Fellow soldiers say the Army sergeant who set off the explosion could have done far more harm. Investigators are trying to figure out why he didn’t.

© Sam Morris/Las Vegas Review-Journal, via Associated Press

From big shows in London and Amsterdam to a Cézanne tribute in the south of France, these art experiences will be worth the journey.

Mr. Osmond was a founding member of the family pop group, which had a slew of hits in the 1970s, including “One Bad Apple” and “Yo-Yo.”

© Brian Rasic/Getty Images

City officials were warned in 2019 that the bollards designed to block vehicles did “not appear to work.” They were being fixed when a truck rammed through Bourbon Street on Wednesday.

© Edmund D. Fountain for The New York Times

Officials said they used data from Tesla charging stations to chart the driver’s dayslong journey from Colorado to the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.

© Ethan Miller/Getty Images

To return the canal to Panama, President Jimmy Carter worked to change minds and build a bipartisan coalition that put aside short-term political considerations.

© Charles Tasnadi/Associated Press

The president-elect inaccurately said that Chinese soldiers operate the Panama Canal. But China’s strategic positions in shipping worry Washington officials.

© Federico Rios for The New York Times

The Senate needs to ensure the next cabinet is full of real professionals.

The administration is committing an additional $306 million toward battling the virus, and will distribute the money before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office.

© Juan Arredondo for The New York Times

The authorities are seeking to detain President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning over his declaration of martial law, which plunged the country into a political crisis.

© Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay, who lost to Jeb Bush in 1998 but still served 23 days in office after the sudden death of Gov. Lawton Chiles, has died. He was 91.

The former Democratic governor took a nap after lunch at his home in Ocklawaha, Florida, on Tuesday and never woke up, his son Ken MacKay told The Associated Press. All of the governor’s adult children were present at the time, he said.

“It was a very peaceful end to a great life,” said MacKay, who hopes his father is remembered as a defender of Florida’s environment and an advocate for minorities.

Floridians honored MacKay not just for his brief service as governor, but his time as a state legislator, congressman and diplomat.

“We mourn the passing of Buddy MacKay,” Gov. Ron DeSantis posted on X. “A U.S. Air Force veteran and lifelong public servant, MacKay was dedicated to our country and our state. May he rest in peace.”

In a social media post, Bush offered his condolences to MacKay’s family, saying that his one-time competitor had served the state “with honor and distinction.”

MacKay, Chiles’ lieutenant governor for two terms, had been trounced by Bush in the 1998 gubernatorial election when Chiles died six weeks later on Dec. 12, 1998, at the governor’s mansion. That put MacKay in the top job for three weeks, where he focused on overseeing the final stages of the transition to Bush’s administration.

“It was overwhelmingly sad,” MacKay recalled in a 2012 interview with The Associated Press. "(Chiles had) gotten that far through his term and it all just stopped. For me, there was nothing but to be a caretaker and try to help with the transition. The main thing we could do was stay out of the way.”

The MacKays never moved into the mansion and Florida hasn’t had a Democrat in the governor’s office since.

“He was very, very sensitive to the fact he was there as the final caretaker,” the late Democratic political strategist and MacKay adviser Jim Krog once said. “He was clearly conscious of the fact that he was governor and there were some loose ends that needed to be tied up.”

MacKay was out of politics in 1990 when he persuaded Chiles, who had retired from the U.S. Senate two years earlier, to run for governor against incumbent Republican Bob Martinez. The Chiles-MacKay team was elected that November and again in 1994.

MacKay, who also served in the Florida Legislature and U.S. House of Representatives, ran statewide three times and lost each time, but never lost his quiet sense of humor.

“I got out of politics because of illness,” he said the day after being defeated by Bush. “The voters got sick and tired of me.”

An inveterate policy wonk, MacKay finished his political career as a special envoy to Latin America for President Bill Clinton before retiring to his central Florida home near Ocala. MacKay stood by the former president when many Democrats distanced themselves from Clinton in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He kept busy in the final years of his life doing pro bono work for the Southern Legal Counsel and also serving in a mediation role in the juvenile court system.

MacKay narrowly missed winning election to the U.S. Senate race in 1988 when he lost to Republican Connie Mack III by less than 1 percentage point. It was the closest statewide race in the state’s history until the 2000 presidential contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

In a Democratic primary field that at one time included former governors Claude Kirk — a one-time Republican — and Reubin Askew, who withdrew before the election, MacKay rebounded from a runner-up finish in a six-way primary to win a runoff against then-Insurance Commissioner Bill Gunter.

