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      Musk Lifted Bans for Thousands on Twitter. Here’s What They’re Tweeting.

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      Many reinstated users are tweeting about topics that got them barred in the first place: Covid-19 skepticism, election denialism and QAnon.Since Elon Musk bought Twitter in October, the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” has ad-libbed his way through the company’s moderation policies.He initially argued that bans should be reserved for spam accounts, offering “amnesty” to thousands of suspended users and reinstating former president Donald J. Trump. Last week, he suspended several journalists, claiming they had shared public flight data revealing his private location. (Many of the bans were later reversed.)To gauge how Mr. Musk’s content decisions influenced Twitter’s content, The New York Times analyzed tweets from more than 1,000 users whose accounts were recently reinstated. The posts were collected for The Times by Bright Data, a social media tracking company, using a list of reinstated users identified by Travis Brown, a Berlin-based software developer who has tracked extremism on Twitter.Most of the reinstated accounts were deeply partisan — often vocal supporters of Mr. Trump — and they appeared eager to bring their fiery takes back to the social network. It was not clear from the data why the users were originally suspended or why they were reinstated, though their post histories suggest many were banned as Twitter cracked down on Covid-19 and election-related misinformation.Imran Ahmed, the founder and chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said the message Mr. Musk sent to the formerly suspended users was clear: “‘Welcome back, welcome home.”Inside Elon Musk’s TwitterA Management Guru?: To many, Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter may look like an unmitigated disaster. But his unsparing style has still made him a hero to leaders in Silicon Valley.Rival Platforms: Twitter rolled out a new policy to prevent users from sharing links and user names from rival social platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Mastodon. After a backlash from users, the policy was curtailed.Account Suspensions: Twitter’s decision to suspend (and later reinstate) the accounts of several journalists set off a heated debate about free speech and online censorship.A Flood of Bots: People protesting China’s Covid rules shared their demonstrations on Twitter. But despite Mr. Musk’s vow to remove bots, spam accounts drowned out their posts.Twitter and Mr. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.“I finally got this account back after being banned for being a #Republican thanks @elonmusk,” one user tweeted. Just 10 minutes later, the same person wrote: “Joe Biden is an illegitimate president and the 2020 election was stolen.”Here is some of what these users have been saying on Twitter since their return.Covid-19 misinformation and vaccine doubtsDuring the pandemic, Twitter introduced a policy that banned misinformation about the virus, suspending over 11,000 accounts, including many prominent users, after they pushed falsehoods. But in November of this year, after Mr. Musk took control of the company, Twitter said that it would no longer enforce that policy.Several reinstated users who were banned after the Covid-19 policies went into effect started posting again about the virus and its vaccines. Some raised doubts about the effectiveness of vaccines or suggested, without evidence, that vaccines kill people.Several posts mentioned “Died Suddenly,” a misleading documentary released this year that claimed people were dying from the vaccine. Others shared their own unsupported anecdotes.“If you watched ‘Died Suddenly’ here is more confirming evidence,” one user tweeted, adding a link to a website titled “Covid Jab Side Effects.” Before being banned in January 2021, the user had posted several times about Covid-19, including posts that the virus was not dangerous.Election fraudTwitter cracked down on election fraud conspiracy theories after the 2020 election, suspending thousands of accounts that pushed false and misleading ideas about the election results. Hundreds of users have since returned to Twitter, pushing those ideas once again.Many reinstated users focused on close races in the midterm elections, including the governor’s race in Arizona and the Senate race in Pennsylvania. Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor in Arizona, lost her race but has refused to concede, citing problems with the voting process and claiming fraud. Many reinstated users echoed her ideas.Those tweets recycled falsehoods and conspiracy theories from the 2020 election, including that voting machines were rigged to influence the outcome.“Voters, not voting machines, used to decide elections in Arizona,” one reinstated user tweeted. “That’s no longer the case.”QAnonQAnon, the online conspiracy theory, appeared to reach its peak on Jan. 6, 2021, when hundreds of Mr. Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol Building. Twitter suspended over 70,000 accounts linked to the group afterward. But many of the movement’s core ideas have continued playing a significant role in the far-right imagination.On Twitter, reinstated users have returned to familiar themes in QAnon lore, raising questions about prominent Democrats and their association with Jeffrey Epstein, a former financier who was charged with child sex trafficking and is a central figure in QAnon conspiracies.They have claimed without evidence that Democrats and Hollywood personalities are engaged in widespread sex trafficking and pedophilia. And they have also repeated claims that liberals are “grooming” children using drag performances and sex education.“I just was reinstated today after 2 years of permanent suspension,” wrote one reinstated user with “QAnon” in his user name. “I guess I owe that to the new owner thank you Elon Musk.” More

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      What’s In (and Not In) the $1.7 Trillion Spending Bill

