Iraq, Australia, Golden Globes
Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead. |
 | | Mohammed Sawaf/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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1. The fallout from President Trump’s targeted killing of Iran’s most powerful commander is now underway. |
We’re also learning more about the chaotic days leading up to Mr. Trump’s decision. The president opted to kill General Suleimani, despite disputes in the administration about the significance of what some officials said was a new stream of intelligence that warned of threats to American embassies, consulates and military personnel in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Pentagon officials were stunned. |
Some U.S. officials have justified the assassination as retribution for the general’s actions and deterrence of future American deaths. The big strategic implications can get lost, though. Our Interpreter columnist breaks it down. |
 | | Matthew Abbott for The New York Times |
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2. “This is not a bush fire. It’s an atomic bomb.” |
That was the transport minister in New South Wales describing the fires ravaging Australia. Searing heat and afternoon winds propelled fires on Saturday, above in Tomerong, adding to the devastation of a deadly fire season that has now claimed 24 lives. |
Thousands of people have been evacuated in what was most likely the largest peacetime maritime rescue operation in Australia’s history, the authorities said. About 3,000 army reservists, along with aircraft and naval ships, are also being made available to help with the evacuation and firefighting efforts. |
 | | Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times |
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3. Congress is back from recess. Senate leaders are at an impasse over President Trump’s impeachment trial. |
The first day of the new legislative session on Friday began with the top Republican and top Democrat trading barbs with charges of hypocrisy and unfair dealing, settling nothing in the high-stakes fight over a trial that will decide Mr. Trump’s fate. The House returns to session on Tuesday. |
At the center of the dispute is whether to call witnesses or to introduce documentary evidence. In its latest round of withholding, the White House has denied the release of 20 emails between two aides that discuss the freeze on a military aid package for Ukraine. |
 | | Lucas Jackson/Reuters |
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4. As one trial stalls, another begins: The former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial starts Monday, more than two years after allegations against him set off an international reckoning. |
Mr. Weinstein, pictured above last month, is accused of forcing oral sex on a film production assistant and raping another woman. Mr. Weinstein had claimed his sexual encounters were consensual. He is not expected to testify. |
The trial will most likely stretch more than two months, and begins with about two weeks of jury selection. Two thousand summonses were issued in the hopes of getting 500 potential jurors. |
Our reporters who broke the original story shed new light on the investigation process and preview what to expect in the coming weeks. |
 | | Takaaki Iwabu/Bloomberg |
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5. Carlos Ghosn’s next move is anyone’s guess. |
Mr. Ghosn, who fled Japan a week ago on charges of financial wrongdoing in what amounted to a Hollywood-like escape, is in Beirut, Lebanon, where he grew up. The Lebanese government has largely gone quiet, waiting, it seems, to see what Japan will do. |
Since his escape, more details have emerged of how exactly Mr. Ghosn, above last March, the former head of the Nissan-Renault, managed to evade the authorities. Some of the new details include: An American security consultant accompanied him on the flight out of the country, and a Turkish charter jet company said that its planes were used illegally to pull off the plan. |
 | | Andrew Burton/Getty Images |
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6. Federal agencies won’t have to consider climate change when assessing projects like highways and pipelines under a Trump administration plan. |
The proposed changes to the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act would no longer require agencies to consider the “cumulative” consequences of new infrastructure. |
That could make it very likely that more projects like the Keystone XL oil pipeline, above, would sail through the approval process without having to disclose plans to do things like discharge waste, cut trees or increase air pollution. |
 | | Rozette Rago for The New York Times |
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7. Sweetgreen wants to take your salad to the next level. |
The chain that made salads chic is turning to a prescient technology strategy to become something bigger — much, much bigger. Snacks, organic chocolate bars — and gasp — sandwiches, are all in the works, as is a new store format. |
In a little over a year, the company has raised $350 million in private capital, bringing its valuation to $1.6 billion. An initial public offering is not far-off. |
“We can’t stop now, because this doesn’t work at 100 restaurants,” one of its co-founders said. “The next stop is 1,000.” |
 | | Stephen Brashear/Associated Press |
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8. Russell Wilson can be thrillingly perfect at times and hard to fathom at others. Which one will the Seahawks quarterback be for the wild-card game against the Eagles? |
The Seahawks have not been to an N.F.C. championship game since they blew a near-certain win against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX in 2015. They have another shot today. We followed Wilson and his team for the last nine weeks of the season as they chased the Super Bowl ghost. |
 | | Wilson Webb/Netflix, via Associated Press |
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9. What will happen at the Golden Globes tonight? Part of the fun of this ceremony is that you never quite know. |
We’ll have live coverage starting this afternoon on the red carpet and throughout the night at nytimes.com. The ceremony begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time on NBC. Ricky Gervais returns for his fifth time as host (and once again, no celebrity is safe). |
 | | Melissa Schäfer |
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Among them are an interview with Martin Scorsese about letting go, finding renewal in the dark of winter above the Arctic Circle, above, and the meat-lover’s guide to eating less meat. |
It may be cold where you are, but Earth is at its closest approach to the sun today, known as perihelion. |
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