With Democrats still largely in control of Florida politics, MacKay was expected to sweep past Mack and hold Chiles’ seat.

But Mack, who had also been in the U.S. House, came up with a “Hey Buddy, you’re a liberal,” catchphrase that MacKay couldn’t shake at a time moderate Florida was moving away from traditional Democratic politics.

It took two days after the 1988 election before the official vote count showed Mack had won, by fewer than 34,000 votes out of more than 4 million cast.

Like many of Florida’s leading Democratic politicians of the second half of the 20th century, MacKay began his political career at the height of the state’s integration movement.

MacKay had grown up working in the fields with Black laborers but went to segregated schools and ate in segregated restaurants.

“It was fairly wrenching,” he said. “It was always very awkward. My family was involved with agriculture and I worked many days in the field with African American crews and some of those adults were part of our family and raised me.”

MacKay’s views on race and the potential for desegregation changed dramatically during his time in the U.S. Air Force between 1955 and 1958.

“Not until I went into the military did I see the potential for getting this behind us,” MacKay said. “I walked in there and from the first day it was totally integrated and there wasn’t a problem. It was a very freeing experience.”

Kenneth H. MacKay Jr. was born March 22, 1933, in Ocala.

“In the old South, which I was born into, ‘Buddy’ means junior,” MacKay said. “Judges and school teachers called me Kenneth, but nobody else did. I’m more of a Buddy than a Kenneth.”

He became an attorney and citrus grower after leaving the service. He won election to the state House in 1968, the state Senate in 1974 and to the U.S. House in 1982 before losing his U.S. Senate bid.

MacKay spent his final years at the home he shared with his wife, Anne, on Lake Weir. According to his son Ken, MacKay remained active in his church, and enjoyed tending to his camellias and spending time on the family farm, where they raise citrus and cattle.

© Phil Sandlin/AP

历史学家、杰出的当代西藏史学家李江琳女士辞世，作为她生命中最后十余年的密友，心中伤痛，无以言表。

1956年前出生的中国人，几乎算是与中华人民共和国同代，这个共和国所经历的一切磨难，几乎都化为我们这代人的苦难与创伤。人类历史上，有的人是将他们的伤痛化为哲学，有的人是将他们的富足化为哲学。我与江琳虽然出身截然不同，她来自红色家庭，我出生于中医世家，但在文革之后都经历了停课闹革命、上山下乡，也都是通过文革后恢复高考改变了人生命运。当我们在20多岁之时进入大学之时，社会化过程已经完成，因此注定都只能将自己的伤痛化为哲学，尽管专业不同，但在学术求真上却并无二致。

江琳与我相识多年，但真正的交往却是从她搬到宾州后开始，其时，她思想上转为保守主义，现实中经过了人生最艰难的阶段，认识了与她相守人生后半段、相依为命的丁一夫先生。在他的支持与帮助下，对西藏问题的关注厚积薄发，进入了学术研究的井喷时期，佳作迭出，包括《1959：拉萨！——达赖喇嘛如何出走》（2010年）、《当铁鸟在天空飞翔：1956—1962青藏高原上的秘密战争》（2012年）、《藏区秘行》（2014年）、《重生的观音：第三个西藏的故事》（2017年）、《智慧之海，达赖喇嘛与当代科学家的对话》（2018年，与丁一夫合著）、《一生三世：格尔登仁波切回忆录》（2021年）。

中国曾有一段西藏热，但多是游记类著作，极满足了汉地读者对西藏景地、人文的好奇心。也有一些官方著作与回忆录谈及1959年“西藏平叛”这段历史，但因为立场先行，只能算是官方表述。与之相比，江琳的书分量颇为厚重。这厚重感，一是源于历史本身的悲惨与沉重；二是缘于书写者的艰辛付出。自2004年她在法拉盛图书馆主持汉西藏文化交流会之后，她就立志要研究这段被沉埋的历史。其时，亲历1959之后西藏痛史的各阶层人士还有人健在，为了不错过这个宝贵的时间窗口，2007年以后的十余年中，她几乎每年都要走访印度达兰萨拉。期间她在夫君老丁的陪伴之下，走访了色拉寺和尼泊尔流亡藏人居住地，采访300多人。积攒了大量一手资料后，为了有足够的研究时间，在自己手无余钱的情况下，于2009年辞去在图书馆的稳定工作，专心从事西藏史的研究写作，为国际西藏史学界贡献了数本功力扎实、直面历史真实的著作。

