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      He Calls the Shots for New York’s Governor. He Lives in Colorado.

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      Adam Sullivan holds deep influence over Gov. Kathy Hochul, her administration and campaign team, even as skepticism mounts over his judgment and distance from New York.With the Democratic nomination all but assured last spring, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York and her campaign team began to plot a pre-emptive television ad to protect against Republican attacks already bubbling up around rising crime.Ad makers cut a 30-second spot, highlighting Ms. Hochul’s plan to secure city streets and subway trains. She told her campaign manager she was eager to see it on air, and she previewed it for donors at a private Park Avenue screening.But the ad never ran. After rounds of debate, one voice rose above the others. “Let’s focus on abortion,” Adam C. Sullivan wrote in a note to senior strategists reviewed by The New York Times. Crime could wait.A year later, the decision has come to be seen by many in Ms. Hochul’s orbit as a damaging miscalculation that helped her Republican challenger come dangerously close to upsetting her, and contributed to Democrats losing the House majority. It is also a testament to the unseen influence of Mr. Sullivan, an obscure operative who has leveraged a close bond with Ms. Hochul to become perhaps the most powerful political force in New York who almost no one knows.Mr. Sullivan, 42, has no formal job title or social media presence. He operates a small consulting firm from his home in a Colorado mining town, delivering strategy directives on issues like public safety far from the streets of New York City, where crime has unsettled some residents. And his generous compensation — estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — is mostly hidden from campaign records.Yet 18 months into Ms. Hochul’s tenure, Mr. Sullivan’s fingerprints can be found all over New York, according to more than two dozen people who have worked with him closely.Adam Sullivan, far left, largely remains in the background as the hidden force behind many of Governor Hochul’s stances and political strategy.He helped Ms. Hochul build her administration, advising her on early key hires; shaped two multibillion-dollar state budgets; and ran a 2022 election campaign that was criticized by Democrats for its lack of energy. Most recently, he helped the governor navigate the failed effort to muscle Justice Hector D. LaSalle onto the state’s highest court.Now, as the de facto head of Ms. Hochul’s political operation, Mr. Sullivan has been deputized to revive New York’s embattled state Democratic Party. And the outcome could have significant implications for Democrats’ chances to retake the House.Even by the Zoom era’s standards, the breadth of Mr. Sullivan’s influence from afar is unusual, puzzling much of New York’s clubby political establishment and exasperating many on Ms. Hochul’s own team.Most governors have a trusted, all-around enforcer who carefully guards their political standing. Ms. Hochul met hers in 2011, when Mr. Sullivan helped her win a special House election no one else thought she could. But rarely do people in his position phone in from 1,700 miles away or command so few relationships with key stakeholders.“Managing New York politics from Colorado is like managing the war in Ukraine from New York,” Charlie King, a veteran Democratic strategist, said. “You can be a very good tactician, but things on the ground move incredibly fast and you may just not be close enough to the action.”Many of those who work directly for Ms. Hochul’s political team and administration have taken an even harsher view. The Times spoke to more than 15 people at all levels who said Mr. Sullivan is known as a divisive presence. They related anecdotes of him disparaging subordinates, especially younger women; marginalizing those who disagreed with him; telling younger workers that the governor did not know their names; and frequently shifting blame when things have gone wrong.The aides and advisers insisted on anonymity for fear of retaliation. But they said Mr. Sullivan had contributed to Ms. Hochul’s diminished political standing while escaping public scrutiny.In a written statement, Mr. Sullivan did not directly dispute those characterizations, but noted the intensity of the campaign. “I have always tried to treat everyone with respect and regret that there are people who feel I did not meet that bar,” he said.Julie Wood, a spokeswoman for the governor, did not address the workplace concerns in her own statement about Mr. Sullivan, saying that Ms. Hochul “values his ideas and guidance.”“Ultimately what drives her decision-making is what’s best for New Yorkers,” Ms. Wood said.Ms. Hochul has used Mr. Sullivan to advise her on the most recent state budget, which lapsed on April 1, and in current talks over the stalled 2024 budget.Cindy Schultz for The New York TimesThere are also questions about how and by whom Mr. Sullivan, who is not a state employee, is being paid.Since 2021, the governor’s campaign has paid roughly $50,000 directly to a limited liability company that Mr. Sullivan controls, “ACS Campaign Consulting.” But he earned far more through a secretive arrangement that rewarded him with a cut of the campaign’s ad spending, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter. Assuming the arrangement was in line with industry standards, he would have netted at least $500,000 — a figure he did not dispute.The Times could only identify one other current client of Mr. Sullivan’s, the Reform Alliance, a nonprofit founded by the rappers Meek