Not sure what to read before bed tonight? Check out these great reads, courtesy of ✨The Weekender✨ (thread) nyti.ms/2LQxnH7
Climate change will make the planet's coldest regions more arable and populated. Supported by @pulitzercenter, @NYTmag and @ProPublica investigated how Russia stands to gain the most from global warming. nyti.ms/37CDur0
In Opinion
When it comes to gift-giving, many of our natural impulses turn out to be wrong, says @DTWillingham. Psychological research can help us choose wisely. nyti.ms/2KCzhup
The Philadelphia radio station WXPN has been revealing in a marathon show what its listeners chose as the 2,020 greatest-ever songs. "This countdown is an oasis amid the sands of monotony and worse," our critic writes. nyti.ms/2KMOCc4
"It’s a great time to be a longtime owner of the currency, and a painful time to be a person who once spent 10.354 Bitcoin (including tip) on a dinner for strangers," writes @kashhill. The cryptocurrency hit a high of over $20,000 per coin this week. nyti.ms/3mD5fnJ
For more great stories, check out ✨The Weekender✨ nyti.ms/2LJIgdJ
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The winter solstice arrives in the depths of the pandemic. But the season of darkness also offers ancient lessons of survival, hope and renewal. nyti.ms/38l3xCg
The undeniable hardship of this winter is a reminder that for much of human history, particularly in colder climates, winter was a season simply to be survived. nyti.ms/38l3xCg
For millennia, during these months of darkness, humans have turned to rituals and stories to remind one another of hope and deeper truths. All over the world, celebrations of light dot the winter darkness like stars. nyti.ms/38l3xCg
Our analysis of Thanksgiving travel shows that many Americans stayed home and limited family gatherings — possibly avoiding a worst-case scenario for coronavirus outbreaks.
But regional and isolated outbreaks still hit many who gathered. nyti.ms/37CeUGD
In 93% of U.S. counties, people had fewer contacts this Thanksgiving than they did during the holiday last year.
But in parts of Texas and California, for example, recent surges in coronavirus cases have been attributed to activity during the holiday. nyti.ms/37CeUGD
Epidemiologists in communities in and near Los Angeles are linking current surges to families who held small gatherings during Thanksgiving.
Covid-19 hospitalizations there spiked 156% in the three weeks after the holiday. In the prior three weeks, they increased by 108%.
A New York Times analysis of voting in 28,000 precincts in more than 20 U.S cities found that while President Trump lost ground in white and Republican areas — ultimately leading to his election loss — he gained new votes in immigrant neighborhoods. nyti.ms/3rfAoB3
Areas with large populations of Latinos and residents of Asian descent, including ones with the highest numbers of immigrants, had something in common this election: a surge in turnout and a shift to the right, often a sizable one. nyti.ms/3rfAoB3
In Cook County, home to Chicago, President-elect Joe Biden won by 50 percentage points over President Trump. But we found 2,158 precincts that have shifted right since 2016 compared to the 1,508 that have shifted left. nyti.ms/3rfAoB3
Breaking News: Alarm over a coronavirus mutation in Britain prompted more travel bans, in scenes reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic. European stocks tumbled. nyti.ms/3pcj8e7
Britain is now all but cut off from the rest of Europe, and the disruptions have stoked fears of panic buying in supermarkets. It’s all adding up
up to a chilling preview, 10 days before a deadline to negotiate a post-Brexit trade agreement. nytimes.com/2020/12/21/wor…
The alarm about the virus mutation grew after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that it was shown to be 70% more contagious than other variants. But that estimate is only based on modeling and has not been confirmed by lab experiments, experts say. nytimes.com/2020/12/21/wor…
Early in the coronavirus outbreak, Chinese authorities clamped down on information to make the virus look less severe, and the government more capable, thousands of secret government directives and other documents reviewed by @nytimes and @propublica show. nyti.ms/3nAwQaq
The documents, including more than 3,200 directives and 1,800 memos and other files from the country’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, lay bare the systems that helped authorities shape online opinion. nyti.ms/3arJeFO
The curbs started in early January, before the novel coronavirus had even been identified definitively. When news spread that Li Wenliang a doctor who had warned about the new viral outbreak, had died of Covid-19, the censors doubled down. nyti.ms/3arJeFO
With tens of millions of dollars raised since his defeat, President Trump has a pile of cash he can spend with few legal limits to quell rebel Republican factions, reward loyalists, pay legal bills and lay the groundwork for a 2024 run. nyti.ms/3r8UWLu
President Trump has long acted with few inhibitions when it comes to spending other people’s money, spending millions of campaign dollars on his family businesses in the last five years. New records show an even more intricate intermingling. nyti.ms/3r8UWLu
Lara Trump, President Trump’s daughter-in-law and a senior campaign adviser, served on the board of a company through which the Trump political operation spent more than $700 million since 2019, according to documents. nyti.ms/3ap62WX