中国历史学源远流长，能列入良史的著作要求有三，史识、史德、史才。江琳所著《1959：拉萨！——达赖喇嘛如何出走》（Tibet in Agony: Lhasa 1959）、《当铁鸟在天空飞翔：1956—1962青藏高原上的秘密战争》（When the Iron Bird Flies | China’s Secret War in Tibet）这两本，足称“良史”。在西藏史研究领域当中，只要涉及这段历史，将成为两本无法绕过的界碑式著作。作为一位学者，一生能够留下这类著作，当无遗憾。这两本书，已经分别由哈佛大学出版社与斯坦福大学出版社出版。

西藏史我在国内就已经有所涉猎，无论是官史还是达兰萨拉版本，都曾读过，读后总觉得是同一事件两种述说，难称信史。我认真研读过江琳这两本著作，仅从史料方面来说，她已经做到这个领域前人所未达之境界：既有她数年“抢救”的历史记忆，又有中共翔实的文献资料，还有世界西藏史研究方面的记载。同一事件的述说，她比对过多种版本之后，在此基础上分析研究，得出结论。只要不带偏见，在读过她的书之后，很自然地就会被她的书说服。如果说王力雄的《天葬：西藏的命运》是将西藏问题带入中文世界，那么李江琳的《1959：拉萨！——达赖喇嘛如何出走》、《当铁鸟在天空飞翔：1956—1962青藏高原上的秘密战争》，为世界呈现的则这这段历史的真实面貌，让读者明白了西藏问题的冤孽结究竟如何结成。

在研究方法上，我与她足称知音。她曾说过，“我研究西藏，发现我们的研究方法相同，都是先从资料的全面搜集入手，比对后，再用自己的专业知识得出结论，这与我们两人都有过历史专业训练有关”。我想了一下，确实如此，因为我对中国的经济政治社会问题，也是先重在资料的全面搜集，哪怕是对中国对美贸易顺差这么一个不容易出歧见的问题，我也会参考中美两国相关数据，在文中做出说明，其余复杂一点的数据比对，当然更是不嫌劳烦。也正因此，我们相互能够理解对方研究的价值何在。

近年来，在西藏史研究告一段落之后，鉴于对美国左祸横行之害，她开始阅读大量“1968人”的回忆录与著作，并做了不少笔记，希望将“体制内新长征”（Long march through the institutions）这一过程梳理清楚，在此基础上做分析研究，对美国左祸形成溯源。我着重于研究近十余年的美国左祸，因此，颇多共同语言，在推上就美国进步主义危害的互动，为部分推友所熟知。不过，这只是她的一个阶段性研究目标，更长远的研究是对中共解放区的土地改革，她搜集到不少资料，准备在十年之内慢慢研究。

江琳是位追求生活质量的人，特别愿意与朋友分享一切美好物事。当她离开纽约的喧嚣搬到宾州的Arlington之后，终于有了一个独立的小花园。交换花草及养植心得，成了我们的日常生活。我们两家的种植区分别是Zone 6的A区与B区，适宜种植的物种有很多相同，互赠的结果是两家不少花草相同，比如芍药、蓝木槿、腊梅、玫瑰、丁香、薰衣草等，区别是她重“色”，园中花团锦簇，煞是好看；我重香味，无香的花不种。我家新居是从无到有，种下两株红梅，她家已经无地种树，近几年红梅花开，如果她正巧在开花时节来我家，少不得折梅而归。我们的共同愿望是：远离城市，在郊区半隐，做自己喜欢的学术研究，闲来养花弄草，烹制美食，丰富生活，逢节假日相聚，以飨亲友。她用芍药花瓣做的糕点，精致美观，品后齿颊留香。