Mill and Jay-Z and others to change probation and parole laws. Mr. Sullivan would not identify other clients, but he said that none had business before New York State. He added that he had “never been paid to lobby or influence the governor.”The governor has leaned on other outsiders for help: The state paid nearly $2 million to Deloitte and Boston Consulting to help her with State of the State messages. Others with Ms. Hochul’s ear include Karen Persichilli Keogh, her top government aide; Jefrey Pollock, her longtime pollster; and Daniel French, who was until recently Syracuse University’s general counsel.While those advisers are mostly known in political circles, even basic biographical information about Mr. Sullivan is difficult to find. Ms. Hochul has mentioned him prominently only once, from the stage after her victory in November. And he seems to be his consulting firm’s lone employee, working mostly out of his home in Leadville, Colo., where he is an avid skier, except for occasional trips to New York.Of two dozen lawmakers, union leaders and campaign strategists contacted by The Times, only a few could correctly identify him.“I’ve never met him, I’ve just heard bad things about him — sorry,” Liz Krueger, an influential Democratic state senator from Manhattan, said.Mr. Sullivan’s proponents describe him as a talented tactician who steered Ms. Hochul through the aftershocks of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s resignation and helped her win a full term in office, even if it was bumpy.“Maybe he’s not the New York backslapper who knows everybody, but Adam has an unquestionable record of success,” Jess Fassler, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s longtime chief of staff, said.Ms. Hochul first hired Mr. Sullivan in 2011 as her campaign manager when she scored an upset victory in a special election for a House seat.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesMr. Sullivan began his career as a political operative in 2000, and ran his first New York race in 2008, the same year he helped Ms. Gillibrand win re-election to the House.He was fresh off a stint with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in early 2011 when Ms. Hochul, then the Erie County clerk, decided to run in a special House election in western New York. She hired Mr. Sullivan as campaign manager because of his experience running special elections and his conviction, shared by few, that she could win. Despite long odds, she did.It was a boon for Mr. Sullivan. He managed a Senate race in New Mexico in 2012 and was Senator Mary Landrieu’s campaign manager in her failed re-election bid in Louisiana in 2014, until he was abruptly fired just weeks before Election Day.Ms. Landrieu said in an interview she had replaced Mr. Sullivan because she was losing and wanted a more familiar team. Afterward, Mr. Sullivan’s political work dried up, and Ms. Hochul appears to have been his only major political client since 2015.Things began to shift in summer 2021, as it became clear that sexual harassment claims would force Mr. Cuomo from office. With only a small circle around her, Ms. Hochul leaned on Mr. Sullivan, whose wedding she attended in 2018, to help build an administration, including choosing Brian A. Benjamin as lieutenant governor. (Mr. Benjamin later resigned amid federal corruption charges.)Mr. Sullivan played an even more active role in the campaign, involving himself in media strategy, Ms. Hochul’s day-to-day schedule and larger decisions like how to allocate millions of dollars on ad campaigns, including the one he intervened in last May.In that case, the campaign produced and tested the ad, “Safe,” to highlight public safety changes approved in the state budget. Ms. Hochul and other advisers pushed to air it across New York. In the communications viewed by The Times, Ms. Hochul’s campaign manager, Brian Lenzmeier, wrote that she “believes strongly that we need to get a crime ad into the mix and not be solely focused on abortion.” (Mr. Lenzmeier declined to comment.)But Mr. Sullivan often insisted that crime was a losing issue for Ms. Hochul. He believed the campaign’s resources would be better spent motivating Democrats to turn out on the issue of abortion rights, so he pushed to limit public safety messaging in areas like Long Island or to issues like gun laws. In the end, the campaign did not meaningfully challenge Republicans on crime statewide until October, after they had already whipped up a frenzy.Ms. Hochul survived by just six percentage points in an overwhelmingly Democratic state, and some party leaders believe her approach on crime helped Republicans win congressional seats. Representative Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, told The Times’s Maureen Dowd that Ms. Hochul needed to deal with crime “early on, not 10 days before the election.”Mr. Sullivan’s allies said he stood by the campaign’s commitment to prioritizing attacks on Ms. Hochul’s Republican opponent on abortion. Mr. Sullivan declined to comment on campaign strategy.Since then, he has also resisted any quick course correction at the state Democratic Party. He and Ms. Hochul have stood by its chairman, Jay Jacobs, who has become a punching bag for Democrats, especially on the left.Mr. Sullivan’s allies say he and Ms. Hochul want to strengthen the party, but they could only describe vague plans. In the meantime, national Democrats do not appear to be waiting, announcing their own $45 million New York political machine.“Adam is the first person to pick up the phone and call me and be supportive,” Mr. Jacobs said in an interview. “I don’t think he has any agenda other than the governor being successful.”Susan C. Beachy More

