New Year’s Eve, Iran, Donald Trump: Your Weekend Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/31/briefing/new-years-eve-iran-donald-trump.html

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Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead.

1. The last day of 2017 has arrived. Happy New Year’s Eve!

Some U.S. cities have scrapped outdoor celebrations because of the extreme cold. But in New York City, the ball will drop in Times Square as planned.

Ahead of tonight’s reveling, Britons were warned by the chief of the National Health Service that “N.H.S. doesn’t stand for ‘National Hangover Service.’”

And one of our most read articles this weekend? It’s an opinion article titled “America, Can We Talk About Your Drinking?”

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2. As President Trump navigated his first year in the Oval Office, he seldom asked how other presidents handled various twists and turns.

Our chief White House correspondent examined the ways Mr. Trump has defied the conventions established by his predecessors, and looked at which of his actions may have a lasting impact on the office.

Some of Mr. Trump’s most drastic breaks with precedent have come in the realm of foreign policy, where traditional views hold very little sway with the administration.

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3. A clearer picture of what set off the Russia inquiry has begun to form.

While drinking in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, above, a foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, told an Australian diplomat that Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton.

Australian officials are said to have passed that information to the U.S.

In an impromptu 30-minute interview, President Trump insisted 16 times that there had been “no collusion” with Russia. Our reporter responded to criticism of how he handled the interview.

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4. A fire that killed 12 people in the Bronx on Thursday left a soot-black scar on the heart of Belmont, the working-class neighborhood where it happened.

It was the deadliest fire in New York City in more than a quarter-century. Officials said it was ignited by a 3-year-old playing with a stove.

A soldier who was trying to rescue others, four members of a single family, and a grandmother and her 8-month-old granddaughter were among the victims.

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5. Two protesters were reportedly killed in Iran as demonstrations that began over economic issues spread across the country.

The interior minister warned that protesters would “pay the price” for what he called their unlawful actions.

About 4,000 people turned out for pro-government rallies in Tehran, above.

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6. As the U.S. reckons with an outpouring of sexual misconduct cases, the story of a former news intern in Tokyo provides a stark example of how sexual assault remains a subject to be avoided in Japan.

We spoke with Shiori Ito, above, who has published a book about her experience, and the journalist she has accused of rape.

In the U.S., 615 men told us about their behavior in the workplace: About one-third said they had done something in the past year that would qualify as objectionable behavior or sexual harassment.

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7. Christmas may be over, but the shopping season still has some fight left in it.

A burst of consumer activity in the last week of the year has some stores calling this period, which typically represents a lull in the shopping calendar, the 13th Month or the Second Season.

Apple, a retail force in its own right, is offering discounts on replacement batteries after accusations that it slowed down old iPhones.

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8. Two hundred people being paid for no reason.

That’s only one of the factors at play in explaining why, mile for mile, new transit infrastructure in New York can cost seven times the global average. Above, construction on the Second Avenue line.

We asked experts what it would take to fix the subway: Here are their suggestions.

Those who travel on the city’s streets, not below them, may soon face fees under a congestion pricing plan that would affect drivers.

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9. The year that has been is almost the year that was. In our 2017 Year in Review, Times critics and editors weigh in on the best of the year gone by and size up the moments that mattered most.

Another year-end insight: Here is what love, sadness and anger look like in five countries, according to their most frequently used GIFs.

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10. Finally, just because past resolutions might not have worked out exactly as planned, that doesn’t mean Jan. 1 isn’t as good a day as any to embark on a journey of self-improvement.

Our Smarter Living team put together their best advice on how to make, and keep, resolutions.

More than half of all resolutions fail, but this year, they don’t have to be yours.

Have a great week, and best wishes for the year ahead.

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