Iran, Puerto Rico, British Royals
Your Wednesday Evening Briefing |
Good evening. Here’s the latest. |
 | | Doug Mills/The New York Times |
|
1. The conflict between the U.S. and Iran seems to be easing — for now. |
Iran said it was done with “proportional measures” for the U.S. strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani. Iran’s 22 missiles caused no casualties at their targets, two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. |
In a news conference, above, President Trump avoided new threats. “Iran appears to be standing down,” he said, “which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world.” |
 | | Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters |
|
Experts said that details so far indicated that the plane, a Ukrainian International Airlines Boeing 737-800, could have been attacked. Investigators should have that possibility “at the top of their agenda,” said one former top transportation safety official in the U.S. |
Ukraine’s president ordered an investigation. Iranian officials said they would work with Ukraine, but would not hand over the black boxes containing flight data to American investigators or to Boeing. |
Victims of the crash came from at least seven countries. Canada alone lost at least 63 people, many of them apparently dual citizens with Iran. |
 | | Erin Schaff/The New York Times |
|
3. Impeachment stalemate. |
And he may not be alone: Democrats in the upper chamber are becoming increasingly impatient, and a growing number signaled that they, too, were ready to set the process moving again. |
 | | Nabil Mounzer/EPA, via Shutterstock |
|
4. “I was left no other choice.” |
Mr. Ghosn accused Nissan of working with prosecutors, motivated by its declining performance. He has also said Nissan and Japanese officials were trying to prevent a merger with Renault, a claim Japanese officials deny. |
On the question of his escape, Mr. Ghosn was mum on the details, except to say that “there is a lot of imagination” in some media accounts of his brazen flight. |
 | | Erika P. Rodriguez for The New York Times |
|
On Tuesday night, 97 percent of the island was in the dark. Thousands of residents slept outside, fearing new tremors. The chief executive of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority said he hoped to get everyone’s power back on in the next day or so. |
Gov. Wanda Vázquez said Puerto Ricans had not experienced in modern times earthquakes like those that struck the island in recent days. “There is no way to prepare for this. It hit us hard, hard, hard.” |
 | | Neil Hall/EPA, via Shutterstock |
|
In their announcement, made on the couple’s Instagram account, the Duke and Duchess said they had decided to “carve out a progressive new role” within the institution, and would “work to become financially independent” as well as begin a new charity. |
They did not say where in North America they would live, but speculation quickly grew that they would go either to Canada, a commonwealth country that they recently visited, or Los Angeles, where Meghan is from. |
 | | Michael Probst/Associated Press |
|
7. 2019 was the second hottest year on record. |
The evidence mounted all year, including record heat in Germany, above, and concluding with broiling temperatures contributing to Australia’s devastating wildfires. |
Our Australia bureau chief looked at how Rupert Murdoch, the conservative media tycoon, is influencing the climate change debate by spreading disinformation. |
 | | Jim Weber/Daily Memphian, via Associated Press |
|
8. It’s shaping up to be a bad flu season. |
As of the last week of December, “widespread” flu activity was reported by health departments in 46 states. And the percentage of patients with flu symptoms visiting medical clinics nearly met the numbers at the height of the 2017-18 season, which was the most severe in a decade. |
Experts said that this season’s flu vaccine might not be particularly effective, but that it’s still worth getting the shot as it can limit the flu’s severity. |
 | | Jingyu Lin for The New York Times |
|
9. Florence Pugh is living the Hollywood fairy tale — with the talent to prove it. |
The star of “Little Women” and “Midsommar” went from a virtual unknown to one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation. We sat down with the 24-year-old actress to talk about her breakout year. |
 | | P. Gonzalez-Bellido |
|
10. And finally, your daily animal content. |
Scientists knew octopuses and squid don’t have any depth perception, but they had a hunch their cuttlefish cousins might. They tested it by getting (some) to wear 3-D glasses and showing them a 3-D video of shrimp. The cuttlefish bit. |
How were the glasses placed, you might wonder? Scientists gently lifted the cephalopods from an aquarium, dabbed them between the eyes with a bit of glue and some Velcro and stuck on the specs. |
We also have a graphics editor’s story of tagging along on a squirrel census in New York’s Central Park. It wasn’t easy. |
Have a multidimensional night. |
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. |
And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing. Sign up here to get it by email in the Australian, Asian, European, African or American morning. |