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      Your Tuesday Briefing: China Walks Back Ambassador’s Comments

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      Also, Beijing is trying to control chatbots and Thailand prepares for tense elections.Lu Shaye, China’s ambassador to France, post-Soviet countries “do not have an effective status in international law.”Sebastien Nogier/EPA, via ShutterstockChina does damage controlChina moved quickly yesterday to limit damage to its relations with Europe, after the Chinese ambassador to France questioned the sovereignty of post-Soviet nations like Ukraine. The comments by Lu Shaye, the ambassador, in a televised interview on Friday caused a diplomatic firestorm over the weekend among European foreign ministers and lawmakers. China tried to stem the fallout by insisting that it recognized the sovereignty of the former Soviet republics that declared independence, including Ukraine. But the issue has not disappeared. France summoned Lu to the foreign ministry to explain the comments. The Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — which were annexed by the Soviet Union after World War II — also said they would summon their Chinese envoys.Diplomacy: The fallout over the remarks threatened to upset China’s efforts to bolster trade with Europe while still supporting Russia. The war in Ukraine has put China in an awkward position. Beijing has refused to condemn the invasion but has promised not to militarily help Russia.Analysis: Europeans, one expert said, will listen to Lu’s comments “and think, this is how the Chinese and Russians talk among themselves,” about a world divided into spheres of influence — China over Taiwan and the Pacific, and Russia over Ukraine and its former empire.Separately: At the U.N., the U.S. and European members of the Security Council declined to send their foreign ministers to a meeting chaired yesterday by Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s top diplomat. China was one of a few countries that sent its minister.Chinese tech companies have been racing to catch up with Silicon Valley’s A.I. advances.Tingshu Wang/ReutersChina tries to rein in chatbotsChina recently unveiled draft rules for artificial intelligence software systems, like the one behind ChatGPT, in a show of the government’s resolve to keep tight regulatory control over technology that could define an era.According to the draft rules, chatbot content will need to reflect “socialist core values” and avoid information that undermines “state power” or national unity. Chatbot creators will also have to register their algorithms with Chinese regulators.Companies are already trying to comply, but China’s effort to control information could hamper its efforts to compete in A.I., experts said. Chinese entrepreneurs are already racing to catch up with chatbots like ChatGPT, which is unavailable in China.The challenge: On their face, China’s rules require a level of technical control over chatbots that Chinese tech companies have not achieved.Paetongtarn Shinawatra has energized crowds in her election campaign.Jack Taylor/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThai elections heat upThe daughter of an ousted populist leader is a strong contender for prime minister in elections in Thailand next month, fueling concerns that the return of a divisive political dynasty may also revive instability in the country.Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 36, is a member of the most polarizing family in Thai politics — the Shinawatras — and has little political experience. Her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted as prime minister in a coup in 2006. His sister succeeded him as prime minister in 2011 before she was also ousted.Critics have tried to seize on her family’s past scandals, but Paetongtarn has galvanized crowds and has fueled nostalgia for her family’s legacy. Many also blame the current prime minister for slow economic growth.Legacy: Thaksin is fondly remembered for his $1 health care program and the disbursement of loans to farmers. Since 2001, the political parties he founded have consistently won the most votes in every election.International relations: Once a stable ally of the U.S., Thailand has moved closer to China under the military junta that ousted the Shinawatras.THE LATEST NEWSAsia PacificAn Australian battle tank during a live fire demonstration.William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesAustralia revealed its largest overhaul of military spending since World War II, the BBC reports. It focuses on long-range weapons with an eye toward China’s growing threat.China arrested a liberal columnist at a top party newspaper, accusing him of espionage.Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, met with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan in Tokyo. The trip gives DeSantis, a presumptive Republican presidential candidate, a chance to bolster his foreign policy credentials.U.S. NewsPresident Biden will need to defend his record while warning about the dangers of Donald Trump’s return.Michael A. McCoy for The New York TimesPresident Biden will likely formally announce as soon as today that he is running for re-election. Democrats have embraced him, despite his low approval ratings and advanced age.Fox News dismissed the prime-time host Tucker Carlson less than a week after Fox settled a defamation lawsuit in which Carlson’s show figured prominently for its role in spreading misinformation after the 2020 election.Don Lemon, a star anchor at CNN, will also leave his network. He had been under scrutiny after making remarks widely perceived to be sexist.Around the WorldPolice in Kenya expect the death toll to rise.Yasuyoshi Chiba/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesKenyan police uncovered dozens of bodies from graves connected to a Christian pastor, who is being investigated on allegations that he told his congregants to starve themselves to death.Men wearing uniforms of the national military killed at least 60 people in Burkina Faso last week, authorities said.Sudanese people are flooding into neighboring countries that are already racked by poverty and instability.Other Big StoriesIsrael is bracing for a tense Memorial Day today and a 75th Independence Day celebration, which begins tonight.One of the first major studies on remote work showed a potential downside: Employees, particularly young workers and women, may miss out on crucial feedback.Belgium destroyed more than 2,300 cans of Miller High Life beers. Cans with the slogan “Champagne of Beers” were deemed counterfeit champagne.A Morning ReadSince early November, the number of daily active users to Chess.com has jumped from 5.4 million to more than 11 million.Anastasiia Sapon for The New York TimesBy many accounts — from players, parents, teachers and website metrics — chess’s popularity has exploded.Casual observers may attribute the trend to pandemic lockdown and boredom. But quietly a grandmaster plan was also unfolding, carefully crafted by Chess.com to broaden the appeal of the game and turn millennials and Gen Z into chess-playing pawns.AN APPRAISALBarry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage on Broadway in 2004.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesRemembering Barry Humphries (and Dame Edna)For almost seven decades, Barry Humphries, an Australian-born actor and comic who died on Saturday at 89, brought to life the character Dame Edna, his alter ego. Edna became a cultural phenomenon, “a force of nature trafficking in wicked, sequined commentary on the nature of fame,” my colleague Margalit Fox wrote in her obituary for Humphries.Using Edna as an archetype for the ordinary middle-class matron, Humphries lampooned suburban pretensions, political correctness and the cult of self-crowned celebrity. She toured worldwide in a series of solo stage shows and was ubiquitous on television in the U.S., Britain, Australia and elsewhere.“The genius of Humphries’s conceit,” our former chief theater critic wrote, “was to translate the small-minded, unyielding smugness of the middle-class Australian suburbs in which he grew up into the even more invincible complacency of outrageous, drop-dead stardom.”PLAY, WATCH, EATWhat to CookJames Ransom for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.These creamy overnight oats are the perfect excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast.What to WatchIf you’re craving an action movie, check out “Furies,” a Vietnamese feminist sequel, or “Rusty Blade,” a Chinese swordplay drama.What to ReadHere are eight books about meditation for beginners.HealthCertain foods may help with hot flashes.Now Time to PlayPlay the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Exact copy (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 tomorrow. — AmeliaP.S. Christina Goldbaum will be our next bureau chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan.“The Daily” is on Sudan.You can reach us at briefing@nytimes.com. More

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      Thaksin Shinawatra’s Daughter Enters Thailand Election

