The New York Times

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August 11, 2024

Good morning. Today, we’re writing about how schools are struggling to keep pace with technology — as well as the 2024 election, Israel and politics-free weddings.

At a high school in Orlando, Fla. Zack Wittman for The New York Times

The school tech problem

By Natasha Singer I cover technology in schools.

As the new school year begins, school districts across the United States are cracking down on cellphones in classrooms. Teachers are tired of constantly pressing students to stop watching TikTok and messaging friends during class. In many schools, students have also used phones to threaten or bully their classmates.

As a result, as I note in a story today, at least eight states, including Indiana and Pennsylvania, have adopted measures this year to limit cellphones in schools.

But the phone crackdowns illustrate a larger issue. Technology rules and safeguards in schools often lag far behind student use and abuse of digital tools.

And it’s not just phones — school-issued laptops, tablets and classroom apps can also become sources of distraction and bullying. In today’s newsletter, I’ll highlight some of the tech challenges schools are facing.

Student cellphone bans

Schools have been trying to limit student phone use for decades. Maryland banned students from bringing pagers and “cellular telephones” to school in the late 1980s as illegal drug sales boomed. In the 1990s, as mobile phones gained traction, some schools barred the devices to stop the chirping from disrupting class.

Since the 2000s, though, it’s also gone the other way. As school shootings became more common, many districts began allowing mobile phones as a safety measure. And, after the rise of iPhones, some schools that had barred cellphones reversed the bans in part because some lower-income students who did not own laptops used them for schoolwork.

Now, phone bans are trending again, partly in response to public concerns over youth mental health and social media use. This year, Indiana, Louisiana and South Carolina passed laws that bar student cellphone use either during class or the entire school day. Some governors have been bullish, promising “cellphone-free” learning and decreased classroom screen time.

The bans are hardly school tech panaceas. But they can have positive effects. Some schools have reported increased student engagement and fewer incidents of phone-related fights and bullying. But there are mixed reports on whether the bans actually improve students’ academic outcomes.

A.I. abuse

The problem facing schools, though, is that technology often moves faster than policy. As districts were still wrestling with cellphones, a new threat arose: artificial intelligence. In early 2023, some prominent districts rushed to block A.I.-powered chatbots on school-issued student laptops and school Wi-Fi. Administrators feared that chatbots like ChatGPT, which can generate human-sounding book reports and other texts, could enable mass cheating.

So many schools were caught off guard last fall when male students began using other A.I. tools for a darker purpose: to create fake sexually explicit images of their female classmates. In one New Jersey high school, administrators announced over the school intercom the names of girls who had been subjected to the faked images. In a Seattle-area high school, boys shared A.I.-generated nude images of ninth-grade girls in the lunchroom. But the school did not report the incident to the authorities until a police detective, who heard about it from the girls’ parents, informed administrators they were required to do so.

A.I. cheating fears have since abated, as districts start to train both educators and students how to use chatbots as tools for teaching and learning. But so far, few schools have developed specific policies or rules around A.I. image abuse.

In Orlando, Fla. Zack Wittman for The New York Times

Distracting classroom tech

Remote learning during the pandemic made school-issued laptops, along with school messaging and learning apps, far more common. But even apps intended to help students research topics, write essays and collaborate with peers can lead to distractions and enable bullying.

Teachers say students regularly use school-issued devices like iPads to surreptitiously take photos of their classmates, and then use the images to spread mean memes through school communication tools like Microsoft Teams. (Microsoft said schools could use controls in Teams to monitor or block student chats.) Students are also often able to bypass school internet filters and spend class time playing games or watching YouTube videos.

In many schools, students spend much of the day glued to these laptops or tablets, meaning phone bans may not ultimately reduce overall classroom screen time.

To remedy the school tech problem, critics say, lawmakers must push social media platforms, A.I. start-ups and other technology developers to install the digital equivalent of speed limits, seatbelts and airbags. Districts, they say, must also do a better job of educating teachers and students on tech harms and responsible technology use.

Essentially, some say, we should follow the model of another program that has for many decades taught young people how to handle powerful machines without harming themselves or others: It’s called drivers’ ed.

Tell your story: I’d love to hear from educators, students and parents about your experiences with school tech. If you’re interested, you can share them with me here.

THE LATEST NEWS

Democratic Campaign

Kamala Harris Bridget Bennett for The New York Times

Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump in three battleground states, according to surveys by The Times and Siena College. Her candidacy has upended the fundamentals of this election, Nate Cohn writes. Black male leaders are trying to counter an uncomfortable truth: A small but significant proportion of Black men have been hesitant to support Black women seeking high positions of power. Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’s running mate, has a long relationship with China. He has drawn on that to criticize Beijing’s human rights record. Harris is campaigning as if she is winning, even as she cautions that she and Walz remain the underdogs. Read takeaways from the first week of the Harris-Walz ticket.

Republican Campaign

People close to Trump say that he has been in a foul mood since President Biden’s withdrawal and is disoriented by his new contest. Read reporting from Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. Joy, rage and Smirnoff Ice: A music festival headlined by the pro-Trump musician Kid Rock was a snapshot of a maturing American subculture. Trump threatened to sue The Times over its coverage of his claims to have been in a dangerous helicopter landing with Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco.

International

In northern Gaza. Mahmoud Zaki/EPA, via Shutterstock

An Israeli airstrike hit a school compound in northern Gaza where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, killing dozens of people, according to Gazan officials. The Israeli military said Hamas was using the facility. France entered the Olympics shaken by an unexpected election. It exits with a new self-confidence. China has built dozens of new villages along its disputed borders and paid people to move into them.

Other Big Stories

In Belzoni, Miss. Rory Doyle for The New York Times

The death of a 30-year-old Black woman in Mississippi exposes the ways in which social and economic factors endanger pregnant women in the U.S. San Francisco is offering a program of free rent for up to six months to try to bring businesses back to its downtown. Susan Wojcicki, who became a prominent female Silicon Valley executive with her leadership of YouTube, died at 56.

THE SUNDAY DEBATE

Is Tim Walz too progressive?

Yes. Kamala Harris’s running mate could have demonstrated a move to the center — but she chose Walz. “At this point, Harris herself is going to need to show that she can stand up to the Democratic base voters,” Carolyn Bourdeaux, a former member of Congress, writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

No. Walz gives rural voters permission to embrace progressive ideas, and to vote for a party they might otherwise consider too urban. “His position essentially is this: If being progressive means that we take care of working families, then he will wear that as a badge of honor,” The Washington Post’s Michele Norris writes.

FROM OPINION

“CBS Evening News” is replacing its female anchor with two men. The decision puts the industry more behind the times than it already was, Katie Couric writes.

Juan Gabriel was a musician who represented both queerness and his Mexican roots. He taught Mexicans that the two identities don’t have to be at odds, Maria Garcia writes.

Here are columns by Ross Douthat on Biden and Maureen Dowd on Trump.

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The Morning highlights a small portion of the journalism that The New York Times offers. To access all of it, become a subscriber with this introductory offer.

MORNING READS

One reader wrote about her mother’s unfulfilled dream of seeing Monet’s “Water Lilies.” DeAgostini/Getty Images; Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris

Monet and “Moana”: The Times asked readers to share what got them through their grief. Here’s what they said.

Routine: A subway mosaic artist spends her Sundays making Taiwanese breakfast and practicing the violin.

Tastemakers: Dirt, a trendy newsletter about digital culture, has big ambitions.

A politics-free zone: Some couples are trying to prevent their weddings from becoming venues for heated debates.

Vows: Three rings, two college students and one big risk.

Lives Lived: Eddie Canales was a human rights advocate who fought to save migrants trekking through the harsh terrain of South Texas. He died at 76.

THE INTERVIEW

Senator James Lankford Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times

	By Lulu Garcia-Navarro

This week’s subject for The Interview is Senator James Lankford, a Republican who negotiated the bipartisan immigration bill that Trump helped defeat earlier this year — the same bill that Harris has promised to revive if she becomes president.

You seem to have won every concession from Democrats that Republicans wanted. And I’m curious now, in hindsight, why you think that’s true. Do you think Democrats and the Biden administration in particular realized that they had a problem on their hands at the southern border?

So, yes, I believe that the administration came to the table because they understood this is spiraling out of control. And quite frankly, I think they perceived they could say, “OK, those crazy Republicans, they forced us to be able to pass this bill, so we’re going to implement this,” when they actually quietly wanted to say, “OK, we’ve got to make this stop.”

Were you optimistic that it could succeed?

I was.

And all signs indicated that your optimism was actually founded until Trump came out forcefully against the bill. He was basically whipping against it from Mar-a-Lago. Did he call you personally?

We did not talk during that time period, actually. And on my part, that was intentional, because of that exact question. I didn’t want this to be perceived as, this is President Trump actually trying to run this bill. That would be toxic to my Democrat colleagues. I honestly believe that exact bill would have passed in December, but by the time it got into February, it became immediately the major focus in the election, because, as you recall, the Republican primary suddenly got resolved. It looked very obvious that President Trump was going to be there, and everything collapsed at that point. If that bill would have gone in December, I think it would have passed.

Read more of the interview here.

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE

Moises Saman/Magnum, for The New York Times

Click the cover image above to read this week’s magazine.

BOOKS

Members of The Bookshop Band. Mary Turner for The New York Times

Two worlds: The Bookshop Band performs music inspired by literature. A Times writer went on a musical pilgrimage to see the group perform.

A literary guide: Read your way around Denver.

Recommendations: “I thought I disliked these authors. I was happy to be wrong.”

Our editors’ picks: “Frostbite,” about how refrigeration changed our food and our planet, and five other books.

Times best sellers: Fred Trump III portrays the complex legacy of his family in “All in the Family.” It is new this week on the hardcover nonfiction list.

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Listen to songs with great guitar cues.

Watch the Perseids meteor shower reach its peak tonight.

Clean your yoga mat.

Use the best grill tools.

THE WEEK AHEAD

What to Watch For

The closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics is today. Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin hold congressional primaries on Tuesday.

Meal Plan

Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

If you have an overstuffed freezer, it may be time to clear it out. In this week’s Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter, Mia Leimkuhler offers recipes to help you do that, including a West Indian coconut curry with cod, spicy shrimp patties and broccoli-walnut pesto pasta.

NOW TIME TO PLAY

Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were kitchen, kitchenette and thicken.

Can you put eight historical events — including the X-Men and the Hubble Space Telescope — 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.

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

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August 12, 2024

Good morning. We’re covering changes to the global supply chain — as well as the Trump campaign, Ukrainian summer camps and the Olympic closing ceremony.

A mask factory in Paterson, N.J. Bryan Anselm for The New York Times

The supply chain, reconfigured

	By Peter S. Goodman I cover the global economy.