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      A big boost for the military, more aid for Ukraine, a preference for the lobster industry over whales and an overhaul of the Electoral Count Act are among the provisions in the 4,155-page bill lawmakers expect to pass this week.WASHINGTON — Billions of dollars in emergency aid to war-torn Ukraine and communities ravaged by natural disasters. A bipartisan proposal to overhaul the archaic law at the heart of former President Donald J. Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. And a divisive oceanic policy that will change federal protections for whales in an effort to protect the lobster industry in Maine.In compiling the roughly $1.7 trillion catchall spending package that will keep the government open through September, lawmakers inserted several new funding and legislative proposals to ensure their priorities and policies become law before the end of the year.It includes funding that will guarantee the enactment of policies first authorized in bipartisan legislation approved earlier in this Congress, including money for innovation hubs established in the semiconductor manufacturing law and projects in the infrastructure law. The package also includes a round of earmarks, rebranded as community project funding, that allow lawmakers to redirect funds to specific projects in their states and districts.Here is a look at some of the provisions that would go into effect if enacted.Military spending is the big winner.The Defense Department would see an extraordinary surge in spending when adding its regular 2023 fiscal year budget together with additional funds being allocated to help respond to the war in Ukraine.All together, half of the $1.7 trillion in funding included in the package goes to defense, or a total of $858 billion. It comes after lawmakers bucked a request from President Biden and approved a substantial increase in the annual defense policy bill passed this month.The 2023 budget just for the Defense Department would total $797.6 billion in discretionary spending — a 10 percent increase over last year’s budget — representing an extra $69.3 billion in funds for the Pentagon, which is $36.1 billion above the president’s budget request.Sprinkled throughout the spending bill are hundreds of high-ticket add-ons that Congress wants to make to the president’s original Defense Department budget, such as an additional $17.2 billion for procurement that the Pentagon can largely distribute to military contractors to buy new ships, airplanes, missile systems and other equipment. The overall Pentagon procurement budget with these additional funds would be $162 billion.One of the biggest chunks of that extra money is for shipbuilding — an extra $4 billion that brings the Navy’s overall shipbuilding budget to $31.96 billion. That will allow it to buy 11 new ships, including three guided missile destroyers and two attack submarines.But that is just the start. There is $8.5 billion to buy 61 F-35 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin and another $2.5 billion to buy 15 of Boeing’s new aerial refueling planes known as KC-46 tankers.There is also an extra $27.9 billion to help cover Defense Department costs associated with the war in Ukraine, as part of an emergency aid package to the country. That includes an extra $11.88 billion to replenish U.S. stocks of equipment sent to Ukraine — money that again will largely be used to purchase products from military contractors. That supplemental appropriation also includes $9 billion to assist Ukraine with training, equipment and weapons, as well as an extra $6.98 billion to cover U.S. military operations in Europe.— Eric Lipton and John IsmayMaking it easier (for some) to save for retirement.The package also includes a collection of new rules aimed at helping Americans save for retirement. The bill would require employers to automatically enroll eligible employees in their 401(k) and 403(b) plans, setting aside at least 3 percent, but no more than 10 percent, of their paychecks. Contributions would be increased by one percentage point each year thereafter, until it reaches at least 10 percent (but not more than 15 percent). But this applies only to new employer-provided plans that are started in 2025 and later — existing plans are exempt.Another provision would help lower- and middle-income earners saving for retirement by making changes to an existing tax credit, called the saver’s credit, now available only to those who owe taxes. In its new form, it would amount to a matching contribution, from the federal government, deposited into taxpayers’ retirement accounts.People struggling with student debt would also receive a new perk: Employees making student debt payments would qualify for employer matching contributions in their workplace retirement plan, even if they were not making plan contributions of their own.What to Know About Congress’s Lame-Duck SessionCard 1 of 5A productive stretch. More

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      Was the World Collapsing? Or Were You Just Freaking Out?

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      What should we make of this year in America? There’s an argument that this is the end, or the beginning of the end, that the infrastructure of our democracy is crumbling, and that the jittery quality in the economy portends collapse and that the nuclear risk in Russia’s war in Ukraine could combust into something much bigger. There is, then, the counterargument that even with all these strains, we’re actually witnessing the system hold, that democracy prevails, that the danger is fading.Those arguments can register as hysterical or dismissive or out of touch, but they can also be considered in the most openhearted, late-night kind of way. Maybe we really are on the verge of something even worse, as in large stretches of the 20th century, and this is how people felt in previous eras that you read about. Is the world as we knew it ending? Would you even know, until it was too late, until it was actually over?In 2022, you could find the swings in discourse between apocalypse and dismissal, panic and caution, in politics, in the media, on Twitter and Instagram, over text, in person, within and between ideological factions, about war in Europe, about the state of American democracy, about illiberalism and the prospective retreat from globalism, about violence, about Covid, about artificial intelligence, about inflation and energy prices and crypto collapse contagion. There are deep versions of this debate, and reductive ones you catch a glimpse of in Instagram comments or in an op-ed that just gets it all wrong. This can even be a debate you have with yourself.You probably know about the apocalyptic possibilities for American democracy. Fundamentally, this country doesn’t work if the peaceful transfer of power does not work. This country doesn’t work, and didn’t work in living memory, if people can’t vote. And there might be a threshold at which it doesn’t work if enough people don’t trust election results. Those existential questions have now been channeled into concrete problems: In 2022, people called up election offices and left death threats; people in tactical gear staked out voter drop boxes; election offices installed bulletproof glass. Republicans fielded candidates in Arizona and Pennsylvania who ran on the premise that elections in this country were a lie. Millions watched the Jan. 6 hearings that delved into how chaotic and fragile the final days of the Trump White House really were.Then, in this fragile landscape of trust, there were the courts. In the summer, the Supreme Court fully overturned Roe v. Wade, a decision long expected, but one that still seemed to shock even the people who wanted it — even after the surreal publication of a drafted opinion in the spring. The fact that it really did happen — that suddenly a woman had to drive into another state to get an abortion so that she wouldn’t potentially die from complications — not only carried that kind of real-life consequence in a thousand private moments of people’s lives, but also opened up a world of other possibilities about what could happen. Maybe the court would roll back marriage equality. Or sign off on “independent state legislature” theory, an obscure theory adopted by a group of right-wingers that would grant expanded powers to state legislatures in carrying out elections and risk destabilizing the entire system.Accompanying all these events was a disorienting, high-stakes discourse about how to talk about conspiracy theories and antidemocratic threats, and about how much to do so. We know that what people say — what we say — on social platforms, and certainly in the media, shapes the way people perceive politics, but in a way that can be hard to measure — an awareness that can convert every piece or post into an opportunity or mistake. Writers argued that excessively focusing on democracy might alienate, rather than persuade, voters, or even corrupt institutions by intertwining constitutional and partisan concerns.Then there was the world beyond discourse, where no one could control much of anything beyond one man. For months, for years, since the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the West’s tepid response to it, people had warned that Vladimir Putin would eventually launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine — then it happened. Not many people in Russia or anywhere else seemed to want this beyond Mr. Putin, but that did nothing to prevent Ukraine from becoming the kind of place where a boy has to figure out for himself that troops shot his mother and stepfather because nobody knows how to tell him, where people had to drink the water from radiators to stay alive, where reflecting on brutal deaths in one city, someone can find themselves grimly observing, “In theory, international bodies have the authority to prosecute war crimes wherever and whenever they occur.” More

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      Will 2024 Be a Vaccine Election?

