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North Carolina, Jussie Smollett, Peter Tork: Your Friday Briefing

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Good morning,

We start today with a new vote in a House race in North Carolina, a high-profile defection from Venezuela’s government, and a look at the benefits and challenges of the Green New Deal.


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At a hearing in Raleigh, N.C., on Thursday, Mark Harris, the Republican candidate, said, “a new election is warranted.”Credit...Pool photo by Travis Long

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.

Go deeper: This week’s testimony illuminated the inner workings of a precise but amateurish operation that paid workers to collect absentee ballots.


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Alejandra Urquiola held her baby as her partner comforted their 1-year-old son in the emergency room of Central Hospital in San Cristóbal, Venezuela.Credit...Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

The country’s former intelligence chief, who is one of the government’s most prominent figures, turned against President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday, calling him a dictator with a corrupt inner circle of followers.

Hugo Carvajal, who retired from Venezuela’s intelligence service in 2012, also urged the military to abandon Mr. Maduro before a showdown with the opposition this weekend over the president’s blockade of humanitarian aid.

Related: To thwart the shipments, Mr. Maduro ordered the closing of Venezuela’s border with Brazil on Thursday, having already blocked air and sea traffic from three Caribbean islands. Patients whose lives depend on aid fear the political standoff is obscuring their crisis.


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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey introduced the Green New Deal during a news conference this month.Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York Times

The Green New Deal, a far-reaching proposal introduced by Democrats to tackle climate change and economic inequality, envisions creating millions of jobs by converting America’s energy infrastructure to supply 100 percent of the country’s electricity from renewable and zero-emissions sources.

It’s technologically feasible, several experts have said, though perhaps not within the 10-year timescale the plan sets out. The bigger challenge is finding the money and political will.

Reaction: Republicans have mocked the plan as a “socialist wish list.” Environmental activists have said its details and the hurdles it faces are less important than its ambition.

Explainer: We answered nine questions about the Green New Deal, which you can read here.


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The plan for Cornell Tech on New York’s Roosevelt Island was hatched a decade ago.Credit...Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Amazon’s sudden decision last week to abandon its plan for a campus in Queens is unlikely to stall New York City’s ascent in the technology sector.

One of our business reporters traces how the city became a magnet for coders and tech companies, by luck and by design. “The main resource in technology is smart people,” said one longtime tech entrepreneur. “The New York tech sector is succeeding largely because New York is succeeding.”

Another angle: Mayor Bill de Blasio has become a staunch critic of Amazon after the company called off its expansion plans. His stance could help him woo progressive Democrats if he decides to run for president next year.

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Credit...Ng Han Guan/Associated Press

Under the guise of free medical checkups in the western region of Xinjiang, the Chinese government has collected DNA samples, images of irises and other personal data from tens of millions of people.

Rights groups and activists say the effort is part of a vast campaign of oppression against Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups. American technology and expertise has helped.

Remaining in Syria: The White House has said that it plans to leave about 200 American troops in Syria, a concession to those who have argued that a complete withdrawal would risk returning key areas to the Islamic State.

Special counsel’s report: Robert Mueller is expected to deliver the results of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election to the Justice Department within weeks, two officials briefed on the preparations said. In an Op-Ed for The Times, the lawyer who drafted the special counsel regulations in 1999 suggests what to expect.

Jussie Smollett case: The “Empire” actor, who faces a felony charge of filing a false police report, returned to the TV show’s set after posting $100,000 bond on Thursday.

Deadly blaze in Bangladesh: A fire that killed at least 70 people started after a car powered by compressed natural gas exploded, setting off a lethal chain reaction.

From The Times: The U.S.-Mexico border is in the news a lot these days, so we’ve started an email newsletter, Crossing the Border. Every week for the next few months, we’ll bring you the stories of some of the millions of people who live along the border. Read the latest one and sign up.

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Credit...Sam Falk/The New York Times

Snapshot: Above, Sidney Poitier in front of the old Apollo Theater on 42nd Street in Manhattan in 1959. We’ve collected Times coverage of the actor, who turned 92 this week, as part of a project to digitize six million photographs in our archives.