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      An ousted populist’s daughter seeks office, fueling concerns that the return of a divisive political dynasty may revive instability, too.For close to two decades, the military and conservative establishment in Thailand has sought to keep former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his supporters out of power. Mr. Thaksin, a populist politician and a business tycoon, was ousted in a coup in 2006 before he fled the country. Several years later, his sister succeeded him as prime minister and then suffered the same fate.Now, conservatives are watching warily as his political party looks set to dominate next month’s election. The party’s star campaigner: Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Mr. Thaksin’s youngest daughter and a strong contender for prime minister.With a formidable last name but little in the way of political experience, Ms. Paetongtarn, 36, has revived the prospect of her father’s return from exile and the resurgence of the most politically polarizing dynasty in Thai politics. Critics have tried to seize on her family’s past scandals — and on her current pregnancy, eight months along — but she has galvanized crowds during campaign events and fueled nostalgia for her family’s legacy.Ms. Paetongtarn’s rise has stirred concerns that if she were elected, Thailand might return to the political instability that characterized the terms of her father and aunt, both of whom faced opposition from the military. Questions have dogged her campaign: What are her credentials besides her family name? Would she prioritize ending her father’s exile?Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in Samut Prakan Province in April.Rungroj Yongrit/EPA, via ShutterstockJatuporn Prompan, a longtime ally of Mr. Thaksin’s, now estranged, said the candidacy of his daughter is a reflection of “how Mr. Thaksin thinks, that he doesn’t trust anyone but his family.”“She will face tremendous pressure from the opposition, be scrutinized and criticized,” Mr. Jatuporn said. “Mr. Thaksin shouldn’t do this to his children.”It remains unclear if Ms. Paetongtarn, a deputy chief executive of a family-run hotel management company, will ultimately get the top job. Pheu Thai, the party founded by her father, has named two other candidates for prime minister in addition to her: a real estate mogul and a former attorney general.It is likely that the 250-member military-appointed Senate, which ultimately votes for the prime minister, would resist choosing the daughter of a longtime nemesis. She also faces a challenge from the Move Forward Party, a progressive party that has appealed to the young.But there is no disputing that Mr. Thaksin’s political brand continues to be a force to be reckoned with in Thailand, even 17 years after he went into exile abroad.Pheu Thai supporters at a rally in Bangkok this month. Ms. Paetongtarn has galvanized crowds and fueled nostalgia for her family’s legacy.Lauren DeCicca/Getty ImagesSince 2001, the political parties he founded have consistently won the most votes in every election. (Pheu Thai is the third incarnation of Mr. Thaksin’s party after the previous two were dissolved.) Many Thais still recall fondly his populist agenda, in particular his $1 health care program and the disbursement of loans to farmers when he was prime minister from 2001 to 2006.“The whole sense of caring for the poor and the downtrodden and the ability of Thaksin to communicate in a simple Thai language to the 47 million Thai people — the have-nots — there has not been any Thai politician that has been able to give an alternative,” said Kasit Piromya, a former foreign minister who later became an outspoken critic of Mr. Thaksin.But that same popularity made Mr. Thaksin, 73, a threat to the conservative establishment: a nexus of Thai royalists; the wealthy and the military; and the Thais who support them. His political rivals have consistently accused him of trying to overthrow the Thai monarchy.Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha — the general who seized power from Ms. Thaksin’s sister in a 2014 coup and has ruled the country since as a staunch royalist — walked out of a news conference in January when a reporter tried to ask him about the possibility of Mr. Thaksin’s return. “Don’t talk about that person,” he said. “I don’t like it.”Despite Mr. Thaksin’s political misfortunes, he remains one of Thailand’s wealthiest people, with a net worth in 2022 of about $2.1 billion.In a 2001 photo, Thaksin Shinawatra, then the newly elected prime minister, stands with his wife, Potjaman; son, Parntongtae; and daughters, Paetongtarn and Pintongta.Sakchai Lalit/Associated PressMs. Paetongtarn has said there are “no plans” for her father, who lives mostly in Dubai, to return to Thailand, though Mr. Thaksin has said previously he would “definitely return” this year. Ms. Paetongtarn’s press team declined to make her available for an interview with The New York Times.Some Thais are frustrated that Mr. Thaksin’s possible return has once again become an election issue, for his popularity is not universal, particularly among younger voters.Accusations of corruption dogged Mr. Thaksin’s second term in office. In 2006, there were months of protests in Bangkok after reports that his family had netted $1.9 billion from the tax-free sale of their stake in Shin Corporation, a vast telecommunications conglomerate run by the family, to Singapore’s Temasek. The unrest culminated in a coup that year.In 2008, Mr. Thaksin fled to England, saying he could not get a fair trial on a series of corruption charges; he was later sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison.In 2013, Mr. Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck, who had become prime minister in 2011, proposed an amnesty bill to pardon people who committed offenses during the turmoil after the 2006 coup. This triggered violent protests. After another coup in 2014, Ms. Yingluck fled Thailand in 2017, shortly before she was to appear in court on negligence charges over a rice subsidy scheme.Protesters in Bangkok in 2006 calling for Mr. Thaksin’s resignation over the family’s $1.9 billion tax-free sale of stock of the Thaksin-founded communications giant Shin Corp. to a Singapore company.Narong Sangnak/European Pressphoto AgencyThe country has become more polarized in the years since Mr. Thaksin and his sister left. The split between the “red shirt” pro-Thaksin protesters from the rural north and the “yellow shirt” anti-Thaksin faction made up of royalists and the urban elite remains. A new political divide has also emerged — one that runs along generational lines.In 2020, tens of thousands of mostly young protesters gathered in the streets of Bangkok, calling for democratic reform, and, most surprisingly, checks on the monarchy’s power, a previously taboo subject in a country where criticism of the institution can lead to a maximum 15-year prison sentence.Once a stable ally of the United States, Thailand has moved closer to China under the military junta that ousted the Shinawatras. The country reported the slowest economic growth in Southeast Asia last year compared with other major economies in the region. Many Thais blame Prime Minister Prayuth, who is trailing in the polls.Echoing Mr. Thaksin’s populist policies, Pheu Thai has pledged cash handouts and an increase in the minimum wage to $18 a day from the current average of $10.Known widely by her nickname, “Ung Ing,” Ms. Paetongtarn is the third child of Mr. Thaksin and Potjaman Na Pombejra, who divorced Mr. Thaksin in 2008. As a little girl, she shadowed her father while he campaigned and played golf. She graduated with a degree in political science from Chulalongkorn University and then studied international hotel management at the University of Surrey in England.In a 2022 television interview, Ms. Paetongtarn recalled the day the army launched the coup against her father, when she was 20. She was studying with a friend when her mother called and told her to come home: “The tanks are out.” “Confused, I thought to myself: ‘What is a tank?’” Ms. Paetongtarn recalled. She said she cried and feared for the safety of her family.“The country needs to move forward,” she said in the same television interview.Mr. Thaksin said his daughter was drafted into politics after people said, “they wanted to see a Shinawatra family representative as a force in the party.” They had asked for a volunteer, “and Paetongtarn answered the call,” he told Nikkei Asia, a Japanese news outlet.The three candidates for prime minister from the Pheu Thai party, Srettha Thavisin, Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Chaikasem Nitsiri, at a rally in Bangkok this month.Lauren Decicca/Getty ImagesNattawut Saikua, director of the “Pheu Thai Family,” said he believes in Ms. Paetongtarn’s potential, citing her ability to galvanize crowds. “She will succeed” with the help of advisers, he said in an interview.It remains unclear if Ms. Paetongtarn’s campaign will resonate among Thai youths. Last month during a Pheu Thai rally, youth activists asked if Pheu Thai would amend the law that criminalizes criticism of the monarchy.Two activists present at the rally, Tantawan Tuatulanon and Orawan Phuphong, said that the group asked Ms. Paetongtarn to mark on a board if she agreed that the law, known as Article 112, should be abolished. According to Ms. Tantawan and Ms. Orawan, Ms. Paetongtarn told the activists: “I don’t want to participate in this activity.”Then she walked away.Ryn Jirenuwat More

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      Your Monday Briefing: Evacuations from Sudan