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      Will Republicans once again nominate Donald Trump for president? Or will they turn to Ron DeSantis instead? I have no idea.What I do know is that anyone imagining DeSantis as a more sensible, saner figure than Trump — a right-wing populist without the reality-denying paranoia — is delusional. DeSantis hasn’t gone down all the same rabbit holes as Trump, but he has gone down some of his own, and his descent has been just as deep.Above all, DeSantis is increasingly making himself the face of vaccine conspiracy theories, which have turned a medical miracle into a source of bitter partisan division and have contributed to thousands of unnecessary deaths.Let’s back up and talk about the story of Covid-19 vaccines so far.In the spring of 2020 the U.S. government initiated Operation Warp Speed, a public-private partnership intended to develop effective vaccines against the coronavirus as quickly as possible. The effort succeeded: By December 2020, far sooner than almost anyone had imagined possible, vaccinations were underway. (I received my first shot the next month, on Jan. 28, 2021.) And yes, this was a success for the Trump administration.Have the vaccines worked? And how. There are multiple ways to evaluate their lifesaving effect, but I’m especially taken with a simple approach promoted by the analyst Charles Gaba, who looks at the correlation across U.S. counties between vaccination rates and Covid death rates. Between May 2021, when two-dose vaccinations first became widespread, and September 2022 the least-vaccinated 10 percent of counties suffered a death rate more than three times as high as the most-vaccinated.Now, you may have heard that at this point deaths among vaccinated Americans are exceeding those among the unvaccinated, which is true. But that’s partly because most deaths are among the elderly, who are overwhelmingly vaccinated; very few Americans have received no shots; and not enough vaccinated people are getting booster shots.But why are some U.S. counties so much less vaccinated than others? The answer, as Gaba shows, is partisanship: There’s a startlingly close relationship between the share of a county’s voters who supported Trump in 2020 and the percentage of that county’s residents who haven’t received their shots — and the percentage who have died from Covid.You can, by the way, see the same patterns at the level of whole states. For example, although New York was hit hard in the first months of the pandemic (before we knew how the coronavirus spread or what precautions to take), since May 2021 more than twice as many people have died of Covid in Florida than in New York. Even taking Florida’s slightly larger and much older population into account, that’s thousands of excess deaths in the Sunshine State.Yet why should vaccination be a partisan issue?Right-wing opposition to lockdowns and social distancing in the early stages of the pandemic made at least some sense, since these public health measures involved requiring that people make some sacrifices to protect other people’s lives. (Some might say that such trade-offs are what civilization is all about, but whatever.) Even mask mandates required accepting a bit of inconvenience, at least partly for the sake of others.But getting vaccinated is mainly about protecting yourself. Why wouldn’t you want to do that?The immediate answer is the widespread belief on the right that the vaccines have terrible side effects. This belief is hard to justify: If it were true, shouldn’t there be a lot of evidence for such claims, given that more than 13 billion doses have been administered worldwide?Ah, but the usual suspects claim that sinister elites are suppressing the evidence. Which brings us back to DeSantis, who announced on Tuesday that he was forming a state committee to counter federal health policy recommendations — and asking for a grand jury investigation into unspecified “crimes and misdemeanors” related to coronavirus vaccines.OK, I doubt that anyone believes that DeSantis knows or cares about the scientific evidence here. What he’s doing instead is catering to a Republican base that equates listening to experts, on public health or anything else, with “wokeness,” and demonizes anyone saying things it doesn’t want to hear.As far as I can tell, DeSantis hasn’t joined the likes of Elon Musk in calling for the prosecution of Anthony Fauci, who led America’s Covid response. But he has called Fauci a “little elf” and said that we should “chuck him across the Potomac.” (Presidential!)Now, will DeSantis’s attempt to position himself as the leader of the anti-vax movement and give at least tacit approval to conspiracy theories actually endear him to the Republican base? Again, I don’t know. Even if it does, I suspect that it will hurt him in the general election if he does become the nominee: Vaccine paranoia and Fauci hatred are still niche positions in the electorate at large.But anyone who imagines that replacing Trump with DeSantis as the G.O.P.’s leader would signal a party on its way to becoming sane again is in for a rude shock.The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. More

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      Your Thursday Briefing: China’s Snarled Covid Data

