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Good morning.
We’re masking what a Biden presidency means for Europe, how leaders the world over failed their residents and why thieves proceed to favor one 17-century Dutch portray.
Europe welcomes Biden, nevertheless it received’t look ahead to him
After 4 years of a generally tumultuous trans-Atlantic relationship, the European Union is keen for “a political local weather change” and cooperation below President-elect Joe Biden. But when, as European leaders suspect, the incoming president finds himself consumed with home issues, the continent won’t put its own agenda on hold.
A worldwide, yearlong cascade of failures
Governments and public well being organizations all over the world responded slowly and ineffectually to the coronavirus outbreak, according to an interim report by a World Health Organization panel scheduled for launch at this time.
Defective assumptions, ineffective planning and sluggish responses collectively helped gas a pandemic that has killed more than two million people and contaminated greater than 95 million. Again and again, the report concludes, those that have been accountable for defending and main usually did neither.
Investigators stated they didn’t perceive why the W.H.O. had waited till Jan. 30 to declare a world well being emergency, nor why these clear warning alerts have been usually ignored.
Quote: “We’ve failed in our collective capability to return collectively in solidarity to create a protecting internet of human safety,” the Unbiased Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response wrote.
Listed below are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.
In different developments:
How an oxygen failure killed Covid-19 sufferers in Egypt
A video displaying chaos in a Covid ward at a hospital in El Husseineya, Egypt, went viral on social media this month, drawing outrage throughout the nation. The footage, filmed by Ahmed Nafei, a relative of one of many 4 sufferers who died in a single night time, appeared to point out that the hospital had run out of oxygen. The federal government rushed to disclaim the episode.
By speaking to witnesses and analyzing the footage, our investigative reporters discovered that the oxygen shortage was the result of an avalanche of problems on the hospital. By the point sufferers have been suffocating within the intensive care unit, a reduction supply of oxygen that had been ordered was already hours late and a backup oxygen system had failed.
Quote: “The entire world can admit there’s an issue, however not us,” one physician on the hospital stated.
When you’ve got 7 minutes, that is price it
A portray beloved by thieves
In August, “Two Laughing Boys With a Mug of Beer,” a 17th-century painting by Frans Hals, vanished for the third time since 1988. Conservatively valued at greater than $10 million, the work is ordinarily housed at a tiny Dutch museum and has grow to be a magnet for burglars.
Does its brushwork comprise some clue to hidden treasure or a secret code? Might it’s coveted by some cult that worships Hals, or maybe beer? The reply, consultants say, might be extra pedestrian: “They know they will get cash out of it from any individual,” stated the founding father of Artwork Restoration Worldwide.
Right here’s what else is occurring
Aleksei Navalny: A choose ordered the Russian opposition leader to be jailed for 30 days pending a trial. Mr. Navalny was arrested late Sunday upon his arrival in Moscow from Germany, the place he was recovering from a nerve-agent assault.
China: As most nations all over the world wrestle with new lockdowns and layoffs through the pandemic, China’s economy has bounced back after the country brought the coronavirus mostly under control.
Snapshot: Above, the previous champion rock climber Lai Chi-wai climbing a Hong Kong skyscraper on Saturday. Over the course of 10 hours, Mr. Lai climbed 800 ft up the glass facade of the 1,050-foot Nina Tower, elevating $735,000 to fund analysis on a robotic exoskeleton for sufferers with spinal wire accidents.
NASCAR goes digital: When the pandemic shut down motorsports, the trade turned to simulated racing. Ten months in, the gamble seems to be paying off.
Courthouse drama: Black artists and activists in Birmingham, England, say town’s largest playhouse, the Birmingham Repertory Theater, has offered out by leasing its auditoriums to the criminal justice system.
What we’re studying: This long read from The Financial Times on how lockdown prompted a creativity disaster. It’s a robust reminder of the worth of serendipity and spontaneity.
Now, a break from the information
Prepare dinner: Loosely impressed by spanakopita, the traditional Greek spinach and feta pie, this cozy baked pasta is perhaps the tastiest solution to eat your greens.
Pay attention: Take a spin down reminiscence lane with the rapper MF Doom’s 1999 debut document, “Operation: Doomsday.” Our critic calls it “one of the crucial idiosyncratic hip-hop albums of the Nineteen Nineties.”
Declutter: Embrace the instant, exhilarating relief of the Annoying Bag. Put in junk that’s getting in your nerves, then take it out to the trash.
Don’t lose coronary heart. At Home has our full collection of ideas on what to learn, cook dinner, watch and do whereas staying secure at dwelling.
And now for the Again Story on …
Banner headlines for tumultuous instances
How do you mark essentially the most vital occasions when the information is already so relentlessly exceptional? At The New York Occasions, a method is to make the headlines very large.
A banner headline is usually one which stretches throughout a newspaper’s entrance web page or web site. It makes use of jumbo letters and daring kind to convey the magnitude of a information merchandise, pushing different articles out of its method.
There have been plenty of banner headlines on the entrance pages of The Occasions this winter — way over normal, in line with Tom Jolly, the newspaper’s print editor.
“It’s exceptional,” he stated. “It’s undoubtedly a mirrored image of our world, and all the most important information occasions which have made 2020 so memorable — and are making 2021 memorable, too.”
An “occasion headline” is even bolder than a banner. The one phrase topping the print newspaper on Jan. 14 — “Impeached” — was mentioned by a number of high Occasions editors in conversations that went late into the night time, Tom stated.
Although such headlines are sometimes reserved for presidential election outcomes, that is a unprecedented time. Over the previous three months, this ultra-dramatic format has already been used 3 times. And counting.
Listed below are among the huge headlines:
When former Vice President Joe Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania, the fog of a too-close-to-call election started to carry.
After President Trump falsely claimed that widespread voter fraud had stolen victory from him, The Occasions known as election officers in each state.
And two days after the siege by Mr. Trump’s supporters on the Capitol, Democrats laid the groundwork to impeach the president for the second time.
That’s it for at this time. See you tomorrow, with the newest from The Occasions.
— Natasha
Thanks
Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh supplied the break from the information. You’ll be able to attain Natasha and the group at briefing@nytimes.com.
P.S.
• There’s no new episode of “The Each day” whereas we rejoice Martin Luther King’s birthday. As an alternative, we advocate The Sunday Read on how a gaggle of local weather activists determined to combat world warming by doing no matter it takes.
• Right here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: “Later!” (5 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The phrase “legendness” — right here referring to the figure skating champion Dick Button — appeared for the primary time in The Occasions yesterday, as famous by the Twitter bot @NYT_first_said.
