Ukraine’s shrinking window to strike inside Russia
For at least the next two months, Ukraine will be able to try long-range strikes inside Russia using missiles provided by the U.S.
President Biden this week relented after months of pleas from Kyiv saying that it needed to fire deeper inside Russia to more effectively degrade Moscow’s forces. Ukrainian politicians have suggested that the first launches were imminent.
But hanging over that newfound freedom is the impending ascent of Trump to the White House in January. It is unclear how much of the Biden administration’s approach to Ukraine will survive once Donald Trump takes office. The president-elect has said he wants to bring about a quick resolution to the war — without saying how.
American officials said the weapon, known as the Army Tactical Missile System, was likely to be deployed, at least initially, against Russian and North Korean troops in the Kursk region of western Russia. While Biden’s decision may help Ukrainian troops under fire in the short term, it is unlikely to change the trajectory of the war, experts said.
Response: In Moscow, the Kremlin said the Biden administration’s decision was a major step toward a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
A parting message: At the start of the G20 summit in Brazil yesterday, Biden used one of his final moments on the global stage to encourage more world leaders to assist Ukraine.
Trump would use ‘military assets’ for deportations
President-elect Donald Trump confirmed today that he intended to declare a national emergency and use the U.S. military to assist in deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. He responded “TRUE!!!” to a post by a conservative activist summarizing the strategy.
Stephen Miller, Trump’s top immigration policy adviser, described similar plans during the campaign. He said the military would be used to build “vast holding facilities” for migrants as their cases progressed, and suggested that Trump might invoke a public health emergency power to curtail the hearing of asylum claims. The president-elect’s team also shared plans to stop issuing passports to the newborn children of undocumented immigrants in a bid to end birthright citizenship.
Trump’s team said it had aimed to significantly increase the number of deportations without new legislation from Congress. It anticipates legal challenges, but presidents have broad power to declare national emergencies.
Economy: Economists are trying to guess how Trump policies could affect growth and inflation. Here are four crucial wild cards.
For more: Read about Trump’s appointments and transition plans.
Nearly 100 aid trucks were looted in Gaza
A large convoy of trucks carrying aid was “violently looted” in the Gaza Strip over the weekend, UNRWA, the U.N. agency that helps Palestinians, said. Drivers were forced at gunpoint to unload supplies, and nearly 100 of the 109 trucks in the convoy were lost in one of the worst such incidents of the war, UNRWA said.
The agency said that the episode had highlighted the challenges of bringing aid into southern and central Gaza. Earlier this month, a panel backed by the U.N. said that all of Gaza faced a possible of famine from now until April, with the north at particular risk.
In Beirut: Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s capital, the first in weeks, forced residents to come to grips with another escalation of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
In Gaza: Most people in the enclave are struggling to survive Israel’s assault on Hamas. Yet a few pockets of ordinary life have bloomed in defiance of the war.
MORE TOP NEWS
France: The sons of Dominique Pelicot, who admits to having repeatedly drugged his wife and inviting men to rape her while she was unconscious, addressed him in court.
Climate: At U.N. climate talks, Saudi Arabia worked to foil any agreement that would renew a pledge to transition away from fossil fuels.
Venezuela: Officials began releasing scores of prisoners who were arrested in a crackdown after the disputed election there in July.
Hong Kong: A court sentenced dozens of activists in a mass trial that has decimated the city’s once vibrant pro-democracy opposition. Many have already been in jail for years.
E.U.: A decline in the numbers of migrants crossing borders has not stopped anti-migrant sentiments from gaining ground in the bloc.
Titanic: A gold pocket watch given by survivors to the captain of the Carpathia, the ship that responded to the Titanic’s distress call, sold at auction for nearly $2 million.
Health: A small study found ChatGPT outperformed human physicians when assessing medical case histories.
Pop music: Two drummers for the Bee Gees died, four days apart.
Media: The Associated Press will cut its staff by 8 percent as a result of revenue declines.
SPORTS NEWS
N.F.L.: Aaron Rodgers was meant to bring the good times back to the New York Jets. Instead, the team has experienced arguably the most disappointing season in its history.
Baseball: Here is who’s on the 2025 Hall of Fame ballot and how the elections work.
N.B.A.: How the ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro pulled off a broadcasting coup.
Premier League: What Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-game ban means for Tottenham.
MORNING READ
Rory Smith, our global sports correspondent, has spent decades reporting on soccer. Yet he never particularly yearned to coach the sport — until he was asked to help out with his son’s under-7 soccer team.
The three months he spent on the field came with revelations. Here’s what he learned.
Lives lived: Bela Karolyi, a charismatic taskmaster of a gymnastics coach who developed generations of leading athletes, but whose reputation was tainted by accusations of an abusive style, has died at 82.
CONVERSATION STARTERS
By the sea: An old battered — and pink — house on Boston’s North Shore was going to be demolished. Artists and locals fought to save it.
The Interview: A doctor helped my colleague understand his mother’s choice to die.
Ice age find: Scientists discovered a mummified saber-toothed kitten that was preserved in Siberian permafrost, fur and all.
ARTS AND IDEAS
A provocative, erotic pregnancy shoot
Molly Baz, an influential cook and food writer, in May starred in an ad campaign for the breastfeeding startup Swehl, serving up a new recipe for lactation cookies.
In one shot, displayed on a 45-foot digital billboard in Times Square, she wore underwear and a rhinestone bikini, presenting an exposed pregnant belly and holding a pair of oatmeal cookies over her chest. The ad copy said: “Just Add Milk.” Then the billboard vanished.
“I wonder if the most provocative thing about Baz’s billboard was not her pregnancy, or her outfit, but her hands,” Amanda Hess, a critic for The Times, writes, adding: “Baz isn’t holding her breasts or her baby; she’s holding her cookies. She is selling her pregnancy, sure, but she’s also selling a recipe. She has her hands full with her career.”
RECOMMENDATIONS
Bake: Sweet pears and tart cranberries are a perfect pairing in this easy dessert.
Read: Haruki Murakami’s “The City and Its Uncertain Walls” features all the author’s signature elements.
Watch: “Vaazhai” is one of the best international films to stream right now.
Wear: Our critic has some advice for styling your socks.
Compete: Take this week’s Flashback history quiz.
Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today’s Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here.
That’s it for today’s briefing. See you tomorrow. — Natasha
Reach Natasha and the team at [email protected].
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