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      Plus France just beat Morocco to advance to the World Cup finals.“The statistics are meaningless,” an expert said.Aly Song/ReutersChina’s ‘meaningless’ Covid dataDespite repeated assurances that the country’s rollback of restrictions is under control, China has no clear picture of its Covid-19 infections.Even the most basic question of how many people are infected is hard to answer: China has relaxed mass testing requirements and made reporting at-home test results voluntary. Yesterday, the government said it would stop reporting asymptomatic infections, which made up most of the positive test results in the past.The country’s official data around Covid may be hazy, but there’s strong anecdotal evidence of a surging number of cases. Hospitals, too, are crowded.The lack of reliable information could have major economic implications. Foreign businesses and investors don’t know how long it will take for China’s economy to recover. And shoppers are still hesitant to re-enter stores and restaurants after years of enforced lockdowns.From Opinion: Abandoning “zero Covid” is a chance for President Xi Jinping to pivot from the perils of one-man rule, Minxin Pei argues.Other China news: Beijing will withdraw six diplomats from the U.K. following a British police inquiry into a violent clash at a demonstration at the Chinese Consulate in Manchester.Morocco supporters celebrated in Paris when the team beat Portugal to reach the semifinals.Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA, via ShutterstockFrance beats Morocco, 2-0France beat Morocco just minutes before we sent out this newsletter. The team will play Argentina on Sunday in the World Cup final.The first half of the game ended with France in the lead, 1-0. Morocco held firm, avoiding a complete disaster. Its magical run has elated fans: It was the first Arab or African team to reach the semifinals. France surged in the second half, when it scored another goal.Understand the Situation in ChinaBeijing’s restrictive “zero Covid” policy pummeled China’s economy and set off mass protests that were a rare challenge to the Communist leadership.A Messy Pivot: The Communist Party cast aside many Covid rules after the protests, while playing down the threat of the virus. The move could prove dangerous.In Beijing: As a wave of Covid sweeps across the Chinese capital, Beijing looks like a city in the throes of a lockdown — this time, self-imposed by residents.Importance of Vaccines: As the government drops its restrictions, it not only needs to convince people that the virus is nothing to fear, but also that inoculations are essential.Fearing a Grim Future: Even as China eases its Covid rules, the outlook for many young people remains gloomy, with few job prospects and high unemployment rates.The match was always about more than sports. France ran a protectorate in Morocco from 1912 to 1956, when Morocco gained independence. Many Moroccans in France still face racism and other forms of discrimination, and diplomatic ties remain complex.Now, despite its loss, Morocco has become the champion of the world’s colonized against the world’s colonizers­. Details: Morocco’s team had the most nonnative-born players in the World Cup. Fourteen grew up in Europe yet chose to play for Morocco. Some said they made the choice because of the bigotry they had faced in Europe.From Opinion:Before Morocco’s loss, Issandr El Amrani said he hadn’t seen such optimism in the Arab world since the 2011 uprisings.France’s team, full of players with roots in the former colonies, offers hope for the country’s future, Laurent Dubois writes.Fiji’s vote count is expected to take two days.Saeed Khan/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFiji’s closely watched electionFijians voted in a general election yesterday. The outcome could have major regional implications: The island nation has recently taken on outsize importance in the battle for Pacific influence between the U.S. and China.Under Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, the prime minister, Fiji has grown closer to China. His challenger, Sitiveni Rabuka, recently indicated that he would prefer closer ties to Australia, a longtime ally of Fiji that is also trying to strengthen its influence in the Pacific.The contest could become volatile. Both men have been involved in coups: Bainimarama led Fiji’s last one, in 2006; Rabuka its first, in 1987. It remains unclear if Bainimarama would honor the results, were he to lose. Experts said that he could seek the help of Fiji’s military, which is constitutionally permitted to intervene if it sees fit.Analysis: Turnout was low. “With the two likely contenders for prime minister being former coup leaders, it may be that people think, ‘Is it really democracy?’” an expert said.In other Pacific news: Australia signed a new security deal with Vanuatu, The Associated Press reports.THE LATEST NEWSAsia PacificNew Zealand enacted a lifetime prohibition on cigarette sales to everyone born after 2008.Jason Oxenham/Getty ImagesNew Zealand’s new laws are aimed at eliminating most smoking by 2025, following more than a decade of public health campaigns.The Australian police are investigating the potential influence of far-right extremism in a Queensland shooting, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.The U.S. created a space force unit in South Korea, The Associated Press reports. It is likely to be used to monitor the North.The Group of 7 countries will give Vietnam $15.5 billion to help it shift toward renewable energy, Asia Financial reports.The War in UkraineMarco Hernandez and Josh Holder/The New York Times; Planet LabsRussia is building a vast network of trenches and traps in an effort to slow Ukraine’s advance.The U.S. is poised to send Ukraine the Patriot, its most advanced ground-based air defense system.Paul Whelan, an American detained in Russia, has no clear path to release.Around the WorldPeru said it would declare a state of emergency. Violent protests are raging days after its president was ousted.Iran was ousted from the U.N. Women’s Rights Agency as protests continue.President Biden vowed to expand the U.S.’s involvement in Africa yesterday in a speech to nearly 50 heads of state.Floods killed at least 141 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.Other Big StoriesElon Musk stopped paying rent on Twitter’s offices and disbanded a trust and safety council to cut costs.Biden signed a bipartisan bill protecting same-sex marriages in the U.S.A U.S. prosecutor described Sam Bankman-Fried’s dealings at FTX as “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.” DealBook explains.Brain implants have begun to restore bodily functions. But significant advances are probably decades away.OpinionsIsrael is about to have an extreme right-wing government. Palestinians will pay the price, Diana Buttu writes.Lev Golinkin asks: Why do Harvard, Stanford and NASA still honor Alfried Krupp, a Nazi war criminal?Conservation campaigns centered around individual species known as “spectacles of extinction” can distract from the larger biodiversity crisis, Michelle Nijhuis argues.A Morning ReadGomi, left, and Songkang are white Pungsans, a breed indigenous to North Korea.Chun Jung-in/Yonhap, via Associated PressIn 2018, Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, gave two dogs to South Korea, then led by Moon Jae-in, as a symbol of peace.Four years later, South Korea is in political gridlock and the period of rapprochement on the Korean Peninsula is over. And the two pups, orphaned after a heated dispute over who would pay for their care, ended up in a zoo.PROFILEA Russian artist dissentsVladimir Ovchinnikov, 84, has long painted pastoral scenes across the walls of Borovsk, his provincial hometown, near Moscow.Now, his political art is attracting attention. At a time when dissent is being crushed across Russia, Ovchinnikov has been painting murals protesting the invasion of Ukraine. His own history drove him to denounce violence and war — he did not meet his father until age 11 because his father had spent 10 years in a gulag, and his grandfather and uncle were killed by the state.His work has earned him a reputation as the “Banksy of Borovsk” — which, he said, he does not appreciate. Unlike Banksy, the mysterious street artist based in Britain, Ovchinnikov works in the open. He thinks that his age and his family history offer him a modicum of protection. Still, he has been fined, questioned and pelted with snowballs.“I draw doves, they paint over them,” he said.Banksy: Last month, the artist painted seven murals in and around Kyiv. An activist incited controversy when he removed one of Banksy’s works, saying he intended to auction it off and donate the proceeds to Ukraine’s army.PLAY, WATCH, EATWhat to CookJoel Goldberg for The New York TimesThis recipe is for a classic, unadorned latke. (Hanukkah starts on Sunday.)What to Read“The Tatami Galaxy” is a flamboyant vision of college life in Kyoto, Japan, full of obsessive subcultures.What to Watch“Blanquita” explores a sex scandal that sent waves throughout Chile in the early 2000s.Ask WellWhy do men sprout hair in weird places as they age?Now Time to PlayPlay the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Gold bar (five letters).Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee.You can find all our puzzles here.That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — AmeliaP.S. Jimmy Carter announced that the U.S. and China would establish diplomatic relations 44 years ago today. In doing so, he severed America’s link with Taiwan.“The Daily” is on abortion in the U.S.You can reach Amelia and the team at briefing@nytimes.com. More

