Elections

The Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to limit Boeing’s production of 737 Max planes could hurt airlines that are struggling to buy enough new aircraft.Boeing hoped 2024 would be the year it would significantly increase production of its popular Max jets. But less than a month into the year, the company is struggling to reassure airline customers that it will still be able to deliver on its promises.That’s because the Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday that it would limit the plane maker’s output until it was confident in Boeing’s quality control practices. On Jan. 5, a panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 body shortly after takeoff, terrifying passengers on an Alaska Airlines flight and forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing at Portland International Airport in Oregon. Almost immediately, the F.A.A. grounded some Max 9s.Since then, details have emerged about the jet’s production at Boeing’s facility in Renton, Wash., that have intensified scrutiny of the company’s quality control. Boeing workers opened and then reinstalled the panel about a month before the plane was delivered to Alaska Airlines.The directive is another setback for Boeing, which had been planning to increase production of its Max plane series to more than 500 this year, from about 400 last year. It also planned to add another assembly line at a factory in Everett, Wash., a major Boeing production hub north of Seattle.As part of the F.A.A.’s announcement on Wednesday, it also approved inspection and maintenance procedures for the Max 9. Airlines can return the jets to service once they have followed those instructions. United Airlines said on Thursday that it could resume flying some of those planes as soon as Friday.The move is another potential blow to airlines. Even though demand for flights came roaring back after pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions eased, the airlines have not been able to take full advantage of that demand. The companies have not been able to buy enough planes or hire enough pilots, flight attendants and other workers they need to operate flights. A surge in the cost of jet fuel after Russia invaded Ukraine also hurt profits.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

In 2010, at the signing of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, Joe Biden, the vice president at the time, was caught on a hot mic telling President Barack Obama that the bill was a “big deal.” OK, there was actually another word in the middle. Anyway, Biden was right.And in one of his major unsung accomplishments — it’s amazing how many Americans believe that an unusually productive president hasn’t done much — President Biden has made Obamacare an even bigger deal, in a way that is improving life for millions of Americans.As you may have noticed — as many Americans finally seem to be noticing — Biden has been racking up some pretty good numbers lately. Economic growth is still chugging along, defying widespread predictions of a recession, while unemployment remains near a 50-year low. Inflation, especially using the measure preferred by the Federal Reserve, has fallen close to the Fed’s target. The stock market keeps hitting new highs.Oh, and murders have plummeted, with overall violent crime possibly hitting another 50-year low.Biden deserves some political reward for this good news, given that Donald Trump and many in his party predicted economic and social disaster if he were elected, and that Republicans, in general, are still talking as if America were suffering from high inflation and runaway crime. (Trump, of course, has been dismissing the good jobs numbers as fake. Wait until he hears about falling crime.)It’s less clear how much of the good news on these fronts can be attributed to Biden’s policies. Presidents definitely don’t control the stock market. They have less influence in general on the economy than many believe; I would give Biden some credit for the economy’s strength, which was in part driven by his spending policies, but the rapid disinflation of 2023 mainly reflects a nation working its way out of lingering disruptions from the Covid pandemic. The same is probably true for the plunge in violent crime.One area where presidents do make a big difference, however, is health care. Obamacare — which arguably should really be called Pelosicare, since Nancy Pelosi (who is not, whatever Trump may think, the same person as Nikki Haley) played a key role in getting it through Congress — led to big gains in health insurance coverage when it went into full effect in 2014.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

