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Winter Games, Lunar New Year, ‘Black Panther’: Your Friday Briefing

A vigil in Parkland, Fla., on Thursday to honor the victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.Credit...Saul Martinez for The New York Times

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Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

• “Deadly shootings in schools — that is, the killing of children in sanctuaries of learning — have become a distinctly American ritual,” our columnist writes, “the rote responses as familiar as a kindergarten recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.”

Our live briefing has the latest on the aftermath of Wednesday’s attack at a high school in Parkland, Fla., which killed 17 people.

Here’s what we know about the victims. At a vigil on Thursday, a woman said of her daughter, “I hope she didn’t die for nothing.”

The suspect, Nikolas Cruz, 19, has confessed to the shootings. Neighbors and classmates described him as emotionally troubled, although he had no criminal history.

Survivors implored Congress on Thursday to act. Lawmakers failed to do so after similar shootings last year in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, Tex.

The Senate blocked three measures to resolve the fate of hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants on Thursday.

Two bipartisan bills were defeated, as was the hard-line legislation favored by President Trump.

Protections for the Dreamers begin to expire March 5, but what happens next is unclear. “I think it’s safe to say this has been a disappointing week,” Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, said.

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Immigration activists unfurled a banner in support of the Dreamers at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington last week. The fate of the young immigrants is increasingly uncertain.Credit...John Moore/Getty Images

• President Trump’s inaugural committee spent heavily on administration and logistics and donated less to charity than expected, tax filings released on Thursday showed.

The biggest payment from the record $107 million raised was to an event-planning firm founded six weeks before the inauguration by a longtime friend of Melania Trump’s.

The committee gave $5 million to charity, which inaugural officials pointed out was more than Barack Obama’s committee donated.

• Mikaela Shiffrin, who said she was vomiting minutes before starting, came fourth in the slalom today. She won gold in the event four years ago.

The figure skater Nathan Chen also had a poor performance, in the short program.

A norovirus outbreak at the Games has affected hundreds of people. Two Swiss athletes were confirmed today as the first competitors to contract the illness.

Here are today’s Olympic results. Find all our coverage here.

• Saturday is the 10th anniversary of the nation’s independence, after a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the forces of Slobodan Milosevic’s Serbia.

Our correspondent, who covered the war as a photographer nearly 20 years ago, returned to find that people had little to celebrate.

“If it wasn’t for all those who have laid down their lives for this, I would say let’s go back to the way it was before,” one man said.

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A village near the town of Lipljan, Kosovo. Independence for the country of less than two million people has brought new problems.Credit...Andrew Testa for The New York Times
The Daily Poster

Listen to ‘The Daily’: The Gun Behind So Many Mass Shootings

The AR-15 assault rifle used in Parkland, Fla., this week was purchased legally, officials said. How did a weapon designed for warfare become easier to buy than a handgun?
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Cyril Ramaphosa addressing South Africa’s Parliament on Thursday after being sworn in as president. He replaced Jacob Zuma, who was forced to resign this week. Mr. Ramaphosa was a protégé of Nelson Mandela before becoming one of South Africa’s richest men.Credit...Mike Hutchings/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A Chinese-owned company will not be taking over the Chicago Stock Exchange. A federal regulator blocked the $20 million proposal on Thursday.

Children’s publishing is having its #MeToo moment. Several best-selling authors, including the creator of “The Maze Runner” series, have been accused this week of inappropriate sexual behavior.

He turned Taco Bell around. Can Brian Niccol do it again when he becomes Chipotle’s chief executive next month?

U.S. stocks were up on Thursday. Here’s a snapshot of global markets today.

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

Four free apps to help you earn extra cash.

Ordering room service without disappointment.

Recipe of the day: Celebrate the Lunar New Year with longevity noodles.

Partisan writing you shouldn’t miss

Writers from across the political spectrum discuss gun control.

Abuse inquiry ends in a cloud

A two-month investigation didn’t corroborate allegations of sexual harassment or physical abuse against Peter Martins, the former chief of New York City Ballet.

But the company and its school announced new policies to assure that dancers “feel safe, respected and able to voice their opinions and concerns freely.”

The week in good news

It isn’t all bad out there.

Quiz time!

Did you keep up with this week’s news? Test yourself.

Ready for the weekend

You already know. “Black Panther” is expected to take in at least $250 million worldwide in the next few days, which would deal a blow to the Hollywood belief that movies rooted in black culture aren’t blockbuster material. Here’s our review.

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Letitia Wright is among the almost entirely black cast of “Black Panther.”Credit...Disney/Marvel Studios, via Associated Press

Our critic also likes the animated “Early Man,” by the makers of Wallace and Gromit.

We have TV suggestions based on how much time you have and review Chris Rock’s first comedy special in a decade, on Netflix.

We recommend 11 new books and revisit Alistair MacLean, the author of what our columnist calls “romance novels for boys.”

Finally, “Outliers and American Vanguard Art,” at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, highlights outstanding, sometimes rarely seen artworks. It’s an NYT Critic’s Pick.

Best of late-night TV

Several comedy hosts are taking the week off, so our roundup is, too. It will return next week.

Quotation of the day

“If they’re not able to purchase their first drink of alcohol, then how are we allowed to buy guns at the age of 18 or 19? Obviously whatever we have going on, it’s not working.”

Lyliah Skinner, a survivor of the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla.

The Times, in other words

Here’s an image of today’s front page, and links to our Opinion content and crossword puzzles.

Today marks the start of the Year of the Dog, the latest turn in the 12-year lunar zodiac cycle.

The phrase “Lunar New Year” is sometimes used interchangeably with “Chinese New Year,” but there are variations in how the holiday is celebrated around Asia.

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Celebrating the Year of the Dog in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday.Credit...Manan Vatsyayana/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In Vietnam, it’s an occasion for a type of rice cake called banh chung, deeply intertwined with nationalist myths and ancestor-worship customs.

Vietnam’s zodiac cycle differs slightly from China’s: It has a cat and a water buffalo instead of a rabbit and an ox. Some historians say that’s a linguistic quirk tied to China’s 1,000-year imperial occupation of Vietnam, its southern neighbor.

The Year of the Cat next falls in 2023.

The last time the cat came around, in 2011, the owner of a “pet hotel” in the capital, Hanoi, told Reuters that the cat was an appropriate cosmic choice because it offsets the dog, its natural enemy.

“This expresses a balance of yin and yang in the cosmos that is more complete, that better unifies the contradictions, and so it is richer and better to have the cat,” he said.

Mike Ives contributed reporting.

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Follow Chris Stanford on Twitter: @stanfordc.

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