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      Kamala Harris Swears In Karen Bass as LA’s Mayor

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      Vice President Kamala Harris swore in Ms. Bass in a ceremony that celebrated her historic win but also underscored the obstacles she will face.Karen Bass is the first woman and the second Black person to be elected mayor of Los Angeles. During her inaugural speech, Ms. Bass said her first act would be to declare a state of emergency on homelessness.Frederic J. Brown/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesLOS ANGELES — Karen Bass was sworn in as the first female mayor of Los Angeles on Sunday and vowed to build consensus among elected leaders as Angelenos contend with racial tensions, surging homelessness and a new rise in coronavirus cases.Vice President Kamala Harris swore in Ms. Bass in a ceremony that celebrated her historic win but also underscored the obstacles she will face. Ms. Bass said that her first act as mayor on Monday would be to declare a state of emergency on homelessness.“If we are going to bring Angelenos inside and move our city in a new direction,” Ms. Bass said during her inaugural speech, which was interrupted by protesters at one point, “we must have a single strategy to unite our city and county and engage the state, the federal government, the private sector and every other stakeholder.”Ms. Bass, a former Democratic congresswoman who was on the shortlist to be President Biden’s 2020 running mate, won election against Rick Caruso, a billionaire real estate developer, in a hard-fought race that remained too close to call until a week after the election.Los Angeles, a city of four million people, has been rocked by a surge in post-pandemic homelessness and violent crime, prompting an outcry from citizens who say their quality of life has spiraled in recent years. A citywide poll conducted early this year by the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University found that for the first time since 2012, a majority of Angelenos felt the city was going in the wrong direction.The coronavirus itself also remains a scourge: Officials at the event required attendees to wear masks amid an alarming rise in case numbers in the city.Ms. Bass, 69, said she entered the race because the heightened racial divisions and civic unease reminded her of the unrest that preceded the riots that tore the city apart in 1992. In September, her home was burglarized. Ms. Bass, who has long been an advocate for liberal crime prevention policies, promised during her campaign to put more police officers on the streets.She has also promised to declare a state of emergency on homelessness and find homes for 17,000 homeless people in her first year. In practice, she will have to rely on a broad coalition of city and county officials to enact any sweeping plans to bolster social service programs. According to a September report from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, some 69,000 people are experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County.Fesia Davenport, the chief executive of Los Angeles County, attended Ms. Bass’s swearing-in ceremony. She said she was hopeful that the new mayor would collaborate with the county to help address homelessness.Ms. Davenport said she did not usually attend political events but made an exception this time.“I wanted to help celebrate and commemorate this momentous occasion,” Ms. Davenport said. “I really feel like she has signaled that she’s willing to tackle the really tough issues, not just manage them.”Though voters have said they are frustrated and cynical about whether a course correction is possible, thousands gathered at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday to celebrate the election of the first woman to lead the city and the second Black mayor after Tom Bradley, who retired in 1993 as the longest-tenured executive in Los Angeles history. Ms. Bass is the latest in a growing number of women who have been elected to local leadership positions.The ceremony featured musicians including Stevie Wonder — whose performance of “Living for the City” brought the new mayor to her feet — Chloe Bailey and the duo Mary Mary. The event also featured a reading from the poet Amanda Gorman, who ended with a line that drew a standing ovation: “Where there’s a will, there is women, and where there’s women, there’s forever a way.”Attendees wore rain jackets and carried umbrellas as they waited to go through security. Some were decked out in suits, others in sequins and Santa hats. While the lines wound through the L.A. Live complex, guests held out their phones to snap selfies in front of the theater’s marquee, showing Ms. Bass’s smiling face and her motto: “A New Day for Los Angeles.”Earle Charles, a professor at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif., approached the front of the line for his first mayoral inauguration in Los Angeles, where he has lived for almost four decades. He said he is a longtime supporter of Ms. Bass and trusts her to carry through on her campaign promises.“One of the first things, of course, is to take care of the homeless situation,” said Mr. Charles, 69, who lives in Granada Hills in the San Fernando Valley. “To me, that’s the primary issue.”Other attendees agreed that homelessness should be at the top of the new mayor’s agenda. Bertha Scott-Smith, 54, said she felt as though Ms. Bass’s predecessor, Eric Garcetti, had not had the easiest time making real progress on the issue.“I hope she doesn’t meet that same pushback,” said Ms. Scott-Smith, who lives in the historically Black neighborhood of Leimert Park.She said that Ms. Bass’s inauguration felt like a historic moment, particularly with the vice president attending.Ms. Harris — the first female vice president, the first woman of color to hold her job, a former California attorney general and a former senator — flew to Los Angeles for the occasion with a planeload of Democrats. The roster included Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands and Representatives Frederica S. Wilson of Florida, Bobby L. Rush of Illinois, Nanette Barragán of California and Tony Cárdenas of California.Kirsten Allen, the vice president’s spokeswoman, said that Ms. Bass had asked Ms. Harris to swear her in, and the vice president obliged.“The vice president is invested in her success and knows what she’s up against,” Ms. Allen said, “and will do what she needs to do to make sure she’s successful.”At the ceremony, Tamaqua Jackson, wrapped in a beret and a scarf, said she believed in Ms. Bass’s ability to tackle homelessness and also help heal a splintered city.“She seems like she can bring Los Angeles together as one,” Ms. Jackson said, adding that she would like to see Ms. Bass “clean up” the City Council, which has been besieged by controversy in recent months.Ms. Jackson, 48, has lived in Los Angeles all her life, but this was her first mayoral inauguration, she said. She said the vice president’s appearance added to the appeal of attending in person.“That’s another high for me: To actually see two people I’ve voted for in person is awesome,” said Ms. Jackson, who works as a commercial driver. “Go women!”Soumya Karlamangla More

