JOURNALISM QUIZ 7
16 states sue over emergency declaration
A coalition of states, including California and New York, challenged President Trump in court on Monday over his plan to use emergency powers to pay for a wall on the border with Mexico. The suit, filed in San Francisco, argues that the president doesn't have the power to divert funds because it is Congress that controls spending. Read the full lawsuit here. Catch up: The lawsuit is part of a constitutional battle that Mr. Trump set off last week when he declared a national emergency in order to use money that lawmakers declined to give him. Go deeper: Presidents have declared national emergencies nearly five dozen times since 1976. Never before has one been used after Congress rejected funding for a particular policy.
A group of 16 states, led by California, challenged President Trump in court on Monday over his plan to use emergency powers to spend billions of dollars on his border wall. The lawsuit argues that the president does not have the power to divert funds for constructing the wall because Congress controls spending. Above, the border fence seen from Tijuana, Mexico.
A day later, the Transportation Department said that it was exploring legal options to get back $2.5 billion in federal funds it had already spent on California's high-speed rail network, and that it was terminating a $929 million federal grant to the California High-Speed Rail Authority. "This is clear political retribution by President Trump, and we won't sit idly by," Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said in a statement. "This is California's money, and we are going to fight for it."
Robert Kraft — the owner of the New England Patriots, the most successful team in the N.F.L. since he bought it in 1994 and the winner of this year's Super Bowl — was charged with two counts of soliciting sex from a prostitute, according to the police in Jupiter, Fla.
A series of massage parlors was raided Tuesday as part of a six-month state investigation of prostitution and human trafficking. Mr. Kraft, 77, above, was said to be a customer of a spa called Orchids of Asia. Detectives in Jupiter said they had video of Mr. Kraft and dozens of other customers involved in sex acts at the Jupiter spa and others in Florida. Mr. Kraft denied that he had engaged in any illegal activity.
New election is ordered in North Carolina
A unanimous ruling by the state's Board of Elections on Thursday means there will be another vote in the last undecided House race after last year's midterm elections. The Republican candidate in the Ninth District, Mark Harris, asked for the new vote after testimony that his campaign had financed an illegal voter-turnout effort. The details: Mr. Harris had a 905-vote lead over his Democratic opponent, Dan McCready, but regulators were alarmed that Mr. Harris won 61 percent of absentee ballots in a county where Republicans accounted for just 19 percent of them. What's next: The Ninth District, which includes part of Charlotte, will go unrepresented in Congress for at least several months. It was unclear whether Mr. Harris would run in the new election, which has not been scheduled.
By its own admission, the Defense Department allowed a firefighting foam to slip into at least 55 drinking water systems at military bases around the globe, sometimes for generations. This exposed tens of thousands of Americans, possibly many more, to a group of man-made chemicals known as PFAS that have been linked to cancers, immune suppression and other serious health problems.
Above, a water tank in Fountain, Colo., a town affected by contamination over the years. Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency said it would begin the process of potentially limiting the presence of two of the compounds in drinking water, calling it a "pivotal moment in the history of the agency." But many said that was not enough. All told, 10 million people could be drinking water laced with high levels of PFAS — termed "forever chemicals" for their persistence — according to Patrick Breysse, a top official at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The military never alerted all of the people who drank polluted water. A growing movement of veterans and others is demanding answers.
Which ex-congressman was released this week from federal prison in Massachusetts?
Anthony Weiner
The government of which country has threatened to revoke the citizenship of Shamima Begum, a 19-year-old woman who traveled to Syria to marry an Islamic State fighter four years ago?
Britain Ms. Begum, who is from London, gave birth to a boy in recent days as she made pleas from a Syrian refugee camp for help returning home to Britain. The photo above is from the London Metropolitan Police. British law prevents the government from stripping someone's citizenship if doing so would render the person stateless. But British news outlets reported that because Ms. Begum's mother has a Bangladeshi passport, the Home Office decided that it could remove her British citizenship. We answered some questions about what it means to be stateless. President Trump said this week that the U.S. would not re-admit an American-born woman who traveled to Syria to join ISIS and now wants to return home.
Giving up on capitalism
Britons who came of age after the 2008 global financial crisis will, in many cases, be worse off than their parents. Thirty-year-olds are only half as likely to own homes as baby boomers were at the same age, and a third are expected to rent for their whole lives. Raised under the British government's austerity program and burdened by student debt, a growing number of millennials have turned to socialism. Like their American counterparts, they've given up on free-market capitalism, convinced that it can't provide their families with a decent life.
