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Biden pardons, NATO warning and a new chess record

 
Today's politics story

Biden sets new clemency record, hints at more

What happened
President Joe Biden yesterday commuted the sentences of 1,499 people and granted 39 pardons. The White House called it the "largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history."

Who said what
Those whose sentences were commuted had been released from prison to home confinement during the Covid-19 pandemic. They have "successfully reintegrated" into their communities and "shown that they deserve a second chance," Biden said, and many would have received "lower sentences if charged under today's laws, policies and practices." This group of convicts had been of "particular concern" to advocates, The New York Times said, as some congressional Republicans are pushing legislation that "would have forced them to return to prison."

The 39 pardons, which fully wipe out convictions, went to people convicted of nonviolent crimes, particularly drug offenses. All have shown a "commitment to making their communities stronger and safer," Biden said. "None are household names," USA Today said.

After pardoning his son Hunter before he was sentenced for gun and tax offenses, Biden has been under pressure to pardon "broad swaths of people, including those on federal death row, before the Trump administration takes over in January," The Associated Press said. Prior to yesterday's announcement, Biden had been "relatively constrained in his use of the presidential act of forgiveness," the Times said.

What next?
Biden "said he would continue to review clemency petitions in the coming weeks," The Wall Street Journal said. Commuting all federal death sentences to life in prison is one of the moves "under active discussion." Donald Trump "staunchly supports capital punishment," The Washington Post said.

 
 
Today's INTERNATIONAL story

NATO chief urges Europe to arm against Russia

What happened
New NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned Europe yesterday that Russia's Vladimir Putin wants to "wipe Ukraine off the map" and might come for other parts of Europe next. "It is time to shift to a wartime mindset," Rutte said at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels, in his first major speech since taking NATO's helm in October.

Who said what
Putin is "preparing for long-term confrontation" and "trying to crush our freedom and way of life," Rutte said. Russia is spending 7-8% of GDP on defense, he said, and European nations will have to spend "a lot more" than the NATO target of 2% to blunt Putin's expansionist aggression.

Putin, meanwhile, was "scrambling to save face" after his "humiliating loss" of influence in Syria, The Washington Post said. Russia's failure to save ally Bashar al-Assad's regime dealt a "stunning blow" to Putin's key goal of "forging Russia into a great world power competing globally with the United States."

What next?
President-elect Donald Trump reiterated Sunday that he would "absolutely" consider pulling the U.S. from NATO if America's military allies were not "paying their bills" or "treating us fairly." Rutte's reputation as a "Trump whisperer" is "a very big reason he was chosen as NATO secretary general," the BBC said.

 
 
Today's CULTURE Story

Indian teen is youngest world chess champion

What happened
Gukesh Dommaraju, 18, became the youngest chess world champion when he unseated China's Ding Liren at the FIDE World Chess Championship in Singapore yesterday. The Indian prodigy broke a record set by Russia's Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he first won the title in 1985.

Who said what
Dommaraju has "long been considered a rising star in the chess world after he became a chess grandmaster at 12," The Associated Press said. He won the right to challenge Ding, 32, for the title when he triumphed in the Candidates tournament in April.

The 14-game series was tied after 13 matches, and game 14 "was heading for a draw" when "Ding blundered on move 55" and Dommaraju "exploited the error to clinch the title," the BBC said. "I was totally in shock when I realized I made a blunder," Ding said afterwards. "When I realized that I was winning," Dommaraju said, "it was probably the best moment of my life."

What next?
Dommaraju is "obviously an extraordinary talent," but he's no "lone ranger," the BBC said. "India has over 85 grandmasters, many of whom are not yet of driving age," and its "robust chess ecosystem" is "perhaps the best in the world."

 
 

It's not all bad

An upside of the fire that almost destroyed Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019 was that it allowed archaeologists to uncover a treasure trove of hidden artifacts. The excavation, led by the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives, found more than 100 graves, 1,000 statue fragments and parts of a 13th century rood screen adorned with gothic features and Passion of Christ reliefs. Early construction materials, including oak beams from the 12th century, were also discovered. Researchers suspect more significant artifacts remain buried.

 
 
Under the radar

Russian authorities had for many decades exonerated people who were wronged during the Soviet era. Now, Vladimir Putin has not only abandoned this program but put it into reverse, deciding Josef Stalin's victims "were guilty after all," said The Atlantic. Though Putin's move has puzzled many outside Russia, said the Financial Times, it's part of his drive to rewrite his nation's history — an "insatiable itch to place memory of the Russian past under official control." 

Starting in the 1950s and gathering pace in the '80s and '90s, more than 3.5 million people who were arrested, tortured and sentenced by the "now-extinct totalitarian regime" were acquitted, often posthumously, said Leon Aron at The Atlantic. And in 2013, Putin seemed to be on board with this philosophy. He spoke of the "dark period" of Stalin, condemning his "personality cult and mass violations of the law" with "repression and camps."

Now Putin's government is canceling exonerations and even reinstating dropped charges — effectively "de-exonerating" people, including Stalin's victims. The "all-important context" for this is Putin's "assault on Ukrainian nationhood" and his "crackdown on dissent at home" — Ukrainian and the Baltic nationalists, as well as Russian "bandit groups" that resisted Soviet rule, are thought to be among those being targeted, the Financial Times said. The program "risks reopening painful wounds" in Russian society and is "tempting" people to draw comparisons between Putin and Stalin.

Nevertheless, this "historical revisionism" has become an "indispensable feature" of his rule, said The Atlantic. For as long as he's in power, his "war on memory" will only "broaden and deepen."

 
 
On this day

December 13, 1642

Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to discover New Zealand, named after the Dutch province Zeeland. Tasman originally thought he had found a new continent before realizing New Zealand was an island. Today, he is mostly remembered as the namesake for the Australian island of Tasmania.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

"Syrians scour morgues and prisons" in "a grim search after Assad's ouster," the Los Angeles Times says on Friday's front page. American Travis Timmerman is among the "thousands that were freed" alive, but "at grim Syrian prison: '99% of them are dead,'" The Wall Street Journal says. There is also "a race to find missing chemical weapons" in Syria, The Washington Post says, adding that "Assad's fall deals blow to Putin's global aims." Donald Trump's "pick as Mideast adviser isn't tycoon he's reputed to be," The New York Times says.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Fight for their right to party

Residents of a senior housing complex in the Netherlands have "risen up in revolt" against a ban on hard liquor, said Dutch News. This month, the Oud Sluys apartment complex in Maassluis prohibited "strong drink" from the communal living area, including during bingo nights (wine, beer and cider are still allowed). In response, several outraged residents put up banners with slogans declaring: "In charge of my own glass," "Stop being patronizing" and "Talk with us, not about us."

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Chas Newkey-Burden, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Samuel Corum / Sipa / Bloomberg via Getty Images; Omar Havana / Getty Images; Roslan Rahman / AFP via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images