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      Your Monday Briefing: The World Cup Semifinals Loom

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      Plus, China’s sluggish economy and the arrest of the Lockerbie bombing suspect.Argentina’s players celebrated after beating the Netherlands in a penalty shootout.Matthias Hangst/Getty ImagesGet ready for the semifinalsFour countries will compete in the World Cup semifinals this week, after a weekend of surprises sent two favorites and two underdogs to the next round. Argentina will play Croatia tomorrow, and France will play Morocco on Wednesday.Argentina is driven by the belief that winning this World Cup is Lionel Messi’s undeniable destiny. But Croatia has its own undeniable sense of purpose after beating Brazil, a top contender.France knocked England out to advance. Morocco upset Portugal to become the first country in Africa and the Arab world to reach the semifinals. Its stout defense will be challenged by the tournament’s leading scorer, Kylian Mbappé, the most gifted player on the planet.Qatar: The country is poised to become a critical energy source for Europe as the continent pivots from Russia. Play our game: Where’s the ball?Other updates:Belgian authorities detained five people, including current and former members of the European Parliament, in an inquiry into possible bribes by Qatar.The soccer journalist Grant Wahl died after collapsing at the Argentina match.China is making a high-risk bet that its vaccination rates will prevent a severe outbreak.Ng Han Guan/Associated PressChina braces for a Covid surgeChina is rolling back its Covid-19 restrictions. Now, Beijing is bracing for a surge in cases.In near-freezing weather last week, residents of China’s capital lined up at hospitals and pharmacies. They sought help for fevers or waited to buy up dwindling stocks of at-home tests. The reported number of cases is unreliable and probably a significant undercount now that the government has moved away from mass testing.The pivot has left many confused and anxious. The government is suddenly playing down the threat of the coronavirus, after three years of relentless propaganda. But to conserve resources, it is also urging residents not to seek help unless necessary.Part of the challenge for the Communist Party: Less than 1 percent of China’s population have been infected through November, so many are vulnerable. After pushing shots last year, China has not yet moved on to administering fourth doses. And China’s vaccines are less effective than mRNA shots.Unrest: Many young people are still unemployed and have few job prospects. And the protesters who forced the pivot say their fight is bigger than Covid controls.Understand What Is Happening in ChinaA Victory for Protesters: Beijing’s costly policy of lockdowns pummeled China’s economy and set off mass public protests that were a rare challenge to its leader, Xi Jinping.A Messy Pivot: The Communist Party cast aside many Covid rules after the protests, while playing down the threat of the virus. The move could prove dangerous.A ‘Tipping Point’: For the protesters, public dissent was unimaginable until recently. We asked young Chinese about what led them to take the risk.Tracking Protesters: The authorities in China used the country’s all-seeing surveillance apparatus to track, intimidate and detain those who marched in the protests.From Opinion: The Chinese government’s response to protests against Covid measures doesn’t address the larger yearning for an end to autocracy, Nicholas Kristof writes.In other news: China plans to cooperate with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries in the fields of nuclear energy, nuclear security and space exploration, President Xi Jinping said on Friday.Martin Cleaver/Associated PressLockerbie suspect arrestedA Libyan intelligence operative charged in the 1988 bombing of an American jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, was arrested by the F.B.I. He is being extradited to the U.S. to face prosecution for one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in U.S. history.The arrest of the operative, Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud, was the culmination of a decades-long effort by the Justice Department to prosecute him. It is unclear how the U.S. government negotiated the extradition of Mas’ud.He was being held at a Libyan prison for unrelated crimes when the Justice Department unsealed the charges against him two years ago. He is accused of building the explosive device used in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 270 passengers, including 190 Americans.Background: Mas’ud confessed to the bombing in 2012 to a Libyan law enforcement official. His suspected role in the bombing received new scrutiny in a three-part documentary on “Frontline” on PBS in 2015.What’s next: Extradition would allow Mas’ud to stand trial. But legal experts have expressed doubts about whether his confession, obtained in prison in war-torn Libya, would be admissible as evidence.THE LATEST NEWSAsia PacificHuman rights activists denounced Jimmy Lai’s punishment as the latest blow to freedom of expression in Hong Kong.Kin Cheung/Associated PressJimmy Lai, the pro-democracy media tycoon in Hong Kong, was sentenced to more than five years in prison.Bangladeshi authorities arrested two senior opposition leaders last week, capping off a week of political tensions.Vanuatu wants the world’s highest judicial body to weigh in on whether nations are legally bound to protect against climate risks.The War in UkraineAs of yesterday afternoon, some 300,000 of the Odesa region’s residents were still without electricity, an official said.ReutersRussian strikes knocked out power to more than 1.5 million people in Odesa on Saturday. Moscow used Iranian-made drones in the attack on infrastructure.Russian strikes have damaged all of Ukraine’s thermal and hydroelectric power plants, Ukraine’s prime minister said yesterday.Ukraine struck the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol on Saturday as part of its campaign to recapture the south.Nobel Peace Prize winners from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine decried Russian aggression at the award ceremony.Around the WorldDeepening poverty and hopelessness in Cuba have set off the largest exodus since Fidel Castro rose to power.Confidential records show that Saudi Arabia’s golf tour, LIV, is far off-track from success.Highbrow movies aimed at winning Oscars are falling flat at the box office.SpaceSpaceX launched a lunar lander made by a Japanese company. Its cargo, which includes a rover from the United Arab Emirates and a robot for the Japanese space agency, could be the first successfully carried to the moon’s surface by a private company.NASA’s uncrewed test flight of its Artemis I moon mission was successful. The capsule splashed down in the Pacific yesterday.A Morning ReadThe Walshes bought their house for $180,000 in 2005.Tony Cenicola/The New York TimesOctagonal houses became a 19th-century fad after an amateur architect claimed they had better ventilation and more windows. They’re certainly quirky, but devotees gush about their panoramic views and all-day sunshine.Lives lived: Hamish Kilgour, a founding member of the New Zealand band the Clean, died at 65.ARTS AND IDEASWhy North Korea wants dollarsNorth Korea is scrambling for American dollars and other hard currency, not just to feed its people, but also to finance the military and economic ambitions of Kim Jong-un, its leader.The country is also trying to squeeze every bit of cash from the public. State-run stores sell smartphones and other imported goods to the moneyed class, especially to North Koreans who have accumulated savings in foreign currency by smuggling goods from China.The Times obtained a video of such a store in the capital, Pyongyang, where customers can use U.S. dollars to pay for international brands of instant noodles, deodorant, diapers and shampoo. Change is returned in North Korean won.Kim has positioned Pyongyang as a model of urban development, while other cities remain far behind. Pyongyang has become brighter. New apartment towers dot the skyline. And to attract spenders with foreign savings, department stores are filled with Rolex and Tissot wristwatches and Dior and Lancôme cosmetics — all luxury items banned under U.N. sanctions.But Kim’s economic reforms have done little to improve economic prospects. North Korea crawled out of the catastrophic impact of the famine of the 1990s, growing an average 1.2 percent annually between 2012 and 2016. But the economy began contracting again in 2017. And Kim seems to have reached the conclusion that delivering on his promise of military strength is his best hope for economic gains.PLAY, WATCH, EATWhat to CookLinda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Brett Regot. Prop stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.Make fancy popcorn at home.What to ReadBooks to take you through Kingston, Jamaica.What to Listen toEvery Friday, our pop critics weigh in on that week’s most notable new songs and videos. Here’s the playlist.The News QuizHow well did you keep up with last week’s headlines?Now Time to PlayPlay the Mini Crossword, and a clue: A shirt or a sport (four letters).Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee.You can find all our puzzles here.That’s it for today’s briefing. Have a great week! — Amelia and WhetP.S. Reading aloud is essential for these Times reporters.Start your week with this narrated long read about Ukraine’s rail system. And here’s Friday’s edition of “The Daily,” on gerrymandering in the U.S.I’m back from vacation. Questions? Concerns? Email us at briefing@nytimes.com. More

