Impeachment, Michael Bloomberg, Black Friday: Your Weekend Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/10/briefing/impeachment-michael-bloomberg-black-friday.html

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

1. The impeachment inquiry is moving into a new phase of public hearings.

Following weeks of testimony behind closed doors, House investigators will begin holding public hearings on Wednesday with three senior U.S. diplomats involved in the Trump administration’s Ukraine policy.

They include Marie Yovanovitch, the ousted ambassador to Ukraine, whose House testimony opened the floodgates of the impeachment inquiry. She and others will appear despite directives from the White House for administration officials to defy Congress on such requests.

Many career diplomats are rallying behind officials who are standing up to the Trump administration. But the dissent has a cost.

Here are the latest impeachment developments.

The news quiz is on hiatus this week. Here’s the front page of our Sunday paper, the Sunday Review from Opinion and our crossword puzzles.

2. Michael Bloomberg is poised to enter a presidential race that has many voters anxious and searching for the perfect candidate. But do Democrats need yet one more option?

The former New York City mayor’s late entry is a manifestation of the Democratic angst that has been growing, particularly among moderate voters and party establishment figures, our 2020 team writes. Here’s where Mr. Bloomberg stands on the issues.

According to a new New York Times/Siena College poll of primary voters, Democrats in battleground states prefer a moderate presidential nominee. Here’s what else happened in the race this week.

3. Democrats won big in Virginia this week, turning the deep-red state to solid blue. It’s a new kind of suburbanization that is sweeping through politics.

The party now has full control of state government, in part because of decades of demographic change that have brought about a political realignment toward Democrats. Ghazala Hashmi, above, became Virginia’s first Muslim state senator.

In Kentucky, the governor’s race was tight. Gov. Matt Bevin, who trails his Democratic opponent by about 5,000 votes, requested a recanvass of voting machines and absentee ballots. Here’s what else happened on Election Day.

Next up: The governor’s runoff in Louisiana may be one of the purest tests of President Trump’s influence.

4. Yoga students and teachers are finally grappling with unwanted touch — and the darker history of yoga.

The hands-on teaching practices of some of yoga’s most celebrated gurus raise questions about consent. On the latest episode of “The Weekly,” our reporter spoke with women who have accused Krishna Pattabhi Jois, the renowned guru of Ashtanga yoga who died in 2009, of sexual advances under the guise of instruction.

In another hard-hitting investigation: Child sexual abuse photos and videos haunt victims into adulthood as criminals exploit search engines, social networks and cloud storage. A warning: This article includes graphic descriptions of abuse.

5. Two chapters of history reached milestones over the weekend.

It had long been a dream for Berliners to see the wall that divided them ripped open. And when it was, it was not the result of some geopolitical grand bargain, but human error and chance. We look back 30 years later. Above, breaking through the wall in 1989.

And in 1811, some 500 enslaved people in Louisiana revolted but were largely ignored by history. Two centuries later, an ambitious re-enactment brought their uprising back to life.

6. “I want to live American dreams. To live free. Freedom and respect. That’s the American dream.”

Ted was an interpreter for the U.S. military during the Iraq War. He’s been waiting since 2008 for his American visa. He’s one of 100,000 people affected by a Trump administration policy that has slowed down the processing of visas appropriated by Congress.

Ahead of Veterans Day, Phil Klay, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, looks at the history of war, immigration and what it means to be American in Opinion.

7. It is said in France, “Without bread, there is no more life.” But local bakeries are disappearing — and quickly.

When the 650 residents of La Chapelle-en-Juger lost their bakery two years ago, one local newspaper described it as “un drame,” or a tragedy, and it’s one that is being repeated in countless French villages. In place of bakeries, vending machines have begun dispensing baguettes, above.

The shift has come to symbolize the waning of the country’s rich village life.

In the village of St.-Vrain, about 30 miles south of Paris, two Australian chefs taught themselves to farm and are now growing vegetables for Paris’s best restaurants. A farm-to-table restaurant is next.

8. They bike to work, to the airport, to the hospital — even to their graves. That’s because Copenhagen’s legendary bicycle setup is the easiest way to get around.

Some 49 percent of all journeys to school and work now transpire by bicycle. For Danes, the bicycle acts as a liberator. And weather isn’t an issue: When it snows in Copenhagen, bike lanes are typically plowed first.

The region is innovating in other ways, too: Nordic wine. A warming climate is fueling efforts to create a commercial wine industry in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

9. Black Friday is less than three weeks away. Start packing.

The post-Thanksgiving sales frenzy isn’t just for gift-shopping, our Frugal Traveler writes. Travelers can find significant discounts on hotel stays, tours and even cruises. Here’s how to take advantage.

Speaking of Thanksgiving: A sous-vide machine may be your best sous chef. The kitchen tool, above, can make preparing the big meal much easier, whether you’re stressing over the turkey or looking for a way to cook and reheat potatoes, Melissa Clark writes.

10. And finally, check out our Best Weekend Reads.

We re-examined Joe Pesci’s acting career, made a case for taking down the Mona Lisa, and unpacked how the lead crisis in Flint, Mich., has prompted an increased demand for special needs services for students like Nakiya Wakes’s son, Jaylon, above.

For more ideas on what to read, watch and listen to, may we suggest these 12 new books, a glance at the latest small-screen recommendations from Watching, and our music critics’ latest playlist.

Mercury is putting on a special show Monday morning as it glides across the sun. The planet makes this transit only about 13 times a century.

Have a marvelous week.

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