The increase in gross domestic product, while slower than in the previous period, showed the resilience of the recovery from the pandemic’s upheaval.The U.S. economy continued to grow at a healthy pace at the end of 2023, capping a year in which unemployment remained low, inflation cooled and a widely predicted recession never materialized.Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, grew at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. That was down from the 4.9 percent rate in the third quarter but easily topped forecasters’ expectations and showed the resilience of the recovery from the pandemic’s economic upheaval.The latest reading is preliminary and may be revised in the months ahead.Forecasters entered 2023 expecting the Federal Reserve’s aggressive campaign of interest-rate increases to push the economy into reverse. Instead, growth accelerated: For the full year, measured from the end of 2022 to the end of 2023, G.D.P. grew 3.1 percent, up from less than 1 percent the year before and faster than in any of the five years preceding the pandemic. (A different measure, based on average output over the full year, showed annual growth of 2.5 percent in 2023.)There is little sign that a recession is imminent this year, either. Early forecasts point to continued — albeit slower — growth in the first three months of 2024. Layoffs remain low, and job growth has held steady. Cooling inflation has meant that wages are again rising faster than prices. And consumer sentiment is at last showing signs of rebounding after years in the doldrums.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

As owners remain reluctant to put their properties on the market, developers are rushing to build new homes to meet demand.When Joel Adler decided it was time to downsize from his six-bedroom house in Parkland, Fla., where he had lived for more than 20 years, he was disappointed with the lack options.“There weren’t a lot of homes to look at,” said Mr. Adler, a 76-year-old retired teacher, who had been searching for a year and a half.Eventually, he turned to Valencia Sound, a gated community in Boynton Beach, Fla., that opened in 2019, joining the growing ranks of home buyers who opted for a newly built house instead of an existing one, a rare bright spot in an otherwise gloomy market.The housing market has been mired for much of the past year, bogged down by high prices, soaring mortgage rates and a dearth of inventory, pushing many would-be buyers to the sidelines.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

Igor Levit’s response to tragedy, Ethan Iverson’s first piano sonata and a personal recording by Gidon Kremer are among the highlights.‘Lieder Ohne Worte’Igor Levit, piano (Sony)Music doesn’t have the power to end wars. Peace, said Daniel Barenboim, whose West-Eastern Divan Orchestra brings together Israeli and Palestinian artists, “needs something else.”But that doesn’t mean musicians are powerless. On this album, recorded and released with white-heat urgency following the latest conflict in Israel and Gaza, Igor Levit documents a personal reaction while using his platform as a star pianist to support two organizations against antisemitism that are based in Berlin, where he lives.In the past, Levit has been accused of opportunistic political posturing, but his philanthropic projects have been virtually apolitical — and too substantial to dismiss. Early in the pandemic, he spun his “house concert” livestreams into a marathon of Satie’s “Vexations” that raised money for artist relief. And this album’s proceeds will go directly to the Berlin organizations.Levit wanted to record selections from Mendelssohn’s “Lieder Ohne Worte,” or “Songs Without Words,” because, he has said, “there is a certain melancholy about them which really helped me a bit.” That doleful mood pervades these interpretations: a sadly beautiful tone; an emotional climax that evaporates rather than reaching a resolution; a heartbreakingly simple plunk of high keys.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

Interest rate cuts could start as soon as April, investors say. But the eurozone’s central bank, which held rates steady on Thursday, has said it will probably wait longer.If what goes up must come down, then the urgent question on the minds of many in Europe is when will interest rates begin dropping? For months, rates have been set at the highest in the European Central Bank’s history.Despite the protests of the eurozone’s policymakers, investors have been betting that the central bank will cut rates quite soon — possibly in April. Traders figure rates must come down because inflation has slowed notably — it’s been below 3 percent since October — and the region’s economy is weak. By the end of year, the central bank will have cut rates by more than 1 percentage point, or between five and six quarter-point cuts, trading in financial markets implied.Policymakers, however, are trying to pull market opinion in the other direction and delay the expectations of rate cuts. Many of the central bank’s Governing Council are wary of declaring victory over inflation too soon, lest it settle above the bank’s target of 2 percent.On Thursday, the European Central Bank stuck to this outlook. It held interest rates steady, leaving the deposit rate at 4 percent, where it has been since September. The bank said rates were at levels that, “maintained for a sufficiently long duration, will make a substantial contribution” toward returning inflation to 2 percent in a “timely manner.”Benchmark interest rate in the eurozoneEuropean Central Bank’s deposit facility rate.