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      Also, China suppressed Covid-19 data.A building that was damaged during battles in Khartoum.Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesEvacuations from SudanThe U.S. evacuated its diplomats from Sudan yesterday, starting an exodus of foreign diplomats from the country as fighting there stretched into a second week.Officials said almost 100 people — mostly U.S. Embassy employees — were evacuated by helicopters that arrived from Djibouti, where the U.S. has a base. More than 100 special operations troops were involved in the operation. Within hours after the U.S. announced the move, a swell of countries, including France, Britain and Germany, followed suit.India said that it had two military aircraft and a naval vessel on standby to prepare for the evacuation of its citizens. China issued a notice via its embassy in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, asking its citizens to register if they wanted to be rescued.As helicopters and planes swept away foreigners, Sudanese citizens continued to flee. They often face greater risks than diplomats or aid workers, and many have been trying to leave through land borders, but the journeys are dangerous.Sudan’s challenges: Many of those still stranded in their homes in Khartoum are without electricity, food or water. The health care system is on the verge of a breakdown, medical workers say.Context: The evacuations came on the ninth day of brutal fighting between the Sudanese Army and a paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, whose leaders are vying for supremacy. At least 400 people have been killed in the violence and more than 3,500 injured, according to the U.N.A patient in a hospital in Wuhan in January 2020.Hector Retamal/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesChina rewrites the Covid-19 storyIt is well documented that China muzzled scientists, hindered international investigations and censored online talk about Covid-19. But Beijing’s censorship goes far deeper than even many pandemic researchers are aware of.Chinese researchers have withheld data, withdrawn genetic sequences from public databases and altered crucial details in journal submissions, shaking the foundations of shared scientific knowledge, a Times investigation found. Western journal editors enabled those efforts by agreeing to those edits or by withdrawing papers for murky reasons.Notably, in early 2020, a team of scientists from the U.S. and China released data on the coronavirus, which showed how quickly the virus was spreading and who was dying. But days later, the researchers quietly withdrew the paper.It’s now clear that the paper was withdrawn at Beijing’s direction amid a crackdown on science, starving doctors and policymakers of critical information about the virus when it was most needed.Analysis: The censorship helped China control the narrative about the early days of the pandemic, especially the timeline of early infections. Beijing has faced criticism over whether it responded to the virus quickly enough.The military junta has escalated its attacks on civilians.Aung Shine Oo/Associated PressAn assassination in MyanmarA rebel group in Myanmar claimed responsibility for the assassination of a high-ranking election official for the military junta. The attack on Saturday, by bicycle-riding gunmen, came as violence escalated on both sides of the country’s internal conflict.The official, Sai Kyaw Thu, was fatally shot while he was driving his wife to her job in Yangon. He had worked on elections before the 2021 coup and had testified at the trial of the ousted civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the ousted president, U Win Myint. The junta convicted them of election fraud.The resistance group, “For the Yangon,” targeted him for his testimony and accused him of being complicit in “oppressing and terrorizing” the public. The killing is one of several recent high-profile assassinations. It comes as the junta faces growing resistance from pro-democracy forces and ethnic rebel groups, which have long fought for autonomy.Recent context: The military has responded in recent months with an increasing number of atrocities, including the beheading, disembowelment or dismemberment of rebel fighters, as well as attacks on civilians.THE LATEST NEWSThe War in UkraineThe funeral for Oleksandr Dykiy, 41, a Ukrainian soldier killed last week near Bakhmut.Finbarr O’Reilly for The New York TimesRussian troops are forcibly relocating people from areas near Kherson, a Ukrainian official said. The moves suggest Russian troops could be preparing to withdraw further ahead of an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive.President Volodymyr Zelensky banned Russian place names and made knowledge of Ukrainian language and history a requirement for citizenship.My colleagues spoke to a Ukrainian soldier who rescues the wounded from the front lines. “It’s difficult to see young boys die,” he said, in a video. “Sometimes I cry quietly.”Many Russian prisoners are H.I.V. positive. They were promised anti-viral medications if they agreed to fight.Asia PacificThe wreck of a Japanese ship that was torpedoed by a U.S. submarine in 1942 was found. When it sank, it was carrying more than 1,000 prisoners of war, most of whom were Australian.The Australia Letter: Natasha Frost went looking for darkness ahead of the solar eclipse.Other Big StoriesSifan Hassan was as stunned as everyone else when she crossed the finish line first in the women’s race.John Walton/Press Association, via Associated PressSifan Hassan, of the Netherlands, won the women’s race in the London Marathon after training during Ramadan. Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum won the men’s race, posting the second-fastest time on record: 2:01:25.The Red Cross expressed alarm about the health of aging prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.Britain’s deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, resigned on Friday after an investigation that found he had bullied subordinates.A Morning ReadAnn Peetermans hosts three boarders with mental illness.Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York TimesFor centuries, families in the Belgian town of Geel have taken in people with mental illnesses. The approach has often been regarded with suspicion, but more recently the town has come up for reconsideration as an emblem of a humane alternative to neglect or institutionalization.Lives lived: Bruce Haigh, an Australian diplomat, helped offer covert support to anti-apartheid figures in South Africa. He died at 77.ARTS AND IDEASWomen inspiring womenT magazine asked 33 mid- and late-career female artists (the majority of them over 45 years old) to identify a younger female creative person who inspired them. The artists didn’t have to know each other or even be in the same field.Hanya Yanagihara, the editor in chief of T, wrote that she was struck by how many of these artists’ younger counterparts saw the lives of those who picked them as models of self-possession and assuredness, even as the older artists themselves claim this wasn’t the case.For instance, both Margaret Cho, 54, and Atsuko Okatsuka, 34, imagined each other was born confident. But it took years for each to find her voice.“I had a hard time understanding, or committing to, artistic integrity, whereas Atsuko already has the presentation down,” Cho said. “She knows who she is. She has a strong sense of self that took me a long time to develop.”For more: T also talked to seven artistic mother-and-daughter groups and explored how female mentor-mentee relationships have shaped artistic history.PLAY, WATCH, EATWhat to CookChris Simpson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Pappas.To order the best thing on a menu, look for sleeper hits, like these citrus-glazed turnips.What to WatchIn “Other People’s Children,” a Parisian teacher falls for a father — and his young daughter — in a subtle, deeply felt drama.What to Listen toOur pop critics recommend these new songs. Here’s their playlist, on Spotify.The News QuizHow well did you follow last week’s headlines?Now Time to PlayPlay the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Trail trekker (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. My colleague Kim Severson talked to Marketplace about her reporting on Gen Z saying no to milk.The latest episode of “The Daily” is on the leaked documents. Or, listen to the story of an Italian town where people pelt each other with oranges.I’m always available at briefing@nytimes.com. More

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      High-Ranking Election Official Is Killed in Myanmar