For decades, major companies have behaved as if geographic distance were almost irrelevant. A factory in China was the same as a factory in Michigan. The internet, container shipping and international trading arrangements had supposedly shrunk the globe.

No longer. The pandemic and geopolitical upheavals have exposed the risks of depending on faraway industry to make critical things like computer chips, protective gear and medicines.

I recently wrote a book on this topic, “How the World Ran Out of Everything.” I’ll use today’s newsletter to help you understand why commerce has changed — and how companies and governments are reacting.

The pandemic shock

The emergence of Covid in China ended the previous version of globalization. Quarantines shut Chinese factories at the same time that Western consumers, stuck in lockdown, ordered more manufactured goods like exercise equipment and electronic gadgets.

This combination of reduced supply and surging demand made other countries realize that they had become heavily dependent on a single nation — China — for many items, including medical supplies. Covid eventually faded from the headlines, but policymakers and business executives in the United States and Europe faced pressure to diminish their reliance on China.

A central reason for concern was the rise of geopolitical tensions. China wasn’t merely the world’s factory; it is also an autocracy that, under President Xi Jinping, has become more aggressive in asserting global influence. Xi, for instance, has been vocal about bringing Taiwan under China’s control, using force if necessary. Taiwan is the dominant manufacturer of the most advanced varieties of computer chips.

China’s allies have also become more assertive in ways that have disrupted global commerce. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine triggered sanctions on Russia, which limited Europe’s access to energy. The war reduced the flow of grains and fertilizers to Africa and Asia because Russia and Ukraine are both major sources of these goods.

In the Middle East, Houthi rebels in Yemen are firing missiles on ships headed toward the Suez Canal as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians. In response, many vessels moving between Asia and Europe are traveling the long way around Africa. That has added as much as two weeks to their journeys while lifting shipping prices.

The climate plays a role in the disruption, too. Water levels in the Panama Canal fell during the recent dry season, bringing restrictions on the number of vessels that could pass.

All these developments are forcing companies to reconfigure their supply chains.

Globalization’s next phase

The main strategy would have countries make more goods at home.

President Biden signed a law that allows for the spending of tens of billions of dollars to subsidize computer chips and electric vehicle manufacturers in the United States. Europe has joined the United States in protecting its domestic auto industry against an influx of low-priced, Chinese-made electric vehicles.

President Biden at the Intel Ocotillo Campus in Chandler, Ariz. Tom Brenner for The New York Times

Wealthy nations are also sending their orders elsewhere. Vietnam has gained factory orders, and India has emerged as another alternative. As the world’s most populous nation, India might eventually develop a supply chain rivaling China’s. Walmart is now moving some production from China to India.

In the short term, Mexico is a more realistic option for companies that sell many goods in the United States. Mexico has low labor costs plus road and rail connections to American consumers. Asian companies that make parts for U.S. automakers are already setting up factories in Mexico.

The supply chain is like the electrical grid — something we take for granted, as long as the lights turn on when we flip the switch. But now we’ve endured the equivalent of a blackout, forcing us to contemplate what systems we are depending on — and how to make them more reliable.

For more

Have we learned anything from the pandemic supply-chain crisis? Malaysia is now a crucial part of the chip supply chain, as U.S. and European companies look to diversify from China. The U.S. blocks China from buying some microchips used for artificial intelligence. China is skirting the bans with smugglers and front companies. A Taiwanese chip plant outside Phoenix has struggled with culture clashes between its managers and American workers.

THE LATEST NEWS

2024 Election

Donald Trump  Doug Mills/The New York Times

Donald Trump said his campaign was hacked by Iran. It is unclear what, if anything, the hackers were able to achieve. Biden, in his first interview since the end of his re-election campaign, said he abandoned his bid because he didn’t want to create “a real distraction” for Democrats. Trump falsely claimed in a series of social media posts that Kamala Harris used artificial intelligence to create images and videos of fake crowds at her events. Biden and Silicon Valley had a sometimes frosty relationship. A Harris fund-raiser in San Francisco was a chance to reset relations. How do the 2024 presidential and vice-presidential candidates’ professional records compare? See their career timelines.

Israel-Hamas War

Israel ordered civilians to evacuate from part of a humanitarian zone in southwestern Gaza. It said it was planning to fight in the area because Hamas had “embedded terrorist infrastructure” there. “This is worse than I ever could have imagined”: An American doctor spent three weeks in one of Gaza’s last functioning hospitals. Watch some of the video he captured.

More International News

Morning exercises in Ukraine.  Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times

In Ukraine, traditional summer camps for young people are striking a more militaristic and patriotic tone. A wildfire is spreading near Athens. It has damaged buildings and prompted evacuations. A landslide at a garbage dump in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, has killed at least 21 people, according to local officials, Reuters reports. Gangs in Haiti have sidestepped the U.N.-backed Kenyan security forces, redirecting their attacks to the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. Britain’s anti-immigration riots highlighted a bigger challenge for Prime Minister Keir Starmer: fraying public services and a cost of living crisis. Filipinos living on a contested island in the South China Sea are on the frontier of a possible conflict.

Other Big Stories

Global warming could trigger changes to the natural world that would be hard, if not impossible, to reverse. Read how close the planet is to its climate tipping points. In Las Vegas, nights have been getting hotter much faster than the days. Hot nights, studies show, can be deadly.

Some I.V.F. clinics are moving frozen embryos out of red states, prompted by an Alabama court’s ruling that deemed them “unborn children.”

Opinions

The investigative technique that put Charles Don Flores on death row is now prohibited in Texas. He’s about to be executed anyway, he says for Opinion Video.

Let’s call the far-right protests in Britain what they are: Islamophobic, Hibaq Farah writes.

The U.S. government can encourage more Americans to eat vegetables by teaching them how to cook them, Bee Wilson argues.

Here are columns by Ezra Klein on the Harris campaign, Nicholas Kristof on travel advice and David French on conservatism.

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The Morning highlights a small portion of the journalism that The New York Times offers. To access all of it, become a subscriber with this introductory offer.

MORNING READS

In New South Wales, Australia.  Matthew Abbott for The New York Times

Dirt: An Australian start-up wants to use fungi to slow climate change.

California rice royalty: Koda Farms influenced generations of chefs to cook with American-grown, Japanese-style rice. It will soon close shop.

Constantly online: Want to know what’s happening on the internet? Listen to these podcasts.

New York: This bike-riding barber travels around the city in search of the “dopest” places to cut hair.

Metropolitan Diary: The perfect head for that hat.

Lives Lived: Bob Tischler was part of the production and writing team that helped revive “Saturday Night Live” after the show’s low point during the 1980-81 season. He died at 78.

OLYMPICS

Au revoir! Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times

Closing ceremony: An uncharacteristically giddy Paris bid farewell to the Games, passing the torch to the next host, Los Angeles (via Tom Cruise).

Los Angeles: The 2028 Games will be the third for the city as host. It will be a challenge to repeat the success of 1984.

Gymnastics: Jordan Chiles will lose her bronze medal in the floor exercise after a court invalidated a correction to the American’s score.

Basketball: The U.S. women’s team won its eighth straight Olympic gold medal after beating France. Read a recap.

Medal count: At the end of the Games, the U.S. topped the total medal count (126) and tied China for the most golds (40).

Superlatives: The Athletic team picked their favorite moments of the 2024 Olympics.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Backstage at Miu Miu’s spring 2024 show. Simbarashe Cha for The New York Times

Miu Miu, Prada’s little sister brand, has become fashion’s biggest success story. It sets trends like the extreme miniskirt and is currently halfway to $1 billion in sales for 2024. As hot as the brand’s growth has been, it also is a bit of a mystery, Jessica Testa writes.

More on culture

The movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends With Us” is on track to earn $50 million in North America on its opening weekend. Disney announced it will expand its fleet of cruise ships and spend billions on new rides at its theme parks. The rapper Young Thug’s trial on racketeering and gang conspiracy charges, already the longest trial in Georgia’s history, is set to resume today. Read what happens now.

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Johnny Miller for The New York Times

Smother these juicy garlic-and-herb filled meatballs in greens.

Avoid online scams.

Roam with cowboys and flamingos in southern France.

Find a better way to store your toilet paper.

Gift the golfer in your life something useful.

Take our news quiz.

GAMES

Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were backlot and bootblack.

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

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August 13, 2024

	By German Lopez

Good morning. We’re covering Ukraine’s incursion into Russia — plus the Musk and Trump interview, Gaza cease-fire talks and Sweden’s tech industry.

Ukrainian men carrying a dead Russian soldier in Sudzha, Russia. David Guttenfelder for The New York Times

On Russian soil

Ukraine’s efforts to retake territory from Russia have stalled. But the Ukrainian military has tried to get back at Moscow in other ways. In the past, it has launched drone attacks in Russia and backed hit-and-run incursions in which Russian exiles struck targets inside their former homeland.

Last week, Ukraine tried something new. Its own forces marched miles across the Russian border in a surprise operation. They now control some Russian land in the region of Kursk, including dozens of towns and villages. “It’s an attempt to give Russia somewhat of a shock,” my colleague Eric Schmitt, who covers national security, told me. “It could give Ukraine a win, or at least make them feel good for a few days. Does it change the larger calculus on the battlefield? That remains to be seen.”

Ukraine’s leaders are seeking to galvanize support at home and abroad for its war effort. An assault on Russian soil might not get Ukraine closer to seizing all of the land it has lost, but it shows that Ukraine can still surprise — and embarrass — its enemy.

Today’s newsletter explains why Ukraine is trying a new tactic two years into a stalemate with Russia.

Potential upside

What does Ukraine stand to gain from its latest attack? Analysts and officials have pointed to a few possibilities:

Ukraine wants to divert Russian troops from strategic locations. If the Kremlin moves soldiers from battlefields in northeastern, eastern or southern Ukraine to defend itself at home, Ukraine might have an easier time retaking its own land. Russia currently controls about 20 percent of Ukraine, and Ukrainian leaders say they want to retake all of it. Morale at home has declined. Ukraine’s last big counteroffensive success came in the fall of 2022, when its military retook the northeastern region of Kharkiv. Meanwhile, soldiers continue to die, and civilians endure regular bombardments. Russia has taken bits of land in Ukraine’s east and northeast. The economy remains weak. A major strike could help rebuild domestic confidence in the war effort. Ukraine wants to shore up support abroad. Kyiv has relied on aid from Western nations to defend itself. But voters in those countries are no longer as enthusiastic about supplying Ukraine with weapons. Some leaders, including Donald Trump, have suggested they want to cut off the aid. A battlefield victory against Russia, even if it’s not strategically important, could get skittish supporters back on board. Ukraine wants to convince Washington that it can strike within Russia. American officials have barred Ukraine from using U.S.-made weapons to strike too deep into Russian territory. They worry that such an attack could lead Russia to act more recklessly. But if the current incursion doesn’t lead to an escalation, American officials may allow future Ukrainian salvos farther across the border.

