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Good morning,
We start today with a glimmer of hope in the shutdown talks, the revival of the military’s transgender ban, and Serena Williams’s loss at the Australian Open.
Senate to vote on competing bills to end the shutdown
Lawmakers are to consider two spending measures on Thursday, the first time senators are addressing the budget impasse since the partial government shutdown began last month.
One of the bills includes President Trump’s call for $5.7 billion for a border wall, the other is a short-term funding proposal by Democrats that wouldn’t finance a wall. Neither measure is expected to pass, but there’s hope that the votes will lead to negotiations for a bipartisan compromise.
Go deeper: Mr. Trump has been focusing almost exclusively on the wall, suspending the rest of his policy agenda, because he’s convinced his presidency is on the line, our chief White House correspondent writes.
President Trump announced the ban in 2017, saying that American forces couldn’t afford the “tremendous medical costs and disruption” of transgender service members. The policy makes exceptions for those already serving openly and those willing to serve “in their biological sex.”
Gun rights: The court also said it would hear its first Second Amendment case in nearly a decade, a test of the justices’ approach to gun rights after the arrival of Brett Kavanaugh, a conservative, in October. The case involves a New York City law that limits residents from transporting guns outside their homes.
DACA: The court took no action on the Trump administration’s plans to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which shields some 700,000 young undocumented immigrants from deportation. That means the court will almost certainly not hear the administration’s challenge in its current term, which ends in June.
A young voice rises in Venezuela
Juan Guaidó, 35, an opposition leader and president of the National Assembly, has called on Venezuelans to take to the streets today to protest the government of President Nicolás Maduro and the economic crisis that has led more than three million people to flee the country.
Catch up: The president was sworn in for a second term this month, after a disputed election that many countries didn’t recognize, and Mr. Guaidó says the government is illegitimate. Mr. Maduro dismisses the opposition as “little boys” who are pawns of the Trump administration.
Yesterday: Vice President Mike Pence declared Washington’s “unwavering support” for the planned demonstrations.
New York’s governor again foils transit agency’s plans
In his latest clash with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Gov. Andrew Cuomo opposed a requested fare increase on Tuesday and questioned whether the agency really needed the revenue to make much-needed improvements.
“Tighten your belt. Make the place run better,” said Mr. Cuomo, who has repeatedly complained about the agency’s bureaucracy.
A vote on Thursday could determine whether the cost of a MetroCard swipe will go up to $3 in March, an increase of about 4 percent.
In numbers: Experts predict the M.T.A. will have a deficit of nearly $1 billion by 2022. Subway leaders warn they will have to raise fares or cut services unless other revenue sources are found.
If you have 6 minutes, this is worth it
Still betting big on Bitcoin
The former Soviet republic of Georgia has offered tax breaks, land deals and cheap energy to attract tech-savvy entrepreneurs and the high-powered computers that are needed to mine the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, even though its value has tumbled.
Our chief European business correspondent traveled to the capital, Tbilisi, to learn more about a “state-supported dash toward data supremacy.”
Here’s what else is happening
Los Angeles teachers end strike: Tens of thousands of employees in the nation’s second-largest public school system are set to return to work today after they reached a deal to end a weeklong strike. The agreement includes caps on class sizes, and hiring full-time nurses for every school.
Chris Brown case: The R&B singer was released without charges after being questioned in Paris over accusations of rape.
Snapshot: Above, Roman Catholic priests heard confessions at a park in Panama City on Tuesday as part of World Youth Day. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected at the five-day event, which Pope Francis will attend.
In memoriam: Russell Baker, one of the most celebrated American writers and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, died on Monday at 93. His column (including one about a dreaded Christmas fruitcake) appeared in The Times and other newspapers for 36 years.
Oscar nominations: Netflix received its first best picture nod for “Roma,” a foreign-language film that tied with “The Favourite” to lead the nominations, at 10 each. Here’s a complete list of the nominees, as well as the snubs and surprises.
Baseball Hall of Fame: Mariano Rivera, the relief pitcher who helped the New York Yankees win five World Series, became the first player to be elected unanimously to the Hall of Fame.
Serena Williams is out: Williams was one point from victory today when she appeared to injure herself, eventually losing to seventh-seeded Karolina Pliskova in the Australian Open quarterfinals. Here are all the scores.
Late-night comedy: Conan O’Brien returned with a new version of his show and a more casual outfit: “This is how I dress in real life — I call my look: ‘hip biology teacher.’”
What we’re reading: This essay in The Bitter Southerner. “The Tennessee food writer Jennifer Justus wrote this unexpected story about the grandes dames of Nashville music told through their cookbooks,” writes Kim Severson, our national food correspondent. “It starts with a recipe for ‘Husband’s Delight’ from Tammy Wynette, and ends with the revelation that even recipes from Chet Atkins and Merle Haggard came from Southern women.”
Now, a break from the news
Cook: Harissa, a North African chile paste, turns canned chickpeas into a fast, spicy soup.
Watch: Many Oscar-nominated movies are already available to stream, including “Roma” and “Black Panther.”
Listen: Our Popcast features a guide to new artists, from British punk-rap to morbid electronic pop.
See: “She Persists: A Century of Women Artists in New York,” an installation of works by 44 artists and collectives in the public spaces of Gracie Mansion.
Smarter Living: Salary transparency has many benefits, but if you discover you’re being paid less than a colleague, don’t run to tell your boss that. Instead, a negotiations expert suggests starting with something like: “Based on my market research and discussions with people within my network who are in similar roles, an uplift of X percent would reflect my contributions.”
And we looked at the next generation of fitness trackers: stretchy, battery-free patches that analyze your sweat for a real-time gauge of your health.
And now for the Back Story on …
Davos and ‘The Magic Mountain’
World leaders and chief executives have converged in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
We asked Pamela Paul, the editor of the Book Review, what today’s readers should know about the book, which follows a wealthy young German through seven years in a tuberculosis sanitarium just before World War I.
“Many people read it as a metaphor for the sickness of Europe on the brink of war,” she answered. “Well-heeled invalids gather indefinitely, for a cure that doesn’t necessarily come — perhaps deliberately. The longer they stay, the greater the owner’s profits.
“They spend their days gossiping, pursuing love affairs and having abstract arguments that never reach any decisive resolution.”
That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.
— Chris
Thank you
Inyoung Kang helped compile today’s briefing, and Eleanor Stanford and James K. Williamson provided our break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.
P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is about the encounter between high school students and a Native American man in Washington.
• Here’s today’s mini crossword puzzle, and a clue: Genre for Philip K. Dick and N.K. Jemisin (5 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The Times first reported from Davos, Switzerland, in 1890 — covering a new railroad that cut travel time from London to only 30 hours.
Source : Nytimes
