Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.
1. Prosecutors in New York signaled to Donald Trump that he is likely to be charged with a crime.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office recently informed the former president’s lawyers that he could face criminal charges for his role in the payment of hush money to a porn star, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.
The prosecutors gave Trump until next week to testify before the grand jury that has been hearing evidence in the potential case — an offer that Trump will likely decline. Such offers almost always indicate that an indictment is close.
Trump’s lawyers could still meet with prosecutors in hopes of fending off charges, which center on a $130,000 payment to the porn star, Stormy Daniels, in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Any charge would mark the first indictment of a former American president, an unprecedented event that could upend the 2024 presidential race, in which Trump is considered a top candidate for the Republican nomination.
2. President Biden proposed $6.8 trillion in spending, setting the stage for a fraught budget battle.
The president’s budget seeks to double down on the power of the government by increasing spending on the military and a wide range of new social programs while also reducing future budget deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade.
Biden’s plan contains some $5 trillion in tax increases on high earners and corporations over the course of a decade, mostly to offset new spending programs intended to help middle class and the poor. It would also reinstate an expanded child tax credit, costing about $400 billion.
The president’s full blueprint has no chance of passing a Republican House, but is nonetheless an important first bid in the larger fight over the nation’s borrowing cap. Republican leaders were quick to denounce the budget, insisting on significant reductions in government spending before they agree to lift the debt limit.
In other news from Washington, Mitch McConnell, the 81-year-old Senate minority leader, had a concussion from a fall last night and was being treated at a hospital.
3. Russia launched its biggest aerial attack in weeks in Ukraine.
Moscow unloaded a barrage of weapons on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, including six of its newest hypersonic missiles — the most Russia has used in a single wave since the war began a year ago. Capable of traveling at 15 times the speed of sound, the missiles are almost impossible for Ukrainian defenses to shoot down.
The assault, which knocked out power in several Ukrainian cities and killed at least six people, was said to be in retaliation for an armed incursion last week by a pro-Ukrainian group in the Bryansk region of Russia. It also ended a multiweek stretch of relative calm in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, during which several American officials visited the city.
In other news from the war, the U.N.’s atomic watchdog denounced international complacency over safety at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, after Russian shelling again cut power today.
4. California is bracing for another powerful winter storm.
Back-to-back atmospheric rivers beginning today are expected to bring heavy snow to the elevated portions of the state and heavy rain to the rest of northern and central California. Forecasters warned of flooding, mudslides and avalanches, especially in areas that have already received near-record rainfall this winter. (Our tracker maps out where snowfall will be the heaviest.)
At the same time, piles of snow from a relentless winter storm have trapped some residents in the San Bernardino Mountains for two weeks.
Overseas, Cyclone Freddy, which has hit several countries in southeastern Africa and has caused 21 deaths, is set to become the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record.
5. Prosecutors said that a man was locked up for nearly 20 years because of a photo that officials knew wasn’t him.
Police in New York arrested Sheldon Thomas in 2004 after a witness chose him from a photo lineup as a suspect in a fatal shooting. That identification withstood scrutiny through an indictment, trial and appeals over more than 18 years. The problem: It was a picture of a different Sheldon Thomas.
In a new report, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office said that detectives, prosecutors and the original trial’s judge knew from the outset that the photo wasn’t actually of the man they wanted to arrest, but they proceeded anyway. Today, Thomas walked free, telling the court “I’ve waited a long time for this day to happen.”
6. Africa’s big gains in life expectancy could soon be erased.
Kenya and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa have been so successful in fighting H.I.V. and tuberculosis that average life spans there have increased by 10 years over the last two decades. But a new report by the World Health Organization is warning that this progress could be lost, possibly before the next decade is out.
Of greatest concern to health officials is the dramatic rise in diabetes, hypertension and other noncommunicable diseases in the region in recent years. These now account for half of hospital bed occupancies in Kenya and more than a third of deaths.
In other health news, several strains of the stomach bug are now resistant to standard antibiotics.
7. Why does poverty persist in America?
The Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist Matthew Desmond offers a new explanation in a Times Magazine story. His conclusion? The primary reason is that the poor in America are routinely exploited in the labor, housing and financial markets.
“The American poor have access to cheap, mass-produced goods, as every American does,” Desmond writes. “But that doesn’t mean they can access what matters most.”
8. As a film revives Elvis’s legacy, the Presleys fight over his estate.
The lauded biopic “Elvis” has rekindled interest in the Elvis brand, which today continues to take in more than $100 million a year with apparel and tickets to tour Graceland. Now, there’s a family battle underway to determine who gets to profit from the attention.
Elvis’s only child, Lisa Marie, died suddenly in January, leaving his granddaughter, the actress Riley Keough, as the sole trustee of his estate. However, Priscilla Presley, Elvis’s ex-wife who has long helped administer Elvis’s estate, is challenging the validity of Keough’s stake.
In other music news, when “The Phantom of the Opera” closes next month, it will end some of Broadway’s best orchestral gigs.
9. What to do tonight:
Bake: These chocolate hazelnut cookies are delightful two-bite treats.
Watch: We took a close look at scenes in eight of last year’s best movies.
Listen: Three new audiobooks dive deep into some of life’s biggest questions, including ones that involve longevity, paradise and inspiration.
Save: If you see cheese or butter on sale, buy it in bulk and freeze it for later.
Shop: Michelle Obama’s dressmaker released a ready-to-wear line.
Hunt: Which San Diego home would you buy with a $650,000 budget?
Exercise: We have some tips for overcoming anxiety at the gym.
10. And finally, the most popular houses from movies.
Have you ever been so amazed by the home of an on-screen character that you felt the need to seek out the real-life version?
To find the houses that movie fans are most curious about, a new list gathered the most commonly searched-for film houses online. The most popular include the “Twilight” house, in Portland, Ore., the “Father of the Bride” house in Pasadena, Calif., and the “Hocus Pocus” house in Salem, Mass.
Topping the list was the home where Macaulay Culkin fought off Joe Pesci and saved Christmas in “Home Alone.” However, Google Street View has blocked the Winnetka, Ill., home from view for the privacy of its residents.
Have an unforgettable night.
Brent Lewis compiled photos for this briefing.
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