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      A rebel group has claimed responsibility for the attack on an official for the military junta, which comes amid cascading violence on both sides.A top election official for Myanmar’s military junta has been assassinated by bicycle-riding gunmen from a rebel group, which accused him of being complicit in “oppressing and terrorizing” the public. It is the latest in a series of high-profile killings targeting a military that has escalated attacks on civilians.The official, Sai Kyaw Thu, a retired lieutenant colonel who served as deputy director general of the Union Election Commission, was fatally shot Saturday afternoon after driving his wife, a doctor, to her job at a hospital in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.A resistance group calling itself “For the Yangon” claimed responsibility for the killing. A spokesman for the group, who gave his name only as Sky for fear of retaliation, said Mr. Sai Kyaw Thu was targeted in part because he testified last year against the country’s ousted civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the ousted president, U Win Myint, at their trial for election fraud. Both were convicted and sentenced to the maximum three years in prison on that charge.A security camera outside a Yangon pharmacy captured the attack as two men rode up on one bicycle, jumped off in the middle of the street and began firing their handguns at a black sport utility vehicle. The car ran over the bicycle and continued down the road and out of camera range.The two gunmen, who both wore hats and face masks, then returned to the bike. One man picked it up, but it was apparently damaged; putting their guns back into shoulder bags, they fled on foot.The video of the shooting, as well as a photo of the vehicle after it had crashed into a power pole, were posted on a pro-military Telegram channel called Myanmagone, which also provided details of the killing. Mr. Sky, the rebel spokesman, told The New York Times that the video and photo depicted the assassination and its aftermath.The military junta, which seized power in a coup more than two years ago, is facing growing armed resistance in many parts of the country from pro-democracy forces and ethnic rebel groups that have long fought for autonomy.A rebel group in Myanmar this year.Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesEven in urban areas where the military has established control, resistance fighters have carried out several high-profile assassinations, including that of a retired brigadier general outside his Yangon home in September.The military has responded in recent months with an increasing number of atrocities, including the beheading, disembowelment or dismemberment of rebel fighters, as well as attacks on civilians.In March, soldiers massacred 22 civilians, including three monks, at a monastery in Shan State. And in April, a military jet bombed a gathering in Sagaing Region, killing at least 170, including 38 children. It was the single deadliest attack on civilians since the coup on Feb. 1, 2021.In an attempt to legitimize its authority, the junta established the military-led State Administration Council to run the country and announced that it would hold elections this year. No date has been set.“Sai Kyaw Thu is not only a retired military officer, but he is currently a key player in the military council’s illegal election,” said Mr. Sky, the rebel spokesman. “Together with the terrorist military council, he was involved in oppressing and terrorizing the people.”Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, which won landslide victories in the three elections it was allowed to take part in, was dissolved in March by the election commission after the party announced it would not participate in a sham vote and did not register.Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, 77, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, was arrested on the morning of the coup and has been sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison on a wide range of charges, including corruption, inciting public unrest and election fraud. Mr. Win Myint, 71, is serving 12 years on similar charges.Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in 2018. Sai Kyaw Thu, who was killed this weekend, testified last year against her at her trial for election fraud.Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesBoth leaders have denied the charges. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s defenders have said that the charges against her were manufactured to prevent her from holding public office again. At the time of the 2020 vote, independent election observers said they did not see evidence of fraud.It is unclear what Mr. Sai Kyaw Thu testified at the election fraud trial, since the proceedings were held behind prison walls and closed to the public.A colleague at the election commission who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation said in an interview that he was not surprised Mr. Sai Kyaw Thu had been targeted, given his willingness to testify against the country’s civilian leaders. Because Mr. Sai Kyaw Thu had worked at the election commission since before the coup, the colleague said, he was in a position to testify about the handling of the 2020 elections.The Myanmagone channel said that Mr. Sai Kyaw Thu was shot five times, including in the neck, and the rebel spokesman, Mr. Sky, said that he was alone in the car when he was killed.The junta’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, did not respond to calls from The Times seeking comment.Mr. Sky warned that resistance forces planned to target other top officials associated with the junta.“We have already received a variety of information about people in senior positions in the military council,” he said. “We plan to take care of them as soon as possible. We will not be complacent toward anyone who is oppressing the public, including high-ranking officers.” More

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      Elisabeth Kopp, Swiss Politician Who Made History, Dies at 86

