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Good morning.
Here’s what you need to know:
Beware the “bomb cyclone”
• Icy winds and heavy snow are expected today in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast as a powerful winter storm that delivered rare snowfall to Florida heads north. Our live briefing has the latest.
The storm is being called a “bomb cyclone” for its sudden drop in atmospheric pressure (our video explains). Flights have been canceled, and schools have been closed up and down the East Coast.
• The bitterly cold weather has heating-oil providers working overtime. Power generators are switching from natural gas to coal and petroleum to meet demand.
Is a ‘Bomb Cyclone’ as Scary as It Sounds?
Bomb cyclones have been referred to as “winter hurricanes.” Our science reporter explains how they really work.
By DREW JORDAN and CHRIS CIRILLO on Publish Date January 3, 2018. Photo by Bill Sikes/Associated Press. Watch in Times Video »Bannon has “lost his mind,” Trump says
• President Trump has broken sharply with Stephen Bannon, his onetime chief strategist, after Mr. Bannon was quoted in a new book disparaging the president’s children and accusing Donald Trump Jr. of treason.
“Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency,” Mr. Trump said in a written statement. “When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.” Read the rest here.
Continue reading the main storyOur White House correspondents note: “Assuming it lasts — and with Mr. Trump, nothing is ever certain — the schism could test whether he or Mr. Bannon has more resonance with the conservative base that has sustained the president through a tumultuous tenure marked by low poll numbers.”
• Separately, Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to try to limit the scope of the special counsel’s Russia investigation.
Voter fraud panel is shut down
• President Trump abruptly dissolved a White House commission he had charged with investigating voter fraud after he claimed, without evidence, that widespread irregularities had cost him the popular vote.
He cast the decision as a result of continuing legal challenges, but added that the Department of Homeland Security would continue the investigative work.
• No state has uncovered significant evidence of fraud, and election officials, including many Republicans, have strongly rejected Mr. Trump’s claim.
Major computer flaws are discovered
• The security problems, called Meltdown and Spectre, could allow hackers to steal data from mobile devices, personal computers and servers running in so-called cloud computer networks.
Meltdown affects nearly all microprocessors made by Intel, whose chips are used in more than 90 percent of the servers underpinning the internet. Spectre affects most processors but is more difficult to exploit, researchers say.
• The advice for computer users is longstanding: Update your software.
Koreas open dialogue, and the U.S. watches
• This week’s overture between South Korea and the North is viewed — from the sidelines — with deep suspicion in Washington.
Trump administration officials said on Wednesday that talks should be limited to North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics, which will be held in South Korea next month.
• Diplomats say it is important for Seoul to be in lock step with Washington. “It is fine for the South Koreans to take the lead,” said a former adviser in the Obama administration. “But if they don’t have the U.S. behind them, they won’t get far with North Korea.”
Koreas End Longstanding Communications Freeze
North and South Korea have reopened a border hotline after nearly two years of radio silence.
By NATALIE RENEAU and ROBIN STEIN on Publish Date January 3, 2018. Photo by Yonhap, via Associated Press. Watch in Times Video »
Listen to ‘The Daily’: Trump vs. Bannon
Stephen Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, disparaged Mr. Trump and his children in a forthcoming book. The president responded, “He not only lost his job, he lost his mind.”
Business
• The party’s over at the car lot. U.S. auto sales fell 1.8 percent in 2017, ending seven years of growth.
Tesla announced that production of its new electric vehicle, the Model 3, was far behind schedule.
• Russia and Venezuela are developing their own virtual currencies, hoping to sidestep U.S. sanctions.
• Spotify, the streaming music giant, plans to go public.
• U.S. stocks were up on Wednesday. Here’s a snapshot of global markets today.
Market Snapshot View Full Overview
Smarter Living
Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.
• It’s never too early to encourage children to be givers, not takers.
• If you’re sick, try to stay away from the office. If you can’t, here’s what to do.
• Recipe of the day: For a lasagna night, use broccoli rabe instead of meat.
Noteworthy
• A city of addict entrepreneurs
The drug crisis has turned countless recovered addicts into businesspeople: They get clean, open their own clinics, and sometimes take over the neighborhood.
It’s the third part of our series on the industry of addiction treatment.
• Virginia’s tiebreaker drawing is back on
The name of the winner in a cliffhanger of a state House race is to be plucked from a bowl in Richmond today.
But it might not be the last word.
• Want to be happy?
Think like an old person.
So says one of our reporters, who spent years following the lives of six New Yorkers over 85. Here’s what he learned.
• In memoriam
Fred Bass transformed his father’s small used-book store, the Strand, into a Manhattan emporium with the slogan “18 Miles of Books.” He was 89.
The Evening Briefing by Email
Get a nightly rundown of the day's top stories delivered to your inbox every Monday through Friday.
• Best of late-night TV
The comedy hosts were intrigued after President Trump said he would announce awards for “dishonest” and “corrupt” members of the media.
• Quotation of the day
“Now that he is on his own, Steve is learning that winning isn’t as easy as I make it look. Steve had very little to do with our historic victory, which was delivered by the forgotten men and women of this country.”
— President Trump, responding to Stephen Bannon calling Mr. Trump’s eldest son “treasonous.”
Back Story
A new year can bring many changes, but 1999 saw what The Times’s Op-Ed page called the “most audacious gamble in the history of currency”: the introduction of the euro.
Almost 40 years in the works, the euro was toasted with Champagne by finance ministers in the 11 countries where it was introduced.
Though euro bank notes and coins wouldn’t be released until 2002, eurozone banks were required to use the currency in transactions as soon as markets opened on Jan. 4, 1999.
Fears of technical glitches meant banks brought in employees en masse: In Frankfurt, one bank had 3,200 people working to reprogram its computers.
London had 30,000 workers on trading floors and in back offices, even though Britain wasn’t even adopting the euro.
The switch took more than a year of planning, months of rewriting software, and full-scale dress rehearsals.
But the reward for the banking world’s tireless efforts was a smooth debut when world markets opened for business.
Others received something more concrete: For sharing a birthday with the new currency, each baby born in France on New Year’s Day that year received 100 euros from the Finance Ministry.
Anna Schaverien contributed reporting.
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