Good morning. We’re covering Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to power and Russia’s new strikes on Ukraine. |
 | | Benjamin Netanyahu will lead Israel for a sixth time.Pool photo by Ariel Schalit |
|
The coalition will test Israel’s ties with the U.S. and Europe. Many fear that Netanyahu’s partners will undermine Israel’s liberal democracy and its stability. |
- Some expect increased tensions with Palestinians. The coalition has declared the Jewish people’s “exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the land of Israel” and pledged to bolster settlement in the occupied West Bank.
- Others foresee the undermining of Israel’s democratic system. Netanyahu is currently on trial for corruption, and his new administration is pressing for a contentious overhaul of the judiciary that critics say would curb its power.
|
Both moves could complicate Israel’s relations with Europe and the U.S., perhaps its most important ally. But both seem as if they plan to wait and see. President Biden said he looked forward to working with Netanyahu, but said that the U.S. would continue to support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. |
L.G.B.T.Q. people: The coalition could also roll back protections by amending an anti-discrimination law. And an ultraconservative anti-gay minister has been given wide powers over some programs taught in public schools. |
American Jews: They are some of Israel’s strongest supporters abroad, but they identify with more liberal streams of Judaism than some of the new government’s policies on religion. |
 | | A Russian strike damaged Olga Malyshko’s house, in Kyiv.Laura Boushnak for The New York Times |
|
The Ukrainian authorities had been warning for days that Russia was planning more strikes on the electrical grid ahead of the New Year holidays. Many people may be without power as the year turns over. |
The latest attacks are part of Russia’s three-month attack campaign on Ukraine’s infrastructure, which military analysts say is an effort to plunge Ukraine into cold and darkness and to demoralize the population. Lviv’s mayor said that electricity had been lost for 90 percent of the city, and Kyiv’s mayor said that 40 percent of the capital was without electricity. |
 | | Pelé was carried off the field after his final game in 1977.George Tiedemann/Sports Illustrated, via Getty Images |
|
Pelé, a transformative 20th-century soccer player, was revered as a national treasure in his native Brazil. He died yesterday at 82 in São Paulo after struggling with colon cancer. |
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in an impoverished village where he used rolled-up rags for a ball, Pelé sprang into the international limelight at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden as a slight 17-year-old. He scored two goals in the final as Brazil won its first of a record five World Cup trophies. Reports of his prowess raced around the world, and he soon became the global face of soccer. |
During his 21-year career, he revolutionized the sport and increased its popularity around the world. Just about everyone who ever saw Pelé play celebrated his peerless talent and originality on the field. He also endeared himself to fans with his sunny personality and his belief in the power of soccer to connect people across dividing lines of race, class and nationality. |
 | | Guests at the 17-story complex in Cambodia jumped from windows to escape the flames.Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
|
 | | Mickey Mouse was introduced to the world in the 1928 short film “Steamboat Willie.”Disney |
|
- The version of Mickey Mouse from “Steamboat Willie” will enter the public domain in 2024. Expect a fight from Disney.
- The Met Opera in New York, battered by pandemic woes, will withdraw up to $30 million from its endowment and stage more popular, modern works. Tomorrow, it will take a fresh look at “Fedora,” the 1898 opera by Umberto Giordano.
- Maya Ruiz-Picasso, one of Pablo Picasso’s daughters and an authority on his works, died at 87.
|
 | | Politicians and business leaders think that converting empty offices into housing can transform downtown neighborhoods.Jeenah Moon for The New York Times |
|
What a year it has been. My colleagues around the newsroom took a look back at 2022. Here’s a selection of our recaps, both zany and sober. |
And some good news: The “Pocket Chinese Almanac 2023,” compiled by a geomancer in Hong Kong, suggests things are looking brighter. Thanks for reading us in 2022. See you next year! |
 | | Chris Simpson for The New York Times |
|
Play the Mini Crossword, and here’s a clue: Suspicious (five letters). |
That’s it for this year! See you in 2023. — Amelia |
|
.png)