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      In 1984 she became the first woman elected to the country’s governing council, but a scandal prevented her from being the first woman to serve as president.Elisabeth Kopp, who in 1984 overcame accusations involving her husband to become the first woman elected to Switzerland’s governing Federal Council — but who could not overcome another scandal a few years later, also related to her husband, and resigned when she had seemed likely to be the country’s first female president — died on April 7 in Zumikon, southeast of Zurich. She was 86.Her death was announced on April 14 by the federal chancellery, The Associated Press reported. The cause was not specified.Mrs. Kopp had been mayor of Zumikon for a decade and had served two terms in Parliament when a retirement opened up a seat on the seven-member Federal Council, which runs the main government departments and whose members take turns serving a one-year term as the country’s president.Mrs. Kopp was one of the more left-leaning members of the conservative Radical Democratic Party, known for her work on environmental issues as well as for advancing women’s causes, and polls showed her to be popular. But the effort to elevate her to the council prompted her political enemies to stir up dirt on her husband, Hans Kopp, a lawyer.The attacks riled Mrs. Kopp’s supporters.“Swiss feminists and liberal politicians have reacted with indignation to press reports that the husband of Switzerland’s first woman candidate for the country’s highest political office was suspended from legal practice for six months in 1972 after charges that he spanked secretaries in his firm,” The Guardian reported in 1984.“In 1971,” the newspaper continued, “a lawyer in Mr. Kopp’s firm said that Mr. Kopp had punished misdemeanors in the office by wielding a bamboo cane on bare bottoms.”His right to practice law was suspended for six months by a Zurich lawyers watchdog commission. But the mudslinging backfired: In early October 1984, Mrs. Kopp won election to the council anyway, with Parliament voting 124 to 95 to select her over a male candidate, Bruno Hunziker. Commentators at the time said that the attempts to undermine Mrs. Kopp’s candidacy probably only strengthened it.Her election was an important moment in the push for women’s equality in Switzerland, a country that had lagged behind most of Europe in that area; women did not gain the right to vote in federal elections there until 1971.Mrs. Kopp was the first woman to serve in the seven-member cabinet. She told The A.P. at the time that her election was a sign that “equality of the sexes is taken seriously now.”But, she said, being a woman in the largely male universe of politics — only about a tenth of the members of Parliament were women at the time — meant extra challenges.“In politics, women must do better than men if they want to succeed,” she said.Mrs. Kopp in 2010. She had been one of the more left-leaning members of the conservative Radical Democratic Party, known for her work on environmental issues as well as for advancing women’s causes.Gaetan Bally/Keystone, via Associated PressEach council member heads a federal department, and during her tenure Mrs. Kopp’s titles included justice minister and interior minister. In 1988, it was her turn to rotate into the vice presidency, and she was duly elected by Parliament late that year. But she never took the post, because of another scandal related to her husband.Reports came to light that Mrs. Kopp, who was minister of justice at the time, had recently tipped off her husband that a company he was involved with was the focus of a money-laundering investigation and urged him to cut his ties, which he did. She at first denied any impropriety — “I wouldn’t like one to think that I could have committed or tolerated wrongdoing,” she said at the time — but she resigned from the council because of what she called “unbearable pressure.”She eventually acknowledged providing information to her husband, and in 1989 she was indicted on charges of violating official secrecy laws. During her trial in February 1990, admirers applauded her as she left the courthouse each day. A Supreme Court jury acquitted her. Had she not resigned, she would have become president that same year.Elisabeth Ikle was born on Dec. 16, 1936, in Zurich to Max and Beatrix Ikle. Her father was a director general of the Swiss National Bank, and her mother helped establish a nursery school.Mrs. Kopp was a skilled figure skater in her youth. She studied law at Zurich University and graduated with honors. She met Mr. Kopp while doing volunteer work on behalf of Hungarians who fled to Switzerland in 1956 after the Soviet Union crushed a popular uprising in Hungary.As interior minister, Mrs. Kopp was often the government’s public voice on immigration — a contentious issue in Switzerland, especially as people from countries like Sri Lanka sought to come there. She was seen by some as taking an anti-immigrant stance, although she said her concern was about “false” asylum seekers — people seeking to move for economic reasons rather than because of political persecution.“This leads to an increase in xenophobia,” she said in 1987, “which makes it harder for us to fulfill our human obligations.”After her political career, Mrs. Kopp did postgraduate studies in European law and human rights law and worked at her husband’s law firm. Mr. Kopp died in 2009. Information about Mrs. Kopp’s survivors was not immediately available.The first woman to serve as Switzerland’s president, Ruth Dreifuss, was elected in December 1998. More

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      Mike Lindell Loses Arbitration Case and Must Pay $5 Million

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      An arbitration panel ruled that the MyPillow founder had failed to pay a computer software expert who disproved his false election claims as part of a contest.Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and Trump ally who has been a leading voice in pushing conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, must pay $5 million to a software forensics expert who debunked a series of false claims as part of a “Prove Mike Wrong” contest, an arbitration panel said on Wednesday.Mr. Lindell issued the challenge at a “cyber symposium” in South Dakota in 2021, saying he had data that would support his claims that there was Chinese interference in the election and offering the seven-figure prize to anyone who could prove the data had no connection to the 2020 election.Because the software expert Robert Zeidman successfully did so, the panel, composed of three members of the American Arbitration Association, ordered that Mr. Lindell would have to pay up.“Almost everyone there was pro-Trump, and everyone said, ‘This data is nonsense,’” Mr. Zeidman said in an interview on Thursday, identifying himself as a Republican who voted twice for former President Donald J. Trump. “A false narrative about election fraud is just really damaging to this country.”The ruling against Mr. Lindell was earlier reported by The Washington Post.Mr. Zeidman, 63, who is from Las Vegas, filed the arbitration claim against Mr. Lindell in November 2021 after the contest’s organizers rejected his findings. The claim was filed in Minnesota, Mr. Lindell’s home state.The arbitrators ordered him to pay Mr. Zeidman within 30 days.Mr. Lindell, who has spent millions of dollars on partisan reviews of voting data and efforts to bolster election skeptics across the country, vowed in an interview to challenge the panel’s ruling.“This is disgusting,” he said. He questioned Mr. Zeidman’s credentials and mused about how he had been granted admission to the symposium.Mr. Zeidman, who described himself as a “well-known” pioneer in the field of software forensics, said that he used his connections in the Trump world to obtain an invitation to Mr. Lindell’s symposium. “Friends of mine said, ‘You should go because you might win $5 million,’” he said.When conference organizers gave Mr. Zeidman and other attendees data to dissect, he said that he expected it might take weeks to analyze. But once he started going through the files, he said he quickly concluded that the data was bogus. He presented his findings to Mr. Lindell’s representatives in a 15-page report.The $5 million claim against Mr. Lindell is a pittance compared with a pending $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit that the election equipment company Dominion Voting Systems filed against him in 2021 over his assertions that its machines were part of a plot to steal the election. This week, the company reached a $787.5 million settlement with Fox News as part of a similar defamation lawsuit.Brian Glasser, a lawyer for Mr. Zeidman, cast doubt on whether Mr. Lindell would be able to successfully challenge the arbitration decision in court, saying the bar was particularly high. Mr. Lindell would have to prove “manifest injustice,” a legal term for an unduly harsh outcome, he said.Mr. Glasser also noted that the contest rules set by Mr. Lindell prescribed binding arbitration in the event of a dispute.Still, Mr. Lindell insisted: “It’s going to end up in court.”Mr. Zeidman said he planned to give some of the money to nonprofit groups, use part for a start-up business and spend some supporting a voter integrity project. He does believe there was voter fraud in 2020. “The question is how much and was it actually enough to swing the election? I can’t say that,” Mr. Zeidman said.He has joined the bipartisan political organization No Labels, he said, and won’t be supporting Mr. Trump for president in 2024.“I’d rather see a presidential candidate who is not an extremist,” he said. More

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      Richard Riordan, Mayor of an Uneasy Los Angeles, Dies at 92