Source: European Central BankBy The New York TimesInflation in the eurozoneYear-over-year change in consumer prices in the eurozone.

Source: EurostatBy The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More

Millions of birds migrate through the Golden State each year along the Pacific Flyway, which stretches from Alaska to the tip of South America.Waterfowl in flight at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge last week.Jim Wilson/The New York TimesBlackbirds flit between reeds jutting out of the marshy waters. A bald eagle perches in a tree, far above clusters of bobbing ducks. In a mesmerizing display, hundreds of snowy white geese take flight in an undulating swarm that mottles the gray sky.This is the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, one of a number of spots in California for birds traveling along the Pacific Flyway, a migratory path that stretches from Alaska to the tip of South America. Millions of migratory birds, representing more than 100 species, visit or pass through the Golden State each year.“If you’re interested in migratory birds for any reason, California is the place to be,” John Eadie, who teaches conservation biology at the University of California, Davis, told me.The Pacific Flyway is one of four major North American avian migration routes, and California has been a major destination on the Flyway for thousands of years.Some experts estimate that at the start of the 20th century, 60 million birds were migrating to California’s wetlands each winter. The Central Valley was a hot spot. When the eminent ornithologist Frank Chapman visited Los Banos in 1903, he wrote, “I have never seen birds more abundant.”But that was before California drained more than 90 percent of its wetlands for agriculture and development, eliminating much of the habitat that the birds relied on. For example, a longtime destination for birds was Tulare Lake, once the largest body of fresh water west of the Mississippi. By the middle of the 20th century, the lake was all but gone, transformed into an empire of farms (at least until an exceptionally rainy winter comes along.)Signs at the wildlife refuge warn visitors to stay in their cars except in designated spots.Jim Wilson/The New York TimesDan Harris, left, and Dave Kramer viewed birds at the sanctuary through telescopic lenses.Jim Wilson/The New York TimesThe Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, which is just off Interstate 5 about 80 miles northwest of Sacramento, was created in the 1930s by flooding dry land to re-establish habitat for birds that would otherwise eat crops. The refuge typically provides a home for 250 species of birds each year, with as many as 500,000 migratory ducks and 250,000 geese visiting between November and January.Nat Seavy, director of migration science for the National Audubon Society’s Migratory Bird Initiative, told me that preserving places in California for birds to pass the winter is a complicated balancing act that must take into account water supplies, agriculture, other animals’ habitats and the needs of people.“The stewardship of birds kind of depends on everybody’s story along that flyway,” he said.Seavy pointed to the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area in Davis, a 16,600-acre haven for birds that was created in the late 1990s to serve two purposes: restoring wetland bird habitat and providing a flood plain for the Sacramento River. I visited the preserve recently, and saw ducks with emerald collars preening themselves and tiny long-legged shorebirds scuttling across the driving path.Rebecca Ryland, a longtime Davis resident, had set up an easel and watercolors that morning to paint the glistening wetlands. She told me that she had already seen two enormous flocks of geese swooping overhead, drawing visitors’ heads skyward.