可惜人生不如意事常八九。江琳从2023年8月初迁居千里之外的乔治亚州，为搬家整整劳累了几个月，待收拾完新居的树林与花草，已经精疲力竭，终于在12月份开始生病，经医生确诊是癌症且是晚期。2024年这一年，是她与老丁人生最艰难的一年。我基本每周与她通信，一道经历希望、失望、再求治、再看到希望的情绪波折。11月25日接到她的来信，谈及病情之后附上这句“此生还算圆满幸运精彩，有爱我的丈夫，有亲密的朋友，无悔无憾”。闻听此语，顿觉她可能病情恶化，我打算抽出时间在节日期间去看她。12月4日，她在来信中写道“我希望你们记住我们最后见面时我的样子，所以，我们今生不会再见了。你和晓农一定要好好生活，适当的时候完全退休，不要太关注时事世事”。最后这句简单的话，内蕴实在太过丰富。由于美国进步主义左祸横行，世界巨变，在美国的华人家庭，宛如再经历一次中国文革时期的观点分裂。我们这辈人经历过中国毛泽东时代身份政治与高压政治的痛苦折磨，来到美国奋斗，安身立命之余，晚年但求无忧无虑、无病无灾，侍花弄草的一份闲适，但时代波涛汹涌，惊云密布，只要真正关心美国国运及世界未来，心情轻松者实在不多。12月24日平安夜终于传来她离世的消息，我与晓农、北明郑义伉俪及纽约张菁等几位老友，只能远行千里为她送别。回到家中，处处见她多年来馈赠的盆栽及各种物品，睹物思人，难免伤情。

江琳，日月盈昃，辰宿列张；寒来暑往，秋收冬藏。人生如逆旅，你我皆过客，愿你还归道山，从此了无牵挂。

（本文仅代表作者个人观点立场）

© 视频截图/RFA

Sex is a big part of life. Why is it so hard to talk to family members about it?

Also, Speaker Johnson is trying to unite Republicans behind him. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.

© Edmund D. Fountain for The New York Times

A man jumped a fence early on New Year’s Day, entered the New York mayor’s official residence and stole a Christmas ornament, the police said. The mayor, Eric Adams, was not there.

© Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Four years later, the largest lingering mystery of the Capitol riot remains unsolved.

© Jason Andrew for The New York Times

The police had a person of interest in custody, but no charges had been filed. Investigators did not identify the victim.

© Yuki Iwamura/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The move, expected as early as Monday, relies on a 70-year-old law that could make it difficult for the Trump administration to reverse it.

© Chris Carlson/Associated Press

在刚刚过去的元旦庆祝活动中，中国多地为刺激消费、提振经济，再次以吃喝玩乐项目吸引游客。但与此同时，有鉴于近期连续发生危害社会的极端事件，这些跨年活动又不得不以安全为重，从而呈现出一种尴尬跨年的现象。

• 圣诞节前夕 四川警方再次对秋雨圣约教会成员维稳
• 圣诞节前夕 王沪宁要求中国基督教会从严治教

辞旧迎新之际，中国多地传出不组织大型统一跨年倒计时、放烟花等庆祝活动的消息，引发民众关注。那么在这样的管控下，新年的气氛怎么样呢？

世界各国在烟花展、灯光秀中，人们云集相拥迎接2025年。跨年倒计时更是辞旧迎新时节人们珍别逝去的一年，迎接新的一年的特别方式。但是中国多个地方政府今年却传出不进行统一跨年倒计时活动的消息。

中国多地出于公共安全 管控新年庆祝活动

安徽省合肥市政府新闻办官方澎湃号12月30日公布说，2024年12月31号夜晚，合肥市淮河路步行街不统一组织跨年倒计时等形式的群众性活动；届时将根据实际人流量，对该地区及周边的道路、地铁等进行临时性安全管控。该公告还表示，禁止燃放烟花爆竹，禁止放氢气球，规定时间内禁止无人机航拍等；禁止行人在机动车道上行走、聚集，并倡导民众不聚集等等。

国际社媒平台X帐号“李老师不是你老师”也上传一段标有 “挑战全国最尴尬跨年”文字的视频，并发贴说：上海外滩，市民们聚集欢庆新年，结果倒计时后，什么都没有发生，也没有烟火。

2025年新年的第二天，中国律师吴魁明向本台记者表示，这个新年对他个人来说，没有什么特别的：“ 没太注意，不好吧，都不好。大家都没有什么兴趣。”

经济前景不明 民众对新年缺乏兴趣

中国人有句古话，“民以食为天”。但网上舆论对2025的中国经济发展前景，却有不少质疑。

(Tyrone Siu/路透社)