President Trump has openly criticized the special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, calling it a "witch hunt" and those who cooperate with investigators "rats."
But our team of Washington reporters uncovered a more secretive layer of Mr. Trump's public war on the investigations encircling him. Dozens of interviews and a review of confidential White House documents revealed numerous unreported episodes in a two-year drama. The special counsel is expected to deliver a report on the results of his investigation within weeks. Once the report is submitted, it is not certain how much of it will become public or when.
On the second day of a historic global meeting in Rome on addressing clerical sexual abuse of minors, the American cardinal entrusted by Pope Francis with organizing the meeting presented Roman Catholic leaders with a set of new proposals, including changes to the process for investigating bishops accused of misconduct or negligence.
But there was no guarantee that the proposals would be enacted. Above, Evelyn Korkamaz, holding a photo of herself when she was a child, told her story at a news conference in Rome on Friday. While other countries have taken a hard look at the problem of clerical abuse, Italy has approached it with something closer to a cultural and media blackout, and we explored why.
The Trump administration said it planned to terminate a federal transportation grant of more than $900 million to which state?
California The Transportation Department said on Tuesday that it would end the $929 million grant to the California High-Speed Rail Authority as well as explore legal options to get back $2.5 billion in federal funds it had already spent on the state's high-speed rail network. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who announced last week that he was scaling back the $77 billion project, said the administration was retaliating for California having joined a lawsuit with 15 other states challenging President Trump's emergency declaration on the southwestern border.
Karl Lagerfeld, the designer who helped to redefine luxury fashion, died on Tuesday. (He was thought to be 85, although his birth year was disputed.) Mr. Lagerfeld was the longtime creative director at two fashion houses. One was Fendi. What was the other?
Chanel Mr. Lagerfeld helped revive Chanel starting in the early 1980s, and he was the creative director at Fendi since 1965. He also had his own line. Read his obituary and an appraisal by the director of Times fashion coverage, and look at photographs from his six-decade career.
The National Football League reached a legal settlement in a long-running case involving which player?
Colin Kaepernick Mr. Kaepernick and a former teammate, Eric Reid, had accused the N.F.L. of colluding to keep them out of the league after they started a debate two and a half years ago by kneeling during the playing of the national anthem to protest police shootings. In a surprise announcement last Friday, both parties said they had "decided to resolve the pending grievances." A confidentiality agreement means that it's unknown whether the league admitted there was any collusion and whether Mr. Kaepernick would ever play in the league again.
A showdown over shipments of humanitarian aid to Venezuela is centered on a bridge that the government has blocked at the border with which country?
Colombia President Nicolás Maduro has blocked a bridge leading to Cúcuta, Colombia, where aid has been accumulating. This week, Mr. Maduro ordered Venezuela's border with Brazil closed and blocked air and sea travel between Venezuela and three Caribbean islands where the opposition, led by Juan Guaidó, said it wished to stage relief supplies.
Which NASCAR driver survived a 21-car crash to win his second Daytona 500?
Denny Hamlin Paul Menard bumped leader Matt DiBenedetto with 10 laps left in the race, starting the pileup
The dollar is still king.
Despite many predictions after the financial crisis that the dollar might finally founder, it has amassed greater stature as the favored repository for global savings, the paramount refuge in times of crisis and the key form of exchange for commodities like oil. Its potency has enabled the Treasury to find buyers for bonds at enviously cheap rates and given added bite to Mr. Trump's foreign policies by amplifying the power of his trade sanctions — especially against Iran and Venezuela. Between the beginning of 2008 and late 2018, the share of reserves that central banks worldwide held in dollars remained roughly constant, at around 62 percent of the total, according to the International Monetary Fund. Reserves entrusted to the euro, the dollar's most formidable competitor, stand at 20 percent, and China's currency makes up only 2 percent.
Britain took a hit on Tuesday when which carmaker announced it would close its plants in Swindon, about 80 miles west of London?
Honda The Honda Civic hatchback plant, which employs about 3,500 people, will close in 2021
Egyptian officials detained a veteran Times correspondent and forced him back to London without explanation, in an escalation of a severe crackdown against the news media under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
In another case, the photojournalist pictured above, Mahmoud Abou Zeid, was due to be released in September after five years in prison but remains in detention. The Times correspondent, David Kirkpatrick, a former Cairo bureau chief, was denied entry at the Cairo airport and held without food or water for seven hours. His phone was confiscated. Eventually, he was escorted on a plane back to London, where his passport was finally returned. Separately, in a domestic move regarding First Amendment rights, Justice Clarence Thomas called for reconsideration of the Supreme Court's
The justices ruled on Wednesday that the Constitution places limits on the ability of states and localities to take and keep cash, cars, houses and other private property used to commit crimes. The practice, known as civil forfeiture, is a popular way to raise revenue but it has been criticized across the political spectrum.
