Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

February 12, 2020

Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

By remy tumin, priya arora and marcus payadue

Good evening. Here’s the latest.

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

1. New Hampshire in a nutshell.

After a day of sorting through the results, here’s what we came away with: The Democratic presidential primary is entering an intensely tumultuous phase, with an elevated Bernie Sanders, a reeling Joe Biden and a splintered moderate vote.

Pete Buttigieg was a close second. Amy Klobuchar, pulled off the big surprise of the night, coming in third.

But there’s no dominant force in the battle for the party’s nomination. Unless a centrist favorite soon emerges, our political reporters write, party leaders may increasingly look to Michael Bloomberg.

And back in Iowa, the chairman of the state’s Democratic Party resigned after overseeing the caucus debacle there last week.

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Doug Mills/The New York Times

2. President Trump had more praise for the Justice Department’s intervention in the Roger Stone case.

“Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought,” Mr. Trump tweeted early in the day.

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Later, speaking in the Oval Office, above, Mr. Trump denied that his comment had been political, calling the prosecution of Mr. Stone, a longtime friend convicted of obstructing a congressional inquiry into Russian election interference, “a disgrace.”

Mr. Trump’s approval of the Justice Department’s move to ease sentencing recommendations in Mr. Stone’s politically charged case reinforced concerns about presidential overreach.

Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

3. Health officials in China are changing the way they count cases of the new coronavirus.

With little explanation, officials said they would no longer count as confirmed cases patients who had tested positive but did not have symptoms. In total, China’s national health commission has retroactively subtracted more than 100 cases so far.

Meanwhile, the C.D.C. said that some of the coronavirus testing kits it began sending to laboratories within the U.S. have flaws, delivering “inconclusive” results. Also: London has its first case of the virus and the Dalai Lama canceled all his public events indefinitely because of the outbreak. Here are the developments from today.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

4. Did Juul market to teenagers?

Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against the vaping company, accusing it of rejecting ads for its launch that would have branded it as a technology company aimed at adult smokers, instead going for ads like those above.

According to the lawsuit, Juul Labs also recruited celebrities and social media influencers with underage followers and channeled digital ads to websites aimed at teens and even younger children.

Juul has been fighting to save its reputation as health experts weigh vaping’s role in lung ailments and the F.D.A. has banned most flavored pods. Its executives declined to address the specific accusations, but a statement from a company spokesman said Juul was taking steps to combat underage vaping and to earn “the trust of society.”

Jiji Press, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

5. SoftBank, the Japanese conglomerate, said its costly bets on once high-flying companies like Uber and WeWork had taken a $2 billion toll on its bottom line.

Its report on the last quarter of 2019 adds to pressure on its founder, Masayoshi Son, who told investors and analysts in Tokyo that he would slow the pace of SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund, a dominant force in technology investment.

But he dismissed worries about SoftBank’s enormous corporate debts and its underperforming investments in quixotic tech firms, and focused on a win this week: a judge’s approval of a merger between Sprint, which SoftBank has invested in, and T-Mobile.

Friedemann Vogel/EPA, via Shutterstock

6. Despite his longstanding climate denialism, President Trump has recently struck a softer tone on the topic. Why?

Marc Benioff, a billionaire tech mogul and environmental philanthropist, told our climate reporter that he had used back channels, including his relationship with Jared Kushner, to bring the idea of planting one trillion trees by 2030 to the attention of Mr. Trump.

The shift may also reflect the shifting views of young Republicans, some of whom are willing to break with their party on climate change.

Cautionary note: It remains unclear whether the U.S. will actually plant any trees. And experts say it would take 100 years for trees to mature — so planting is not a replacement for reducing emissions.

Billy Farrell/Patrick McMullan, via Getty Images

7. Condé Nast was once a glitzy publishing juggernaut. New memoirs from former employees reveal the mess behind the gloss.

Who was enjoying those Town Cars and fat expense accounts during the early 2000s, when print advertising still provided huge profit margins?

Dan Peres, for one, above in the lavender tie in 2006. He just published “As Needed for Pain,” a memoir about his dual life as editor of the trend-watching magazine Details and opioid addict — sometimes gulping 60 Vicodins a day and frequently missing in action.

Mr. Peres said it didn’t occur to him that his book might reveal a lack of corporate oversight or what a white man could get away with at the company. “I didn’t overthink it,” he told our reporter.

Elizabeth Weinberg for The New York Times

8. “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” … and fans hungry for more.

Netflix’s breakout rom-com, about a teenager forced to confront her emotions when private love letters are sent to her past crushes, was reportedly one of the streaming service’s most viewed original films. Can a sequel — and possibly a franchise — capture the same magic?

We talked to the team behind the first film about what made it a hit, and why they’re changing things up in “P.S. I Still Love You.”

And are we finally ready to embrace subtitles? “Parasite” is among a handful of films changing viewers’ attitudes.

David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

9. Imagine the ease of cooking with one pot, pan or skillet — less dish washing, less mess. Now imagine no more.

Our Cooking team has put together a wide-ranging collection of recipes devoted to the celebration of one-vessel cooking, on the stovetop and in the oven. The majority of the recipes will deliver a whole meal, from chilis and stews to chicken baked with potatoes and cherry tomatoes, above.

On the topic of making dinner, our Food editor, Sam Sifton, writes how a ritual of cooking a big weekly dinner makes life better for everyone involved.

Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas

10. And finally, getting close — really close — to wildlife.

Sure, you can stay in a hotel. Or you can stay at a chalet along a lagoon in Zambia, creating the perfect setting for watching elephants as they visit in the late afternoons. It’s part of a new wave of accommodations that has bumped traditional lodging out of the way for unique experiences.

Perhaps watching the Northern Lights through a glass igloo in Finland or hanging on for dear life from the side of a cliff in a transparent capsule in Peru is more your speed. You can do all of that these days, for a price. Or, like us, you can enjoy the idea from your armchair.

Have an adventurous night.

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