#senator john delphin

[companionjones]

Senator John Delphin

Pairing: Josh Lyman x Reader

Fandom: The West Wing

Summary: Josh finds out someone made you cry.

Warnings: Reader cries, but we don’t go into detail

*******

    There were two people who worked in the White House that absolutely no one disrespected. The first was the President, the Commander and Chief. The other was a Senior Staff Advisor that one Josh Lyman had taken a liking to. If anyone were to badmouth her, they would incur the wrath of the most combative Deputy Chief of Staff in recent history. Yes, you were untouchable. And you had absolutely no idea that you were.

    “Have you ever gone to the Hill and suddenly questioned why you went into politics in the first place?” Josh wondered as he walked into your office.

    “Please, come in. Make yourself at home,” you sarcastically invited.

    Josh ignored the sarcasm. “Thanks. I just came back from the Hill--”

    “You don’t say?”

    “--I just came back from the Hill and Jefferey Kamer spent half the time rambling about the vacations he goes on that are very likely being paid for by the American tax dollar--What’s wrong?”

    You tried to act like you weren’t paying attention then, just like you hadn’t been a moment ago.

    Josh went on, “You’ve been crying. What happened?”

    Still you didn’t respond.

    “Y/n--”

    “It’s nothing, Josh. Leave it alone.”

    He scoffed, “Like hell it is. It made you cry, and I want to know about it.”

    “I didn’t cry until that door right there was closed behind me. No one saw. It didn’t affect my job. I’m already embarrassed enough about it. Just drop it.”

    “I’m not going to just drop it, and I don’t give a damn if it affected your job or now. Somebody made you cry, and I want to know who.”

    “Josh!”

    Only then did Josh realize he was directing his anger to the wrong place. The last thing he wanted was to make you more upset. “I’m...sorry.”

    “It’s fine,” you immediately forgave. “It’s just...we can’t both get worked up about things like this. The whole White House would have to shut down.”

    Josh chuckled as he leaned on your desk. He ran a hand over his face, then asked in a much calmer tone. “Can you give me a name?”

    You sighed, and let the name fall from your lips. Josh took off from your office.

    The man who had spent your entire first interaction with him insulting and belittling you was an older senator from Ohio. John Delphin had been serving for 37 years. He was 72 years old. Josh saw no problem in ending his career.

    One week later--just one week--Delphin was stepping down and retiring.

    “You’re insane,” you commented as you approached Josh, who was watching a news report on Delphin’s retirement on one of the TVs in the office.

    He had been leaning on a nearby desk, and stood in your presence. Josh moved an arm around your waist without taking his eyes off the TV. “No one touches my girl.”

    “Unless he completely overreacts on some old man who was rude to me, then he gets to put his hand on my waist,” you quipped.

    Josh went to move his hand away. “Sor--”

    “Ah-ah.” You stopped him. “I didn’t say I disagreed with it.”

    Josh smirked in a way that matched yours. The two of you finished the news broadcast before heading home for the night--together.

*******

Author’s Note: Thank you for reading! Fill up that heart and reblog if you liked it. I would also really appreciate a comment, if you have the time. If you would like to read more, you should check out my masterlist. Have a nice day, night, or whatever time it is for you! <3 <3 <3

[goodbye-susan]

A, B, L, U, Z

Fair warning a lot of this is Transformers stuff because when am I ever not talking about TF these days

A - Your current OTP

Hmmmm I think I’m still dangling off my Windblade x Starscream train, even though it’s not a canon ship and I could just as easily settle for platonic (they’d make good enemies turned friends BUT WHY SETTLE FOR THAT WHEN YOU CAN HAVE ENEMIES TURNED FRIENDS TURNED LOVERS).

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind

Ratchet and Drift from IDW Transformes. Not official either and I could also go for platonic friends. But oh man, all the good fics out there brought me along for the Dratchet ride.