In memoriam: Peter Tork was known as the goofy member of the Monkees, the 1960s made-for-TV band. He died on Thursday at 77.

Debate in college sports: Zion Williamson of Duke, who is expected to be the top pick in the N.B.A. draft this year, hurt his knee in a game this week when his shoe fell apart. His injury has raised questions about the amateur status of college athletes and the influence of shoe companies.

News quiz: Did you follow the headlines this week? Test yourself.

Late-night comedy: Trevor Noah had some advice for Jussie Smollett, who the police said had faked an attack because he was upset with his salary: “That’s not a good way to get a raise, people. I mean, call me old-fashioned, but whatever happened to just going into your boss’s office and blackmailing him with nudes?”

What we’re listening to: This podcast from Radiolab. Dan Saltzstein, our editorial director for special projects, writes: “I’m not a hockey fan, but I adored this moving tale about John Scott, a brawler (in hockey parlance, a goon) who was elected by fans to the All-Star Game — until the N.H.L. stepped in. This very large man became David, up against a corporate Goliath.”

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Credit...Romulo Yanes for The New York Times. Stylist: Vivian Lui

Cook: End the week with Italian flourless chocolate cake.

Watch: “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” is definitely, totally not stealing from “Mad Max.” The director, Mike Mitchell, discusses the movie’s version of the apocalypse.

See: “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark” is a barbed and booby-trapped comedy about representation and erasure. The Signature Theater Company’s revival is a Critic’s Pick.

Read: “How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States,” by Daniel Immerwahr, draws attention to islands and archipelagos too often sidelined in the national imagination. It’s one of the 10 new books we recommend this week.


Smarter Living: Beef is widely known as the most emissions-intensive food. Next in line (surprise, surprise) is dairy. By one estimate, the production of dairy products contributes about 3.5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions each year, so plant-based options can decrease your footprint. Soy, oat or pea milk make reasonable alternatives. And there are plenty of replacements for cheese and ice cream.

We also have tips on how to use software like free floor-plan apps and augmented-reality tools to sketch out remodeling ideas.

A reader recently asked us about a trader pictured at the New York Stock Exchange who looked familiar. The reader was right: Peter Tuchman, below, is one of the most photographed traders on the floor.

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The trader Peter Tuchman says his resemblance to Albert Einstein “surely brings a lot to the table” for photographers.Credit...Jeenah Moon/Reuters

“I think about Tuchman more than any other person when I think about the stock market,” said Jeenah Moon, a photographer who shoots the exchange, and, on occasion, Mr. Tuchman.

There are currently 233 active traders licensed with the exchange, but Ms. Moon usually sees a far smaller number at work. Among them, Mr. Tuchman, a broker since 1988, stands out.

In an email, Mr. Tuchman said that he “wears his emotions on his face.”

“I thrive off the adrenaline,” he wrote.

“I’m like a hurricane whirling its way through the floor,” he added. “And I love it, it’s the greatest job on earth.”


That’s it for this briefing.

Don’t forget: The Academy Awards are Sunday. Here are our columnist’s Oscar predictions.

See you next time.

— Chris


Thank you
Eleanor Stanford and James K. Williamson provided today’s break from the news. Remy Tumin, on the briefings team, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach us at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is about American women who have joined the Islamic State.
• Love “The Daily”? The team is beginning a weekly newsletter that uncovers how the podcast’s stories come together. Sign up here.
• Here’s today’s mini crossword puzzle, and a clue: Largest city in Nebraska (5 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.

A correction was made on 
Feb. 25, 2019

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this briefing misstated the number of people killed in a fire in Bangladesh. According to officials’ accounts at the time, the toll was at least 70, not 110.

How we handle corrections

Chris Stanford is based in London and writes the U.S. version of the Morning Briefing. He also compiles a weekly news quiz. He was previously a producer for the desktop home page and mobile site, helping to present The New York Times’s news report to readers. Before joining The Times in 2013, he was an editor and designer at The Washington Post and other news organizations. More about Chris Stanford

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