Your Friday Briefing

Vladimir Putin Won’t Expel U.S. Diplomats as Russian Foreign Minister Urged

Friday, December 30, 2016

Your Friday Briefing By SEAN ALFANO President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia with President Obama at the United Nations in New York last year. Mr. Obama expelled 35 Russians on Thursday and imposed new sanctions. Doug Mills/The New York Times Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: • U.S.- Russia tensions flare. Moscow is preparing to expel 35 U.S. diplomats in retaliation for actions President Obama announced on Thursday, including sanctions on Russia over its efforts to influence the American presidential election. The Obama administration ejected 35 diplomats and other officials suspected of being spies. It also penalized officers in a Russian military intelligence unit, which the U.S. says ordered cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee to benefit Donald J. Trump’s campaign. The president-elect stepped back from his initial, dismissive response to the sanctions, saying on Thursday that he would meet with intelligence officials next week “to be updated on the facts.” • Echoes of the Cold War. The U.S. and Russia have routinely spied on each other over the last three decades. Here are some recent acts of espionage. We also look at Moscow’s cyberwarfare program, which has recruited elite hackers on social media, in colleges and even in the criminal underworld. • Tenuous start to Syria cease-fire. Just hours after the truce between the government and rebel forces started at midnight, there were reports of violations. Past efforts to stop the fighting, including two agreements this year between Russia and the U.S., failed. Washington was not involved in the latest accord, and one of the main Syrian rebel groups has yet to approve the deal. • Uncertain future for the two-state solution. The effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been in the news this week after Secretary of State John Kerry’s rebuke of Israel for settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Here’s a basic guide to the two-state idea, and why it has been so hard to achieve. • A savage year in Venezuela. There have been 28,479 killings in the country this year, the highest number ever recorded. But investigators have identified a troubling culprit in the rising violence: government security forces. • Stanford University rape case. When a female sophomore at the university accused a player on the football team of rape, she turned to the school’s interdisciplinary board for help. But Stanford has an uncommonly high bar for deciding sexual assault cases. Despite a majority of people on two panels ruling in favor of the accuser, the athlete was never punished. Business • Fighting for talent in Silicon Valley is brutal, but the tech industry’s lack of diversity has made the courting of female executives to join company boards particularly cutthroat. • Venture capitalists are poised to invest large amounts in start-ups and initial public offerings in the new year. One of the most anticipated I.P.O.s of 2017 is for Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, whose shares are expected to begin trading as soon as March, with a valuation that could exceed $30 billion. • “When it comes to understanding one another, we must focus on what we don’t know, not what we think we do know or should know.” That’s the advice of our writer, a business executive, on the importance of not making faulty assumptions about co-workers. • U.S. stocks were down on Thursday. Here’s a snapshot of global markets. Noteworthy • Floating over Oz. Eight times a week, Glinda the Good Witch makes a grand entrance from above the stage in the Broadway production of “Wicked.” Our latest 360 video takes you on one of her flights. • The universe in a box. Images from the largest digital map of space ever taken, by the Pan-Starrs telescope in Hawaii, were released this month. One goal of the project is to find moving objects like asteroids so that we can try to steer them away from Earth. • Change from the inside. If you’re making resolutions for the new year, consider a gut makeover. There is growing evidence that an array of intestinal microbiota helps bolster the immune system. Altering the bacteria, though, may mean switching your diet to include a variety of plant-based foods, new research finds. If that sounds too arduous, our Styles editors offer 11 (less-intense) ways to be a better person next year. The list includes a call to cuddle more. • Recipe of the day. End the week by slow-cooking portobello mushrooms and putting them over pasta. Then check out our most popular recipes of the year, and the food trends predicted to make a splash in 2017. Back Story We know the drill by now — another new year, another exercise plan that fizzles before February. If you need inspiration to push yourself, take a cue from these athletes who aren’t letting anything, even their age, get in the way. Perhaps your goal is to start running. John Gilmour is a 97-year-old Australian who was captured by the Japanese during World War II. He’s still competitive, completing the 800 meters at the World Masters Athletics Championships in 9 minutes 19.53 seconds this year while running with a colostomy bag because of a bladder infection.