans living in households among the top 15 percent of earners than there were in 1995. Even when it comes to venting frustrations with the government, there is a lively protest culture, with people of all shades and socioeconomic backgrounds taking to the streets. Civil society thrives: Many human rights organizations advocate for the most vulnerable. A robust and independent press calls out government wrongdoing. A stubborn legacy Near Carletonville, South Africa. Joao Silva/The New York Times Mandela’s government raced to provide homes, electricity and water to the millions of Black South Africans deprived of those basics under apartheid. Over time, though, progress slowed. Some advocates argued that the government should quickly seize banks, mines and land. But policymakers worried about scaring international investors and institutions. So they often took a gentler approach. Instead of nationalizing corporations, the government mandated greater Black representation among business owners in order for companies to get contracts from the state. Instead of taking land from white owners, the government simply urged them to sell some of it. Some did, and a few Black buyers — mostly with government support — had the means to purchase land, but not nearly enough to transform the economy. Source: Statistics South Africa | Unemployment rates include those discouraged from seeking work. | By Lauren Leatherby Today, white people, who are 7 percent of the population, still own most land and big business. Black South Africans have made some inroads. But the benefits have mostly gone to a small number of politically connected Black people at the top of the economic ladder. This elite enrichment is tied to the country’s persistent corruption, which began even as the new country took shape. The A.N.C. back then was filled with revolutionaries who had been tortured, imprisoned or exiled by the white-led regime. Suddenly, many of those same liberation fighters became top government officials. They had access to resources and power they’d never known before. Multiple A.N.C. veterans have told me that some party members couldn’t resist grabbing the spoils. They felt that they had sacrificed so much and it was time for them to eat. South Africans today live with the consequences. The state-owned power company, for instance, was pilfered and now struggles to keep plants working, leading to frequent blackouts. Commercial ships and trucks have been backed up at South Africa’s vital shipping ports because of the dysfunctional state-owned logistics company. A young nation’s future South Africa, like other African nations and even the United States, has not figured out how to undo economic inequities created by hundreds of years of racial oppression. But history is not destiny. Frustrated South Africans head to the polls next month. For the first time since full democracy began in 1994, the A.N.C. may lose its majority in Parliament. If it does, voters will be exercising a freedom they gained that is not in question: to choose, and dispatch, leaders as they wish. Related: Read John’s guide to the South African election. Continue reading the main story A MESSAGE FROM GE AEROSPACE GE Aerospace’s Q1 Earnings Report Released GE Aerospace launched as an independent, public company and delivered strong results in the first quarter of 2024. Learn more here. THE LATEST NEWS Supreme Court The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appears likely to rule that ex-presidents have some immunity from prosecution. That would narrow the federal Jan. 6 case against Donald Trump, and make it less likely that he would face trial before the 2024 election. The court usually issues major rulings in late June or early July. Even that could be enough to delay Trump’s trial past the election, The Times’s Adam Liptak explains. During arguments, several justices focused on presidential power generally rather than Trump. “We’re writing a rule for the ages,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said. Trump’s lawyer suggested that criminal immunity could apply even if a president ordered the military to kill a rival or stage a coup. Trump on Trial Donald Trump Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, told the jury in Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial that he helped buy and bury three scandalous stories about Trump during the 2016 election. Pecker heard in October 2016 that the adult film star Stormy Daniels was trying to sell her story of a tryst with Trump and suggested that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, buy it. That hush money, which Trump reimbursed Cohen for, is now central to prosecutors’ case. Pecker acknowledged that the hush money was effectively an illegal donation to Trump’s campaign and said that Trump was worried about how the stories could affect the race, not about his family finding out. That may help prosecutors argue that Trump sought to win the election through illegal means. Pecker testified that after Trump won, he attended a meeting at Trump Tower in which Trump thanked him for purchasing the stories in front of James Comey, the F.B.I. director. Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein in 2020. Desiree Rios for The New York Times New York’s highest court overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for sex crimes. It said the judge had erred by allowing witnesses unrelated to the charges. The Manhattan district attorney must decide whether to seek a retrial. Weinstein will be moved to a prison in California, where he was separately sentenced to 16 years for rape. “The criminal case against him has been fragile since the day it was filed,” wrote Jodi Kantor, whose reporting revealed decades of accusations against Weinstein and helped kick off the #MeToo movement. Read the full ruling. Campus Protests Protesters at N.Y.U. Andres Kudacki for The New York Times Pro-Palestinian encampments have spread across the country, and hundreds of people have been arrested. This map shows where. U.S.C. canceled its main graduation ceremony because of the protests. Demonstrations are rare in the school’s 144-year history. Israel-Hamas War