The New York Times - Tuesday Briefing: A total solar eclipse

April 9, 2024

	By Amelia Nierenberg

Good morning. We’re covering a total solar eclipse in North America and the Vatican’s condemnation of surrogate pregnancy and gender transitions.

Plus, the end of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Groups of spectators with solar eclipse glasses looking up at the sky.

Spectators gasped in Mazatlán, Mexico. Meghan Dhaliwal for The New York Times

The eclipse brought daytime darkness to North America

Millions of people across North America gathered outside yesterday to behold the disorienting, disquieting wonder of darkness in the daytime.

About 32 million people live along the eclipse’s path, which stretched from central and northern Mexico, through the U.S. and across pockets of eastern Canada. Countless others drove to view it, sending an economic boost through some sleepier parts of the U.S.

As the silvery glow of the corona materialized, the temperature dropped. At some watch parties, the celestial show was greeted with cheers and applause. (I watched in a park in Brooklyn where thousands of people had gathered. When the sun was most covered, many began cheering.)

The consensus among eclipse veterans watching along the Mississippi River was that it was a superior event. “It was definitely darker than last time,” said Johnathon Bish, who saw the 2017 total eclipse from Frederick, Mo. “A completely different experience.”

A black background with a black circle in the center. There is a white ring around it (which is the sun).

The solar eclipse in Russellville, Arkansas. Alex Kent for The New York Times

In Houlton, Maine, a town in the path of totality, the eclipse brought years of planning and waiting to breathtaking fulfillment. As the sun darkened, the crowd quieted and couples wrapped their arms around each others’ shoulders. Time seemed to stop for three minutes, and then, too soon, sunlight flared. “I would pay a million dollars to see that again,” said Sebastian Pelletier, 11, a Houlton resident.

In the future: The next opportunity to see a total solar eclipse in the 48 contiguous U.S. states and Canada is 2044.

The pope, in a white suit, stands behind a microphone.

Pope Francis at his weekly general audience in Vatican City last week. Ettore Ferrari/EPA, via Shutterstock

The Vatican called gender changes an affront

A new Vatican document, approved by Pope Francis, stated that gender fluidity and transition surgery, as well as surrogacy, amounted to affronts to human dignity.

It is likely to be embraced by conservatives for its hard line against liberal ideas — and to stir fears that it will be used as a cudgel against transgender people. The Vatican also included a warning of “unjust discrimination,” especially in places where gay or transgender people are criminalized and imprisoned, a sign reflecting the tightrope Francis has tried to walk.

Criticism: The director of a group that advocates for L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics said the document showed a “stunning lack of awareness of the actual lives of transgender and nonbinary people.”

Dozens of people walking amid the rubble of several destroyed buildings.

Most buildings and homes in Khan Younis were completely demolished, partially destroyed or burned. Fatima Shbair/Associated Press

Returning to an unrecognizable Khan Younis

Gazans began returning to the city of Khan Younis after Israel withdrew its ground troops from southern Gaza over the weekend.

Some found only destruction. “You build a home corner by corner, stone by stone,” said Dr. Ahmad al-Farra, 54, who ran the pediatric ward at Nasser Hospital before his family fled to Rafah. “And in the end, with a press of a button, it is reduced to rubble.”

What’s next: Gazans fear Israel’s promise to send ground troops into Rafah, an invasion that many think will come after the end of Ramadan this week.

The Hague: Nicaragua is bringing a case against Germany for supplying arms to Israel.

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MORE TOP NEWS

About a dozen people stand around a green-and-red wooden boat on a beach.

A screenshot from a video showing the boat that sank after it was brought back to shore. TVM, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Mozambique: Nearly 100 people died and more than a dozen were missing after an overcrowded boat sank off the country’s coast, the local authorities said.
U.S. politics: Donald Trump said states should set their own laws on abortion.
Diplomacy: Janet Yellen, the U.S. treasury secretary, ended four days of economic meetings in China without making any major breakthroughs.
Ecuador: Authorities found the former vice president in a “deep self-induced coma” in jail, days after he was arrested inside the Mexican embassy in Quito.
Ukraine: U.N. inspectors condemned drone strikes at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and said that they “increase the risk of a major nuclear accident.”
Trump: The former president indicated that he would sue the judge overseeing his Manhattan criminal case in a last-ditch attempt to delay prosecution. The move is unlikely to succeed.
Chips: The Biden administration will award up to $6.6 billion in grants to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to improve U.S. chip manufacturing.
Aviation: A Southwest Boeing 737-800 made an emergency landing in the U.S. after an engine cover fell off during takeoff.
Pollution: A new study of more than 45,000 water samples from around the world found harmful levels of PFAS, also called “forever chemicals.”

MORNING READ

A crowd faces a stage, some waving red flags. Men in uniforms are on the stage, including a man holding a microphone.

The opening scene of “3 Body Problem.” Netflix

People in China are outraged over “3 Body Problem,” a Netflix adaptation of one of the country’s most celebrated works of science fiction. The anger, particularly over how the Cultural Revolution was depicted in the opening scene, highlights how Chinese censorship has shaped public opinion, Li Yuan writes in a Times column.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Splurge: A group of New Yorkers pooled their money to buy a minor league Danish soccer team.
Debunked: Yes, you can wash cast-iron pans. Here’s four other big kitchen myths that need to go away.
Health: Physical touch can buoy well-being and lessen pain, depression and anxiety, according to a large scientific review.

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ARTS AND IDEAS

Larry David sits in a courtroom with his hands behind his head

The final episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” found Larry David on trial. John Johnson/HBO

The end of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’

Larry David’s HBO comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm” ended on Sunday. Wesley Morris, a Times critic, watched the whole series. (That’s 12 seasons of screen time.) In an essay, he argues that David is one of the greatest-ever interpreters of U.S. manners.

“Television has never had anything like this show,” Wesley writes, “nothing as uncouth and contradictory and unhinged and yet somehow under a tremendous amount of thematic control, nothing whose calamity doubles as a design for living.”

Read Wesley’s in-depth look at the show. And test your “Curb” knowledge with our quiz.

RECOMMENDATIONS

An overhead image of a Dutch oven filled with creamy mac and cheese.

Armando Rafael for The New York Times

Cooking: Make a quick, from-scratch white sauce for this stovetop mac and cheese.

Read: “The Sleepwalkers,” an experimental novel, is a gothic mystery about a honeymoon.

Exercise: Trick your brain to like running with these tips.

Bond: Make a friendship bracelet.

Play Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Amelia

We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at briefing@nytimes.com.

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