Wednesday, Dec 11, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering the articles of impeachment against President Trump, India’s attempts to tackle data privacy and the way the Chechen wars changed Russia.

By Melina Delkic

The New York Times

Articles of impeachment are unveiled

Democrats formally called for President Trump’s removal from office, charging him with abusing his power and obstructing Congress and asserting that he “ignored and injured the interests of the nation.”

The draft articles, spanning nine pages, accuse Mr. Trump of “corruptly soliciting” election assistance from the government of Ukraine in the form of investigations that would smear his Democratic political rivals. Read them for yourself.

Details: Democrats say Mr. Trump used two “official acts” as leverage: $391 million in security assistance for Ukraine, and a White House meeting for its new president.

The second article charges that Mr. Trump engaged in “unprecedented, categorical and indiscriminate defiance” by ordering officials not to comply with subpoenas for testimony and documents.

The White House response: The president’s press secretary accused Democrats of “forcing unfounded accusations down the throats of the American people.”

What’s next: The House Judiciary Committee could vote by Thursday to recommend the charges to the full chamber for final approval. If the House follows through next week, as expected, Mr. Trump could stand trial in the Senate early in the new year. It would take two-thirds of the Senate to convict Mr. Trump and remove him from office.

India wants to rein in data collection

The government is poised to pass its first major data privacy law, forcing companies like Amazon and Facebook to seek explicit permission for most uses of an individual’s personal data and making it easier for people to demand that their data be erased.

The measure would create a powerful agency to write rules, enforce them and settle disputes. But it has fewer restrictions on the government’s use of personal data — like the fingerprint and iris scans that are part of the Aadhaar national ID system and its detailed surveys of who receives government benefits.

Big picture: The measure brings India closer to China in its tight regulation of the internet. Increasingly, governments are writing their own rules for privacy, security and free speech, while offering protection for homegrown companies. It’s making it more difficult for multinational internet companies to operate freely across the world.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain visited a hospital in Penzance, England, in November as part of his election campaign. Pool photo by Dan Kitwood

Health care is a major factor in British elections

In the waning days of an otherwise sluggish election race, many British voters are having the dawning realization that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s vow to exit the E.U. could threaten the cherished British health system.

The National Health Service has already deteriorated under the watch of Mr. Johnson’s Conservative Party, with beds overflowing, waiting times swelling and nurse and doctor vacancies mounting.

The system’s precarious state has created a potent obstacle to Mr. Johnson’s campaign. Some polls show the health service is neck and neck with Brexit as most important issue to voters.

Misinformation: A photograph of a sick 4-year-old lying on the floor of an overcrowded hospital — an implicit criticism of the Conservatives’ N.H.S. funding — was subject to false claims that the episode was staged. (The hospital said it was true and issued an apology.)

In fact, false or misleading information is rampant ahead of Thursday’s election.

On the ground: Our reporters spoke with people across the country, including a farmer in Northern Ireland and a tech executive whose payroll relies on E.U. workers, about economic uncertainty and Brexit limbo.

If you have 7 minutes, this is worth it

How the Chechen war shaped Russia

The destroyed center of Grozny in January 1995. Anthony Suau

When the Russian Federation first went to war in the rebellious region of Chechnya 25 years ago today, it expected a swift victory. Instead, Russia was left humiliated, and tens of thousands of people were killed.

We look back at how war became a turning point that left Russia open to the ascent of Vladimir Putin, a former K.G.B. agent who vowed to restore order and avenge the defeat.

Here’s what else is happening

New Zealand: Why visitors were allowed to tour the mouth of an active volcano in New Zealand remains a major question after at least six people were killed in an eruption on Monday. More than 30 people were injured, many with severe burns.

The Philippines: President Rodrigo Duterte announced that military rule in the southern Philippines would soon end, two and a half years after he imposed it in response to a rebellion by Islamic State militants.

Jersey City shooting: At least six people, including at least one officer, were killed in Jersey City, N.J., on Tuesday after two people opened fire around a convenience store, officials said. It touched off a fight involving dozens of officers in a residential area just west of New York City.

France: Protesters again took to the streets to reject President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to overhaul the country’s pension system.

Chile: A plane with 38 people aboard that left an air base near the country’s southern tip went missing more than halfway to its destination in Antarctica. The crew was on its way to inspect a floating pipeline that helps keep the base powered.

Czech Republic shooting: A gunman killed six people after opening fire at close range in a hospital waiting room in the eastern city of Ostrava. The man believed to be responsible killed himself hours later as the police closed in.

Koen Van Weel/EPA, via Shutterstock

Snapshot: Above, Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar, in front of The Hague’s International Court of Justice on Tuesday, where she will defend the country as it faces genocide accusations. This week’s public hearings focus on whether the court should issue urgent orders to protect the half a million Rohingya still living in Myanmar.

Self-care: A Buddhist teacher offers five steps to quiet your mind and soothe your stress, especially around the hectic holiday season. Among them: acceptance. Welcoming difficult emotions instead of resisting them allows our minds to rest.

What we’re reading: This Guardian Q. and A. with Lucy Ellmann, the British-American author of the novel “Ducks, Newburyport.” She discusses, among other things, “when resilience appalls her” and how thankless and enraging parenthood is, writes Andrew LaVallee, an editor on our Books desk.

Now, a break from the news

Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Susan Spungen. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.

Cook: You can be eating these gingery chocolate cookies 30 minutes after you start measuring the cocoa powder. (And here are 11 more stunning cookies that will impress everyone you know.)

Watch: Jamar Roberts, the first resident choreographer at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York, wants to bring the world into his work.

Go: Our 52 Places traveler visited Perth and the Northern Rivers region of Australia, where he found natural (and fragile) beauty, as well as the tragic backdrop to devastating bush fires.

Smarter Living: Keep your emails concise and clear, and don’t forget the CC rule: People who are expected to reply go in the “to” field, and people not expected to reply in the “CC” field. Read our tips for digital etiquette.

And now for the Back Story on …

Ukraine and global nukes

Pull one thread of the news, and you can find a tapestry of history that leads right back to the present.

For instance: The U.S. impeachment inquiry has focused on the Trump administration’s delay of aid meant to help Ukraine deal with an assault by Russian militias in its east.

Some say the delay violated a 25-year-old agreement, the Budapest Memorandum. In it, Ukraine got reassurances of territorial sovereignty from Russia, the U.S. and Britain in exchange for giving up the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal — its inheritance from the breakup of the Soviet Union.

A destroyed missile silo near the town of Pervomaisk in Ukraine in 2001. Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its proxy war in eastern Ukraine are also considered violations of the memorandum, but repercussions were limited.

Still, the memorandum removed the final obstacle to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, a global limit on nuclear weapons. In practice, it kept the remains of the former Soviet arsenal in Russian control. At the time, that seemed safer than leaving them spread out.

Back to the present: The START treaty is set to lapse in 2020, and Russia and the U.S. have been discussing an extension, most recently on Tuesday, when President Trump met the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, at the White House.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Melina

Thank you
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Will Dudding, an assistant in the Standards department, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about China’s crackdown on Uighur Muslims.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Lines on a music score (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Lynsey Addario, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Times photographer, wrote about one of the most emotional assignments — and friendships — of her life: covering the Belgian Paralympic athlete Marieke Vervoort over three years, as she prepared to die by choice.