Biden and the leaders of 17 other nations called on Hamas to release all its hostages, in an effort to raise pressure on the group to agree to a cease-fire. Western aid groups in Gaza have repeatedly come under fire from the Israeli military, even after they shared their locations with officials, a Times video investigation found. China Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, met with Xi Jinping. A Chinese company is Americans’ favorite drone maker. The U.S. government considers it a security threat. More International News In Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press A ruling council took office in Haiti as Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned. The country faces widespread gang violence and a humanitarian crisis. The U.S. said it would withdraw troops from Chad, days after saying the same about Niger. Both African countries have been strengthening ties with Russia. Other Big Stories About 20 percent of milk sampled nationwide showed genetic traces of bird flu, the F.D.A. found. There was no sign the milk was unsafe to drink, but it suggests the outbreak is widespread in cows. A high school athletic director in Maryland was arrested on charges that he used A.I. to fake an audio clip of the principal making racist and antisemitic remarks. The authorities in Mississippi have issued playing cards depicting victims of unsolved murders, hoping for leads. Opinions Toby Kiers had a choice between being a bad scientist or a bad mother. She chose defiance, she writes, and brought her children with her on expeditions. Mike Johnson deserves praise for standing up against his party to pass aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, Frank Bruni writes. You’ve been wronged. That doesn’t mean your complaints are right, Pamela Paul argues. Here are columns by David Brooks on rising federal debt and Paul Krugman on the progress of unions. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. MORNING READS Dommaraju Gukesh Arun Sankar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Check mate: The next world chess champion could be the youngest ever. Teddy’s here, too: Sharing a bed with a partner sometimes means making room for their stuffed animal. Fines: A Wyoming town penalized a 13-year-old for selling Girl Scout cookies in the wrong place, The Cowboy State Daily reports. Homes: A study suggests that Gen Z has it better in the housing market than the millennials who came before. Lives Lived: Carrie Robbins made a classic wig and poodle skirt for “Grease” — using a bath mat and a toilet cover — and turned other actors into Spanish inquisitors, British highwaymen and more. She died at 81. SPORTS N.F.L. Draft: U.S.C.’s Caleb Williams went No. 1 to the Chicago Bears, as expected, in the first round of the draft. The Atlanta Falcons’ selection of the Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. shocked league insiders. N.B.A.: Joel Embiid, recently diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, scored 50 points to power the 76ers past the Knicks and narrow their series lead to 2-1. N.H.L.: The New York Islanders face a 3-0 series deficit after losing 3-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes at home. Continue reading the main story A MESSAGE FROM GE AEROSPACE GE Aerospace’s Q1 Earnings Report Released GE Aerospace launched as an independent, public company and delivered strong results in the first quarter of 2024. Learn more here. ARTS AND IDEAS On the video podcast Club Shay Shay. Club Shay Shay Young people are spending more time on TikTok and YouTube. To stay relevant, many podcast hosts have started recording their conversations in video as well as audio. While a “video podcast” might seem contradictory, people watch. Interview-driven series like “The Joe Rogan Experience,” “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” and “Drink Champs” reach millions of subscribers on YouTube and Spotify, which added support for video in 2020. More on culture The Onion was sold to a group of media veterans whose firm — Global Tetrahedron — took its name from an Onion joke. Artifacts from the Titanic — including its bandleader’s violin case — are up for auction this weekend in England, 112 years after the ship sank. A new production of “The Great Gatsby” on Broadway is a lot of fun, our critic writes, but it falters in serious moments. Ahead of the White House Correspondents Dinner, the comedian Roy Wood Jr. — who hosted last year — discussed humor and the 2024 election on “The Run-Up” podcast. Listen here. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Kelly Marshall for The New York Times Mix six ingredients for a quick miso-mascarpone pasta. Make your shower more luxurious. Learn the new rules for visiting Venice. Pack a sleeping pad for your car camping trip. Refresh your bathroom for $50 or less. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was blithely. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted Sunday at 08:35 PM Author Members Share Posted Sunday at 08:35 PM April 27, 2024 By Melissa Kirsch Good morning. The advice to live each day to its fullest can seem like a cliché, but figuring out how to actually do that can be pretty challenging. María Jesús Contreras Saving time Any advice I’ve ever been given that’s actually resonated has boiled down to a variation on the same basic theme: Life is short. Stop wasting it. It comes packaged in varying poetic guises, each profound or corny, depending on how receptive or cynical one is feeling. “Don’t borrow trouble” is my favorite, a solid distillation of “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” from the Gospels. The poet Andrew Marvell addressed himself to his mistress with the persuasive “The grave’s a fine and private place, / But none, I think, do there embrace.” A million memes have bloomed from the Mary Oliver line “Tell me, what is it you plan to do / With your one wild and precious life?” The message is consistent and irrefutable: Memento mori. Remember you’re going to die. Or, if you prefer, YOLO. I find all of these exhortations urgent and moving and also difficult to absorb. So I’m always grateful to hear the message