Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. I began 2020 eagerly anticipating my first trip to Japan, one I had spent a year planning. I hoped to explore the culture in my typical fashion, through long wandering walks. Yet,…
Month: November 2020
Nice to Meet You, Mom. Now Let’s Go Into Quarantine.
When a taxi deposited Mallory Guy in front of an apartment building in Cheonan, South Korea, groggy and dazed after a 14-hour flight from Atlanta, a Korean couple was waiting for her on the sidewalk with open arms. It was the first time since she was 7 months old that Ms. Guy,…
The Pandemic Economy
Want to get The Morning by email? Here’s the sign-up. Good morning. The next few months could be rough for the U.S. economy — but better times might not be far off. ImageOutdoor dining in Seattle.Credit…Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times, via Associated Press The next few months have the potential to be very…
Snapshots of Daily Life in a Remote Region of Portugal
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with travel restrictions in place worldwide, we launched a new series — The World Through a Lens — in which photojournalists help transport you, virtually, to some of our planet’s most beautiful and intriguing places. This week, André Vieira shares a collection of images from…
Along Russia’s ‘Road of Bones,’ Relics of Suffering and Despair
The Kolyma Highway in the Russian Far East once delivered tens of thousands of prisoners to the work camps of Stalin’s gulag. The ruins of that cruel era are still visible today. By Andrew Higgins Photographs and Video by Emile Ducke The prisoners, hacking their way through insect-infested summer swamps and winter…
South Dakota and New Mexico offer a snapshot of the alternate realities in the U.S. pandemic.
Known coronavirus cases in the United States have now surpassed 12 million, and the daily routines of a vast number of Americans are now shaped by their ZIP codes and governors and beliefs about the virus. Do they wear masks? Go to school in person or online? Eat out? Get exposed to…
Protesters in Guatemala Set Fire to Congress Building Over Spending Cuts
ANTIGUA, Guatemala — Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Guatemala’s capital on Saturday, setting fire to the nation’s congressional building in a show of anger over a budget bill passed this week that cut funding for health care and education. The demonstrations in Guatemala City, which also included peaceful marches…
Business and World Leaders Move On as Trump Fights to Reverse Election
WASHINGTON — Inside the wrought-iron fences that surround the 18-acre White House complex, the 2020 election rages on, with President Trump angrily refusing to concede. But the rest of the world — and President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. — is moving on. The leaders of Western Europe have called Mr. Biden, as…
Nelly Kaplan, Whose Films Explored Female Strength, Dies at 89
Nelly Kaplan, whose witty, satire-tinged French films about female empowerment and revenge made her a distinctive voice in a male-dominated era, died on Nov. 12 in Geneva. She was 89. The Société des Réalisateurs de Films, the French filmmakers’ association, announced her death on its website. French news agencies, quoting a relative,…
Is It Time for a More Ambitious Covid Reduction Target in Canada?
November kicked off with the discouraging news that Nunavut lost its status as the last place in Canada to be free of Covid. ImageNunavut entered a two-week mandatory restriction period to curb the spread of the coronavirus.Credit…Natalie Maerzluft/Reuters With 74 cases as of Thursday, the vast and medically underserved territory of Nunavut…
The Books of the Year
Want to get The Morning by email? Here’s the sign-up. Good morning. For a break from the news, check out The Times’s annual list of 100 notable books. ImageCredit…Roberts Rurans Every November, after the editors of The Times Book Review have wrapped up their big end-of-year issues, they immediately turn their attention…
1945: Britain Asks for Whiskey to Ensure ‘Merry, Merry Christmas’
ImageCredit…International Herald Tribune LONDON, Nov. 19. — Britons approaching their first peacetime Christmas in seven years want a “victory, not an austerity, Christmas” this year, including “a little of that whisky that goes to America so regularly,” according to “The Daily Express.” The Minister of Food, Sir Ben Smith, has been able…
News Quiz: Election Certification, Boeing, Vaccines
Compiled by WILL DUDDING, ANNA SCHAVERIEN and JESSICA ANDERSON NOV. 20, 2020 Did you follow the headlines this week? Take our quiz to find out. Last week, 98 percent of respondents knew 2020 was a record year for named storms. Only 41 percent knew which country brokered a deal to end the…
Virus Words vs. Actions
Want to get The Morning by email? Here’s the sign-up. Good morning. We know how to reduce the virus’s spread — even though we’re not doing it. ImageStudents in Phoenix.Credit…Cheney Orr/Reuters The ebb and flow of coronavirus cases over the last year has obscured a basic truth: We know a lot about…
A Chinese County Aims to Curb Dog Walking by Threatening to Kill the Dog
HONG KONG — In a southwestern corner of China, walking a dog can potentially get the animal killed by the authorities. After receiving complaints of dogs biting children in Weixin County in Yunnan Province, officials have said they would ban dog walking and put in place a harsh three-strike penalty system. For…
Covid-19, Boris Johnson, U.S. Troops: Your Thursday Briefing
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good morning. We’re covering the rising pandemic death toll in the U.S., Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s climate change plans and the stenches of Europe. ImageExperts are predicting a forthcoming daily toll of 2,000 or more deaths daily.Credit…Mario Tama/Getty Images A quarter of…
A Progressive Problem
Want to get The Morning by email? Here’s the sign-up. Good morning. Virus immunity is likely to last a long time. Biden plans a “climate administration.” And affirmative action highlights a progressive problem. ImageA billboard in California.Credit…Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press Affirmative action is one of those divisive subjects on which both sides can…
Israel Strikes Syria and Iranian Forces as Pompeo Flies In
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces struck Syria early Wednesday, a day after finding antipersonnel mines in Israeli-held territory along the boundary between the two countries and just hours before a visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Bahraini counterpart to mark a new, U.S.-brokered normalization deal. Israel said the latest strikes…
How the Out-of-Control Pandemic Is Speeding the Hunt for Vaccines
The coronavirus is spreading out of control in the United States, overwhelming health systems and killing more than 1,100 Americans a day. But there is a slender silver lining: It is hastening the testing of vaccines that could eventually end the pandemic. The surging virus has already allowed Pfizer and Moderna to…
Vaccine Optimism
Want to get The Morning by email? Here’s the sign-up. Good morning. The vaccine news is good, but the short term will probably depend on state policies. ImageA football game in Columbus, Ohio, last week.Credit…Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times Whenever I visited my local coffee shop this summer, it did…