Wednesday, Nov 27, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering a new climate change report, a push for legal marijuana in New Zealand and the most influential films of the decade.

By Victoria Shannon

A gas flare at a Shell refinery in Norco, La. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A global backslide on emissions

Countries have failed to halt the rise of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions despite repeated warnings from scientists, according to a new United Nations report.

The result, the authors said, is that “deeper and faster cuts are now required.”

China and the United States, the world’s biggest polluters, were among those expanding their carbon footprints last year, according to the Emissions Gap Report.

Over all, greenhouse gas emissions have grown by 1.5 percent a year over the last decade. To stay within relatively safe limits, emissions must decline by 7.6 percent each year until 2030, the report warned.

Impact: Without those reductions, by midcentury the world may face more intense droughts, stronger storms and widespread food insecurity.

Quotable: “The summary findings are bleak,” the report said.

A rally in Hong Kong in October. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

China blames U.S. after election loss

In the wake of the pro-democracy movement’s electoral victory in Hong Kong, the Chinese government accused the U.S. of encouraging the unrest there as a way of containing China’s rise.

The state-run news media on Tuesday said that American politicians had “sinister intentions.”

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s leader, disputed the idea that the election results had broader implications but acknowledged that there appeared to be dissatisfaction with the extradition bill that prompted the continuing demonstrations.

The details: Pro-democracy candidates captured 389 of 452 elected seats, while Beijing’s allies held just 58 seats, down from 300.

Another angle: Taiwanese officials detained two executives of a Hong Kong-based company accused of acting as a front for Chinese intelligence agencies working to undercut democracy in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The accusations came from an asylum seeker in Australia.

Tukiri Cornell for The New York Times

New Zealand faces up to its social liberalism

As conservative populism rises in some leading democracies, New Zealand is rushing in the opposite direction.

Next year, the country will hold public referendums on legalizing assisted suicide and recreational marijuana, and lawmakers are considering a bill to decriminalize abortion.

The votes threaten to push generally conflict-averse New Zealanders into uncomfortable territory, and the outcomes are not assured even in a nation led by a progressive prime minister, Jacinda Ardern.

The opposition: The leader of the center-right National Party, Simon Bridges, has seized on the increasingly fractured tone of the public debate, and his party has maintained a lead over Ms. Ardern’s Labour Party in major polls.

If you have 10 minutes, this is worth it

An ominous future of too little water, or far too much

A flooded street in Mumbai in August. Bryan Denton for The New York Times

Over the past century in India, the number of days with “very heavy” rain has increased. At the same time, dry spells in between have gotten longer.

For a country that relies on rain for the vast share of its water, that combination is potentially ruinous. Climate change and misguided policies are upending the country’s relationship to a precious resource.

Here’s what else is happening

Albania: At least 22 people were killed and more than 650 injured in one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the country in decades. The 6.4-magnitude quake struck near Tirana, the capital.

Measles: Reported cases of the largely preventable disease jumped 300 percent in the first three months of 2019 compared with the same period last year, according to the World Health Organization. The Philippines was among the nations with the largest number of reported cases, with almost 44,000 so far this year in Manila, the capital.

Alibaba: The Chinese e-commerce giant raised $11.2 billion in Hong Kong, and its shares finished their first day of trading at $23.95, up 6.5 percent. It was Hong Kong’s largest stock offering since 2010.

Britain: The country’s chief rabbi cautioned voters against supporting the Labour Party in next month’s election, as he denounced the party’s handling of anti-Semitism in its ranks.

Mali: A midair collision of two helicopters killed 13 French soldiers, the deadliest single incident for the French Army in nearly four decades. The soldiers were part of a force fighting violent jihadism in the region.

Kevin M. Gill/NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

Snapshot: Above, the Great Red Spot of Jupiter, which is caused by rose-colored clouds caught in a giant storm. It has become smaller in recent decades, but scientists said that it was unlikely to disappear.

Koalas: Claims that koalas were “functionally extinct” spread online as fires raged in Australia. But the world authority on species extinction says that while the population is declining and vulnerable, it is not endangered, and some scientists warned that exaggeration can hurt conservation efforts.

“Fearless Girl”: A court fight is unfolding over the copy of New York’s iconic bronze statue that sits in Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia. Lawyers for the owners of the original argued this week that the replica, commissioned by a personal injury firm, was a trademark violation.

Skiing mecca: In recent years, the area around Mount Niseko Annupuri in Japan has become a magnet for international capital, lured by an average annual snowfall of 15 meters per year.

52 Places traveler: In his latest dispatch, our columnist visits the ruins of Hampi, left over from a once-thriving civilization in southern India.

What we’re reading: This Politico piece. Bill Wasik, the deputy editor of The Times Magazine, calls it a “truly unmissable piece of reporting and synthesis about Obama’s mind-set toward the 2020 primary.”

Now, a break from the news

Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.

Cook: Chicken thighs braised with apples and greens make for a hearty one-pot dinner.

Watch: “The Avengers,” “Frozen” and “Get Out” are among the 10 most influential films of the 2010s, according to our critics. (They also name their favorites.)

Read: Continuing our coverage of the past decade in culture, we examine a range of books on women’s anger from personal and political angles.

Smarter Living: Have a pet that tears, chews or otherwise ruins your stuff? These tips can help you keep your gear like new.

And now for the Back Story on …

Celery’s big moment

Celery — the subject of at least three food fads over the last 150 years — may finally be ready for a permanent starring role.

The vegetable, grown for centuries in the Mediterranean, became wildly popular in the late 19th century. Raw stalks were arranged in crystal vases on dinner tables created to show off the era’s “It” ingredient.

Linda Xiao for The New York Times

In the U.S., Dutch immigrants started growing the vegetable as early as 1874 near Kalamazoo, Mich., which was subsequently nicknamed Celery City. The seeds were disseminated across the country, and yet another celery craze ensued.

Fast-forward to 2018: “Last year, we had a huge spike in consumption because a Kardashian started juicing it and put it on her Instagram,” said Jake Willbrandt, a fifth-generation celery farmer in Decatur, Mich. (Dietitians say the juice is good for you, but is not a cure-all.)

Whether you’re looking to supplement your Thanksgiving spread or experiment with the neglected stalks in your fridge, here are three recipes — crunchy and fresh raw, bright and light blended into soup, or braised until silky — to showcase an occasionally overhyped vegetable hero.

That’s it for this time. The briefing staff is off for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and will return Monday. See you then.

— Victoria

Thank you
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Today’s Back Story was based on reporting by Alexa Weibel. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about the conspiracy theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 U.S. election.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Mount where Moses received the Ten Commandments (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The A.V. Club named The New York Times’s audio series “1619” one of the podcasts that defined the 2010s.