Your Wednesday briefing – InNewCL
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300 days war in Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s leader, is expected to meet with President Biden at the White House today and then address Congress in person, according to people familiar with the plan, who warned plans could change. The risks of such a visit are high and any such effort would be kept in the strictest secrecy.
It comes after 10 months of fighting, with leaders of Ukraine and Russia pledging not to back down. Yesterday Zelenskyy traveled to the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut to recognize Ukrainian soldiers. “The East is holding out because Bakhmut is fighting,” he said. And in Moscow, Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, propaganda figure and Russian-installed leader of Ukraine’s four illegally annexed regions, paid tribute.
Putin has increasingly begun to acknowledge Russian fighting on the front lines, although his messages still obscure the extent of the casualties. At the same time, Russian propaganda portrays the war as existential – claiming that the real enemy is NATO bent on Russia’s annihilation – and tries to prepare the Russians for more casualties.
More news from the war:
House of Representatives committee approves Trump’s tax exemption
The House Ways and Means Committee voted yesterday to publicly release six years’ worth of Donald Trump’s tax returns, the culmination of a years-long struggle in which the former president defied modern tradition by protecting his finances during his campaign and during his term of office confidential. It may take a few days for anything to be available to the public.
Democrats have said they need those records to evaluate an IRS program that audits presidents. Republicans have insisted the rationale was a smokescreen for a politically motivated fishing expedition. Even before the hearing, Committee Republicans made their point and held a press conference next to a sign that read “Dangerous New Political Weapon.”
Committee chairman Rep. Richard Neal, a Democrat of Massachusetts, said the decision to release the information “was not about punishment. It wasn’t about being malicious.” He also commended the panel members for not providing any sensitive information.
Details: Much is already known about Trump’s financial information. In 2020, the Times published the results of an examination of more than two decades of its tax return data. He paid no federal income taxes in 11 of the 18 years studied.
12 hours in a British ambulance
Britain is experiencing a prolonged period of unrest, with unions representing workers such as nurses, railway workers and border control workers going on strike at various locations this month, often over wage increases. The strikes come as Britain grapples with high inflation and a cost of living crisis.
The disruption to services like travel and parcel delivery was particularly severe during the holiday season, and residents and tourists alike braced for the impact. The government has said it will hire around 1,200 military personnel to help cover medical and border patrol services and has urged workers’ groups to reconsider the strikes.
Times journalists spent a day with an ambulance crew to witness the problems facing the National Health Service in real time. Paramedics gently carried patients down stairs, navigated narrow streets, and attempted to comfort people during the excruciatingly long waits in the hospital parking lot.
THE LATEST NEWS
Around the world
It’s an iconic symbol of Jewish pride and defiance: in a 1931 photograph of Rachel Posner, wife of a rabbi in Kiel, Germany, a menorah is framed in a window through which a large Nazi banner hung across the street hangs.
On this Hanukkah, 90 years after the Posners fled Germany, the menorah was returned to the town where the family once lived.
SPORT NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC
The road to the 2026 World Cup: We present “My Football Journey”, a special football project. We follow seven young stars from South Korea, India, Australia, England, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey as they chase their dreams en route to the 2026 tournament.
In the greatest World Cup final ever: Lionel Messi’s team talks on the bus, more than 5,700 pounds of beef and a gang of witches – this is the story of how football’s greatest prize was won.
A Journey to a Postmodern World Cup: Two authors spent more than two weeks getting to the World Cup. They traveled from London to Doha via 17 countries, taking at least eight different modes of transport and 17 days to cover just over 5,600 miles.
From The Times: Immediately after the conclusion of the men’s World Cup, football’s governing body FIFA is facing a legal challenge to its rule that allowed players to leave Ukrainian club teams immediately because of the Russian invasion.
ART AND IDEAS
The tribute to Ukrainian culture
In addition to killing tens of thousands and displacing millions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dealt a severe blow to Ukrainian culture. The Times’ Visual Investigations team has traced the war’s impact on museums, monuments, theaters, libraries, churches and more. The team assessed the damage to nearly 340 cultural sites.
The investigation revealed that pro-Russian forces deliberately targeted some of the sites. Long before the invasion began, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin claimed that Ukraine had no culture of its own and called Ukrainian nationality a fiction.
The investigation examines in depth several damaged or destroyed cultural sites, including a pre-Catherine the Great monastery and a library that bridged Ukraine’s language communities, the books of which have now been burned. Look at the evidence of the destruction.