Will any of this work? Some analysts are skeptical. Russia’s military drastically outnumbers Ukraine’s. Moscow still has reserves of conscripts that it has not deployed in the war, so it might not need to divert troops from strategic locations to reinforce its borders. And the intended audience for this new move — in Ukraine and abroad — may not see much value if it doesn’t help Ukraine win back its territory.

Planning ahead

At the Sudzha border post. David Guttenfelder for The New York Times

Ukraine might also hope to use holdings in Kursk as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations, to trade for land previously seized by Russia.

To do that, Ukraine would have to actually keep what it takes. Given how overburdened its military is already, that may not be possible. And if Ukraine suffered heavy losses trying to hold foreign terrain, the incursion would amount to a disaster. “It’s a huge gamble on the part of the Ukrainians,” Eric said.

But Ukraine also has to plan for eventual negotiations with Russia. Trump has suggested that if he wins this year’s election, he will force Ukraine to work out a peace deal with Russia. That would likely require Ukraine to give up most or all of the territory that Russia currently holds.

Ukraine desperately wants to avoid that scenario. To do so, it needs something that Russia will want enough to make concessions.

More on the war

Vladimir Putin criticized the West over Ukraine’s incursion, a sign that the attack has unsettled Russia even as Putin insists that it will not change his negotiating position. Ukraine planned the attack surreptitiously, disguising troop movements as training exercises. Senior officers learned of the offensive just days before it began. It is the biggest foreign incursion into Russia since World War II. “I’m happy to be riding a tank into Russia, and it is better than them driving tanks into our country,” a Ukrainian soldier told The Times. China and Russia are stepping up cooperation between their militaries, and holding joint exercises near Alaska and Taiwan in defiance of the U.S. and its allies.

THE LATEST NEWS

Musk and Trump Interview

Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago taking part in an online discussion with Elon Musk. Margo Martin/X, via Reuters

Elon Musk, who has endorsed Trump, interviewed the candidate live on X. Glitches delayed the event by around 40 minutes; Musk blamed a cyberattack. Trump complained about President Biden’s exit from the race, calling Kamala Harris’s nomination “a coup” and repeating familiar falsehoods. Read a fact check. During the more than two-hour discussion, Musk offered frequent praise. “You can actually have a conversation with you,” Musk told Trump. “And you can’t have a conversation with Biden or Kamala.” Earlier in the day, Trump made his first posts on X in almost a year. The platform banned him after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, but Musk reinstated his account after buying the company.

More on the 2024 Election

The F.B.I. is investigating an apparent hack of the Trump campaign, days after the former president said Iran had launched a cyberattack. A law enforcement official said investigators were also looking into an attempt to infiltrate accounts associated with the Democrats’ presidential campaign. A judge ruled that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could not appear on New York’s ballot because he had used a “sham” address to maintain his New York residency. Kennedy vowed to appeal. As president, Trump tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Now, he and other Republicans claim they want to improve it. Trump claimed without evidence that Harris’s campaign used A.I. to generate or doctor an image of a crowd of supporters at a rally. In fact, thousands were there. In November, Arizonans will vote on a ballot initiative to make abortion a protected right under the state Constitution, The A.P. reports.

Trump Shooting

Representative Mike Kelly, a Pennsylvania Republican, was in the crowd when a would-be assassin opened fire on Trump. He’s now leading a bipartisan task force that will help investigate the shooting. The task force’s top Democrat is Jason Crow, a veteran who was a manager in the first Trump impeachment trial.

Middle East

Benjamin Netanyahu Pool photo by Naama Grynbaum

Benjamin Netanyahu has added new conditions to Israel’s demands in Gaza cease-fire talks, documents show. Israeli negotiators worry it could impede a deal. Netanyahu criticized his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, after Israeli news media reported that Gallant had called Netanyahu’s goal of total victory over Hamas “nonsense.” Nearly two weeks have passed since Iran vowed to attack Israel over the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran. Here’s where the conflict stands.

More International News

Managing traffic in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Atul Loke for The New York Times

The student protesters who toppled Bangladesh’s leader are now trying to restore order, taking up positions as cabinet ministers and traffic cops. Pakistan’s military arrested a former spy chief, accusing him of political meddling and corruption. The arrest is seen as part of a crackdown on allies of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Sweden’s tech industry is strong, thanks in part to Spotify, Skype and Candy Crush. It could be a model for other European nations.

Other Big Stories

The U.S. is processing citizenship requests at the fastest clip in a decade, reducing a backlog that built up during the Trump administration and the pandemic. A Colorado jury convicted a former county clerk of tampering with voting machines in a failed attempt to prove Trump’s false fraud claims about the 2020 election. Two polar bears killed a worker at a remote radar station in Canada. A 4.4-magnitude earthquake hit an area near Los Angeles. A seismologist described it as “a decent shake, though not huge.”

Opinions

Voters are starting to trust Harris on the economy not because it’s improving, but because Trump hasn’t connected her with Biden’s policies, Kristen Soltis Anderson writes.

(Anderson assesses the latest polls each Tuesday in the Opinion Today newsletter. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.)

If Russia wins the war in Ukraine, the U.S., which failed to protect its allies, will be the biggest loser, Anastasia Edel writes.

Here are columns by Paul Krugman on calling Harris a communist and Michelle Goldberg on election lies.

Subscribe Today

The Morning highlights a small portion of the journalism that The New York Times offers. To access all of it, become a subscriber with this introductory offer.

MORNING READS

In Torrevieja, Spain. Emilio Parra Doiztua for The New York Times

Spain is thirsty: The nation, like other dry countries, is increasingly reliant on desalination plants for its water needs.

Harris’ or Harris’s? The Harris-Walz ticket has grammar geeks in overdrive.

Germany: The State of Berlin owns a villa that once belonged to a Nazi propaganda minister. No one quite knows what to do with it.

Ask Well: Can stress actually turn your hair gray?

Lives Lived: Paul Bucha was an Army captain who earned a Medal of Honor after saving fellow soldiers during the Vietnam War. Bucha later played a role in the presidential bids of Ross Perot, George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama. He died at 80.

SPORTS

Gymnastics: The court that overturned Jordan Chiles’s Olympic bronze-medal score in floor exercise said it would not reopen the case after a request from U.S.A. Gymnastics.

N.F.L.: The New York Jets defensive end Haason Reddick requested a trade just months after being dealt to the franchise.

ARTS AND IDEAS

In Chicago.  Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times

Chicago is debuting new public art throughout the city ahead of next week’s Democratic convention. As part of the effort, the city has created a sort of moving mural — elevated trains covered in works by emerging artists, all of which explore themes of democracy. “It’s all democracy related and fabulous,” said Bob Faust, the project’s curator. Read more about it.

More on culture

Twenty-five years after the Grammy-winning album that reshaped Shelby Lynne’s career, she has unlocked a new creative groove. People are speculating online about a feud between Blake Lively, who stars in and produced the film “It Ends With Us,” and Justin Baldoni, her co-star and the movie’s director, The Cut reports. Rachael Lillis, an actress who voiced Misty and Jessie on the 1990s “Pokémon” TV series, died at 55. Jon Stewart discussed Trump’s comments about Harris’s crowd sizes on “The Daily Show.”

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Yossy Arefi for The New York Times (Photography and Styling

Make a bright and herbaceous macaroni salad.

Read these books after you’ve watched “It Ends With Us.”

Grill ultrathin smash burgers with this tool.

Wash your bras the right way.

GAMES

Here is today’s Spelling Bee.

Note: Yesterday’s newsletter mistakenly included the wrong Spelling Bee image. You can play the correct Monday puzzle here.

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

P.S. The Times’s editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom, will no longer make endorsements in New York races. The board will continue to endorse presidential candidates.

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

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August 14, 2024

Good morning. We’re covering the global race to control A.I. — as well as the 2024 election, extreme heat and “romantasy” books.

At a chip factory in Dresden, Germany. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

National tech

	By Adam Satariano and Paul Mozur We’ve reported on this topic for a year from seven countries.

As artificial intelligence advances, many nations are worried about being left behind.

The urgency is understandable. A.I. is improving quickly. It could soon reshape the global economy, automate jobs, turbocharge scientific research and even change how wars are waged. World leaders want companies in their country to control A.I. — and they want to benefit from its power. They fear that if they do not build powerful A.I. at home, they will be left dependent on a foreign country’s creations.

So A.I. nationalism — the idea that a country must develop its own tech to serve its own interests — is spreading. Countries have enacted new laws and regulations. They’ve formed new alliances. The United States, perhaps the best positioned in the global A.I. race, is using trade policy to cut off China from key microchips. In France, the president has heaped praise upon a startup focused on chatbots and other tools that excel in French and other non-English languages. And in Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pouring billions into A.I. development and striking deals with companies like Amazon, I.B.M. and Microsoft to make his country a major new hub.

“We must rise to the challenge of A.I., or risk losing the control of our future,” warned a recent report by the French government.

In today’s newsletter, we’ll explain who is winning and what could come next.

ChatGPT’s impact

The race to control A.I. started, in part, with a board game. In 2016, computers made by Google’s DeepMind won high-profile matches in the board game Go, demonstrating a breakthrough in the ability of A.I. to behave in humanlike ways. Beijing took note. Chinese officials set aside billions and crafted a policy to become a world leader in A.I. Officials integrated A.I. into the country’s vast surveillance system, giving the technology a uniquely authoritarian bent.

A high-school ChatGPT workshop in Walla Walla, Wash. Ricardo Nagaoka for The New York Times

Still, China’s best firms were caught off guard by OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT in 2022. The companies raced to catch up. They’ve made some progress, but censorship and regulations have hampered development.

ChatGPT also inspired more countries to join the race. Companies in the United Arab Emirates, India and France have raised billions of dollars from investors, with varying degrees of state aid. Governments in different nations have provided subsidies, bankrolled semiconductor plants and erected new trade barriers.

America’s advantage

The U.S. has advantages other countries cannot yet match. American tech giants control the most powerful A.I. models and spend more than companies abroad to build them. Top engineers and developers still aspire to a career in Silicon Valley. Few regulations stand in the way of development. American firms have the easiest access to precious A.I. chips, mostly designed by Nvidia in California.

The White House is using these chips to undercut Chinese competition. In 2022, the U.S. imposed new rules that cut China off from the chips. Without them, companies simply cannot keep pace.

The U.S. is also using chips as leverage over other countries. In April, Microsoft worked with the U.S. government to cut a deal with a state-linked Emirati company to give it access to powerful chips. In exchange, the firm had to stop using much of its Chinese technology and submit to U.S. government and Microsoft oversight. Saudi Arabia could make a similar deal soon.