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      Your Friday Briefing: Is China Relenting?

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      Plus: Kyiv in darkness, South Africa in turmoil and the week in culture.Vigil attendees in Beijing commemorated the victims of an apartment fire in Urumqi, China.Thomas Peter/ReutersIs China shifting on ‘zero Covid’?China appears to be backing away from its harsh Covid rules, after a week of mass protests against its policies. The demonstrations have been the largest challenge to Beijing in decades.In Guangzhou, residents returned to work yesterday for the first time in weeks after Covid-19 lockdowns were lifted. In Chongqing, some residents were no longer required to take regular Covid tests. And in Beijing, a senior health official played down the severity of Omicron variants, a rare move.The ruling Communist Party has still not publicly acknowledged the widespread demonstrations against lockdowns. But, after policing measures mostly muted the protests, the party is signaling a willingness to address the root cause of the public anger: intrusive pandemic controls that have stifled economic growth and left millions confined in their homes for long stretches.Context: Xi Jinping, China’s leader, has staked the party’s legitimacy on controlling the virus better than the nation’s rivals in the West. Any reversal or abandonment could undercut his authority.From Opinion:Run from anyone who claims to know where China’s protests are headed next, Nicholas Kristof says.Yasheng Huang argues that Xi Jinping has broken the social contract that helped China prosper.The Chinese people have reached a tipping point and are losing faith in the Communist Party, Wu Qiang writes.E.U. diplomats are still debating an oil price cap.Alexey Malgavko/ReutersIn Kyiv, life without powerSix million people across Ukraine are without power as temperatures drop. In Kyiv, 3.3 million people face shortages of electricity, water and heat, as well as cellphone and internet service.Municipal officials estimate that 1.5 million people are still without power for more than 12 hours a day in the capital. Elevators are stocked with emergency supplies, in case the power fails. The National Philharmonic played on a stage lit by battery-powered lanterns. Doctors have performed surgeries by flashlight. A cafe has two menus, one with no hot food.Residents are exhausted, and threats are mounting. Temperatures are often below freezing now. Extended power outages threaten health care and risk a rise in accidents and hypothermia. Yesterday, Russian shelling also knocked out power in Kherson, which was recently recaptured.Context: Kyiv has been relatively unscathed since spring. But waves of Russian missiles targeting Ukraine’s energy grid have affected the city.Understand the Protests in ChinaThe Toll of ‘Zero Covid’: The protests come as President Xi Jinping’s harsh pandemic policies have hurt businesses and strangled growth. The Daily looks at what the demonstrations could mean for Mr. Xi.A Roar of Discontent: The protests have awoken a tradition of dissent that had seemed spent after 10 years under Mr. Xi. The effects may far outlast the street clashes.The Economic Fallout: The unrest in the world’s biggest manufacturing nation is injecting a new element of uncertainty and instability into the global economy.Facing Long Odds: The protesters in China hope to bring sweeping change, but three major forces stand in their way, our columnist writes.Strikes: Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, defended strikes on Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure. (The U.N. said they could amount to war crimes.)Aid: The U.N. is seeking a record-breaking $51.5 billion from international donors. The war is fueling desperation around the world.“All options are on the table,” said a spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.Justin Tallis/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSouth Africa’s president in perilCyril Ramaphosa’s future as South Africa’s president hangs in the balance, a day after a parliamentary panel found that he may have broken the law. Opponents are lobbying for his departure as Parliament readies itself for a possible impeachment hearing for corruption. On Wednesday, a parliamentary report cast heavy skepticism on Ramaphosa’s explanation of how a large sum of U.S. currency came to be hidden in — and stolen from — a sofa at his farm.When he swept into office four years ago, Ramaphosa was heralded as an anti-corruption crusader. But one of the president’s political foes alleged in June that Ramaphosa had between $4 million and $8 million stolen from his property in February 2020 and that he failed to report the theft to the police.Ramaphosa: He claims that only $580,000 was stolen and that the money represented the proceeds of the sale of 20 buffaloes. But