“It’s amazing,” said Ryland, who comes to the park daily. “Sometimes I just sort of say: ‘Take it easy. You have a long trip.’”A (not-at-all-comprehensive) list of places to see birds in California this winter:Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, about 80 miles northwest of Sacramento. This is a hot spot for waterfowl, and viewing is best between October and March.Gray Lodge Wildlife Area, about 40 miles south of Chico.Tijuana Estuary, about 15 miles south of San Diego. The estuary supports 370 species of birds, and guided bird walks are available.The Salton Sea, about 50 miles southeast of Palm Springs, is one of the most important Pacific Flyway stops. By January, the wings of more than 400 species of migrating birds form living clouds across crystal clear skies.Suisun Marsh, about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco, accounts for more than 10 percent of California’s remaining natural wetlands, and provides habitat to more than 220 bird species.If you read one story, make it thisA $1.7 million public toilet has come to symbolize red tape in San Francisco.Royce Hall, on the campus of U.C.L.A.Robyn Beck/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe rest of the newsThe Biden administration has pressed University of California officials to reconsider the university’s plan to allow thousands of young people without legal immigration status to hold campus jobs, Politico reports.Southern CaliforniaSan Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies found six human bodies at a dirt crossroads in the Mojave Desert.Jim Harbaugh, who coached Michigan to a national football championship in December, has agreed to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, The Athletic reports.Central CaliforniaCalifornia’s secretary of state asked a state appeals court to cancel a lower court’s ruling allowing Assemblyman Vince Fong, Republican of Bakersfield, to run for Congress in the March 5 primary, The Fresno Bee reports. Fong is already on the ballot as a candidate for re-election to his current office.Northern CaliforniaResearchers at U.C. San Francisco are using artificial intelligence to read medical scans, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.U.S. News & World Report has filed a federal lawsuit against San Francisco’s city attorney over his subpoenas regarding the company’s hospital-ranking process, The Los Angeles Times reports.What we’re recommendingA New York debut, but a deeply Los Angeles project.Tell usToday we’re asking about love: not whom you love but what you love about your corner of California.Email us a love letter to your California city, neighborhood or region — or to the Golden State as a whole — and we may share it in an upcoming newsletter. You can reach the team at [email protected] Kiyota and Elliott Lin.Dmitri and Sandra PhotographyAnd before you go, some good newsLove hit Kelsey Kiyota and Elliott Lin like a high-speed car.The pair had been friends for six years when, in 2018, at a mutual friend’s party in San Francisco, they discovered their shared love for the “Fast and Furious” movie franchise. Sparks flew (and engines revved, and wheels turned).“This could be my shot,” Lin recalled thinking after the interaction. “This could be the one.”Lin was so struck by the connection that he asked Kiyota out after the party. A few months later, the two had their first date — over Korean barbecue in San Francisco — and bonded over more shared loves: food and restaurants.From there, the two fell in love over many meals, long hikes near Lake Tahoe and a trip to Kiyota’s family home in Colorado. Lin popped the question in January 2023, and the two began planning a wedding in Hawaii, where Kiyota has a family connection. The couple tied the knot there in a ceremony with friends and relatives this month.Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — SoumyaP.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword.Maia Coleman and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at [email protected] up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. More