What comes next

Looming over the development of A.I. are lessons of the past. Many countries watched major American companies — Facebook, Google, Amazon — reshape their societies, not always for the better. They want A.I. to be developed differently. The aim is to capture the benefits of the technology in areas like health care and education without undercutting privacy or spreading misinformation.

The E.U. is leading the push for regulation. Last year, it passed a law to limit the use of A.I. in realms that policymakers considered the riskiest to human rights and safety. The U.S. has required companies to limit the spread of deep fakes. In China, where A.I. has been used to surveil its citizens, the government is censoring what chatbots can say and restricting what kind of data that algorithms can be trained on.

A.I. nationalism is part of a wider fracturing of the internet, where services vary based on local laws and national interests. What’s left is a new kind of tech world where the effects of A.I. in your life may just depend on where you live.

More on A.I.

Saudi Arabia is spending billions on computing power and A.I. research. Several Chinese companies have unveiled A.I. technologies that rival leading American systems. Scammers are using A.I.-generated videos of Elon Musk and other billionaires to trick people into buying sham investments. A bill to regulate A.I. is winding its way through the California Legislature.

THE LATEST NEWS

2024 Election

Gov. Tim Walz  Mark Abramson for The New York Times

At a campaign event, Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s running mate, defended his Army National Guard service. JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, has accused Walz of misrepresenting parts of his military background. Walz, the governor of Minnesota, has faced renewed scrutiny over whether he was too slow to deploy troops during riots after George Floyd’s murder in 2020. In an interview on X, Trump praised Musk for suppressing employees’ efforts to unionize. The United Automobile Workers union, which has endorsed Harris, filed federal labor charges against them both. Democrats hope that abortion measures — which will be on the ballot in Arizona, Nevada and other states this fall — will boost turnout. New voter registration figures in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, two swing states, suggest that Harris’s candidacy is energizing Democrats. A man broke into a Trump campaign office in Virginia over the weekend. The police are investigating it as a burglary.

More on Politics

Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a progressive member of the “squad” who has criticized Israel, beat a more moderate Democrat to win her primary. Eric Hovde, a Trump-endorsed businessman, won the Republican nomination for Senate in Wisconsin. He’ll face Senator Tammy Baldwin, a second-term Democrat.

President Biden, whose son Beau died of aggressive brain cancer, announced $150 million in funding for cancer surgery research. While Biden was vice president, his son Hunter asked the U.S. ambassador to Italy for a meeting on behalf of Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company whose board Hunter sat on. Biden’s lawyer said nothing came of the request.

Middle East

In Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. Ramadan Abed/Reuters

A Hamas official said that the group would not attend cease-fire talks scheduled for Thursday. The representative said Hamas leaders did not think Israel was negotiating in good faith. Iran criticized the leaders of Britain, France and Germany for urging restraint following the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran, saying it had the right to defend its sovereignty. A growing number of security officials and politicians in Israel believe it is the right time for an offensive against the Lebanese group Hezbollah, The Wall Street Journal reports.

More International News

Fumio Kishida will step down as Japan’s prime minister next month. He’s unpopular, and others in the governing party had pressured him to quit. British counterterrorism police charged pro-Palestinian activists with violent disorder for breaking into an Israeli arms manufacturer in England. Tanzanian police arrested over 500 people across the country ahead of a banned anti-government youth rally. U.S.-backed talks for a cease-fire in Sudan begin today in Switzerland, as civil war pushes the country deeper into famine. Sudan’s military said it would not attend. Extreme heat is closing schools around the world for days or weeks at a time, threatening global education gains.

Business

Starbucks ousted its C.E.O. and replaced him with the chief executive of Chipotle, Brian Niccol. The free streaming service Tubi has exploded in popularity in the past 18 months, drawing even with Disney+ in total viewing time. Overseers of the Panama Canal want to store more water after a drought forced them to limit shipping last year. Their plan could threaten farmers’ livelihoods.

Other Big Stories

A candlelight vigil for Ta’Kiya Young in Columbus, Ohio. Courtney Hergesheimer/The Columbus Dispatch, via Associated Press

An Ohio police officer was charged with murder in the fatal shooting last year of a pregnant Black woman. Hot weather in the U.S. is melting mail-order medicines inside delivery trucks. A brain disease is affecting the people of New Brunswick, Canada. Despite years of research, no one knows why.

Opinions

Vance converted to Catholicism in his 30s. His rise shows the influence that Catholic thought still wields in politics, Matthew Schmitz writes.

Here are columns by Bret Stephens on Israel and Lydia Polgreen on trans health care.

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MORNING READS

In Canada.  Bryan Denton for The New York Times

Wildfires: Parts of Canada’s boreal forest are burning faster than they can regrow.

Washed ashore: While cleaning up after Hurricane Debby, a woman found a message in a bottle from 1945.

Medical language: Abortion wasn’t always considered a loaded term.

Need a hero? The American left has, for years, been wary of charismatic figureheads. A movement without leaders has its limits.

Lives Lived: The model Peggy Moffitt helped define the look of the 1960s, but she was best known for one image: a 1964 shot, taken by her photographer husband, in which she posed in a topless bathing suit. She died at 86.

SPORTS

Sean Stellato: The sports agent found fame thanks to his outlandish clothes, outsize personality and embrace of the N.F.L.’s underdogs.

N.F.L.: The Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy needs knee surgery.

M.L.B.: The Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez appeared to break the Tampa Bay Rays’ scoreboard with a batting practice home run. The player joked he’s “not paying that bill.”

ARTS AND IDEAS

With a robot server.  Maggie Shannon for The New York Times

We live in an age when robots are more than capable of flipping burgers and pouring coffee. So why haven’t more restaurants embraced automation? The reasons are not technological but emotional, Meghan McCarron writes: “People come to restaurants to feel connected to other humans. They want to encounter people, not a chatbot, kiosk or mechanical arm.”

More on culture

Haley Joel Osment  Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times

Haley Joel Osment had his breakthrough in the 1999 hit “The Sixth Sense.” Since then, he’s worked steadily, finding a balance that has eluded some former child stars. A new crop of books embraces the fantasy of falling for an older crush — like, 500 years older. “A big night for weird old rich guys with no friends”: Stephen Colbert recapped Musk and Trump’s interview on “The Late Show.”

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Bryan Gardner for The New York Times

Toss a fleshy white fish in tikka marinade and scatter over a bed of spinach.

See the best white T-shirts.

Revitalize a vintage rug.

GAMES

Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were nonviolent and violent.

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

[phkrause]

August 15, 2024

Good morning. Today, we’re covering a catastrophic civil war in Sudan — as well as Ukraine, the U.S. economy and extreme fan culture.

In Omdurman, Sudan. Ivor Prickett for The New York Times

A country in ruins

	By Declan Walsh I’m The Times’s chief Africa correspondent, based in Nairobi, Kenya.

After more than a year of civil war, the toll in Sudan is heartbreaking: thousands killed, millions scattered and cities besieged or destroyed across a vast nation three times as large as France. Much of the capital lies in rubble. This month, international officials declared that part of Sudan was in a famine. At least 100 people die of hunger every day.

And there are signs it could soon get much worse.

Recently, I spent three weeks in Sudan, traveling across a part of the world that few foreign reporters have reached. The scale and intensity of destruction were startling: A conflict that started as a power struggle between rival generals has metastasized into a far bigger and messier conflagration, threatening to spread chaos across an already fragile region.

By The New York Times

Despite all that, the conflict has received scant attention from world leaders or money for humanitarian aid. But its soaring human cost is making it ever harder to ignore. U.N. experts warn that Sudan is again spiraling into genocidal violence, as it did in the early 2000s. Samantha Power, the head of USAID, says it is “the single largest humanitarian crisis on the planet.”

One faint glimmer of hope lies in tentative peace talks, mediated by the United States, that started in Switzerland yesterday. Today’s newsletter explains the stakes: how an unexpected civil war is crushing Africa’s third-largest country — and what could stop the suffering.

Hope on the ropes

Only five years ago, Sudan was the source of euphoric hopes, when crowds of young people gathered to oust President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the country’s dictator of three decades. For once, it seemed that a popular revolution in an Arab country might succeed.

Artists flourished. Politics opened up. Western governments offered to cancel billions of dollars in debt. Al-Bashir went to jail, convicted on corruption charges.

Those dreams were dashed after just two years, in 2021, when Sudan’s military and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, unwilling to cede power to civilians, united to overthrow the government in a coup.

But the alliance was short-lived. The coup leaders — the army chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the R.S.F. commander, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan — fell out over how to merge their forces. Then they went to war.

A surprise war

When the first shots rang out on the streets of the capital, Khartoum, in April 2023, many residents figured it wouldn’t last long. Sudan had experienced dozens of coups, more than any country in Africa, since it won independence in 1956. Most were short-lived and bloodless.

But the military found that the R.S.F., a force it had once helped to create, was now a formidable adversary with fighters more battle-hardened than its own forces. By December, the R.S.F. had seized most of Khartoum and the country’s breadbasket region, Jazeera State, as well as much of Darfur, the western region that suffered a genocide two decades earlier.

General Hamdan, the R.S.F. leader, claims to be fighting for Sudan’s marginalized and has sought to distance his force from its roots in the Janjaweed militias that terrorized Darfur in the 2000s. But his lofty speeches are at odds with the massacres, rape and ethnic violence that human rights groups say his fighters commit.

The Sudanese military is also guilty of war crimes, U.S. officials say, including indiscriminate bombing and the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

Sudanese refugees in Chad. Ivor Prickett for The New York Times

Rising stakes

Because Sudan is such a huge and populous country, the number of people who may starve is staggering.

According to the latest estimates, 26 million people — over half the population — are suffering crisis levels of hunger. On Aug. 1, two groups of global hunger experts declared famine at a camp in Darfur, the world’s first since 2020. Other parts of the country may soon follow, they say.

The conflict also brings political risk. It could spread to Sudan’s weak neighbors, like Chad or South Sudan. European leaders fear an influx of refugees. American intelligence worries that a lawless Sudan could become a terrorist haven.

Other foreign powers are already involved in the conflict, choosing sides and providing weapons that ravage civilian neighborhoods. The United Arab Emirates has armed the R.S.F. Iran supplied drones to the military. Russia, over the course of the war, has backed both sides.

The American-led peace talks that started in Geneva yesterday seem like a long shot — Sudan’s military didn’t even send a team of negotiators. But officials alarmed by the spiraling hunger crisis say there is little choice but to try. Millions of lives could be on the line.

For more

The war has transformed Khartoum, once a city of high rises and five-star hotels, into a battleground. Videos and satellite images show just how much destruction the war has brought. For The Times Magazine, Nicholas Casey embedded with a Sudanese militia that says it’s fighting to establish a Western-style democracy.