吴魁明律师也认为，人们对新年没有什么兴趣，也是因为对经济状况不乐观：”经济没有办法想啦，没有什么看好的。”

节假日民众聚集 令政府焦虑

搜狐网在12月底刊登来自锐评社事的文章说，刚刚过去的平安夜，广州珠海区和越秀区共同发布关于节日期间大型群众性活动的提醒，引发公众注意。文章说，根据官方通知，12月底及元旦跨年夜，广州塔、太古仓等热点公共场所将没有组织大型活动。此举无疑是出于强调安全的考虑。

旅居荷兰、参与“中国人权问责资料库”活动的林生亮对自由亚洲电台表示，中国社会目前矛盾重重，到处草木皆兵：“我有看到国内的活动就是说，现在任何活动不能参与，这种庆祝的（活动）。它无非就是整个社会就像火药桶一样，这种聚集性的集会不知道会发生什么状况。地方政府为了媚上也好，为了维稳也好，出于各种考虑，会利用各种手段进行干预。”

林生亮还分析说，以前经济比现在相对好的时候，敏感时间是每年的“六四”纪念日等等，现在经济不振，节假日，甚至春节都有可能成为敏感日子。因为这个时候人们会聚集在一起，而大规模人群聚集可能会发生什么是政府焦虑的问题。另外，禁止燃放烟花虽然表面上看是出于人身安全考虑，但是也有担忧公共安全层面的考量。林生亮认为，所有这些举动都表明了中国政府对其政权稳定性的忧虑。

责编：何平；网编：伍檫愙

© 路透社

The panels, removed under Ronald Reagan, found new homes from Maine to China. And their legacy still reverberates.

© Bill Fitz-Patrick/Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum/NARA

Forty-four years ago, Ronald Reagan took aim at Jimmy Carter’s environmental legacy. President Biden’s climate initiatives could face a similar fate.

© Jimmy Carter Library

近年来，中国留学生返国后能否在政府部门就业的问题一直备受关注。据台湾中央社整理网络上的相关信息发现，中国多省在去年“选调”政府储备干部时，逐渐对留学生设限，甚至拒绝其报考，即便是毕业于世界顶级大学的留学生也不例外。外界分析，这反映出中国政府部门对政治审查的要求日益严格，“政治素质过硬”已成为担任公职干部的首要条件。

• 三百四十万人拼“国考”　一万多人竞争一个岗位
• 二十四省公务员联考 年轻人为何热衷上岸“成公“？
• 考研热度退却　中国年轻人希望尽快“上岸”

报道指出，“选调”公职人员是指各省党委部门每年从高校中选拔优秀应届毕业生到基层工作，他们被视为党政干部的后备力量，待遇和升迁速度优于普通公职人员。此前，海外名校毕业的留学生一直是选调的重点对象之一。然而，在过去一年里，包括广东、山东在内的多个省份陆续限制，甚至完全禁止留学生参与选调。

以广东为例，报道提到，往年的“国（境）外知名高校”报考名单在2025年度考试中已被全部取消，其中包括哈佛大学、剑桥大学、牛津大学等世界顶尖院校。此外，山东也完全取消了留学生的选调资格，而河南、河北、山西等省则逐步提高门槛，例如仅认可硕士学位的海外学历，但要求本科必须在国内完成。

针对上述消息，本台记者周四向中国驻美使馆寻求置评。但至截稿时，尚未收到中国馆方的回复。

中央社指出，这一新规可能对中国留学生带来重大影响，回国考公职是中国留学生的重要职业规划之一。一项调查显示，84.21%的中国留学生希望毕业后回国就业，而其中有17.73%把选择“考公务员”作为首选方向。

与此同时，外界对地方政府为何对留学生关上选调的大门感到好奇。报道分析指出，与普通公务员考试相比，选调生的选拔标准更为严格，更强调政治素质。“政治素质过硬”、事业心强和责任感高等标准，已成为最关键的筛选条件。

责编：何平；网编：伍檫愙

© 路透社

此次节目的主要内容：

1. 美中关系新年展望，没有合作“万万不能”？；

2. 本台特别报道，习近平第三任期内的社会变化；

3. 中国经济增速放缓，十二月份财经制造业采购经理人指数回落；

4. 健身品牌威尔仕深陷经营危机，消费者维权困难重重；

5. 中国去年的电影票房总收入减少超两成，跌回九年前水平。

© 自由亚洲电台制图

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