again, to be reminded to be intentional about how I’m spending or wasting time. I had just such a reminder recently listening to a conversation between The Times’s David Marchese and the actress Anne Hathaway. David asks her about turning 40 and entering middle age. She said she was hesitant to mark this time in her life as the middle because she could get hit by a car later today. “We don’t know if this is middle age,” she says. “We don’t know anything.” I myself am approaching a milestone birthday, one I’m trying not to think of as some kind of deadline or reckoning, and I welcomed Hathaway’s perspective on how we consider time. It’s easy to default into picturing one’s life as a timeline, to chart our progress along that line, certain we know where the beginning, middle and end are. Hathaway recalled a moment of awakening when, lost in stress, she realized: “You are taking your life for granted. You have no idea. Something could fall through the sky and that would be lights out for you.” Here you are, burning daylight and borrowing trouble and going gentle into that good night. Memento mori. Something could, at any moment, fall through the sky. If we really and truly understood that, how would today be different? There are good books that dig into this: Ernest Becker’s “Denial of Death,” Oliver Burkeman’s “Four Thousand Weeks,” Stephen Levine’s “A Year to Live.” I’ve read them each more than once, periodic efforts to keep the fire under myself ablaze. Sometimes it burns so brightly I find myself hurrying through my life, another way of wasting time. On a recent revisiting of Levine’s book I found myself resentful of the time it was taking to read it: What if I was spending too much time considering how I’m spending my time? At that point, I probably was. As David says in the interview, we know we can’t take for granted how much time we have left, but “internalizing that so that we can treat each day and moment of our lives like it could be the last, which would be the most powerful change we could make in our lives, is also maybe the hardest thing to actually do.” It’s one thing to intellectually understand the finitude of our lives and another to actually live it out. Whatever it takes to truly get it is worthwhile, whether it’s reading and rereading the same books, or talking it out with friends; whether it’s a meditation practice or a sticky note on your monitor or just paying close and compassionate attention to how you’re spending your time. It can be tempting to dismiss easily commodified inspiration. I’m skeptical of “seize the day”-style wisdom that I can picture painted in splashy cursive on a piece of shiplap and sold in a home décor store. But maybe that’s the point: Reminders of our mortality have broad appeal because their implications are relevant for literally everyone. We don’t need to wait until we see something falling through the sky, headed our way, to live as if something might. As Levine writes in “A Year to Live,” “Once you see what the heart really needs, it doesn’t matter if you’re going to live or die, the work is always the same.” For more David Marchese’s talk with Anne Hathaway is part of a new Times series called “The Interview,” which will come out each week as both a podcast and an article. You can get the podcast here, or read the interview here. “Contemplating death is like a cold plunge for the soul, a prick to the amygdala. You emerge renewed, your vision clarified.” On the 50th anniversary of “Denial of Death.” Meet the nun who wants you to remember you will die. “Pretending death can be indefinitely evaded with hot yoga or a gluten-free diet or antioxidants or just by refusing to look is craven denial.” From 2013, Tim Kreider on watching a parent get old. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE WEEK IN CULTURE Music Republic Records, via Associated Press “The Tortured Poets Department,” Taylor Swift’s latest album, is not universally loved. The Times’s pop music team discussed its lukewarm reception. Beyoncé shared her hair-care routine on Instagram to promote her new line of products. In it, she rejected the idea that “people who wear wigs don’t have long and healthy hair.” RZA, the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan, spoke to The Times about his veganism and the connection between masculinity and meat. The estate of Tupac Shakur threatened to sue Drake over his use of the rapper’s voice — likely generated by A.I. — in a diss tracked aimed at Kendrick Lamar, Pitchfork reports. The Spice Girls reunited at Victoria Beckham’s 50th birthday party. A video of them singing their 1997 song “Stop” was posted on Instagram by David Beckham. Film and TV Bill Skarsgard in “Boy Kills World.” Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate Read The Times’s critics on the films that are worth seeing — or at least knowing about — this week, including Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” and “Boy Kills World,” starring Bill Skarsgard. The rom-com “Anyone but You,” which is led by Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, beat box-office odds to become a hit. The actors discussed its success and leaning into on-set romance rumors. Other Big Stories A Second City performance in Brooklyn. Carlos Perez New York City’s improv scene took a hit during the pandemic. Now, a new energy can be seen in performances throughout the city, our comedy columnist writes. In the latest Fashion Chatter column, Ruth La Ferla spoke to the activist Gloria Steinem, who was tapped to promote a campaign about self-acceptance, about her beauty ideals. The nominees for the Turner Prize, the prestigious British art award, were announced. The four chosen artists draw on personal history and identity in their work. Here are 10 highlights from the Venice Biennale, which opened last week. The Getty Museum in Los Angeles will return an ancient bronze head to Turkey. An antiquities dealer sold the work in 1971, but it was later found to have been looted. THE LATEST NEWS Politics Donald Trump on Friday. Dave Sanders for The New York Times Donald Trump’s lawyer tried to find inconsistencies in testimony given by