Massachusetts Mr. Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts, announced last Friday that he would run against Mr. Trump, although he is unlikely to pose a major threat to the president. Mr. Weld, 73, is a moderate Republican who ran for vice president in 2016 on the Libertarian ticket. Also this week, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont embarked on a second run for the presidency, at a time when much of his populist agenda has been embraced by other Democratic candidates. Watch the video below for more.
A black mathematician's lonely trek
Math would seem to be the ultimate meritocracy. Either you can solve a problem or you can't. But fewer than 1 percent of doctorates in the subject are awarded to African-Americans. Dr. Edray Goins, pictured above, won two math prizes at Caltech, and in 1999 he received a Ph.D. from Stanford's math department. "To say that I feel isolated," he wrote in a widely shared essay, "is an understatement."
Double role for a major consulting firm
McKinsey & Company, which says it offers management advice to 90 of the world's 100 biggest companies, also has a secretive $12.3 billion investment arm, prompting questions about conflicts of interest. In Puerto Rico, where McKinsey is advising a board that seeks to reduce the island's debt, the company's hedge fund has investments in that debt, according to a report released on Monday. Response: McKinsey says the way the fund is operated ensures that its employee investors do not stand to benefit from the firm's inside knowledge. But those assurances have been challenged in Congress and in lawsuits. "It's the next scandal," said Vincent Doyle, the son of a priest. "There are kids everywhere." Credit Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe, via Getty Images Image
Michael Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer and fixer, last month offered federal prosecutors in Manhattan information about possible irregularities within the president's family business, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Cohen, above, is slated to testify publicly on Capitol Hill next week. Mr. Cohen, who worked at the Trump Organization for a decade, spoke with the prosecutors about insurance claims the company had filed over the years, the people said. This suggests that the United States Attorney's Office in Manhattan, known as the Southern District of New York, is scrutinizing the Trump Organization, and it has recently sought to interview executives. Meanwhile, Manhattan prosecutors are preparing state criminal charges against Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, in an effort to ensure he will face prison time even if he is pardoned by the president for federal crimes.
The "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, above, was arrested Thursday morning on charges of staging the assault he reported to the Chicago police in January.
Mr. Smollett, who is black and gay, had told the police he was attacked by masked men who hurled homophobic and racial slurs at him and said he was in "MAGA country," a reference to President Trump's campaign slogan. The Chicago police said Mr. Smollett had staged the assault because he was upset by his salary and seeking publicity. The producers of "Empire," a drama on Fox, announced Friday that Mr. Smollett's character would not appear in the final two episodes of the show's fifth season.
President Trump postpones tariff deadline
Mr. Trump on Sunday pushed back his self-imposed March 1 deadline to increase tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports, citing "substantial progress" in recent trade talks. The president said negotiators had forged a compromise on key issues, although the White House did not release any details. What's next: Mr. Trump said he hoped to sign a final deal with China's president, Xi Jinping, most likely in March at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump's Florida resort. No new deadline was set.
President Trump warns Venezuela's military
Mr. Trump said on Monday that forces loyal to President Nicolás Maduro stand to "lose everything" by refusing to allow in emergency aid that has been blocked at the border. Mr. Trump's remarks at a rally in Florida came five days before a deadline that his administration and the Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, have declared for getting aid into the country, which has experienced long shortages of food and medicine. What's next: It's unclear how the Venezuelan opposition would break the blockade. John Bolton, Mr. Trump's national security adviser, said the U.S. military, which has airlifted supplies to the Venezuela-Colombia border, would not enter the country. Another angle: The crisis has prompted plans for dueling concerts this weekend, one organized by the British billionaire Richard Branson and one by the Venezuelan government.
Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, embarked Tuesday on a second run for president. His bid will test whether he can retain his anti-establishment appeal or will lose ground to newer faces who have adopted many of his ideas.
One of those ideas, "Medicare for all," would create a single-payer health care system. While it is sometimes mocked publicly, the health care and insurance industries are taking it as a serious threat. Another 2020 candidate, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, above, has been under scrutiny about how she treats her staff. Several former aides told us she was not just demanding but often dehumanizing. Other former and current staff members spoke fondly of their experiences.