Plus: jewelry handmade with Roman coins, vintage Estée Lauder fragrances and more recommendations from T Magazine.Wear ThisEstée Lauder Revives a Set of Vintage PerfumesThe Estée Lauder Legacy Collection modernizes five scents that were initially created by the company’s titular founder.Courtesy of the brandDuring the 42 years that Estée Lauder worked at her namesake company, she oversaw the creation of a dozen scents and encouraged women to create fragrance “wardrobes” tailored to every occasion and mood. The brand’s Legacy Collection, which comes out on Feb. 1, revives five of Lauder’s creations with the help of Frédéric Malle (whose perfume brand was acquired by the Estée Lauder Companies in 2015) and the perfumers Anne Flipo, Carlos Benaïm and Bruno Jovanovic, all of whom have worked with Malle on previous fragrances. During an interview inside Lauder’s well-preserved office near Central Park, Malle explained how he retooled the scents using more modern fragrance-making techniques. He noted that, in Lauder’s day, perfumers combined base scents that were “like premixed mini-perfumes” to create a final fragrance. “They contained things that weren’t necessary and created background noise,” Malle said. To update the formulas, any nonessential ingredients in those bases were stripped away — “it’s like cleaning up,” he said. The new collection has notes that range from fresh and herbaceous to musky and sweet. Azurée, initially released in 1969, evokes dry Mediterranean shores with herby notes like basil and tarragon as well as jasmine, spicy cardamom, bergamot, and cumin, which Malle amplified in his edition. For White Linen, a classic floral bouquet of rose and jasmine, Malle used pure labdanum, an ambery resin from the rockrose plant, which wasn’t available when the scent debuted in 1978. Knowing, a seductive scent from 1988, “contained a little bit of the Muzak of the ’80s,” Malle said. The modernized version is a fruity chypre with raspberries, black currant, rose and patchouli. The overall goal of the collection, Malle said, “is to revive this work and show how good Mrs. Lauder was.” The Legacy Collection is available from Feb. 1, $280, esteelauder.com.Eat HereIn Istanbul, a Red Velvet Bistro From the Owners of ArkestraLeft: this month, the owners of the Istanbul restaurant Arkestra opened Ritmo, an intimate bistro serving a menu of small plates and cocktails. Right: a dish of gochujang-flavored steak tartare served with a dollop of anchovy mayonnaise and a rice cracker.Ali Yavuz AtaWhen Debora Ipekel, a former music business executive, and her husband, Cenk Debensason, a classically trained chef, first came up with the concept for a new restaurant venture in their hometown, Istanbul, they wanted to create an experience that would encompass both their worlds. “Hospitality extends beyond serving great food — it’s about creating an atmosphere that reflects our identity,” says Ipekel. Arkestra, named after the Sun Ra Arkestra, the avant-garde jazz group formed in the 1950s, opened in September 2022. Inside a sprawling villa in the neighborhood of Etiler, a wood-paneled dining room on the ground floor serves Debensason’s varied menu of dishes like tuna sashimi with sushi rice ice cream and a seasonal mushroom risotto. On the next level is a bar called Listening Room which features lounge seating, low cocktail tables and an extensive library of vinyl records. Drawing on her career in music, Ipekel curates late-night sets alongside guests such as the Chicago disco legend Sadar Bahar and the Turkish DJ Barış K. “We want the music to be eclectic, timeless, and soulful — similar to the food we serve,” she says. This month, the villa housing Arkestra welcomed the couple’s new bistro, Ritmo. Tucked away behind velvet curtains with mirrored ceilings and Rococo furnishings, the space has a decadent, playful feel that’s complemented by the selection of snacks such as oysters with champagne sabayon and churros with spicy chocolate sauce. arkestra.com.tr.See ThisEmily Weiner’s Symbolic Paintings, on View in Nashville and Mexico CityLeft: Emily Weiner’s “Spiral (Alizarin)” (2023). Right: Weiner’s “Ad Infinitum” (2023).Courtesy of the artist and Red Arrow Gallery, Nashville. Photo: John SchweikertThe artist Emily Weiner is drawn to the sort of instantly recognizable imagery that taps into the unconscious and communicates across time. After years spent honing her style while also working as a curator and art writer, she’s lately made waves with her vibrant, almost spiritual oil paintings of urns, columns, jaunty hands and theater curtains framing ombré skies and conspicuous moons. Her new pieces, which will soon make up a solo show at Red Arrow Gallery in Nashville and feature in the inaugural group exhibition at König Galerie’s Mexico City outpost, continue in this vein while expanding her visual lexicon. On one canvas, Weiner has painted an all-encompassing aquamarine spiral that moves toward a tiny half-moon at the center; hung next to it at Red Arrow will be its fiery twin — a mirror-image spiral rendered in a rusty red. (A number of the other works are symmetrical all on their own and, fittingly, the name of the solo show, “Never Odd or Even,” is a palindrome.) Weiner, who emphasizes the eco-feminist, futurist bent of the paintings, says the spirals represent the idea of eternal return; she sees them as “cosmic fallopian tubes.” In another work, a gleaming moon can be glimpsed through a yonic slit reminiscent of a Lucio Fontana cut painting; elsewhere, receding silhouettes of faces evoke mountains or monoliths. “I was thinking about the notion that this is a tainted world that inevitably is going to be saved by a patriarchal god and trying to invert it,” says Weiner. “How can we take care of this landscape that we live in as a mother would?” “Never Odd or Even” is on view at Red Arrow Gallery, Nashville, from Feb. 3 through Feb. 24, theredarrowgallery.com; “Surreal Surroundings” is on view at König Galerie, Mexico City, from Feb. 5 through March 8, koeniggalerie.com.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?  More