now, he may be doomed by a corruption scandal of his own making.Elections: The A.N.C. is scheduled to elect its leadership at a national conference in two weeks. Until he was rocked by corruption allegations, Ramaphosa was favored to win a second term.THE LATEST NEWSAsia PacificRakesh Kumar Yadav, 40, died in Dubai. Five weeks later, his body was flown to Nepal.Saumya Khandelwal for The New York TimesNepali migrants face inequality and vulnerability overseas. When they die, their families also struggle to repatriate their remains.From Opinion: Many Afghans who worked with U.S. troops were left behind in the withdrawal. Their text messages reveal their desperation.Around the WorldThe two leaders lavished praise on each other despite tensions about the handling of the war in Ukraine.Doug Mills/The New York TimesPresident Biden welcomed Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, at the White House. Biden said that he would be open to meeting with Vladimir Putin, but with conditions.The two leaders will have a state dinner. Check out the menu.The U.S. and Ukrainian Embassies in Spain were targeted by letter bombs. No major injuries have been reported.The DealBook SummitSam Bankman-Fried said that FTX’s downfall was caused by “a massive failure of oversight on my part.” Here are key takeaways from his interview.Janet Yellen, the U.S. Treasury secretary, described the collapse of FTX as a “Lehman moment” and called for more regulation of cryptocurrency.The World CupLed by Lionel Messi, Argentina advanced with a 2-0 victory over Poland, which also qualified for the knockout round despite the loss.Japan beat Spain, 2-1. And Germany beat Costa Rica, 4-2, but was eliminated.Belgium, a heavyweight, was eliminated after tying Croatia, 0-0. Morocco advanced with a win over Canada, 2-1.Garment workers in Myanmar earn less than $3 a day to produce soccer apparel for Adidas. Some say they were fired for asking for a raise.Qatar is watching the World Cup, too. Our photographer shot spectators across the country, rejoicing in public.The Week in CultureUNESCO, the United Nations heritage agency, decreed that the French baguette is a piece of “intangible cultural heritage.”Sight & Sound’s once-a-decade poll of critics crowned “Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” as the greatest movie ever made. It’s the first to top the list that was directed by a woman.“Everything Everywhere All at Once” got top honors at the Gotham Awards, the first big show of the awards season.Where have all the movie stars gone?A Morning ReadGeorge Steinmetz for The New York TimesFew countries ship more live animals overseas than Australia, which has exported a million cattle a year, on average, since 2017. Damien Cave, our Sydney bureau chief, followed the route of some cattle to Indonesia, where they will be fattened and slaughtered by Islamic butchers.Advocacy groups insist that the journey is unethical, and the route is dangerous. But the business also has its own unique culture, at once a throwback and a modern marvel of globalization.ARTS AND IDEAS‘I want my body back,” Aleigha Harris said.Yehyun Kim for The New York TimesWhat does it take to breastfeed?Some 83 percent of babies in the U.S. start out on breast milk. But by 6 months, just 56 percent are breastfed. At that stage, only a quarter drink breast milk exclusively, as the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends.That steady decline speaks to the wide-ranging challenges parents face in trying to breastfeed.Take Dr. Laiyin Ma, who returned to work four weeks after her oldest daughter’s birth and two weeks after her second arrived. She pumped milk in stolen bursts in clinic rooms, propping her chair against the door to prevent patients and colleagues from barging in. While performing long operations, she leaked breast milk under her surgical gown.She is stung by the irony that doctors and nurses struggle to meet the health guidelines they themselves recommend. “I really don’t think that people realize how hard it is for women in medicine to breastfeed,” Dr. Ma said.PLAY, WATCH, EATWhat to CookEvan Sung for The New York TimesThis cranberry tart riffs on the French tarte au citron.What to MoviesWatch a great documentary this weekend.What to Listen toChristine McVie, who died at 79, was the serene center of Fleetwood Mac. Here are some of her most beloved songs.Where to TravelSpend 36 hours in Rome, merging old and new.Now Time to PlayPlay the Mini Crossword, and here’s a clue: Take the wheel (five letters).Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee.You can find all our puzzles here.Have a lovely weekend! See you Monday. — AmeliaP.S. We’ll send you 31 delights, tips and distractions to get you through each day of the holiday season. Sign up here.“The Daily” is on a Jan. 6 verdict.Whet Moser wrote today’s Arts and Ideas. Email us at briefing@nytimes.com. More