THE LATEST NEWS

2024 Election

Donald Trump Doug Mills/The New York Times

During a speech in North Carolina, Donald Trump directed a series of insults at Kamala Harris, claiming she had “the laugh of a crazy person.” Trump criticized the Affordable Care Act but said he would leave it in place “unless we can do something much better.” He also promised tariffs of up to 20 percent on U.S. trading partners.

Tim Walz, a hunter and a veteran, was a small-town gun guy. The Parkland school shooting helped turn him into a gun-control advocate. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to meet with Harris to discuss endorsing her in exchange for a cabinet post. Jesse Ventura, the former Minnesota governor and professional wrestler, endorsed Harris. Hulk Hogan, a onetime rival in the ring, has endorsed Trump. Walz met his wife, Gwen, when they taught at the same Nebraska high school. Friends describe her as coolheaded and competent.

More on Politics

Nancy Pelosi helped push President Biden out of the 2024 race. It’s chilled their five-decade friendship. Speaking to online content creators at the White House, Biden joked that he was “looking for a job.”

U.S. Economy

Karl Russell

Last month, inflation in the U.S. dropped below 3 percent a year for the first time since 2021, putting the Federal Reserve on track to cut interest rates in September. Many prices fell from June to July, including for cars, clothes and plane tickets. Car insurance and rent got more expensive. Asked by a reporter whether the U.S. had “beat” inflation, Biden said yes: “My policies are working.”

Israel-Hamas War

Senior U.S. officials said Israel had achieved all that it can militarily in Gaza and that continued bombings would only increase risks to civilians. The Times spent weeks with freed Israeli hostages, photographing them as they try to rebuild their lives. See the images. Columbia University’s president quit. She’s the third Ivy League president to resign after criticism over the handling of Gaza protests on campus.

War in Ukraine

Russian medics at a field hospital in the Kursk region.  Anatoliy Zhdanov/Kommersant Photo, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Ukraine’s military advanced even deeper into Russian territory. Russia withdrew some troops from Ukraine to combat the incursion. More than 130,000 Russians have fled or been evacuated. It’s a new phase of uncertainty for a country that had largely adapted to the war. Germany issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man it suspects of helping sabotage the Nord Stream pipeline in 2022.

Other Big Stories

In Tehama County, Calif. Noah Berger/Associated Press

Over the past decade, some counties in Northern California have seen half their land burn. Hurricane Ernesto cut power for hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico. The World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the spread of mpox in Africa. The disease, formerly called monkeypox, has killed more than 500 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year. A New Zealand charity accidentally gave away hundreds of chunks of meth. They had been disguised as candies. Even as Trump distances himself from abortion bans, conservative Christians aim to restrict abortion from conception and limit access to I.V.F. with or without him.

Opinions

Ukraine’s incursion into Russia is a serious risk, but also a real opportunity to expose Russia’s vulnerabilities, David French writes.

Saving Caribbean coral reefs may require freezing their eggs and sperm, Carly Kenkel argues.

Here are columns by Charles Blow on Trump’s sexism and Pamela Paul on the end of summer.

Subscribe Today

The Morning highlights a small portion of the journalism that The New York Times offers. To access all of it, become a subscriber with this introductory offer.

MORNING READS

In Copenhagen. Simbarashe Cha/The New York Times

Scandinavian style: At Copenhagen Fashion Week, outfits on and off the runway matched the host country’s reputation as one of the happiest places in the world.

Homesteaders: They’re living off the grid and posting about it online.

Old Timer: The survival of the world’s oldest known humpback whale is a mystery.

Youth: Growing up is hard. Global trends like climate change and job insecurity seem to be making it harder.

Lives Lived: Wally Amos used his background as a talent agent, his aunt’s recipe and a winning personality to build the Famous Amos cookie brand. He died at 88.

SPORTS

M.L.B.: The New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge hit his 300th career home run in a win over the Chicago White Sox. He’s the fastest player to the milestone in the league’s history.

Gymnastics: The court presiding over Jordan Chiles’s bronze medal case blamed gymnastics’ global governing body for problems at the Olympic floor exercise final.

N.F.L.: The New England Patriots traded the veteran pass rusher Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for a third-round pick.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Ma Long, captain of the Chinese men’s table tennis team. VCG, via Reuters

After an impressive run at the Paris Olympics, Chinese athletes are finding a darker side of that success: Extreme fans have mobbed them at airports and staked out their homes. Their experience is not uncommon in China, Vivian Wang writes, where intense fan culture often leads people to stalk their idols and sell their personal information. Read more about the phenomenon.

More on culture

The eighth piece in Banksy’s animal series. Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The street artist Banksy has unveiled animal artworks around London for nine straight days, sending fans on a citywide scavenger hunt. On late night, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert both discussed JD Vance.

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Shuck corn for this basic chowder.

Avoid these debunked health trends.

Sip a nonalcoholic wine that’s actually good.

Convert to compression socks.

GAMES

Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was motivator.

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.

P.S. “The Wirecutter Show,” a weekly podcast from Wirecutter, launches next week. Listen to the trailer.

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

[phkrause]

August 16, 2024

Good morning. We’re covering the Gaza cease-fire talks — as well as the 2024 campaigns, drug prices and Shen Yun.

At a demonstration in Tel Aviv.  Amir Levy/Getty Images

Deal or no deal

	By Julian E. Barnes I cover international security issues.

For weeks, the White House said the stars were aligned for a cease-fire agreement that would free the hostages held in Gaza. The framework of a deal first announced by President Biden has been in place since July. Since then, a phalanx of American officials has traveled frequently to the region, pushing Israel and Hamas to sign on. So far, they have failed.

The last time I wrote this newsletter about the hostage talks, at the start of May, U.S. officials were describing Hamas as the holdout. (Israel had just made a major concession, dropping a demand to maintain checkpoints inside Gaza.) But by early last month, Hamas had shifted its position, made some concessions and signaled it was ready to move forward. Now, Washington sees Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as the chief obstacle to a deal.

In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain how the script flipped.

The stars align

It’s an ideal time for Hamas to strike a bargain. The group is not destroyed and retains some military strength. But it is broken and severely weakened. Thousands of fighters are dead. Top commanders have been killed. Its leader, Yahya Sinwar, is isolated from other Hamas leaders. By some accounts, Gazan frustration with Hamas is growing. The group has even agreed to give up civilian control of Gaza, a sign it is ready to make concessions.

In northern Gaza.  Omar Al-Qattaa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Hamas officials, angered by Israel’s recent assassination of a political leader and negotiator, have said they won’t participate in the latest talks, which began yesterday. But American officials think that position will change, and Hamas appears willing to meet with Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Additionally, there appears to be little more that Israel can accomplish militarily. Hardly any part of Gaza is untouched by Israeli bombs. Military operations are now games of Whac-a-Mole against Hamas fighters who disappear easily into the population. American officials say Israel reaps diminishing returns: The remaining Hamas fighters are harder to hit, but Palestinian civilians — devastated by the war — bear ever-heavier burdens. The local health ministry says 40,005 Gazans, both civilians and combatants, have already been killed.

Israeli defense officials concede that Netanyahu cannot realize his goal of wiping out Hamas. They believe diplomacy is the only way to bring home the roughly 115 living and dead hostages still held in Gaza. While daring military operations have rescued seven hostages, negotiations have freed more than 100. Those who remain alive in Gaza appear to be beyond the reach of Israeli commandos, many likely hidden deep in tunnels and used as human shields to protect Hamas leaders.

The holdup

But Netanyahu seems unready for a permanent cease-fire. American officials had hoped he would conclude an agreement after his speech to Congress last month. Instead, my colleagues have chronicled how Netanyahu imposed new cease-fire conditions: He wants Israel to keep control of Gaza’s southern border and has partially revived demands to screen Palestinians for weapons before they can return to their homes in the north — points negotiators thought Israel had already conceded.

By The New York Times

One reason may be political. Centrists have left the government, and a cease-fire agreement could break his right-wing coalition. When Netanyahu’s defense minister — a hawkish member of his own party — said “total victory” was unrealistic, the prime minister flayed him for adopting an “anti-Israel narrative.”

Even if Netanyahu’s coalition held, an end to the war would intensify calls for a new election. After the Oct. 7 attack exposed security failures, it’s hard to imagine that Israeli voters will return Netanyahu to power.

Delay might also allow Israeli forces to kill Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 terror attack, delivering a major victory for Netanyahu and potentially a dose of redemption. If the negotiations drag on long enough, it’s even possible Donald Trump will return to the White House and change the U.S. stance to align more closely with Netanyahu.

The costs of delay

This strategy is risky. Already, at least 40 hostages have died in captivity. There are doubts about how much longer those still alive can survive. And making a deal quickly holds the possibility — however slim — that Iran and Hezbollah might refrain from retaliating for Israel’s recent assassinations.

Of course, it is Hamas that started this war by attacking Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking hostages back to Gaza. And at important moments when a deal was at hand, the group rejected it. It is possible that once Netanyahu is ready for an agreement, Hamas will, once more, back away.

But American officials believe the group is ready to cede a measure of power in return for a cease-fire and, crucially, a path to a Palestinian state. If Netanyahu is not ready for closure, Israel will miss the opportunity to halt the fighting, and some hostages may never return home. The tragedy of the war will only grow.

More on the Middle East

“I will support Israel’s right to win its war on terror,” Trump said at his New Jersey golf club. Earlier, he said he’d told Netanyahu to end the war quickly because “the killing has to stop.” Trump falsely accused Kamala Harris of supporting an arms embargo on Israel, saying “Israel will be gone” if she wins. He said Chuck Schumer — the Senate Democratic leader, who is Jewish — was “like a Palestinian.” Israeli settlers attacked a village in the West Bank, setting fire to vehicles and hurling Molotov cocktails, the Israeli military said. The Palestinian Authority said one person was shot dead. The Lebanese militia Hezbollah is yet to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of one of its commanders. It is assessing the risk of a backlash at home.

THE LATEST NEWS

Republican Campaign

At a press conference, Trump said he was “entitled to personal attacks” against Harris. “I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence,” he added. Trump’s lawyers asked the judge in his Manhattan criminal trial to delay sentencing until after the election. Trump’s latest financial disclosure shows he made $300,000 for endorsing a Bible and has about $100 million in liabilities from civil lawsuits he lost. Trump’s campaign hired one of his 2016 campaign managers, Corey Lewandowski, who has been accused of sexual harassment, as an adviser. Vance and Tim Walz agreed to debate on Oct. 1 on CBS.

Democratic Campaign

Biden still believes he could have beaten Trump, but the prospect of a brutal fight inside the Democratic Party persuaded him to quit the race. Here’s how he decided. “Mind your own damn business!” Harris and Walz are leaning into patriotic and limited-government rhetoric, accusing Republicans of seeking to restrict freedoms. Harris plans to blame corporate price gouging for high grocery costs. Here’s what economists say. North Carolina Democrats say Harris could win there. Republicans have held the state in all but one presidential election since 1980.

