Asian Morning: Obama Strikes Back at Russia for Election Hacking

View in [Browser] Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. [Unsubscribe] [The New York Times] [NYT Apps] | [[The New York Times] Today's Headlines] Friday, December 30, 2016 IN THIS EMAIL [NYT] [World] | [Business] | [Technology] | [Sports] | [U.S. News] | [Opinion] Top News [President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at the Kremlin on Tuesday.] [Obama Strikes Back at Russia for Election Hacking] By DAVID E. SANGER The Obama administration said it was tossing out 35 intelligence operatives and imposing sanctions on Russian intelligence services and officers. [The body of a 15-year-old girl at a makeshift morgue on Thursday in the rebel-held town of Douma, Syria, on the outskirts of Damascus, after reports of airstrikes.] [Syrian Government Announces Truce Backed by Russia and Turkey] By BEN HUBBARD and NEIL MacFARQUHAR Many previous cease-fire agreements have failed, but the dynamics have changed since pro-government forces fully retook Aleppo. [The cemetery for German colonial soldiers who were killed during the Battle of Waterberg in 1904, a decisive battle against the Herero, a native ethnic group.] [Germany Grapples With Its African Genocide] By NORIMITSU ONISHI Tens of thousands of Namibians were killed in what historians call the 20th century's first genocide, and Germany is finally close to recognizing it as such. [A construction site in the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the West Bank.] The Interpreter [The Two-State Solution: What It Is and Why It Hasn't Happened] By MAX FISHER The two-state solution has for decades been the primary focus of efforts to achieve peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here's a basic guide. [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Wednesday in Jerusalem, where he fired back at Secretary of State John Kerry's rebuke of Israeli policy.] News Analysis [In John Kerry's Mideast Speech, a Clash of Policies and Personalities] By PETER BAKER On one side, were Mr. Kerry and President Obama. On the other, President-elect Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and time is on their side. For more top news, go to [INYT.com] ADVERTISEMENT Editors' Picks [A fire set by the Islamic State at oil fields south of Mosul.] [Along Mosul's Front Line, Desperate Civilians and Dug-In Troops and Fighters] Witnessing firsthand this volatile zone, first with the Iraqi Army and then with units of the Iraqi Federal Police. [Tourists inside the Jiayuguan fort in Jiayuguan, Gansu Province, China. The westernmost point of the Ming-era Great Wall for over 600 years, Jiayuguan has long been overshadowed by portions of the wall outside Beijing. Local officials are hoping to change that.] [As Interest Grows in Great Walls, an Ancient Chinese Fortress Beckons] With politics and pop culture bringing walls into the global conversation, officials hope to grow interest in Jiayuguan, a remote fort in the Gobi Desert. [A replica of Hitler's bunker in Berlin. It was built about a mile from the original site by a private company, Historiale, which also runs the Berlin Story Museum next door.] [Berlin Attraction Reveals an Uneasy Phenomenon: Hitler Sells] A commercial firm has recreated the bunker where Hitler committed suicide in 1945. [Hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, including the endangered Siberian crane, gathering for the winter at Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake, in Jiangxi Province.] [As China's Largest Freshwater Lake Shrinks, Solution Faces Criticism] A proposed sluice gate faces a chorus of opposition from scientists and environmental groups who say it could have disastrous effects on the lake's fragile ecosystem. World [Engine parts and a piece of the landing gear from the Tupolev 154 military plane that crashed into the Black Sea, in an image released on Thursday by the Russian Emergency Services Ministry.] [Russia Finds No Signs of Explosion in Black Sea Plane Crash] By IVAN NECHEPURENKO While the authorities stressed that they considered a terrorist attack unlikely, they made clear on Thursday that they were leaving open the possibility. [China Says 5 Killed in Attack at Communist Party Office in Xinjiang] By JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ Assailants killed an official and a guard before being shot by the police, the authorities said, but advocates for minority Uighurs raised doubts about the account. [Germans Release Tunisian Held a Day Earlier as Possible Berlin Accomplice] By ALISON SMALE Further investigation showed the 40-year-old had not been in contact with the man who drove a truck into a Christmas fair, killing 12, the authorities said. [In June, Facebook began rolling out automated, ] [Facebook's Safety Check, Now Automated, Turns a Firecracker Into an Explosion] By DANIEL VICTOR The social network automatically linked to a bogus article about an "explosion" in Thailand and appeared to conflate it with a 2015 bombing. [A giant rooster sculpture resembling President-elect Donald J. Trump outside a shopping mall in Taiyuan, China. The statue was built to celebrate the coming Year of the Rooster in the Chinese