Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Tuesday. |
 | | Donald Trump declined to speak before or after his arraignment today.Dave Sanders for The New York Times |
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1. Donald Trump was charged with 34 felonies. |
Prosecutors in a Manhattan courtroom accused the former president of unlawfully covering up a potential sex scandal in an effort to influence the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump, the current front-runner for the 2024 G.O.P. nomination, pleaded not guilty. |
A trial may not be scheduled for months — and is not guaranteed to happen at all — as prosecutors and Trump's lawyers argue over the merits of the case and what evidence can be presented to a jury. |
The day's events were a remarkable spectacle: Trump's 11-vehicle motorcade arrived at the courthouse as helicopters circled overhead and protesters, police and press crowded the streets. While in custody, he was fingerprinted like any felony defendant, but unlike others he was not handcuffed and his mug shot was not taken. |
Trump, who was visibly angry as he entered the courtroom, declined to speak and immediately left to fly home to Florida. He is expected to deliver remarks from his Mar-a-Lago resort at 8:15 p.m. |
 | | The Finnish flag was raised in front of NATO's headquarters today.John Thys/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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2. Finland joined NATO, dealing a blow to Russia. |
The move represents a strategic defeat for Vladimir Putin, who has made blocking NATO expansion a goal of his leadership. Finland agreed to drop its military nonalignment and applied to join NATO after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year. |
Also, Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained in Russia last week, appealed his arrest. |
 | | Daniel Kelly, left, a conservative, is running against Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal.Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times |
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3. Pivotal elections are taking place in Wisconsin and Chicago. |
The Wisconsin race, which will fill a seat on the state Supreme Court, is probably the most important American election this year: The victor will be able to almost single-handedly determine the fate of abortion rights in the state and whether Republican supermajorities remain intact. My colleague Reid Epstein, reporting from Waukesha, has the latest. |
Today's other big election will determine the mayor of the country's third-largest city. Paul Vallas, a white former public school executive who has called for a crackdown on crime, is facing off against Brandon Johnson, a Black county commissioner who wants to expand social programs. If the race is close, it could be days before the winner is known. |
 | | Baseball-size hail was reported in Illinois this afternoon.NOAA |
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4. A volatile storm system is threatening the South and Midwest. |
The severe weather comes just days after tornadoes tore through the center of the country and blizzard conditions lashed the north, damaging many of the same states that face rough conditions again today. |
 | | China characterized its review of Micron as a "normal regulatory measure."Visual China Group, via Getty Images |
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5. A U.S. chip maker was ensnared in China's drive to become technologically self-sufficient. |
China's regulators announced last week a cybersecurity probe into Micron Technology, a top American chip maker. The move was as retaliation against the U.S. over its campaign to sever China's access to high-end chips. |
The scrutiny of Micron could have wide-ranging ramifications for other foreign businesses in China. One expert said she expected companies to reassess whether it was still worth operating in a market as difficult as China's. |
In other economic news, new data showed that demand for U.S. workers eased in February, a sign that the red-hot labor market is slowly cooling off. |
 | | Runway AI |
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6. An A.I.-generated video could represent the next big leap. |
New video-generation systems could speed the work of moviemakers and other digital artists, but it could also be used to spread misinformation, making it even harder to tell what's real on the internet. |
In other tech news, British regulators fined TikTok $15.9 million, saying that the video-sharing app allowed underage children to access the platform. |
 | | William Spotted Eagle, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, shot his first bison in Yellowstone last month. |
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7. Hunters killed 1,150 bison in Yellowstone over the last four months. |
State and federal officials sanctioned the mass killing in an effort to halt the spread of a bison disease to livestock. After an unusually harsh winter, the herd of roughly 6,000 bison had been migrating out of the park to lower elevations. |
The record-breaking scope of the culling has generated more criticism than previous hunts; some said the bison posed a lesser threat than officials claimed. |
Also a factor: Hunting bison is considered by some Native American tribes to be a centerpiece of their culture and history. "It gives us an opportunity to talk about who we are and where we come from," said Jeremy Red Star Wolf, of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. |
 | | Pablo Amargo |
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8. What's the right age for retirement? |
When the national retirement age was first set at 65 in 1935, less than 60 percent of American adults lived until that age. Now, as people live longer, experts are beginning to question whether the current standard — which has only slightly crept up to 67 for those born after 1960 — really makes sense. |
Heath experts we spoke to agreed that, from a mental and physical standpoint, retirement ages in the 60s are outdated. Americans who are healthy at age 50 can now expect to have roughly 23 more years free of disability, and cognition is often maintained well into the 70s. However, experts said other factors like equity and quality of life should also be considered. |
 | | David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. |
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Listen: At 150, Sergei Rachmaninoff's music is here to stay. |
 | | Karsten Moran for The New York Times |
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10. And finally, scientists want to bust the myth that moderate drinking is beneficial. |
For nearly 100 years, people have been led to believe that low levels of drinking — especially a glass or two of red wine a night — could be better for your health than not drinking at all. But a review of the data suggests that's not true. |
A new, comprehensive study of almost five million adults found the benefits of moderate drinking to be negligible, and the risks potentially significant. The report, based on more than 40 years of research, warns that the risks of dying prematurely increase significantly for women who drink 25 grams of alcohol a day — less than two standard drinks — and for men who drink 45 grams. |
| Sarah Hughes compiled photos for this briefing. |
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