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Rescue workers are searching through rubble today after a landslide buried an industrial district in Shenzhen, China. Nearly 100 people are missing. Andy Wong/Associated Press
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Your Monday Briefing
By ADEEL HASSAN
|
| Good morning. |
| Here's what you need to know: |
| • An ISIS fighter's journey. |
| A double-amputee who defected from Syria's rebels to the terrorist group abandoned the defense of his hometown for money, power and the Islamic State's license for viciousness — not the usual story lines laid out in terrorist propaganda. |
| And as President Obama tries to intensify the campaign against Islamic State militants, he points to the challenges in targeting those who live and work alongside civilians. |
| Here's where ISIS gained and lost territory this year. |
| • President Obama opens up. |
| The president told NPR, in an interview airing today, that some of the scorn directed at him stemmed from his being the first African-American in the White House. |
| Mr. Obama and his family are vacationing in Hawaii for the next two weeks. He ended 2015 with a series of accomplishments. |
| • On the campaign trail. |
| Most of the presidential candidates are crisscrossing Iowa and New Hampshire this week. But Donald J. Trump, whose ground game is lagging in Iowa, is in Grand Rapids, Mich. |
| Ted Cruz, who's rising in the polls, tries to compliment Mr. Trump at every opportunity, but he is beginning to sound more like the real estate magnate, too. |
| Hillary Clinton largely looked past her Democratic rivals in Saturday night's debate, instead repeatedly assailing the Republican field and calling Mr. Trump a threat to the nation's safety. |
| • Soccer leaders are barred. |
| Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, two leaders of the world soccer federation, FIFA, were barred from the sport for eight years today after being found guilty of ethics violations. |
| • Searching for survivors. |
| More than 1,000 rescue workers are searching through rubble after a landslide buried an industrial district in Shenzhen, China. Nearly 100 people were reported missing and dozens of buildings were destroyed. |
| Separately, about 80 people are missing after a ferry sank in Indonesia. |
| • Gay rights in Africa. |
| Many gay Nigerians say they have been subjected to new levels of harassment and violence since an anti-gay law went into effect last year. U.S. support is being blamed for making gay men and lesbians more visible — and more vulnerable. |
| • New protections for lions. |
| The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will announce today that lions in central and West Africa will be listed as endangered, while lions in southern and East Africa will be classified as threatened. |
| The actions come five months after a lion named Cecil was shot and killed in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist. |
| • Supergalactic. |
| "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" earned about $517 million in ticket sales worldwide, obliterating multiple box office records, even when accounting for inflation. |
| Disney is working on four more "Star Wars"-related movies. |
| BUSINESS |
| • Lobbyists added 54 words to the tax-and-spending bill, signed into law on Friday, that preserves a $1 billion loophole sought by the hotel, restaurant and gambling industries, as well as billionaire investors on Wall Street. |
| • Wealthy investors could decide the fate of Puerto Rico, the American territory trying to stave off collapse. |
| • Theranos, the blood-testing start-up valued at $9 billion, is awaiting approval of its technology by the Food and Drug Administration. |
| • Here are snapshots of the U.S. and world markets. |
| OVER THE WEEKEND |
| • Martin Shkreli, the pharmaceuticals entrepreneur known for price-gouging, returned home after posting bail of $5 million. |
| • Peace talks on Yemen ended with no resolution, but there is now a diplomacy plan for Syria. |
| • A Hezbollah commander, freed by Israel in 2008, was killed in an airstrike in Syria. |
| • Spain's governing party won the most votes but lost its majority in Parliament, leaving the country's leadership unclear. |
| • The youngest convict in a notorious 2012 gang rape in New Delhi was released from prison, leading to large protests. |
| • A New York City man was convicted in a hate-crime attack on a transgender woman that left her with a traumatic brain injury. |
| • Miss Philippines was crowned Miss Universe, but only after Miss Colombia was mistakenly named the winner, in the first pageant since Donald J. Trump sold the Miss Universe Organization. |
| • Catching up on TV: Recaps of the season finales of "The Knick," "Homeland" and "The Affair." Plus, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on "Saturday Night Live." |
| NOTEWORTHY |
| • A lesson on lyrics. |
| Though the Supreme Court is in its winter recess, hip-hop stars will file a brief today supporting a Mississippi high school student who was disciplined for posting a rap song online. |
| The legal summary seems to assume that the justices know little about hip-hop, and explains that rap music is a political and artistic juggernaut that deserves attention and First Amendment protection. |
| • Panthers stay perfect. |
| Carolina got a field goal as time expired, outlasting the New York Giants, 38-35, and improved to 14-0. Here are all the Week 15 N.F.L. scores and highlights. |
| Off the field, the company that distributes live data from N.F.L. games is a major player in online sports betting, which is almost entirely illegal in the U.S. |
| • In memoriam. |
| Kurt Masur, a conductor who transformed the New York Philharmonic, died at 88. |
| • Last chance. |
| The Postal Service recommends sending Priority Mail for Christmas delivery no later than today. |
| BACK STORY |
| What's a 14-letter word — that begins with a C — for obsessive wordsmith? If you guessed "cruciverbalist," you most likely love crossword puzzles (and are good at them). |
| The first modern version appeared on this day in 1913, in The New York World. It was instantly popular and grew into a national craze. Most leading American newspapers carried a crossword by the 1930s. |
| But The New York Times editorial page called it "a sinful waste in the utterly futile finding of words" in 1924. |
| Our newspaper held out until 1942, when the crossword debuted in The Sunday Magazine. The decision was influenced by World War II and "a need for relaxation of some kind or other," an internal memo said. |
| The first clue of our first crossword was "famous one-eyed general." The six-letter answer: "Wavell" (of Britain). Puzzles have appeared daily since 1950. |
| The Times's current puzzle editor, Will Shortz, holds the world's only college degree in enigmatology (the study of puzzles). He's also National Public Radio's "puzzle master." |
| Many readers now solve the puzzle on The Times's website, where there are thousands more as well as a popular blog. |
| The newest rage, though, is the mini-crossword, sized for a smartphone. |
| Your Morning Briefing is published weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern and updated on the web all morning. |
| What would you like to see here? Contact us at briefing@nytimes.com. |
| You can sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox. |
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