David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, in Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial. Pecker responded defiantly, saying he had been “truthful to the best of my recollection.” The Biden administration delayed a decision on whether to ban menthol cigarettes. Tobacco companies and some Black supporters of President Biden oppose a ban. Biden said in an interview with Howard Stern that he would be “happy” to debate Trump and criticized the Supreme Court as “maybe the most conservative in modern history.” The Times’s Charles Homans attended seven Trump rallies and was stunned by how different the former president sounded compared to his 2016 campaign. Other Big Stories The U.S. said it would not suspend aid to Israeli military units accused of human rights abuses in the West Bank, so long as Israel holds them accountable. Columbia University barred from its campus a student leader of the pro-Palestinian protests who said on video that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” The student apologized. The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation remained stubbornly elevated last month. That could prompt Fed officials to keep interest rates high for longer. King Charles III will return to public duties next week, an encouraging sign of recovery about three months after he disclosed that he had cancer. Congestion pricing, which charges drivers more to enter certain parts of New York City in an effort to ease traffic, will take effect June 30. It’s the first such program in the country. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. CULTURE CALENDAR By Alexis Soloski 📺 Hacks (Thursday): Can’t you take a joke? This HBO comedy, starring Jean Smart in her career best as a legacy comic and Hannah Einbinder as a gawky millennial upstart, returns for a third season. The show has laughs to burn, many of them from its terrific supporting cast, which includes Megan Stalter and Poppy Liu. But “Hacks” is at its best totaling the high cost that celebrity and comedy exact. 🎥 The Fall Guy (Friday): Ryan Gosling, America’s boyfriend, stars opposite Emily Blunt in this reboot of the 1980s TV series. Stunt casting? Exactly. In this giddy ode to movies and the people who make them, Gosling plays Colt Seavers, an injured stuntman hired for a movie directed by Jody (Blunt), his snappish ex. David Leitch, a veteran stuntman, directs. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT RECIPE OF THE WEEK Christopher Testani for The New York Times By Genevieve Ko Matzo Pizza Gluten-free pizza options may abound now, but nothing beats the crackle of a matzo crust, especially during Passover. In her matzo pizza, Melissa Clark brilliantly starts by toasting olive oil-slicked matzo on its own so it stays crisp. (Using a thicker pizza sauce, like this one, also helps.) It’s great on its own or with more toppings. REAL ESTATE Jaida and Keeva Haynes. Dustin Chambers for The New York Times The hunt: A mother and daughter wanted a home outside Atlanta with enough room for some privacy. Which one did they choose? Play our game. What you get for $700,000: A 1926 brick house in Lexington, Ky.; a two-bedroom condo in Lyme, N.H.; or a Tudor Revival home in Minneapolis. Rebuilding: A writer lost nearly everything in a fire. She reflects on what she learned. LIVING A scene from “Challengers.” Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Normcore: Members of The Times’s Styles desk have feelings about the fashion in the tennis-slash-love triangle movie “Challengers.” Easy listening: Podcasts like “The Happiness Lab,” hosted by the academic Dr. Laurie Santos, can help soothe the anxious mind. London: In a few years, you could be eating dinner, going to fashion shows and walking through gardens in tunnels below the city. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER The easiest Mother’s Day gift of them all As a parent of young children, all I want for Mother’s Day is a couple hours without them. Conversely, my older sister, a parent of teenagers, is thirsty for any scraps of time with her kiddos, phones down. Where we’re aligned: Save your flowers and skip the gift certificate. If you’re in a position to give time on May 12, apart or together, do that! But as Wirecutter’s gift editor, I’ve got a front-row seat to dozens of inexpensive gifts I’d graciously receive. Every pick combines delight, beauty and utility, and ideally serves as a joyful reminder of your appreciation. (All that for under $50!) Our advice is to do both: Save your money, give your time. That’s what moms really want. — Hannah Morrill GAME OF THE WEEK The Bruins and the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. Claus Andersen/Getty Images Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, N.H.L. playoffs: One of hockey’s oldest rivalries gets another installment. How old? These two first played one another a century ago, in 1924. Toronto hasn’t beaten Boston in a playoff series since 1959, and it’s currently down two games to one. But don’t count the Leafs out: They still have the best player on the ice in Auston Matthews, the N.H.L.’s leader in goals this season, who is among the favorites to win M.V.P. 8 p.m. Eastern on TBS NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was pothead. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. P.S. For anybody who wants to reflect on yesterday’s Times crossword puzzle, David Leonhardt was the guest columnist for Wordplay. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted Monday at 01:00 AM Author Members Share Posted Monday at 01:00 AM April 28, 2024 Good morning. Today my colleague Debra Kamin, a real estate reporter, explains why Americans are entranced by the glitzy world of celebrity home sales. — David Leonhardt In Los Angeles. Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times Selling a dream By Debra Kamin She is a real estate reporter. There are few acts more optimistic than shopping for a home. You walk through its doors, run your fingertips along its appliances and see your face reflected in its windows and mirrors. You consider untapped versions of your life, imagining yourself waking up every day in that bedroom, cooking every day in that kitchen and letting the years unfold between those walls. Real estate agents understand this allure. The good ones package it up, serving it to clients in the form of property tours that show off not only a house, but also the life that a house can offer. And the really good ones are so adept at spinning the fantasy that they’re building careers on television out of it. For a new story for The Times’s real estate section, which published this morning, I spent time with agents from shows like “Million Dollar Listing” and “Buying Beverly Hills” to understand how they became stars in their own right, and what that tells us about the state of housing in the U.S. Hollywood luxury Late last year, I flew to Los Angeles to attend an awards show for some of Hollywood’s most famous real estate agents. Seated in the backyard of a sprawling estate once owned by Madonna, I watched as Mauricio Umansky, who stars on Netflix’s “Buying Beverly Hills,” cracked jokes and presented awards like “Stratospheric Sale of the Year.” (The winner was Kurt Rappaport, who represented Beyoncé and Jay-Z in their purchase of a $190 million Malibu pad last May.) “This is the Oscars of real estate,” Alexander Ali, a public relations official, told me that night. He runs a company, the Society Group, devoted solely to promoting celebrity agents and the houses that they list. Millions of us are hooked on his clients’ content. The most recent season of “Selling Sunset” brought in about 3.2 million streaming viewers per episode, according to Nielsen Media Research; “Buying Beverly Hills” drew 1.7 million per episode in its first season. At a Los Angeles Power Broker Awards party. Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times I also toured homes with some of the celebrity agents, and felt the seductive power of their extravagance firsthand. One of my hosts was Aaron Kirman, who starred on CNBC’s “Listing Impossible.” We drove around Los Angeles while he pointed out houses owned by Chrissy Teigen and Leonardo DiCaprio. At a red light, he reached into his Range Rover’s center console, which is refrigerated and stocked with protein shakes, then helped me put my seat into massage mode, so a dozen nodules could melt away the knots in my back. We pulled up to a $58 million home in Bel Air. The house, a temple of glass and curved steel, has nine bedrooms, 13 bathrooms and a central spiral staircase that alone cost $1.25 million. Usher borrowed the space to shoot his music video for “Ruin” just before this year’s Super Bowl. I sat on the home’s plush sofas and stared at the soaring ceiling of its primary suite. Outside, its infinity pool glinted in the sun. And I wondered: In an alternate timeline, one marked by different life choices, could this have been my home? Refuge in fantasy In the real world, the dream of homeownership is more elusive than it has been in decades. Housing affordability in the U.S. is at a crushing low, with skyrocketing prices, elevated mortgage rates and a shortage of inventory for low- and middle-income households. Instead of turning us away from escapist real estate television, though, these struggles seem to have increased the programs’ allure. The reason, one sociologist told me, is the “parasocial relationship” that viewers can form with celebrity agents: They feel like friends to us, and as a result, we live vicariously through them when we watch. In one of the cruelest housing markets in history, Americans are turning to television to fulfill their real estate desires. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Politics President Biden Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times President Biden joked about Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner. “The 2024 election’s in full swing and yes, age is an issue,” he said. “I’m a grown man running against a 6-year-old.” No major American presidential candidate has talked like Trump now does at his rallies, not even Trump himself, Charles Homans writes. Environmental rules are imposed, gutted and restored with each election. Economists say that’s creating an unstable business environment. At Trump’s criminal trial, the testimony of David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer, offered a window into the golden era of tabloids. As Earl Blumenauer, a longtime Oregon congressman, prepares to retire, he is trying to persuade his fellow Democrats to embrace federal marijuana legalization. Israel-Hamas War Hamas released a video of two hostages that appeared to have been made recently. The circumstances of how the video was filmed were unclear. Development agencies and Middle Eastern businesses have been meeting to plan Gaza’s long-term economic future. The U.S. military is building a humanitarian pier in Gaza. Read about how it will work. Campus Protests At Northeastern University in Boston. Sophie Park for The New York Times The police arrested more than 200 protesters yesterday at Northeastern University, Arizona State University, Indiana University and Washington University in St. Louis, officials said. Some colleges that initiated police crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests have since taken a different tack. Others have defended the move. See images of the student protests from Reuters. More International News Guatemalan security forces. Daniele Volpe for The New York Times As fentanyl has largely displaced heroin in the U.S., the world’s largest market for illicit drugs, poppy farmers in Guatemala are losing their primary income. In Ukraine, prisoners of war are returning with physical and psychological wounds. Soldiers are sent back to active duty, often without adequate treatment. “I came to the U.K. for the U.K.”: Asylum seekers in Britain expressed anxiety about a law that brings the possibility of their deportation to Rwanda closer. Other Big Stories The Louisiana Supreme Court cleared the way for a new city to be created out of part of Baton Rouge, carving out a largely white and more affluent section of the city. A Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 plane lost its emergency slide soon after takeoff, prompting it to return to New York. It was not immediately