Which world leader did President Trump say had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize?
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan Mr. Trump said last Friday that Mr. Abe had given him "the most beautiful copy of a letter that he sent to the people who give out a thing called the Nobel Prize." On Monday, Mr. Abe said he couldn't comment on a nomination, but said Mr. Trump had "decisively responded toward North Korea's nuclear and missile issues, and held the historic summit meeting with North Korea last year."
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, has acknowledged recently that she could sometimes be "too hard" on staff members.
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, has acknowledged recently that she could sometimes be "too hard" on staff members. Ms. Klobuchar's office said that "these anonymous stories — some of which are just plain ridiculous — do not overshadow the countless experiences of people on the senator's team who she has been so proud to work with." In other Washington news, Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, scheduled a vote for Tuesday on legislation that would end President Trump's emergency declaration for his promised border wall.
Donald Trump announced that he had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by which world leader?
Shinzo Abe Abe reportedly made the recommendation following an "informal request" by phone from the White House
U.S. and North Korea prepare for summit meeting
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, is en route to Hanoi, Vietnam, where he is scheduled to meet with President Trump on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the North's nuclear weapons program. Mr. Kim is taking the scenic route: a 2,800-mile train journey through China. South Korean officials indicated today that Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim could agree to declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War during their meeting. Go deeper: The discussions in Hanoi will be a test for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is seeking to extract a timetable for dismantling Mr. Kim's nuclear program while reconciling how the U.S. and the North define denuclearization. Our correspondents examined the challenges he faces.
Vatican's secret plans for priests who have children
The Roman Catholic Church has guidelines for what to do when clerics break celibacy vows and father children. There are no estimates of how many such children exist. A Vatican spokesman said that the "fundamental principle" of the internal document was the "protection of the child." He said the guidelines requested that the father leave the priesthood, but another official said that was "impossible to impose." How we know: The Vatican confirmed, apparently for the first time, the existence of the rules in response to a query from The Times. Related: The revelation comes as the Vatican prepares for a meeting this week about the church's child sexual abuse crisis at which victims will speak. Catch up: The Vatican announced over the weekend that Pope Francis had expelled Theodore McCarrick, a former cardinal and archbishop of Washington, from the priesthood. It appeared to be the first time that a cardinal had been defrocked for sexual abuse.
The R&B singer R. Kelly was charged in Chicago with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in connection with four victims.
The celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti said last week that he had obtained a video showing Mr. Kelly having sex with a 14-year-old girl and had given it to prosecutors in Chicago. On Thursday, two additional women came forward at a news conference in New York, above, organized by their lawyer, Gloria Allred, to accuse Mr. Kelly of sexual abuse and misconduct when they were minors. Mr. Kelly, trailed by accusations of sexual misconduct for two decades, has been under renewed scrutiny since the documentary "Surviving R. Kelly" was broadcast on Lifetime in January. He has denied engaging in any illegal conduct. Separately, a federal judge ruled that prosecutors led by Alexander R. Acosta — who is now the secretary of labor — violated federal law when they failed to tell victims about an agreement not to prosecute Jeffrey E. Epstein, a wealthy New York financier accused of molesting dozens of underage girls in a trafficking ring.
More than 100 Airbnb host accounts and 18 corporations were created to run an illegal hotel business in New York City that made more than $20 million in revenue. Above, a building where two apartments were illegally offered through Airbnb.
The crackdown on the empire last month was a milestone in the escalating battle between Airbnb and New York City, the company's largest market in the country. Airbnb condemned the exploitation of its platform, but the case shows how the site has given opportunists a new kind of hustle. We looked at the rise and fall of the elaborate real estate scheme.
Oscar gold for "Green Book"
The film about a white chauffeur and his black client in segregation-era America won best picture and two other Academy Awards on Sunday, at a ceremony that featured no host but a diverse set of winners. Rami Malek was named best actor for his role as Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody," and Olivia Colman took best actress for "The Favourite." Alfonso Cuarón won best director for "Roma." Here's a complete list of winners.
The 91st Academy Awards are Sunday night. Our awards season columnist offers his predictions for best picture, actress, actor and more.
We also look back on a year at the movies and break down the controversies, firestorms and outright debacles surrounding this year's best picture nominees.
Yet another school strike took place in which state, where teachers skipped classes for the second time within a year?
West Virginia West Virginia lawmakers scrapped a bill allowing public funding for charter schools hours after teachers staged a walkout to protest the legislation
Along Venezuela's border with Brazil, Venezuelan security forces fired on a group of indigenous Venezuelans protesting their government's determination to block aid deliveries from outside the country. At least two civilians were killed and more than a dozen wounded, according to an opposition lawmaker. Above, an ambulance at the scene.
