Good morning. We’re covering the inauguration of President Joe Biden, India’s vaccine gifts to its neighbors and the resurfacing of Jack Ma. | |  By Melina Delkic | | | Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States in Washington on Wednesday. Erin Schaff/The New York Times | | | After a deeply tumultuous transition, including the storming of the Capitol by supporters of now-former President Trump, “democracy has prevailed,” Mr. Biden said, in a speech that immediately laid out the contrast between himself and his predecessor. He now begins a swift effort to undo many Trump policies. | | | Vice President Kamala Harris became the first woman — and the first woman of color — to be sworn into the office of vice president. With the Senate now split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, Ms. Harris may find herself casting the decisive vote for many crucial pieces of legislation, as the vice president wields tiebreaking power. | | | Highlights from the ceremony: Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez performed. It was impossible to ignore the symbolism of the scene at the Capitol, so different from the attack on the building just two weeks ago. Amanda Gorman, 22, became the youngest inaugural poet: “There is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it,” she read from her poem. | | | Employees at a lab in the Serum Institute of India. Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters | | | The first doses were expected to be delivered to Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal and the Seychelles beginning on Wednesday, India’s Foreign Ministry said, adding that the doses sent were being donated. The vaccine was developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and is manufactured domestically by the Serum Institute of India. | | | Details: Bangladesh said that it expected to receive a shipment of two million doses of the vaccine, known as Covishield, on Thursday as “a gift of India,” in addition to 30 million doses that it has ordered from the Serum Institute. Bhutan is expected to receive about 150,000 doses in its initial shipment, and the Maldives 100,000. | | | Amr Alfiky/The New York Times | | | For the swearing-in of Joe Biden, some reporters and photographers brought along protective gear used in combat zones, and their newsrooms gave them extra resources for handling any situation gone wrong. Above, National Guard troops outside the Capitol. | | | PAID POST: A MESSAGE FROM CAMPAIGN MONITOR | | TEST: Email Marketing 101: Never Sacrifice Beauty for Simplicity | | A drag-and-drop email builder, a gallery of templates and turnkey designs, personalized customer journeys, and engagement segments. It's everything you need to create stunning, results-driven email campaigns in minutes. And with Campaign Monitor, you have access to it all, along with award-winning support around the clock. It's beautiful email marketing done simply. | | | Learn More | | | | Jack Ma: The Alibaba Group co-founder made his first public appearance since late October, speaking at an event honoring educators in China’s village schools. There had been speculation about his fate after he criticized China’s state-run banks and the government halted a huge I.P.O. for his Ant Group company. | | | Surrogacy in China: A glamorous Chinese actress was accused by her estranged partner of abandoning two surrogate babies, stranding him in the U.S. to take care of them. The accusations drew a fiery response online, including from the state-run media. It’s sparking a conversation on how China limits surrogacy at home. | | | Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times | | | Snapshot: Above, the docks of an abandoned mine in Moengotapoe, Suriname. The South American country has become a hot prospect for oil companies looking to produce fossil fuels while spending less. Concerns about climate change are not hampering interest in Suriname. | | | What we’re reading: This Town & Country article on the first dogs. There are many dog lovers on the briefings team, and so the arrival of Champ and Major Biden at the White House is an event of high interest. | | | David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews | | | Cook: This kimbap, or “seaweed rice,” is often mistakenly referred to as sushi, but it is a popular Korean dish with its own unique flavors and history. | | | Watch: In “The Salt of Tears,” a young Frenchman juggles three women, hoping to be destroyed by love. He gets his wish, but not in a way he imagined. | | | Do: High-intensity workouts can be great for health. But a new study shows that the impacts on blood pressure, body fat and other aspects of your metabolism may be greater after standard half-hour, moderate exercise. | | | With reporter-staffed bureaus in some 30 countries, The Times can report quickly on breaking news happening almost anywhere. Our three main hubs of newsroom operations — New York, London and an Asia hub that has been in Hong Kong but is moving to Seoul — are at the center of that effort. Here’s a glimpse at how it works. | | | At the end of the workday in New York, editors will hand off coverage to editors in Hong Kong and Seoul, who are currently 13 and 14 hours ahead on the clock. As editors in Asia wind down their day, a waking London newsroom will take over as the primary hub. Several hours later, that team will pass the baton back to New York, and it all repeats again, a rotation that is critical for a 24-hour news operation. | | | “There’s a lot of overlap,” said Adrienne Carter, The Times’s Asia editor, “so there’s probably only a handful of hours where any one group is on its own.” | | | The Asia hub oversees all coverage of its region of the world, which could be anywhere from China to Australia, and that alone can be demanding, Ms. Carter said. But on any given day, the team may handle stories in any part of the world. The London hub then serves as a bridge between Asia and New York. | | | Jim Yardley, the Europe editor, said that the way the international newsrooms are structured helps makes the joint efforts seamless. “One of the things about London and Hong Kong is that, primarily, they are outgrowths of the International desk, but they are part of every desk in many ways,” he said. “It’s an attempt to actually make the work more collaborative and less siloed.” | | That’s it for this briefing. See you next time. — Melina | | Thank you
Carole Landry helped write this briefing. Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh provided the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com. | | P.S.
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