Friday Briefing: Fifty-one guilty verdicts

Plus, thousands of U.S. troops in Syria.

View in browser|nytimes.com December 20, 2024 By Natasha Frost Good morning. We're covering the end of the rape trial that horrified France and the latest from Syria. Plus: Catch up on the year in viral moments. Gisèle Pelicot leaving the courthouse in Avignon, France, yesterday. Lewis Joly/Associated Press 51 guilty verdicts, and a message of hope In a packed courtroom in Avignon, France, all 51 of the men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was unconscious were found guilty yesterday. The trial has convulsed France and transformed the woman at its center into a feminist icon for her bravery in allowing the case to be tried publicly. Her husband, Dominique Pelicot, 72, who admitted to drugging her for years, was the only defendant to get the maximum sentence: 20 years. The rest were given prison terms that mostly ranged from six to nine years. See details of the sentencing. After it was over, Gisèle Pelicot stepped outside the courthouse, where hundreds of her supporters cheered and held up signs of appreciation. She said she had never regretted her decision to make the trial public. "I am now confident in our ability to seize a future in which women and men can live in harmony, respect and mutual understanding," she said. Catch up: Here is a timeline of events in the case, starting with the Pelicots' marriage in 1973 and leading up to the arrests of 2020 and 2021. Analysis: Gisèle Pelicot's image has become a symbol of female strength around the world, our chief fashion critic writes. From Opinion: The trial opened up an overdue conversation about sexual violence in a country where the response to the #MeToo movement was decidedly mixed, Megan Clement writes from Paris. American military personnel in northeastern Syria in September. Delil Souleiman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Thousands of U.S. troops are in Syria Two thousand American troops are in Syria, more than twice the number that officials had cited for months, according to Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary. They are there on a "temporary" basis, he said, to support the "core official deployed forces" involved in a mission to keep Islamic State militants from taking advantage of Syria's shifting situation. General Ryder said the troop increase was unrelated to the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad by rebels this month. Since the Assad government's collapse, Israel and Turkey have launched military operations in Syria, and the U.S. has conducted dozens of strikes against Islamic State targets. See maps of Israel's moves in Syria. In Homs: Syrians from this ancient city are returning home. Times correspondents spoke with some of them as they reacted to al-Assad's fall. Russia: President Vladimir Putin blamed Iran for failing to stop the rebels, without mentioning Russia's own decision not to help al-Assad. With its Syrian foothold in doubt, Russia has been sending cargo planes to Libya, where it also has a military presence. War in Gaza: Medical workers at one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza said it had come under heavy attack by Israel this week. "We just want mercy," one nurse said. A small number of sick and wounded Gazans have gotten permission to be treated abroad. This is how they get there. Luigi Mangione was flown from Pennsylvania to New York. Alan Chin for The New York Times Federal charges for Luigi Mangione Federal prosecutors unsealed a murder case against Luigi Mangione, 26, who is accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare's chief executive on a Manhattan sidewalk this month. The federal criminal complaint includes one count of using a firearm to commit murder, along with two stalking counts and a firearms offense. Read the full complaint. The federal murder charge means that Mangione could receive the death penalty, which New York State does not impose. The Manhattan district attorney has filed state murder and terror charges against Mangione, which at most could result in a life sentence without parole. MORE TOP NEWS Kent Nishimura for The New York Times U.S. politics: The House rejected a new Republican proposal to prevent a looming government shutdown. Speaker Mike Johnson, above, was trying to find a way forward. Here's the latest. Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky said he and E.U. leaders discussed the possibility of sending European peacekeepers to Ukraine as part of a cease-fire or peace deal. Mayotte: Dozens of people have been confirmed dead in the Indian Ocean archipelago, which was struck by Cyclone Chido last weekend, and thousands may be missing. California: A bird flu outbreak has infected most of the state's dairy herds, putting thousands of farmworkers at risk of contracting the virus. Tech: The Biden administration is working on rules that would tighten control over A.I. chip sales and turn them into a diplomatic tool. Yemen: Israel struck Houthi targets in an attack that a Houthi-affiliated TV channel said killed nine people. Space: China said two of its astronauts spent nine hours outside the Tiangong Space Station, which would be the longest recorded spacewalk. Britain: The government is expected to appoint Peter Mandelson, a Labour Party elder, as ambassador to the U.S., officials said. Economics: The Bank of England held interest rates at 4.75 percent as inflation rose. SPORTS NEWS Soccer: The Friedkin Group has completed its takeover of Everton Football Club. Golf: TGL took golf and surrounded it with a UFC-style arena experience. But the biggest change was the lack of focus on money. Formula 1: Valtteri Bottas has returned to Mercedes as its reserve driver for the 2025 season. MORNING READ Caroline Gutman for The New York Times When a podcast hosted by Kylie Kelce, a 32-year-old high school field hockey coach and the wife of the N.F.L. player Jason Kelce, unseated "The Joe Rogan Experience" as the top-ranked show in the U.S. this month, strong reactions followed. "Maybe it's the promise that you're not going to get lied to," she said. Lives lived: Rick Kaufmann, a key figure in the art furniture movement (that is, furniture made by artists in single or limited editions), died last month at 77. CONVERSATION STARTERS Start the party: With the festive season upon us, an instructor has some simple moves to keep you dancing through the holidays. Ice age discovery: They thought it was an old baseball. But it was a mastodon tooth. Let your heart be light: Eighty years after its release, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" keeps being made and remade. Bling thing: As gold prices climb, big, bold silver jewelry is having a resurgence. ARTS AND IDEAS TK Viral moments of 2024 Plenty of big news happened this year: wars, Donald Trump's election and the Paris Olympics. But between these major flash points were hundreds of smaller moments that caught the internet's attention. Memes ensued. While videos like "demure" and beloved animals like Moo Deng were virtually unavoidable, it's possible that you didn't hear about "yapping" or know that another Pygmy hippo, named Haggis, was also born this year. We've compiled the year's best viral stories. We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. RECOMMENDATIONS Anna Williams for The New York Times Cook: It's the holidays. Make gingerbread cookies. Decorate: Load up this year's Christmas tree with tinsel, ornaments and anything else that will fit on a branch. Watch: Pedro Almodóvar's moving drama "The Room Next Door" is about friends facing mortality together. Travel: Spend 36 hours in Innsbruck, Austria. Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today's Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here. That's it for today's briefing. See you next week. — Natasha Reach Natasha and the team at briefing@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Morning Briefing: Europe Edition from The New York Times. To stop receiving Morning Briefing: Europe Edition, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. 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