Drug Prices

President Biden and Vice President Harris. Eric Lee/The New York Times

Biden and Harris announced lower Medicare prices for 10 prescription drugs, the first result of negotiations with pharmaceutical companies under a law the administration passed. The drugs include treatments for blood clots, diabetes and arthritis. See the full list and the new prices. The event was Biden’s first joint appearance with Harris since he ended his re-election bid. “She’s gonna make one hell of a president,” he said.

War in Ukraine

Ukrainian troops have taken full control of Sudzha, a town about six miles beyond the Russian border, Volodymyr Zelensky said. Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia is likely to make it harder for the Kremlin to renew its offensive in Ukraine’s east, U.S. officials believe. But its forces are already closing in on one strategic town there.

More International News

Medical students and doctors protesting in Kolkata, India.  Piyal Adhikary/EPA, via Shutterstock

The death and apparent rape of a female trainee physician at a hospital in Kolkata has fueled protests across India. Sweden recorded a case of mpox, the first outside Africa during the current outbreak. Read what to know about the virus. Typhoon Ampil dumped heavy rain on the greater Tokyo area, flooding some streets and forcing evacuations. Thailand’s Parliament chose a 37-year-old heir of a political dynasty as prime minister, days after a court ousted the previous one.

Other Big Stories

A Shen Yun advertisement. The New York Times

Shen Yun, a dance show by the persecuted Chinese religious movement Falun Gong, has earned millions across five continents. But performers say the group has been abusive, often discouraging dancers and musicians from seeking medical care. Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed Mayor Eric Adams of New York and his 2021 campaign as part of a corruption investigation. Gov. Philip Murphy of New Jersey picked his former chief of staff to succeed Senator Bob Menendez, who is resigning after a jury convicted him of corruption.

Opinions

Doug Sosnik presents 14 maps to show how Harris upended the race and consolidated Democratic support.

Hunter Biden is an unregistered foreign agent, and he needs to be charged as one, Casey Michel argues.

Readers objected to the editorial board’s decision to stop endorsing New York candidates.

Here’s a column by David Brooks on understanding emotions.

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MORNING READS

Ash Adams for The New York Times

Precious cargo: In Utqiagvik, Alaska — the northernmost city in the U.S. — everything arrives by plane. But flying there can be treacherous.

Mystery of the mind: Many people in vegetative states may be capable of thought, a new study suggests.

“All-American spread”: How the British learned to stop worrying and love peanut butter.

Lives Lived: Peter Marshall once claimed that “The Hollywood Squares” hired him as host because its producers wanted “a complete nonentity.” He turned out to be the perfect straight man, asking serious questions and coaxing cheeky rejoinders from celebrities. Marshall died at 98.

SPORTS

N.F.L.: The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots 14-13 in a preseason game. The Patriots’ rookie quarterback, Drake Maye, improved in his second outing.

Media: ESPN fired the former N.F.L. player Robert Griffin III, as well as the “Sunday N.F.L. Countdown” host Samantha Ponder, in a move said to have been made for financial reasons.

ARTS AND IDEAS

In Rio de Janeiro.  Maria Magdalena Arrellaga for The New York Times

In Brazil, a debate is roiling over maid’s rooms, the cramped quarters that housed domestic workers in Brazilian homes for generations. The rooms originated with slavery but remained popular even after abolition, when affluent families employed Black domestic workers who toiled round the clock for little or no money. Some Brazilians still use them for live-in workers, though many others are transforming the rooms into libraries, lounges and walk-in closets.

More on culture

Photo illustration by Celina Pereira

Embrace your summer dad bod. These movies show how. The authorities charged five people with providing the ketamine that caused Matthew Perry’s death, including his personal assistant and two doctors. The late night hosts discussed Trump’s use of Tic Tacs to discuss prices: “If someone hands you a breath mint, they’re not suggesting you talk about inflation.”

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

David Malosh for The New York Times

Top one-pan pesto beans with toasted nuts and Parmesan.

Commute with a great laptop backpack.

Take our news quiz.

GAMES

Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was publicly.

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

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August 17, 2024

Good morning. Today, we’re looking back on one of the great years in cinema history. We’re also covering Kamala Harris’s economic agenda and fall fashion trends.

Laurence Fishburne, in a scene from “The Matrix.”

Our futuristic past

	By Alissa Wilkinson Film critic

Do you remember 1999? The vibes were peculiar. On the one hand, politicians and pundits talked ceaselessly about “building a bridge to the 21st century” and entering the new millennium (even though technically it wouldn’t start till 2001). On the other hand, fear lurked around all corners, mostly thanks to new technologies. The internet was still a place you wouldn’t dare use your real name, for reasons that were never totally clear. And the much-hyped Y2K bug left a lot of us wondering if society as we knew it was about to end because of faulty computer code, or something. (I recommend the delightful documentary “Time Bomb Y2K” for reliving that weird moment.)

That collective mood — one of hope and fear mashed together — made 1999 an incredible year at the movies. Just look at the list: “Fight Club.” “The Matrix.” “Toy Story 2.” “Eyes Wide Shut.” “Office Space.” “Shakespeare in Love.” “Magnolia.” “The Green Mile.” “The Blair Witch Project.” “Being John Malkovich.” “The Virgin Suicides.”

There’s a feeling of danger in a lot of these movies, alongside a fixation on sex appeal and youthful ennui. You could go down to the movie theater and see a great rom-com like “You’ve Got Mail,” “Runaway Bride” or “Notting Hill,” a teen classic like “10 Things I Hate About You” or “American Pie,” a campy horror adventure like “The Mummy” or a sexy take on a classic novel like “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” which has one of the best casts of all time.

It’s striking to see how many of these movies are still beloved by both audiences and critics. Some of that has to do with eccentric creative visions. In 1999, studios still took chances on very peculiar movies instead of leaning on blandly imagined sequels to rake in megabucks. Yes, unsurprisingly, “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” ruled the box office. But the No. 2 film of the year was “The Sixth Sense,” from M. Night Shyamalan, which introduced a new and exciting voice through a totally new story.

There are other factors, too: 1999 was an inflection point in the industry, in which venerable masters like Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese were working alongside young upstarts like Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Jonze, Sofia Coppola and the Wachowskis. And though we weren’t yet living in a world in which everyone carried a high-definition video camera in their pocket, recording technology was becoming cheaper, lighter and more accessible. That meant you could start shooting a movie like “The Blair Witch Project” with a paltry $35,000 in your pocket and turn it into $250 million.

Over on The Times’s Culture desk, we’ve been talking about 1999 all year. Our “Class of 1999” series examines some of the movies, celebrities and ideas that emerged a quarter-century ago, and how they remain significant today. I kicked off the series by writing about how the opening scene in “The Matrix” proved remarkably prescient. My colleague Maya Salam had a fascinating essay on how “The Blair Witch Project” foreshadowed our age of misinformation. Melena Ryzik profiled the breakout star of “The Sixth Sense,” Haley Joel Osment, and his post-child-star career.

What’s been amazing about revisiting the films of 1999 is realizing that, for as much as the world has changed, a lot has stayed the same. Looking at a few of this year’s biggest movies — “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Twisters,” “A Quiet Place: Day One” — I think that mix of optimism and fear set the tone for the 21st century more than any of us expected.

THE WEEK IN CULTURE

Film and TV

Gena Rowlands in 2014. Chris Pizzello/Invision, via Associated Press

The actress Gena Rowlands, known for her vulnerable portraits of women in states of crisis, died at 94. Read her obituary, and stream some of her best performances, including “The Notebook” and 1968’s “Faces.” John Cena and Awkwafina star in the movie “Jackpot!” It is one of eight movies our critics are talking about this week. Paramount — the parent company of CBS and Nickelodeon — started a series of long-scheduled layoffs that will cut its U.S. staff by around 15 percent. Jay Kanter, who served as an agent to stars including Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando, died at 97.

Music

The influential rapper Missy Elliott is headlining a tour for the first time in three decades. Jon Caramanica called the show a “relentless and exhilarating 75 minutes.” Taylor Swift fans gathered at London’s Wembley Stadium for the first Eras show since a terrorist plot caused three concerts to be canceled in Vienna. Barack Obama revealed his annual summer playlist. This year’s list includes Charli XCX and Tems, Pitchfork reports.

Other Culture News

A party at the Loft, a nightclub on Martha’s Vineyard. Gabriela Herman for The New York Times

An intimate film festival on Martha’s Vineyard drew celebrities and politicians including Taraji P. Henson, Don Cheadle and Senator Cory Booker. See inside the festival — and the parties. Paula Modersohn-Becker was a trailblazing German artist who died in 1907. In her first American museum show, her work looks “unmistakably modern,” our critic writes. Fans have speculated for months over whether Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are headed for divorce. The Cut created a timeline of the rumors. A set of proposed Biden administration policies could make it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions. Burning Man has sold out every year since 2011. But this year, after two consecutive festivals marred by bad weather, tickets are moving more slowly. Former football players — strong, agile and fast — often make good NASCAR pit crew members. Racing teams are scouring college campuses to hire them. “Shoot me up with a big one”: Court papers show the desperate final weeks leading up to the actor Matthew Perry’s death from ketamine.

THE LATEST NEWS

2024 Election

Kamala Harris at a rally yesterday in Raleigh, N.C. Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Kamala Harris laid out an economic agenda focused on bringing down the cost of living, pledging at a North Carolina rally to advance “economic security, stability and dignity” for the middle class. Harris’s plans call for building more housing, subsidizing first-time home buyers and increased tax credits for parents. She also said she would expand President Biden’s policies lowering drug prices. Harris also criticized Donald Trump’s proposed trade tariff hikes, calling them “in effect, a national sales tax” that would raise prices. Trump has likened Harris’s economic policies to “something straight out of Venezuela or the Soviet Union.”

Other Big Stories

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar presented Israel and Hamas with a “bridging proposal” in an effort to reach a cease-fire deal to end the war in Gaza. Negotiations will continue next week. Iran appears to be delaying any retaliation against Israel for the assassination of a top Hamas leader to let the cease-fire negotiations continue. Russian troops are closing in on Pokrovsk, a strategic Ukrainian-held town in the eastern Donetsk region. Taking it would bring Russia closer to its goal of seizing the region. The Supreme Court continued to block, for now, Biden administration rules meant to protect transgender students in Republican states. A Florida jury found a white woman guilty of manslaughter after she shot her unarmed Black neighbor through her door.

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CULTURE CALENDAR

	By Andrew LaVallee

👽 “Alien: Romulus” (out now): Real talk, I watch Aliens movies the way Hezly Rivera’s dad watches her compete on the balance beam. The latest installment stars Cailee Spaeny as a Sigourney Weaver-esque heroine. And it features the creatures you came for, as Manohla Dargis puts it, “scuttling and scurrying and causing their usual gory mayhem.”