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      He was a successful businessman before taking office in 1993 amid civil unrest after the police beating of Rodney King. He became known for impolitic wisecracking.Richard J. Riordan, a Queens-born lawyer, businessman and former mayor of Los Angeles who led the city at a particularly divisive time and brought a free-enterprise approach to rebuilding the city’s infrastructure after a devastating earthquake in 1994, died on Wednesday at his home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. He was 92.His daughter Patricia Riordan Torrey confirmed his death.Mr. Riordan, whose unfiltered speech occasionally got him into trouble, began his career in business and turned to politics later in life. He was elected mayor in 1993, in his first effort at electoral politics, and served until 2001, prevented by term limits from seeking a third term.Before that, he was a shrewd investor who turned a modest inheritance into a large personal fortune. He was a venture capitalist in the 1960s, before such investors had acquired that name, and gave his own money away well before philanthropy came into vogue among California’s newly wealthy.A moderate Republican, Mr. Riordan came to politics in 1992, when it became clear that Tom Bradley, the Democratic five-term incumbent mayor, would not seek re-election. Mr. Riordan, then 62, was encouraged by friends to run, in part because of his solid ties across the political spectrum. He won handily, with 54 percent of the vote.But Mr. Riordan was bequeathed a city that was still reeling from riots stemming from the acquittal of four white police officers in 1992 after the beating of Rodney King, an unarmed Black motorist, the year before.“The city was out of control,” said Patrick Range McDonald, a journalist who ghostwrote Mr. Riordan’s 2014 memoir, “The Mayor: How I Turned Around Los Angeles After Riots, an Earthquake and the O.J. Simpson Murder Trial.” “Residents did not feel safe.”Mr. Riordan expanded the police department to 10,000 officers and generally brought a “calming influence to the city,” Mr. McDonald said.A section of the vital Santa Monica Freeway collapsed in the Northridge earthquake in 1994. Mr. Riordan took an unorthodox approach to repairing it, and the work was completed 74 days ahead of schedule.Eric Draper/Associated PressMr. Riordan’s most dramatic moment came with the 6.7-magnitude Northridge earthquake in 1994 that destroyed buildings and roads throughout the Los Angeles region.“Dick worked day and night, visited neighborhoods throughout the city, made sure people received supplies and health care, and constantly sounded a theme that Angelenos needed to work together,” Mr. McDonald said. “So while the rest of the world was waiting for post-riot Los Angeles to descend into complete chaos, residents instead banded together, with Dick leading the charge.”Mr. Riordan took an unorthodox approach to rebuilding the Santa Monica Freeway, a vital connector between downtown Los Angeles and the city’s coastal regions. City officials had estimated a loss to the local economy of $1 million for every day the freeway was closed.Mr. Riordan offered contractors a $200,000-a-day bonus for finishing ahead of schedule. The work was finished 74 days before the contracted deadline. “This demonstrates what can happen when private sector innovation and market incentives replace business as usual,” he said at the time.He also had a longtime interest in education and was a strong believer in the effectiveness of charter schools..“That wasn’t within his formal job description of mayor,” said former California Gov. Pete Wilson, whose tenure as governor overlapped with Mr. Riordan’s time as mayor. “Nonetheless, he really took it up.”Neither a polished nor eloquent public speaker, Mr. Riordan was well known for his impolitic wisecracking. In one famous incident in 2004, during a brief stint by Mr. Riordan as California’s secretary of education, a 6-year-old girl at a library event in Santa Barbara told him that her name, Isis, meant “Egyptian goddess.” He responded that “it means stupid, dirty girl.”He later apologized, saying it was a failed attempt at humor. The remark was widely reported and caused public outcry, with some advocacy groups calling for his resignation, but Mr. Riordan remained in his state government role.In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, when asked if he was sorry for some of the jokes he had cracked over the years, Mr. Riordan said: “I’ve learned to count to three before I tell a joke. Usually something’s funny, click click, and you forget you’ve just insulted every Italian in the city.”Mr. Riordan announced his candidacy for governor of California in November 2001. He lost in a Republican primary contest the next year. At right was the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was elected governor in 2003.Jim Ruymen/ReutersRichard Joseph Riordan was born on May 1, 1930, in Flushing, Queens, to William and Geraldine (Doyle) Riordan, the last of nine children in an Irish Catholic family. He grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y. His father was a successful department store executive. His mother taught prisoners to read and write.Mr. Riordan entered Santa Clara University in California on a football scholarship in 1948 and two years later transferred to Princeton. He received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy there in 1952.Soon after graduating, he joined the Army and served in the Korean War as a first lieutenant. After the war, he entered the University of Michigan Law School, graduating in 1956.He returned to California, a state that had always fascinated him, and began working for a large law firm in Los Angeles. In the late 1950s, after his father died, he inherited $80,000. A neighbor who was a stockbroker recommended that Mr. Riordan invest in technology companies. Three decades and many ventures later, he was worth tens of millions of dollars.Mr. Riordan also liked to give money away, “almost as if it burns his hands,” The Los Angeles Times wrote in a 1988 profile. He created the Riordan Foundation with a narrow goal: to promote childhood literacy. The foundation, which has given away more than $50 million, has expanded over the years to include broader educational and civic initiatives.Mr. Riordan’s first marriage, to Eugenia Waraday, lasted nearly 25 years but ended in divorce, as did his second marriage, to Jill Noel. He married Nancy Daly in 1998, and they divorced in 2008.Mr. Riordan’s life was scarred by personal tragedy. Three of his siblings, including his twin brother, died young. Mr. Riordan had five children with his first wife. His only son, Billy, drowned in a scuba diving accident in 1978, at age 21. His youngest daughter, Carol, died in 1982, at 18, of cardiac arrest associated with anorexia.In 2017, Mr. Riordan married Elizabeth Gregory, who survives him. In addition to Patricia, a child from his first marriage, he is survived by two more daughters from his first marriage, Mary Elizabeth Riordan and Kathleen Ann Riordan; a stepdaughter, Malia Gregory; a sister, Betty Hearty; and three grandchildren.Mr. Riordan ran unsuccessfully for governor of California in 2002. He became secretary of education under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003, but, frustrated by the bureaucracy he encountered, left the post after 17 months.Mr. Riordan also owned restaurants around Los Angeles, including the Original Pantry Café, a popular diner. Mr. Riordan said he first fell in love with the Pantry when a waiter decided he was taking too long to eat his meal.“I had a book I was reading,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 2008. “I was very relaxed, and the waiter came over and said, ‘If you want to read, the library’s at Fifth and Hope.’” Instead, he bought the restaurant.Alex Traub contributed reporting. More