Christopher Wray, the F.B.I. director, told bureau employees today that he would resign before Donald Trump took office in January. In his address, Wray said he believed the move was “the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray.”
Wray still had more than two years left of his 10-year term, a length that Congress established in part to distance the bureau from partisan politics. But Trump announced last month that he planned to replace Wray, whom he said he was “very unhappy with,” with a longtime loyalist, Kash Patel. Trump greeted Wray’s announcement by declaring it “a great day for America.”
Wray, whom Trump appointed in 2017 after he fired James Comey, oversaw one of the most consequential and tumultuous periods in the agency’s history. His bureau juggled high-profile investigations of political figures, including Trump and President Biden, along with mass shootings, cyberattacks and threats from geopolitical rivals like China, Iran and Russia.
His apparent successor could not be more different. Patel, a former federal prosecutor and public defender, is a fierce critic of the F.B.I. and has vowed to fire its leadership and root out the president-elect’s perceived enemies in what he calls the “deep state.”
In other politics news:
Several top colleges warned international students to return to campus before Trump took office.
Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said she would not decide whether to endorse Pete Hegseth for defense secretary until he went through a thorough vetting.
The Biden administration is looking to reinforce U.S.-China ties before Trump’s return to office.
Trump has vowed to deport millions of people. Experts say he will need jails and sanctuary cities to help.
This year, the pre-election polls got the big stories right.
Suspect’s notes described motive for killing of C.E.O., police said
Luigi Mangione, who was charged this week with murder in the fatal shooting of a health insurance executive, was arrested with a notebook that detailed plans for the shooting.
“What do you do? You wack the C.E.O. at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention. It’s targeted, precise, and doesn’t risk innocents,” was one passage in the notebook, police said.
The executive who was killed, Brian Thompson, was laid to rest at a private funeral service in his Minnesota hometown. He was remembered as a devoted father to his two sons.
Syrians search for the disappeared
For over a decade, tens of thousands of people in Syria were tortured and killed in President Bashar al-Assad’s vast network of prisons. After he fell, thousands of people searched Sednaya, a notorious prison, for loved ones. My colleagues went inside.
The leader of the rebel force that overthrew Syria’s government promised to hold accountable anyone involved in the torture or killing of prisoners. But the rebels face a struggle to uphold the rule of law while seeking retribution. Here’s the latest.
In related news, President Biden’s two top national security officials left today for trips to the Middle East in a diplomatic scramble to discuss the future of Syria.
A.D.H.D. diagnoses are surging among older Americans
Over the last 20 years, clinicians have increasingly recognized that symptoms for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or A.D.H.D., can linger into adulthood.
Now, with the rise of telemedicine and changing attitudes about mental health treatment, new A.D.H.D. diagnoses are surging among older Americans. Many say they are relieved to finally have an explanation after decades of struggle.
More top news
Economy: U.S. consumer prices rose 2.7 percent in the year through November, slightly faster than in the previous month.
Energy: Exxon is designing a natural gas plant with carbon-capture technology to directly power data centers.
Business: After a judge blocked its $25 billion merger with Kroger, the Albertsons grocery chain backed out of the deal and sued its rival.
Britain: The government said it would ban the use of puberty blockers for people under 18 except in clinical trials.
California: Firefighters began to contain a fire that erupted in Malibu late Monday night and has burned nearly 4,000 acres.
North Carolina: After cloaking a bill that strips key powers from Democrats as hurricane aid, the Republican-led legislature overrode the governor’s veto to pass it.
Shipping: Attacks by Houthi insurgents in Yemen on vessels in the Red Sea have forced freighters to a much longer route around the southern tip of Africa.
Immigration: Under President Biden, more than two million immigrants per year have entered, the largest surge in U.S. history.
Sudan: Famine and ethnic cleansing stalk the country. Yet the gold trade is booming, enriching generals and propelling the civil war.
Crime: Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged two star luxury real estate brokers and their brother with participating in a sex-trafficking conspiracy.
Sports: Bill Belichick agreed to a deal to become the University of North Carolina’s football coach.
TIME TO UNWIND
The legend of Maria Callas continues
Maria Callas has managed to achieve a cultural reach far surpassing what one might expect of a 20th-century opera star. Today, Netflix released a biopic about her, starring Angelina Jolie.
Her power extended well beyond her voice. Callas’s au courant hairstyles and her haute couture fashions helped establish her as the cultural icon she remains today.
For more: We invited Jolie to the Metropolitan Opera to watch the performance and talk about Callas.
More than 100 miles of forest couldn’t keep these tigers apart
Amur tigers, the world’s largest big cats, are endangered. In an effort to save the species, a group of scientists released a pair of orphaned cubs into the wild in a remote corner of Russia’s far east. What they created instead was an unlikely love story.
The tigers, Boris and Svetlaya, were released more than 100 miles apart with the goal of expanding the distribution of released tigers as much as possible. But eventually, Boris walked the entire distance, almost in a straight line, to Svetlaya. Six months later, Svetlaya gave birth to a litter of cubs.
Dinner table topics
Nicole Kidman: We talked to the actress about “Babygirl,” her mother’s death and women who have unfulfilled lives.
Eating out: These are the best new restaurants in New York City.
Modern Love podcast: Dating apps stink. A.I. clones are making them even weirder.
Grandpa shoes: The French shoemaker Mephisto is suddenly something it never dreamed of being: cool.
WHAT TO DO TONIGHT
Cook: This sticky toffee pudding is among the best low-stress holiday desserts.
Watch: Check out our critics’ favorite science fiction, horror and international films of 2024.
Read: Lutz Seiler’s “Star 111" is one of the best new historical novels.
Create: These Danish handmade paper decorations bring holiday cheer.
Style: Our critic offers guidance on wearing corduroy.
Shop: Wirecutter recommends gifts for people who are always cold.
Move: You don’t have to be injured to benefit from physical therapy.
Play: Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all our games here.
ONE LAST THING
The characters are fictional. The bacon is real.
During every performance of “Our Town,” the Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder’s 1938 play, two pounds of bacon are fried just offstage. The scent is blown into the crowd to heighten a breakfast scene.
The production first tried to recreate the smell with a synthetic fragrance, like the heliotrope and vanilla scents they use at other points during the show, but quickly realized that wasn’t good enough. So the head of props buys 16 pounds of bacon every other week, and the cast eats BLTs every Wednesday.
Have an aromatic evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
Vi Nguyen was our photo editor today.
We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.