❤️‍🔥 “Love Island U.S.A.” (Monday): This dating show, set in Fiji, was the guilty pleasure of the summer. Cast members return on Monday for the reunion special, so if you want to go in prepared, this weekend is a perfect time to binge the 30-plus episodes (and to read our interview with two who shared a special bromance.)

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Ryan Liebe for The New York Times

By Melissa Clark

Antipasto salad

The end of summer is peak no-cook recipe season, and Dan Pelosi’s tangy antipasto salad is one of the most satisfying things you can make without turning on the stove. A combination of Italian deli favorites like chunks of salami, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted peppers and provolone cheese, this hearty mix is lightened by juicy ripe cherry tomatoes along with fresh basil and parsley. Dan also adds a can of butter beans, but if you can’t find them, canned chickpeas work just as well. For the best flavor, let the salad sit in the fridge for at least an hour before serving; this gives it — and the cook — ample time to chill before dinner.

T MAGAZINE

Photograph by Collier Schorr. Styled by Raphael Hirsch

Click the image above to read this weekend’s issue of T, The Times’s style magazine.

REAL ESTATE

Susan Quillin, left, and Jean Nelsen with Poppy. Drew Kelly for The New York Times

The Hunt: After six years in Palm Springs, a retired couple wanted a three-bedroom house in the Bay Area for under $1 million. Which did they choose? Play our game.

What you get for $280,000: A bungalow with three bedrooms in Minneapolis; a 1920 Craftsman-style house in Pittsburgh; or a Cape Cod-style cottage in Hagerstown, Md.

LIVING

Kelly Wearstler at home in Beverly Hills. Teal Thomsen for The New York Times

So you’ve framed your art? Here’s how to hang a gallery wall.

Fall fashion: Crisp, timeless silhouettes and kitten heels.

Frugal Traveler: Driving solo (and on a budget) from Nova Scotia to Montreal.

“Cucumber guy”: This TikTok creator shows the many ways to eat the vegetable.

Painless pap smears: The F.D.A. recently approved a test that allows women to collect their own samples to screen for cervical cancer, no speculum required.

Trends: Wearing shorts to a wedding is no longer forbidden.

ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER

The secret to a perfect smash burger

When it comes to burgers, I like them one way: smashed. The ultrathin patty offers a wider platform for toppings and maximizes umami flavor. But achieving the perfect smash is easy if — and only if — you have the right equipment. After much trial and error, I’ve found that a stainless steel grill press is the best tool for the job. And it’s not just great for burgers. Use it to make evenly toasted grilled cheeses, griddled cinnamon rolls, crispy asparagus spears, smashed mini potatoes and more. — Maki Yazawas

GAME OF THE WEEK

Aaron Judge Erin Hooley/Associated Press

New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers, M.L.B.: Comparisons to Babe Ruth can feel like sacrilege to baseball fans — especially Yankees fans — but Aaron Judge has earned it. Judge hit his 300th career home run this week, and he did so faster than anyone in baseball history. In fact, he broke two records, hitting 300 in the fewest games (surpassing Ralph Kiner) and the fewest at-bats (surpassing Ruth).

The Yankees are having a great season, thanks not only to Judge but also to Juan Soto, who bats just before him in the lineup. One jaw-dropping stat, via The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner: Judge and Soto are the most productive Yankees duo since Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1927. Tomorrow at 7 p.m. on ESPN

NOW TIME TO PLAY

Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was laboratory.

Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines.

And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands.

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.

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

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August 18, 2024

Good morning. Today, we’re covering a sharp downturn in the art market, as well as Biden’s presidency, Ukraine and trendy funeral homes.

Amani Lewis with the painting “Galatians 6:2 — the carriers.” Ysa Pérez for The New York Times

Art depreciation

	By Zachary Small I cover the worlds of art and money.

As art became a serious business over the last few decades, with record multimillion-dollar sales eclipsing one another, it seemed as though values could just rise in perpetuity. But this year has been a reality check.

High-end art sales have slumped. Sellers have withdrawn prominent works from major auctions at the last minute, for fear of jeopardizing artists’ markets. More than a dozen galleries have closed in Manhattan. Layoffs have begun to creep through the $65 billion industry, as one of its largest companies, Christie’s, saw revenue plunge. It took in $2.1 billion from auctions in the first six months of this year, down from $4.1 billion during the same period in 2022.

In today’s newsletter, I’ll explore some reasons the art business has slowed, and how it’s affecting a rising generation of artists.

The high point

Jaws dropped on a November evening in 2022, when collectors bought a record $1.5 billion worth of paintings in a single night at the Christie’s auction house. Buyers snapped up a parade of masterpieces by artists including Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne and Gustav Klimt — all from the collection of the Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen.

That frenzied night seemed to forecast a booming future for an industry that had been getting hotter by the year. But it actually marked the peak of the market.

High interest rates and inflation bear some responsibility for the slowdown. Collectors who view artworks as financial assets have flinched at the rising costs of doing business and the diminished ability to get favorable loans to buy paintings they hope will appreciate in value. The supply of modern masterpieces has also decreased as potential sellers sit on their investments until economic conditions improve for the ultrawealthy.

Hesitation breeds uncertainty and doubt — dangerous emotions in an industry prone to mood swings. The more collectors fear a downturn, the more likely it becomes.

Allison Zuckerman’s “Woman With Her Pet.” Allison Zuckerman Studio and Kravets Wehby Gallery

A pipeline problem

You could be excused for thinking the art world was still flying high. A jet-set crowd of wealthy collectors and influencers has shuttled around the world this summer from Venetian palazzos to Swiss chalets, stopping to party in Tokyo before ending their grand tour in the mountains of Aspen, Colo., for an art fair where participants enjoyed cocktails at a home decorated with an Ed Ruscha painting of the Rocky Mountains that boldly exclaims, “IT’S RIDICULOUS.”

When you’ve been to enough of these fancy shindigs, you start to notice who’s missing: young artists.

Four months ago, I started compiling a list of promising artists who found market success early — many in their mid-20s and fresh out of graduate school. Collectors had purchased their still-wet paintings during the pandemic and flipped them for profit at auction months later. The pictures often sold for six or seven times their estimates at auction, fetching $150,000, $200,000 and sometimes more.

Decades ago, this kind of speculation could get a collector blacklisted in the art world. Artists and dealers wanted to create stable markets, steadily build careers and attract museums that would add their works to collections. But as the wealthy began to use paintings as investments, speculators flooded the market.

The market for young artists reached its peak in 2021, when collectors spent nearly $712 million on their works at auction. Last year, the market lost nearly a third of its value — and it continues to shrink. In the first half of this year, sales for this group dropped another 39 percent.

The calamitous fall

My colleague Julia Halperin and I spoke with a group of devastated younger artists. Powerless to stop these auctions, some watched in tears as the markets for their works declined. One painting, by the Ghanaian artist Emmanuel Taku, sold at auction in 2021 for $189,000. When it was put up for auction again earlier this year, its price plunged to just $10,160.

“You are buying a piece of my life — a little history of me and my people,” said the artist Amani Lewis, whose income fell by about 75 percent as the auction world’s failures rippled into studios and galleries, where artists make most of their sales.

Those who have experienced the churn hope it’s made them stronger. But they also remain frustrated by a system that treats paintings as commodities for speculation.

THE LATEST NEWS

Democratic Campaign

President Biden served as a senator for many years.  Shepard Sherbell/Corbis, via Getty Images

President Biden sought the presidency nearly all of his life. When he finally got there, it brought out his best — and eventually his worst, Robert Draper writes for The Times Magazine.

Kamala Harris has not often had a chance to lead on signature issues as vice president. But she has found roles to play on abortion and gun safety. Read about her time in office. Harris is now in contention in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, not long after Donald Trump was on track to run away with them, according to Times and Siena College polls. Harris’s network of confidants is younger and more racially diverse than Biden’s.

Republican Campaign

Trump veered into personal attacks against Harris in a Pennsylvania rally meant to be framed around economic policy. Trump has signaled that he wants use the military for domestic law enforcement. It could have implications for civil liberties. The former president has tried to wrest attention from Harris with a media blitz that has included an interview with Elon Musk and calling into a New York drive-time radio show.

War in Ukraine

Russian prisoners of war in a Ukrainian prison cell. David Guttenfelder for The New York Times

In interviews, Russian conscripts recalled abandoning their positions or surrendering during Ukraine’s incursion into Russia. Ukraine has destroyed a critical bridge in Russia’s Kursk region as it tries to sever Russian supply lines.

More International News

In Caracas, Venezuela. The New York Times

Venezuelans are mourning those killed in post-election unrest — and the remnants of their nation’s democracy. “We escaped death”: During an attack on a village in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers, a family said they fled just as the settlers reached their front door. An Israeli airstrike hit a factory in a town in southern Lebanon, killing at least 10 civilians, Lebanese officials said. Internationally, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy has mostly presented herself as pragmatic. At home, she asserts a conservative stance on issues including gay rights.

Other Big Stories

George Santos, the former Republican congressman, told prosecutors that he intended to plead guilty and avoid a federal trial. The fall of Roe v. Wade pushed many abortion clinics to expand to other markets. Some have found that blue states can be as hostile as red ones. A judge blocked Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery from forming a joint sports-focused streaming service, saying the venture could make the sports viewership market less competitive.

THE SUNDAY DEBATE

Is Ukraine’s incursion into Russia effective?

Yes. The surprise offensive is likely to be traumatic for Russia, whose forces appear to have been stretched thin. “The longer Ukraine holds on to the Kursk region, the more likely it is that Putin will see no alternative but to negotiate with Kyiv,” Dov Zakheim writes for The Hill.

No. Without more proactive support from the West, Ukraine’s incursion has limited success. “However jolting or embarrassing this has been for the Kremlin, it’s unlikely to spark Putin’s downfall,” Politico Europe’s Jamie Dettmer writes.

FROM OPINION

Josh Shapiro lost the race to be Harris’s running mate, at least in part, because he’s Jewish. It doesn’t bode well for future Jewish participation in Democratic politics, James Kirchick argues.

Trump isn’t funny anymore, and it could lose him the election, Leif Weatherby argues.

Here are columns by David French on student protests and Maureen Dowd on Democrats.

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MORNING READS

A new kind of funeral home.  Tom Jamieson for The New York Times

Chicly departed: A small group of funeral homes offer a modern approach to death that feels personal — and looks good.

A positive reaction: With purple gold and bouncy metal, a Canadian chemist shines on YouTube.

Routine: How a Brooklyn business owner and foodie spends her Sundays.

Vows: She got kicked out of Canada. Their story didn’t end there.

