nyt-briefing
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2016 15:51:13 +0000
Subject: Fw: Your Tuesday Briefing
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[The New York Times]
[The New York Times]
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
NYTimes.com »
Your Tuesday Briefing
By PATRICK BOEHLER
[Tributes left Monday at George Michael’s house in Goring, England, where he died on Christmas Day.]
Tributes left Monday at George Michael’s house in Goring, England, where he died on Christmas Day. Eddie Keogh/Reuters
Good morning.
Here’s what you need to know:
• “NO WAY!”
That was President-elect Donald J. Trump’s reaction on Twitter after President Obama suggested that, had he been allowed to run for a third term, he would have defeated the Republican candidate.
The president-elect is formulating plans to extricate himself from his family’s business. An examination of the company shows how complex that would be.
Separately, doctors across the U.S. are divided over Mr. Trump’s pick for health secretary.
• Israel announces new settlements.
The Jerusalem municipal government is moving ahead with the construction of thousands of new homes in disputed areas, just days after the U.N. Security Council said the settlements were a “flagrant violation under international law.”
The Israeli right is now pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to abandon the idea of a two-state solution.
• World War II remembered.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan will join President Obama today to pay his respects at Pearl Harbor, the site of the surprise attack on an American naval base 75 years ago.
But Mr. Abe’s gesture may not be as unprecedented as initially advertised.
• Russian jet’s black box is found.
Russia said it had retrieved the flight data recorder of the military plane that crashed into the Black Sea, killing all 92 on board. Moscow said it was unlikely that terrorism caused the crash.
• Weakened, but not defeated.
Battlefield losses have not diminished the Islamic State’s power to inspire mayhem around the world, as the attack on a Christmas market in Berlin made clear last week.
Our reporter went on a U.S. Air Force jet that hunts for Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq.
Business
• Donald J. Trump suggested a “tax holiday” for companies would create jobs in America. But executives could use much of the cash to acquire businesses, to buy back their own stock or to pay down debt instead.
• Seller-financed housing contracts, which relieve the true owner of a home of the responsibility for fixing it, may have aggravated the problem of lead poisoning among young children.
• The year’s best apps: Our picks include NPR’s one-stop shop for fascinating audio and an upgraded beer-tracking app.
• The Dow has risen 14.4 percent this year, to 19,933.81. Just a few days remain for 2016 to claim the 20,000 milestone. Here’s a snapshot of global markets.
Over the holiday weekend
• Death of a pop superstar.
As heartbroken fans mourned George Michael, who died on Christmas Day at age 53, questions swirled about his final weeks.
He “sang about wanting to be free often enough to make you wonder whether he thought any freedom was ever attainable,” our critic writes in an appraisal.
• Shootings in Chicago.
At least 27 people were shot, seven fatally, in a 48-hour period in the city over Christmas weekend, the police said.
Separately, disturbances, many caused by feuding teenagers, struck at least 15 malls across the country on Monday, disrupting post-Christmas shopping.
• Fake news leads to nuclear threat ...
Pakistan’s defense minister threatened Israel after a false article online — which he apparently believed — said that Jerusalem would not hesitate to destroy his country with nuclear weapons. “Pakistan is a nuclear state too,” the minister said.
• ... and to partisan smears.
In the U.S., many are using the term “fake news” for any articles they see as hostile to their agenda. “We’ve effectively brainwashed the core of our audience to distrust anything that they disagree with,” one conservative radio host said.
Noteworthy
• Winners, losers and cheaters.
Olympic glory for Michael Phelps and Simone Biles; the deaths of Arnold Palmer and Muhammad Ali; a baseball prospect turned hit man. These are among our top sports stories of the year.
• Human towers in Spain.
People in Catalonia climb on top of one another to create towers called castells, sometimes up to 10 tiers high. Step inside a town square as one goes up in our latest 360 video.
• Move over, Marie Kondo.
“Hygge” (pronounced HOO-gah) is a way of life imported from Denmark that extols coziness. “Danes see hygge as a part of our culture,” one observer said, “the same way you see freedom as inherently American.”
• You don’t often see a bird wearing goggles.
So let us introduce you to Obi, a Pacific parrot at Stanford University trained to fly through laser beams.
• Recipe of the day.
Consider this lunch classic for dinner: A light and crunchy schnitzel with an herb salad is a perfect weeknight meal.
Back Story
Christmas is over, but reminders of the holiday are most likely scattered around your home and office, or perhaps hiding inside a coat pocket. We’re talking about candy canes, whose ubiquity is matched by the legends surrounding their creation.
One tale dates the candy to 1670, when a choirmaster at a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, needed a way to keep children entertained during long Christmas services.
[Crushed candy canes can be added to ice cream or cookies.]
Crushed candy canes can be added to ice cream or cookies.
Bettman
He asked a local confectioner to bend hard candy into the shape of a shepherd’s cane.
About 200 years later, a German-Swedish immigrant is said to have brought the tradition to America, decorating his Christmas tree with the canes, which were all white.
In 1920, a Georgia candy maker developed a way to hand-twist colors into the canes, giving them their traditional red and white look, according to one account.
The sweets were already popular then, and today they are part of a seasonal candy juggernaut that rakes in over $7 billion a year, according to an industry trade group.
So what to do with the extra peppermint sticks? Perhaps crush them to use on ice cream or cookies.
Or save them: Not only has the candy been around for centuries, it can last up to three years.
Remy Tumin contributed reporting.