clear what caused the slide to detach. THE SUNDAY DEBATE Was Mike Johnson courageous to advance military aid for Ukraine? Yes. The speaker pushed military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan at great personal risk to himself. “This political underdog from Louisiana has demonstrated that courage and a spirit of unity still have a place in American politics,” Earle Mack writes for The Hill. No. It should not have taken so long to advance a popular measure, held back only by his apparent fear of Trump loyalists. “That Johnson finally relented merits a sigh of relief, not celebration,” The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin writes. FROM OPINION Conservatives should once again become champions of environmental policy, Benji Backer writes. Harvey Weinstein had so many victims that it allowed him to be held to account in the court of public opinion. It also saved him in the court of law, Jessica Bennett writes. Even if the government’s near-total ban on noncompete agreements is legal, enforcing it is going to be tricky, Peter Coy writes. Here are columns by Ross Douthat on what students read before they protest and Nicholas Kristof on U.S. arms transparency. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE INTERVIEW Yair Lapid Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times This weekend, The New York Times is publishing the first entries in a new feature called The Interview, the successor to David Marchese’s Talk column from The Times Magazine. The Interview will feature two alternating hosts — David, as well as Lulu Garcia-Navarro, whom you may know from her work on the podcast “First Person” and from NPR. Their conversations will also appear as a podcast, “The Interview.” Below is an excerpt from Lulu’s first interview in the series, with Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s opposition party. By Lulu Garcia-Navarro Israel is being accused of genocide, of war crimes. And as we’ve talked, you’ve defended the conduct of the war. And you’ve referred to yourself as an Israeli patriot. But can patriotism not also be defined as questioning the conduct of this war? Of course it can. I assume what I was reacting to is what I feel is the betrayal of the intellectuals. Meaning that the intellectuals of the West, or some of them, have betrayed the idea of complexity. And the dialogue we have with the outside world is either with people who are chanting slogans they don’t really understand or who are determined to make this into a one-sided story. What I’m thinking about actually is just what it means in a moment like this to effectively, even if you care about Israel and the Israelis, say this is not OK. You know, earlier you disparaged the young people in the U.S. marching for Palestinian rights, and you say that they’re clueless and misled. I don’t think they’re marching for Palestinian rights. I think they’re marching against Palestinian rights. I think what they’re doing is against the best interest of the Palestinian people. Doesn’t that dismiss their legitimate concerns about civilian deaths? Well, I think they should understand that there is a reason why everything is happening, and the reason is Hamas. The reason is not Israel. I mean, not to be able to even track why what is happening is happening is a total lack of even, I don’t know, intellectual dignity or at least curiosity. You can read, or listen to, the full interview here. MORNING READS David B. Torch for The New York Times Start-up: This company aims to make head-to-toe body scans part of the annual health checkup routine. Senior year: Members of the class of 2024 feel anxious and frustrated with the state of the world. A $275 bus ticket: After a decade of flying passengers to eastern Long Island on helicopters, Blade is getting into the luxury coach business. The Culture Desk: Alicia Keys discusses “Hell’s Kitchen,” a Broadway musical that draws on her life story and discography. “Posture panic”: This academic is re-examining conventional wisdom about proper posture. Vows: They exchanged vows on 4/20, complete with a weed-infused reception. Lives Lived: Andrew Davis was an ebullient British conductor who brought passion to hundreds of opera performances. He died at 80. THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE Photograph by Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times Click the cover image above to read this week’s magazine. BOOKS In Dallas. Desiree Rios for The New York Times Dallas: Meet the publishers and booksellers putting this Texas city on the literary map. Early influencers: “Liberty Equality Fashion” explores the clothes that embodied the ideas of the French Revolution. Our editors’ pick: “Great Expectations,” about a Black campaign aide working for a candidate who resembles Barack Obama, and eight other books. Times best sellers: Michelle Obama’s “The Light We Carry” and Patti Smith’s “A Book of Days” both make appearances on the paperback nonfiction list. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Improve your sex life with these exercises. Read what to know about antidepressants. Bolster your Wi-Fi speed. Clean your yard. THE WEEK AHEAD What to Watch For Nominations for the Tony Awards are announced on Tuesday. The Federal Reserve meets this week. Local elections in England are held on Thursday. The Kentucky Derby is on Saturday. Meal Plan Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. In this week’s Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter, Emily Weinstein highlights an easy new recipe that’s already earning rave reviews: roasted chicken thighs with hot honey and lime, which is ready in a total of 35 minutes. Emily also suggests roasted salmon with peas and radishes, and spicy shrimp patties. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was placebo. Can you put eight historical events — including origins of chess, Pueblo cliff dwellings and instant ramen — in chronological order? Take this week’s Flashback quiz. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted Tuesday at 12:53 AM Author Members Share Posted Tuesday at 12:53 AM April 29, 2024 SUPPORTED BY By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering the reasons that Trump has avoided legal penalties for 2020 — as well as campus protests, Senate races and risqué movies. Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. Pete Marovich for The New York Times Delay, delay, delay It now seems likely that Donald Trump will be able to run for president this year without having faced any legal penalties for his effort to overturn the last presidential election. To many of his supporters, of course, this outcome is just. But it is also striking. Most Americans believe that Trump committed serious crimes, polls show. He chose not to order the authorities to stop a violent attack on the Capitol, even when his vice president was in danger. And he directed state election officials to “find” him votes. Even so, Congress did not sanction him, and neither of the criminal trials related to his actions may even start before the 2024 election. In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain how this happened, by focusing on the three crucial groups of people: Republican senators, Democratic (or Democrat-appointed) prosecutors and Republican appointees on the Supreme Court. 1. Republican senators The simplest path for addressing Trump’s attempts to overthrow an election was always in Congress. Congress has the power to impeach officials and bar them from holding office again, and it has used this power before. Most criminal convictions, by contrast, do not prevent somebody from holding office. In early 2021, Congress seemed to be on the verge of barring Trump. The House impeached him, with 10 Republicans joining every Democrat in voting to do so. In the Senate, convicting him would have required at least 17 Republicans. That seemed plausible. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, signaled that he supported impeachment. As people close to him told The Times, McConnell believed that the process would make it easier to purge Mr. Trump from the party. Other Republican senators sent similar signals. Ultimately, though, they backed down. Trump remained popular with Republican voters, and many senators feared confronting him. McConnell played the central role. He delayed the trial until after Trump left office — and some senators then justified their acquittal votes by saying Trump was no longer president. Seven Republicans, a mix of moderates and conservatives, did vote to convict: Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Others who were witheringly critical of Trump in private — like Roy Blunt of Missouri and Rob Portman of Ohio — voted to acquit, making it possible for Trump to become the Republican nominee this year. 2. Democratic prosecutors After the Senate acquitted Trump, the next focus became the criminal investigations of his postelection actions. But these investigations moved slowly. At the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland and his deputy, Lisa Monaco, worried that an indictment of Trump would appear partisan and told aides to proceed with extreme caution. Their caution was reminiscent of Robert Mueller’s decision as special counsel in 2019 not to announce a conclusion about whether Trump had broken the law during his 2016 campaign — even after Mueller presented such evidence. In both cases, top prosecutors were hoping to remain above the political fray. To some Justice Department officials working for Garland and Monaco, this was an impossible goal in today’s political atmosphere. As The Washington Post put it: “Some prosecutors below them chafed, feeling top officials were shying away from looking at evidence of potential crimes by Trump and those close to him.” The F.B.I. did not open a probe into election interference for more than a year, and the Justice Department did not charge Trump until August 2023. The investigation, as The Times described, was methodical, slow and at times dysfunctional. The one state prosecution for election interference, in Georgia, has also been chaotic. Last year, Fani Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, filed a sprawling indictment involving 18 defendants, which made a speedy trial impossible. Willis also assigned the case to a lawyer she was secretly dating, causing further delays. 3. Republican justices Even with the Justice Department’s go-slow approach, Trump’s federal trial for election interference had a chance to finish before Election Day, but the Supreme Court intervened. It did so in a way that caused several delays. First, the justices declined to hear Trump’s appeal — in which he claimed that presidents are immune from prosecution — on the expedited schedule that Jack Smith, the Justice Department’s special counsel, requested. Then the justices did agree to hear the case. And during oral arguments last week, the Republican-appointed majority suggested it would issue a broad ruling setting a new precedent, which could take months. On their own, each of these decisions can be defended. The overall approach, however, is very different from the one the court took in 2000 during Bush v. Gore. Then, the justices acted urgently, recognizing the political calendar, and said that their decision was a narrow one, applying only to a single election. This time, as Justice Neil Gorsuch put it, they seek a ruling “for the ages.” Critics have pointed out that in both 2000 and 2024, Republican-appointed justices chose an approach that benefited the Republican presidential nominee. A fast, narrow ruling in 2000 stopped the vote count in Florida and let George W. Bush take office. A slow, broad ruling in 2024 may push the start of Trump’s federal trial past Election Day. All these decisions — by senators, prosecutors and justices — have played into Trump’s central legal strategy: delay. It’s a strategy he used to fight investigations during his business career, and it seems to have worked again in this campaign. And in New York: The one trial that has moved ahead — involving Trump’s payment of hush money in 2016 — resumes on Tuesday. Related: Trump’s trial could bring consequences for his words. That’s a rarity, Maggie Haberman and Jonah Bromwich write. Continue reading the main story A MESSAGE FROM AT&T BUSINESS Sleep tight Your network runs like a dream. Get AT&T Business, the Next Level Network. Learn more THE LATEST NEWS Campus Protests At the University of Pittsburgh. Jared Wickerham for The New York Times The demonstrations are dividing the Democratic Party in a major election year. University leaders are confronting a difficult question: When does a protest cross a line? The police have arrested more than 800 people across the country. Jewish students are feeling a mix of emotions — fear, anger, hope. The Washington Post spoke to many about their views. Israel-Hamas War Hezbollah’s near-daily attacks on the Israeli military have driven patients and workers at a hospital underground. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with top diplomats from Arab countries to discuss cease-fire talks, which have stalled. World Central Kitchen said it would resume operations in Gaza, nearly a month after drone strikes killed seven aid workers. The International Criminal Court is considering arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as for Hamas leaders, Israeli officials believe. The war has led to demonstrations across the Arab world, and leaders are cracking down on them. More International News In Ukraine. David Guttenfelder for The New York Times The number of Ukrainian cities and towns that have been damaged is growing. See images from the third year of the war. An assassin killed one of Iraq’s most famous TikTok personalities, Ghufran Mahdi Sawadi. Conservatives had criticized her videos. The Philippines closed schools because of dangerous heat. Senate Sam Brown Emily Najera for The New York Times An explosion in Afghanistan nearly killed Sam Brown. Now, he’s running for Senate in Nevada. Once an underdog, Rep. Andy Kim has become the favorite to win Robert Menendez’s Senate seat in New Jersey. Other Big Stories Harvey Weinstein’s victims can never get back their missed career opportunities, but they helped change the workplace, Jodi Kantor writes. Strong storms that brought tornadoes to Oklahoma and Iowa killed at least five people, including an infant. Two major A.I. executives grew up together in London. Now they are leading competing programs at Microsoft and Google. Opinions Young writers want their characters to be free of misogyny or racism. But art should be complex, Jen Silverman writes. After the pandemic, Shanghai residents have lost faith in their government, Gish Jen writes. Gail Collins and Bret Stephens discuss Trump’s trial. Here are columns by Ezra Klein on San Francisco’s $1.7 million toilet and David French and Lydia Polgreen on student protests. A subscription to match the variety of your interests. News. Games. Recipes. Product reviews. Sports reporting. A New York Times All Access subscription covers all of it and more. Subscribe today. MORNING READS In Littleton, N.H. John Tully for The New York Times Littleton: How a mural of a blooming iris and dandelions tore a small New Hampshire town apart. Small gestures: Read how to support a friend who is getting divorced. Tourism: A semi-secret web of tunnels beneath London, once used for espionage and as bomb shelters, could soon be open to the public. Retirement: Some seniors are checking into faith-based communities — despite lacking religious belief. Now, relax: Want to try a sound bath? Experts discuss the health benefits. Dinosaur: A giant velociraptor relative may have been discovered, paleontologists suggest. Metropolitan Diary: An accidental act of recycling. Lives Lived: Robbi Mecus was a forest ranger who helped foster an L.G.B.T.Q. climbing community. She died after falling about 1,000 feet from a peak in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. She was 52. SPORTS N.B.A.: The Minnesota Timberwolves finished a sweep of the Phoenix Suns with a 122-116 win. M.L.B.: Nike will alter its controversial new uniforms for next season after criticism from players, according to a memo. W.N.B.A.: Candace Parker, a women’s basketball legend, announced her retirement after 16 years in the league, a run that includes three championships and two MVPs. Continue reading the main story A MESSAGE FROM AT&T BUSINESS Sleep tight Your network runs like a dream. Get AT&T Business, the Next Level Network. Learn more ARTS AND IDEAS Josh O’Connor and Zendaya. Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures In the 2000s, movie studios moved away from erotic movies like “Basic Instinct” and “Cruel Intentions” that were popular in the 1980s and ’90s in favor of animation and PG-13 franchises. The companies were interested in genres that could capture a global audience — namely in China — and sell merchandise. Now, as intimacy coordinators proliferate and Chinese audiences have cooled on Hollywood, sex in movies is back, with films like “Challengers” and “Saltburn.” Brooks Barnes explores the trend. More on culture At the White House Correspondents’ dinner, Colin Jost’s jokes fell flat. See celebrities’ best looks from the event. Titanic artifacts were auctioned this weekend. A watch worn by John Jacob Astor on the ship sold for about $1.4 million. The nominations for the Tony Awards will be announced tomorrow. “Hell’s Kitchen,” about Alicia Keys’s life and music, is expected to do well. Read what to expect. FX’s Japanese period drama “Shogun” ended last week. For fans of the show, Vulture suggests what to watch next, including “Lady Macbeth” starring Florence Pugh. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Linda Xiao for The New York Times Bake Joan Nathan’s timeless poppy seed cake. Make sense of mental health with these books. Don’t let wedding planning ruin your friendships. Brighten a work space with a desk lamp. Maximize space in your small bedroom. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was italicize. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David P.S. This month marks 10 years since The Times launched The Upshot, which specializes in data-driven explanatory journalism. (Our own David Leonhardt was its founding editor.) For the anniversary, its editors picked 100 of their favorite stories. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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