The political opposition, led by Juan Guaidó, the head of the National Assembly who declared himself president last month, has vowed to forcibly bring in aid this weekend. Venezuela is racked by shortages of basic goods and essentials, especially medicine. The aid could be a lifeline for dozens of patients in critical condition or with serious chronic diseases who were interviewed by The Times. But they fear the political standoff will eclipse their emergencies.
In a unanimous decision this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution limits what?
The seizure of private property The justices ruled on Wednesday that the Constitution places limits on the ability of states and localities to take and keep cash, cars, houses and other private property used to commit crimes. The practice, known as civil forfeiture, is a popular way to raise revenue but it has been criticized across the political spectrum.
Heather Nauert withdrew from consideration for which position, citing family concerns?
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Ms. Nauert, a former "Fox & Friends" host who has been a spokeswoman at the State Department since 2017, was selected by President Trump in December to succeed Nikki Haley as ambassador to the United Nations. Ms. Nauert announced her withdrawal last Saturday because she had a nanny who was in the U.S. legally but did not have the proper work visa, according to people familiar with the process. Here's a look at the role of the ambassador and whether a prolonged vacancy poses problems for the U.S.
The standoff between President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and his political opponents has reached a head with disagreement over whether to allow tons of humanitarian aid, donated mostly by the United States, into Venezuela across the Colombian border.
Venezuela's opposition, led by Juan Guaidó, had an ambitious plan to peacefully import foreign aid in truck convoys, but it degenerated into deadly skirmishes Saturday along the country's borders. A smattering of supplies made it through, but most of them were blocked by armed loyalists of Mr. Maduro. Above, opposition supporters in the outskirts of Cúcuta, Colombia, on Saturday. Mr. Maduro has denied there is a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and called the American aid a "Trojan horse" aimed at overthrowing his government. Opposition leaders have described the delivery of the aid as part of a plan to oust Mr. Maduro. Patients in critical condition or with serious chronic diseases told us the political theater is eclipsing their needs — with dire consequences.
Pope Francis called "for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors," capping off an unprecedented meeting in Rome that yielded a first step to holding bishops accountable for sexual abuse in their diocese. Eradicating the scourge required more than legal processes and "disciplinary measures," Francis said, though his landmark speech offered no policy remedies.
Victims' advocates want uniform church laws to impose zero tolerance for priests who abuse minors and for the bishops who cover up for them, but Vatican officials say putting in place one world standard is virtually impossible.
Pope Francis defrocked Theodore McCarrick, a former cardinal, after he was found guilty of sexual abuse, the first time an American cardinal has been removed from the priesthood. Mr. McCarrick is also the former archbishop of which city?
Washington In a statement last Saturday, the Vatican said Mr. McCarrick had been dismissed after being found guilty of several crimes, including soliciting sex during confession and "sins" with minors and with adults, "with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power." Pope Francis convened a four-day meeting of Roman Catholic Church leaders this week to grapple with clerical child sexual abuse. Watch the video below to learn more.
A Coast Guard lieutenant and self-described white nationalist was plotting to kill a long list of prominent journalists and Democratic politicians, as well as professors, judges and what he called "leftists in general," federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson was arrested in Maryland on Feb. 15 on gun and drug charges, but prosecutors said those charges were just the "proverbial tip of the iceberg" and described Lieutenant Hasson as a "domestic terrorist." From an office in Coast Guard headquarters, he took illicit opiates and plotted terror attacks, the authorities said. A judge on Thursday ordered that Lieutenant Hasson remain in custody for at least 14 days while prosecutors consider further charges.
"His shoe broke."
That was former President Barack Obama's correct assessment from the stands after college basketball's biggest star, Zion Williamson, tumbled 30 seconds into the biggest game of the season, at Duke's arena, and sprained his knee, sidelining him for one to two weeks. One of his Nike shoes split open, above right, renewing questions about whether sneaker companies, which were at the heart of a federal fraud trial near the start of the season, do more harm than good in college sports.
Which landmark opened to the public at night this week, for the first time since 1925?
The Forbidden City The nighttime opening of the Forbidden City in Beijing was the first since the former home of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties became a museum, in 1925. The museum, which hasn't really been forbidden for decades, organized the openings to coincide with the annual Lantern Festival, commemorating the 15th day of the first month of the lunar year.
