The Headlines - China Hacks the Treasury Dept., and a Hydropower Crisis

Episode Date: December 31, 2024

Plus, what you might be eating in 2025. Tune in, and tell us what you think at [e-mail]. For corrections, email [e-mail] more audio journalism and storytelling, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.On Today’s Episode:China Hacked Treasury Dept. in ‘Major’ Breach, U.S. Says, by Ana Swanson and David E. SangerPentagon Releases Detainee Held at Guantánamo Since Day 1, by Carol RosenbergThe Rivers Run Dry and the Lights Go Out: A Warming Nation’s Doom Loop, by Julie Turkewitz and José María León CabreraHow Will We Eat in 2025? 9 Predictions to Chew On., by Kim Severson

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Tuesday, December 31st. Here's what we're covering. The U.S. Treasury Department says it was hacked by a Chinese intelligence agency, calling it a major cybersecurity incident. In a letter to lawmakers yesterday, the department said it learned about the incident earlier this month. The hackers were able to get remote access to some employees' computers and unclassified documents. It's not clear what they did with

that access, but senior U.S. officials tell the Times it appears to be an espionage operation. The Treasury Department keeps sensitive data about global financial systems, including estimates about China's own economy, which has been struggling. It also implements sanctions, including against some Chinese firms who are helping Russia in its war against Ukraine. Chinese officials have long denied any government role in hacking, but the Treasury breach is the latest in a series of incidents that the U.S. says China is behind. in a series of incidents that the U.S. says China is behind. In one of the most far-reaching and damaging of those incidents, a Chinese intelligence group hacked into U.S. telecom firms this year, getting access to text messages and phone conversations.

Investigators say phone lines used by Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and others were targeted, though it's not clear what, if anything, hackers were able to monitor. Beyond data collection, there's been a Chinese effort to insert malicious code into US utility grids and water supply systems, potentially giving hackers the capability to shut off critical infrastructure. The Treasury Department said it's working with the FBI and other investigators to determine the full impact

of the latest breach. Yesterday a man who had been detained at Guantanamo Bay since the day the U.S. military prison opened was sent home. Rida bin Saleh al-Yazidi was captured along with a group of other men on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in December of 2001. Some of them were suspected of being bodyguards for Osama bin Laden. Yazidi was sent to Guantanamo Bay the next month and spent almost 23 years there without ever being charged with a crime.

He was approved for transfer back to his home country of Tunisia more than a decade ago, but the deal got caught up in bureaucratic red tape, and Yazidi didn't want to meet with other countries that might have taken him in. His repatriation is part of a final push by the White House to follow through on an Obama-era promise to close Guantanamo. It's now clear, though, that that won't happen in this administration. There are still 26 detainees left at the prison. Meanwhile, a plea deal with the most high-profile remaining prisoner at Guantanamo appears to be moving forward. Earlier this year, senior Pentagon officials said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,

the accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks, would plead guilty to conspiracy and murder charges in exchange for a life sentence instead of a death penalty trial. The Secretary of Defense stepped in to try and block the deal, saying he alone should be responsible for that kind of decision. But yesterday, an appeals panel at the Pentagon ruled the deal is valid, clearing the way for a guilty plea hearing next week. In Ecuador, the country is in the grips of an extreme energy crisis. My colleague Julie Turkowitz has been covering the blackouts that have become a near constant reality.

The highways are sort of in inky black for long stretches. Internet service has gone down because of energy cuts. In some places people don't have running water for seven, eight, nine hours a day. Elderly people who live in towering buildings who don't want to get in elevators because they're scared to be trapped, they're just trapped in their homes for days or weeks on end. This has really affected almost every aspect of daily life. Julie says the problem is that Ecuador went all in on hydroelectric power. In the past few decades, it spent billions of dollars building dams

along the rivers that thread through the country. Hydropower provides 70 percent of its electricity. But the country, along with most of South America, has now been caught in a record-breaking drought, collapsing the whole energy system. When Ecuador embarked on this ambitious hydropower expansion project, it really sought to be a leader in becoming

not only a country that could sort of build progress through energy expansion, but do so using sustainable energy sources. And what we've seen is that the country that once tried to respond to climate change has instead become a victim of its own energy system. And so now Ecuador is being looked at as a potential warning sign for other countries around the world that have invested heavily in hydropower. Worldwide, more than a billion people live in countries that get the majority of their energy from hydroelectric plants.

Many of those dams and places from China to Zambia have been strained by droughts. That's left some countries looking for alternatives, including turning back to fossil fuels to keep the power on. And finally, The Times has an annual tradition of making food predictions. What will be the big foods and food trends in the new year? Reporter Kim Severson has been digging through food companies research, talking with chefs and restaurant groups and analysts about what we'll be eating in 2025. She says convenience stores and gas station options are going to get some culinary love. Social media reviewers are already all over it. I don't know that I've ever seen meatballs at a gas station options are going to get some culinary love. Social media reviewers are already all over it.

I don't know that I've ever seen meatballs at a gas station before. Honestly, not bad. It didn't really taste like garlic or Parmesan, but it kind of had a flame-broiled taste to it, and it was so juicy. Mini-Marts have been cooking up made-to-order meals, and the Japanese parent company of 7-Eleven plans

to start bringing over more options like ramen and egg salad sandwiches that are common at Japanese convenience stores. Here is how to pack your oats with protein without any protein powder. Also in 2025, Kim says protein is going to continue to be a big buzzword, partly for the gym bros, partly for the people on weight loss medications like Ozempic who need more protein to maintain muscle mass. So, all-hail cottage cheese, peanut butter smoothies, and meat snacks.

And... These are badger flame beets. They're a beet that's bred to be much sweeter and milder than your typical red beet. Look out for designer produce. Specially tweaked fruits and veggies, like beets grown to be sweeter, are going to be popping up more often. Grapes that taste like cotton candy, strawberries bred to have

a tropical twist, etc. You may see influencers on social media hyping up the latest berry. Wow, they taste like candy. So sweet. For the full list of 2025 food trends, visit nytimes.com. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, a special year-end episode looking at the best books of the year and the best books of the century. That's next in the New York Times audio app, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford.

We'll be back on Thursday after the holiday.