lunar calendar.] Sinosphere [China Warmly Welcomes a Giant Rooster With Trumpian Characteristics] By MIKE IVES The statue of a bird with big hair, which stands more than two stories tall, was built to celebrate the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese lunar calendar. For more world news, go to [NYTimes.com/World] Business [Foxconn workers leaving at the end of the day shift through the gates of the Zhengzhou bonded zone.] China Rules [How China Built 'iPhone City' With Billions in Perks for Apple's Partner] By DAVID BARBOZA A hidden bounty of benefits for Foxconn's plant in Zhengzhou, the world's biggest iPhone factory, is central to the production of Apple's most profitable product. [Ryan Caltagirone, left, and Matthew W. Horn are partners in Legal Services Link, which uses crowdsourcing to aid clients.] [When Finding the Right Lawyer Seems Daunting, Crowdsource One] By ELIZABETH OLSON A new online service connects those needing legal services with lawyers who pay to be listed on the site. Some state bars are taking an interest in the model. For more business news, go to [INYT.com/Business] Technology [An internet security firm in Moscow. While much about Russia's cyberwarfare program is shrouded in secrecy, details of the government's effort to recruit programmers in the months before the American presidential election shed light on the Kremlin's plan to create teams of computer hackers.] [How Russia Recruited Elite Hackers for Its Cyberwar] By ANDREW E. KRAMER The government scouted a wide range of civilian programmers in recent years, even criminals, while expanding its cyberwarfare abilities. Bits [Daily Report: Tech Resolutions for 2017] By PUI-WING TAM A Times reporter recommends five ways to simplify your tech life by creating better habits with devices, improving password management and more. For more technology news, go to [NYTimes.com/Tech] Sports [Ed Whitlock completed the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 3 hours 56 minutes 34 seconds to become the oldest person to run 26.2 miles under four hours.] [85-Year-Old Marathoner Is So Fast That Even Scientists Marvel] By JERÉ LONGMAN Ed Whitlock remains at the forefront among older athletes who have led scientists to reassess the possibilities of aging and performance. [Ronda Rousey in 2015. She is returning to the Octagon for her first fight since she lost her Ultimate Fighting Championship title 13 months ago.] [Ronda Rousey Is Returning to the U.F.C. Cage. Can She Dominate Again?] By VICTOR MATHER Rousey lost her title 13 months ago, but she is fighting the champion Friday in her first bout since that stunning loss in Australia. For more sports news, go to [INYT.com/Sports] U.S. News [As Chicago Murder Rate Spikes, Many Fear Violence Has Become Normalized] By JULIE BOSMAN and MITCH SMITH Activists are despairing over the ceaseless bloodshed in Chicago, where more than 750 people were murdered in 2016, a 58 percent increase. [Trump, Dismissive of Hacking, Says Americans Should 'Get on With Our Lives'] By MICHAEL D. SHEAR Mr. Trump made his comments before an expected announcement by the White House on what steps would be taken to address the election-year hacking. [Monument Valley, part of the federal land surrounding the Bears Ears Buttes in southeastern Utah.] [Obama Designates Two New National Monuments, Protecting 1.65 Million Acres] By CORAL DAVENPORT The monuments are Mr. Obama's latest effort to protect public lands and waters from development and to nail down his environmental legacy before leaving office. [Matt Gallagher, a pilot for Warbelow's Air, cleaning snow off a plane in subzero temperatures in Fairbanks.] [Alaska, Reliant on Air Transit, Faces Pilot Shortage. Are Drones an Answer?] By KIRK JOHNSON A wave of baby boomer retirements and the growth of aviation in Asia have led to a void that is rippling across the state with gale force. For more U.S. news, go to [NYTimes.com/US] ADVERTISEMENT Opinion [Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday.] Op-Ed Contributor [Why Netanyahu Will Miss Obama] By PHILIP GORDON Having ardent U.S. support could upset the Israeli prime minister's political calculus. [Coal miners in Helensburgh, Australia.] Op-Ed Contributor [Help for Australia's Coal Workers] By MEGAN MCGRATH The transient employees who make the coal mines run need better working conditions. Op-Ed | Richard A. Friedman [What a Sensory Isolation Tank Taught Me About My Brain] By RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN In a way, sensory deprivation hilariously underscored the primacy of my body. For more opinion, go to [INYT.com/Opinion] FOLLOW US: [Facebook] [Facebook] | [Twitter] [@NYTimes] | [Pinterest] [Pinterest] | [Instagram] [Instagram] [NYT] Access The New York Times from anywhere with our suite of apps: [iPhone®] | [iPad®] | [Android] | [All] [.] Save 15% at [The NYTimes Store »] [.] Have questions? visit our [Help Section »] [.] Visit our mobile website at [m.nyt.com »] About This Email This is an automated email. Please do not reply directly to this email. You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Today's Headlines Asian Morning newsletter. 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