Lives Lived: Leonard Hayflick was a biomedical researcher who discovered that normal cells can divide only a certain number of times, setting a limit on the human life span. He died at 96.

THE INTERVIEW

Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times

By David Marchese

This week’s subject for The Interview is the singer Jelly Roll, who, before hitting it big in music, was in and out of prison starting as a teenager and has dealt with personal loss and substance-abuse issues. These life experiences, and the struggle to overcome them, inform Jelly Roll’s music — and comfort and inspire his many, many fans.

I was sent eight or nine of your new songs. They’re about Jelly Roll subjects: addiction, adversity. Given that your life is in a better place, is it harder to come up with that kind of material?

First of all, I hear these stories every night. I hear what the songs are doing for people. All of a sudden, what I thought was just my story becomes the story of tens of millions. It’s deeper than my story. This is my child’s mother’s story, who’s still actively in and out of jail and in her addiction. That’s how close this still is to my house, regardless of the size of my house.

How have you talked with your kids about the period in your life when you were in and out of prison?

I’ve always been honest. Bailee was different, my oldest, because of what her mother was dealing with. I was trying to describe what addiction was to an 8-year-old without using words like “addiction” or “drugs.”

Is that possible?

I believe that it’s a disease. I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced a drug addict really close to you. Have you?

I have not.

The strangest thing happens, man. Somebody you’ve known your entire life turns into a different person. I’ve had it happen to baby-mothers, cousins, biological brothers. It is unbelievable what it does. The way we tried to explain it is that your mother’s struggling with something, it’s a medical thing.

Read more of the interview here.

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE

Photograph by Joshua Rashaad McFadden for The New York Times.

Click the cover image above to read this week’s magazine.

BOOKS

Tom Wolfe in 1968. Sam Falk/The New York Times

Tom Wolfe: How the author of classics like “The Right Stuff” turned sociology into art.

By the Book: Yoko Ogawa loves finding love at the bookstore.

Obituary: Betty Prashker was a top editor and executive at two publishing houses who published feminist classics. She died at 99.

Quiz: Do you know these novels that were adapted into video games?

Our editors’ picks: This week’s selections include “Practice,” a debut novel about an Oxford undergraduate and the thrill and boredom of academic life.

Times best sellers: “The Art of Power,” Nancy Pelosi’s memoir, is a No. 1 debut on the hardcover nonfiction list.

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Stream these horror movies.

Listen to great songs recorded at Electric Lady Studios.

Upgrade to a high-quality notebook.

Make better cookies with a good scoop.

THE WEEK AHEAD

What to Watch For

The Democratic National Convention begins tomorrow. A blue supermoon appears tomorrow. Emmanuel Macron is expected to meet with party leaders on Friday to discuss forming a new government in France.

Meal Plan

Christopher Testani for The New York Times

Are you a zucchini skeptic? In this week’s Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter, Ali Slagle shares recipes that have helped her appreciate the abundant vegetable, including a Kerala-style vegetable korma, yakitori-style skewers and a cold noodle salad.

NOW TIME TO PLAY

Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was divulging.

Can you put eight historical events — including the discovery of Antarctica, the first peace treaty, and the creation of Pac-Man — 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.

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

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August 19, 2024

	By David Leonhardt

Good morning. We’re covering the start of the Democratic convention — as well as House Republicans, flash floods and hate-watching.

At a rally in Philadelphia. Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Progressive patriotism

At her first rally with Tim Walz, Kamala Harris delivered a riff about their quintessentially American backgrounds. She grew up in Oakland, Calif., raised by a working mother, while he grew up on the Nebraska plains, she explained. They were “two middle-class kids,” she said, now trying to make it to the White House together.

“Only in America,” Harris said, as the Philadelphia crowd burst into a chant of “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”

This sort of unabashed patriotism doesn’t always come naturally to today’s Democratic Party. But it has been central to Harris’s presidential campaign. In her ads and speeches, she portrays herself as a tough, populist, progressive patriot.

It has made a difference, too. Harris has persuaded — for now, at least — a meaningful slice of swing voters that she is not the out-of-touch California liberal who Republicans claim she is. In Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, she has surged ahead of Donald Trump partly because she is performing better with working-class voters and rural voters than President Biden was (even before his disastrous debate), according to Times/Siena College polls. Across both the Midwest and Sun Belt swing states, she is faring better with independents.

Today is my first newsletter after an August break, and I am struck by how much Harris’s message has revolved around progressive patriotism over the past couple weeks. With the Democratic convention about to begin, I’ll explain why you can expect to hear more of this theme from Harris and Walz.

Who’s patriotic?

I know that many Democrats already consider their party to be the patriotic one. Republican protesters, after all, were the ones who violently attacked Congress in 2021, and Donald Trump regularly portrays modern America as a hellscape.

But it also the case that Republicans are more comfortable with many expressions of patriotism than Democrats are. Republican voters are much more likely to describe themselves as “very patriotic” than Democratic voters are, according to YouGov polls. And Republicans are more likely than Democrats — especially highly educated Democrats — to say that the United States is the world’s greatest country:

Source: New York Times/Siena College poll, Sept. 2022 | By The New York Times

Given all this, it’s not surprising that most voters consider the Republican Party to be the more patriotic one:

Source: YouGov April 2024 poll | By The New York Times

The far left plays a role here. Parts of it — think of Noam Chomsky — can be disdainful of the U.S., describing it as a fundamentally oppressive country. Liberals, not conservatives, tend to argue that immigrants are forced to move here because of the consequences of American imperialism. Liberals are more likely to have qualms about national institutions like Thanksgiving, the military or the flag.

The most prominent left-wing movement of the past year — the Gaza protests — is a case study. The movement has not merely called attention to the high civilian death toll in Gaza; it sometimes portrays the war as an extension of U.S. immorality. Protesters have pulled down American flags and defaced a statue of George Washington with the word “genocidal.”

The America-skeptical left isn’t the Democratic Party, of course. But the left does exacerbate many swing voters’ concerns about the party — namely, that it isn’t cleareyed about a dangerous world. These same swing voters generally don’t like Trump, but they do appreciate his apparent toughness on trade, immigration, crime and more.

Harris’s shift

Harris has devoted much of her early campaign to narrowing both her party’s toughness and patriotism deficits.

Her stump speech is organized around the idea of fighting for “the promise of America,” and she has made clear that she’s willing to take on both the far left and far right. She excoriated Gaza protesters for burning a U.S. flag. She and Walz also cast themselves as defenders of liberty against Republicans who threaten it, especially on abortion rights. As my colleague Katie Glueck wrote, “Using traditionally right-leaning words and phrasing, they are portraying themselves as the true champions of universal American values.”

Harris combines patriotism with muscular promises to defend the interests of ordinary Americans. “Being president is about who you fight for, and she’s fighting for people like you,” the narrator in a campaign ad says. Her ads explain that as a prosecutor, she took on murderers, child abusers, drug cartels, big banks and big drug companies.

Harris’s flip-flop on immigration embodies both the toughness and patriotism themes. As a presidential candidate in 2019 — when the left was more influential in the Democratic Party — she favored decriminalizing border crossings. Today, she promises to protect Americans from gangs and fentanyl flowing across the border, and she criticizes Trump for blocking a border-security bill

Kamala Harris Erin Schaff/The New York Times

In part, Harris’s approach is an attempt to combat sexist stereotypes about strength. But gender isn’t the main explanation. Patriotism has long been a successful Democratic strategy, for both female and male candidates. The last three Democratic presidents — Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton — all celebrated American ideals while acknowledging the country’s flaws. So have successful Democratic Senate candidates in purple and red states, like Arizona, Pennsylvania, Montana and Ohio.

“We love our country,” Harris said in Philadelphia, with Walz standing behind her, “and I believe it is the highest form of patriotism to fight for the ideals of our country.”

More on the convention

The Democrats have allotted five speaking slots to social media influencers, an effort to reach voters who don’t typically consume traditional media. Large protests against the Biden-Harris administration’s approach to the war in Gaza are expected. Officials in Chicago say they’re prepared for demonstrations. Protest leaders describe plans for days of peaceful gatherings. At the 1968 Democratic convention there, violence erupted between the police and demonstrators protesting the Vietnam War. Read memories from the people who lived it. Democrats released their party platform. It mentioned Trump’s name 150 times and included familiar priorities like tax cuts for working families.

THE LATEST NEWS

More on the Election

The Harris campaign has essentially chosen the most popular parts of Biden’s agenda, hoping that a younger messenger can sell them to Americans. An ABC poll showed Harris leading Trump in swing states, while a CBS poll showed them tied. See polling averages for five swing states here. JD Vance defended his past unsubstantiated claims that early waves of Italian, Irish and German immigration led to higher crime by citing the movie “Gangs of New York.” Some U.S. companies, concerned about potential increased tariffs on Chinese goods if Trump is elected, are stockpiling parts. Georgia’s election board now has a conservative majority who question the state’s 2020 results. They have new power to influence the 2024 results.

More on Politics

President Biden Pete Marovich for The New York Times

House Republicans formally made the case for impeaching Biden, using circumstantial evidence to accuse him of corruption tied to his son’s business dealings. In Georgia, a statue of John Lewis, the congressman and civil rights leader, was installed in a space where a Confederate memorial had stood for more than 100 years.

International

Antony Blinken and Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog. Pool photo by Kevin Mohatt

During a trip to Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that recent negotiations had created one of the best chances for reaching a cease-fire in Gaza. “This is a decisive moment,” he said. Volodymyr Zelensky wants to hold Russian territory as leverage for future talks to end the war in Ukraine. In Moscow, many doubt that strategy. Thousands of Indian doctors refused to heed the government’s request to end protests over the rape and murder of a fellow medic, Reuters reports. A fire in Kuwait that killed 49 migrant workers, mostly from India, exposed the unsafe living conditions for low-paid migrants in the oil-rich nation.

Other Big Stories

Powerful storms caused flash flooding on Long Island. The same storm system dumped as much as 10 inches of rain on Connecticut on Sunday. See a video. Hurricane Ernesto threatens beachgoers on the East Coast with swells and rip currents. Elon Musk said he closed the X office in Brazil because a judge there ordered the company to suspend certain accounts.

Opinions

In 2014, ISIS brutally killed the journalist James Foley. Ten years later, Diane Foley, his mother, recalls her confrontation with one of his killers.

The world’s over-dependence on China used to work. But as China’s economy slows, the global economy is now vulnerable to a debt crisis, Michael Beckley writes.

Gail Collins and Bret Stephens discuss the Democratic National Convention.

David French is an evangelical Christian conservative. But this November, for the first time in his life, he plans to vote for a Democrat for president. On a new episode of “The Opinions,” he explains why other conservatives should follow his lead. Listen to the episode here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Here are columns by Ross Douthat on masculinity and the election and Ezra Klein on how Democrats and Republicans differ.

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