Monday, Dec 16, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering the impeachment vote expected this week, a slump for Canada’s marijuana industry, and the annual United Nations climate talks, which resulted in little action.

By Chris Stanford

Senator Charles Schumer wants Mick Mulvaney, John Bolton and other White House officials to testify at an impeachment trial. T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times

A call for ‘all of the facts’ in impeachment trial

Chuck Schumer, the leading Democrat in the Senate, on Sunday proposed an impeachment trial “in which all of the facts can be considered fully and fairly,” including documents that the White House has withheld and witnesses whom it has prevented from testifying.

A Senate trial would follow this week’s expected vote in the House to impeach President Trump on charges that he abused the powers of his office and obstructed Congress.

Mr. Schumer’s plan represents a challenge to Senator Mitch McConnell, the top Republican, who has said that he would favor a short trial and that he was “taking my cues” from the White House.

The details: Mr. Schumer proposed that the trial begin on Jan. 7 and follow a timetable similar to President Bill Clinton’s trial, which lasted about five weeks. Read Mr. Schumer’s letter to Mr. McConnell here.

Related: Representative Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, a moderate Democrat who is a staunch opponent of impeaching Mr. Trump, plans to declare himself a Republican as soon as this week.

Unequal preparation for 2020 census

Before the next nationwide head count, some states are spending millions of dollars in an effort to maximize population totals and, by extension, their share of federal resources and representation in Congress. Other states are spending nothing.

Spending state funds on census outreach is a fairly new idea, but there’s a clear political divide: Seventeen of the 24 states that aren’t devoting money are Republican-controlled, while Democrats lead 22 of the 26 states that are.

Why it matters: An accurate census would include more people from harder-to-count groups like Hispanics and the poor, who tend to vote Democratic. If they don’t participate, the census would skew Republican, as would political maps based on the results.

The details: California, with nearly 40 million residents, is set to introduce a $187 million campaign to encourage participation. Texas, the second-most-populous state, with 29 million residents, has elected not to spend any money, although volunteers are trying to fill the gap.

The decade when tech lost its way

In 2010, technology offered the promise of new connections, cars that could drive themselves and social networks that could take down dictators.

Since then, its flaws have become abundantly clear. To find out what happened, The Times spoke to Mark Zuckerberg, Edward Snowden, Ellen Pao and other leading figures in the tech world. Here, in their own words, are their explanations.

Another angle: Amazon has used its cloud computing arm to copy and integrate software that other companies created, rivals say, fueling scrutiny of its market dominance.

At a facility last month for Canopy Growth, Canada's largest grower of marijuana. Chris Wattie for The New York Times

Canada’s marijuana slump

A year after the country became the first major industrialized nation to legalize recreational marijuana, visions of profit from a “green rush” have evaporated.

Regulatory hurdles are among the causes, including in Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s most populous provinces, which have been slow to open or license legal pot shops.

Another angle: Despite the business disappointments, there hasn’t been much change in marijuana use.

What’s next: Marijuana companies, whose share values have fallen in the past year, hope for a turnaround, starting today, when marijuana-laced drinks and foods join the legal market in Canada.

If you have some time, this is worth it

From hit man to state witness

Alexandra Garcia/The New York Times

By his early 20s, he had become a deadly assassin, or sicario, and an instrument of the drug cartels that are tearing Mexico apart. So when the police caught him, they saw a chance to take down a cartel from the inside.

Our reporters traced the making of the sicario, above, and the off-the-books police operation that ended with dozens of arrests. The article is a rare window into the cartels that are battling one another for control of local drug sales and smuggling routes to the U.S.

Here’s what else is happening

No concessions at climate talks: An annual United Nations meeting ended with the U.S. and other major polluters blocking a measure that would have encouraged countries to adopt more ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Chinese espionage suspects: The U.S. secretly expelled two Chinese Embassy officials this fall after they drove onto a military base in Virginia. The expulsions appear to be the first of Chinese diplomats suspected of espionage in more than 30 years.

Warning for North Korea: The top U.S. envoy on North Korea said today that an expected weapons test by Pyongyang in the coming days would be “most unhelpful.”

Riots in India: Violent demonstrations spread across the country after lawmakers approved a citizenship bill last week that would give special treatment to Hindu and other non-Muslim migrants.

Coldefy & Associés with RDAI/onePULSE Foundation

Snapshot: Above, an artist’s rendering of the winning design for a museum to be built in Orlando, Fla., near where a gunman killed 49 people in 2016 at Pulse, a gay nightclub. The plans for the $45 million project, which includes a permanent memorial, have upset some survivors and families of the victims.

In memoriam: Anna Karina, a Danish-born actress, became a symbol of French New Wave cinema in the 1960s in the films of the director Jean-Luc Godard. She died on Saturday at 79.

N.F.L. results: Eight of the league’s 12 playoff spots have been secured. Here’s what else we learned in Week 15.

Metropolitan Diary: In this week’s column, dropped keys, a broken heart and more reader tales of New York City.

What we’re watching: This 2016 Polish ad for an online marketplace, which our climate reporter John Schwartz just ran across. “I am sappy,” he writes. “Commercials can make me cry. This one did. Enjoy.”

Now, a break from the news

Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Cook: Cheesy, spicy black bean bake goes well with tortillas, rice, a baked potato or fried eggs.

Watch: The “Shrill” pool party, the “David Makes Man” pilot and the quietest installment of the final “Game of Thrones” season are among the best TV episodes of 2019.

Listen: Harry Styles and Camila Cabello both emerged from groups created on “The X Factor.” And both are releasing their second solo albums.

Smarter Living: If you feel that you regress when you go home for the holidays, you’re not alone. We have tips for how to manage the stress.

And now for the Back Story on …

Shazam!

The Oxford English Dictionary defines Shazam as “a ‘magic’ word” that introduces “an extraordinary deed or story.”

You may know it from slang, or because of the Shazam app, which identifies music after “listening” to a snippet. But the O.E.D. credits the first use to a comic book 80 years ago.

It told the story of Billy Batson, an orphan who transforms into the superhero Captain Marvel by saying a word made up of the first letters of six powerful names: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury.

The New York Times

His biggest battle was in the courtroom. Fawcett Comics retired the character after a long lawsuit by the company that became today’s DC Comics, who argued that there were too many parallels to their Superman.

Nearly 20 years later, DC licensed Billy’s alter ego, but by then Marvel Comics had grabbed the trademark name for its own Captain Marvel. The character is now part of Disney’s huge, lucrative Marvel Cinematic Universe.

So Billy’s alter ego is now named Shazam, and fighting for market share. His Warner Brothers movie came out this year, and his archenemy Black Adam’s spinoff, starring Dwayne Johnson, is due in December 2021.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Chris

Thank you
Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford provided the break from the news. George Gustines, an editor who covers the comic book industry for The Times, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is about a secret history of the war in Afghanistan.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Annual internet award (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Greg Winter, who was just named our international managing editor, began his career with The Times as a summer intern.