L - Your favorite fanartist/author gives you one request, what do you ask for 

Just last night I was wishing for some fan art of Danny Rand and Ward Meachum *spoiler zone* dressed with a sort of Indiana Jones vibe after that BRILLIANT ending to Iron Fist S2 (Danny was already rocking that awesome brown trench coat with the two revolvers). These adventurers trekking across Asia together, I live for the bromance.

On a completely different field, I’d love to request a BDSM smut fic featuring Getaway from a TF writer because he’s an ESCAPE ARTIST…hello???

U - If you mostly have heteroships, do you have any homoships

Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones from Torchwood (although Jack and John Hart is kind of addictive too), Chromedome and Rewind from IDW TF, Delphine and Cosima from Orphan Black and a few months back I was going die hard for Shades and Comanche from Luke Cage.

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go 

Don’t I already do this enough! Alright, I’m going to piggy-back off some rumblings I’ve been seeing in the IDW TF fandom lately about characterisation in the Unicron / OP comic titles. I’m not up to the part where *spoiler zone* Bumblebee returns to the realm of the living in the recent OP issues but I have been looking ahead at posts, skim-reading later issues and such and apparently there’s like…absolutely minimal interaction between him and Starscream? These two guys who have been like 🤞for most of RiD, Till All Are One and whatever other titles for however many years or months (I only started reading the IDW comics in July and raced through them up to now so the publication time span is foggy) and they’re limiting dialogue to the bare minimum - hello…goodbye…shut up starscream…etc. GIVE ME SCENES OF ACTUAL CONVERSATION. I can’t stand it when characters build up great relationships, then something in the plot happens…attention gets redirected…continuity goes out the window and we’re left hanging with no acknowledgement or closure. I know they’re stretched for time as the current continuity is at a forced ending for IDW but man! Let Starscream and Bumblebee have some sort of meaningful talk perhaps. Debrief and acknowledge the character growth they’ve made. Maybe I am overreacting and I haven’t finished the comics yet but it sure seems to turn out this way, which just feels like a lot of good writing beats from past issues discarded and readers are left without a rewarding confrontation between the two now that Starscream knows the Bumblebee he befriended in his ‘head’ was the real Bumblebee.

I feel like I ended on a negative rant so let me just say Senator Shockwave is a snack and his Shadowplay storyline leaves me in emotional tatters. There. Some gushing over transformer booty. Is this not why you are here, are you not entertained

[mattchase82]

Saint Paulinus of Nola Bishop, Confessor

(† 353)

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Paulinus was of a family which boasted a long line of senators, prefects and consuls of Rome, and he was educated with great care. His genius and eloquence in oratory, prose and verse were the admiration of all the brilliant Christian minds of his time, including Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Ambrose, Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine, and Saint Martin of Tours. It is believed that Saint Ambrose would have chosen him to replace him as bishop of Milan, but Saint Paulinus was far from Milan when Saint Ambrose died. He said of him that Christians should follow and imitate Saint Paulinus, and that the greatest good fortune of the century in which they were living was to be witness to the life of so rare and admirable a man.

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Saint Paulinus, at first Roman Consul and then Prefect or Governor of Rome, had more than doubled his wealth by his marriage with a virtuous Spanish noblewoman; he was one of the wealthiest and most honored men of his time, possessing domains in several nations of Europe. Though he was the chosen friend of Saints, he was still only a catechumen, and trying to serve two masters. But God drew him to Himself along the way of sorrows and trials. The first and only child of Paulinus and Theresia died shortly after birth. Saint Paulinus received baptism soon afterwards, at the age of thirty-eight, from the bishop of Bordeaux, Saint Delphin; then he withdrew into Spain to be at liberty to pray in solitude.

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He was ordained a priest in Barcelona, and afterwards retired to Nola in Campania. And then, in consort with his holy wife, he liberated all his slaves, sold all his vast estates in various parts of the empire, distributing their proceeds so widely and generously that Saint Jerome says both East and West were filled with his alms. In Nola he built the magnificent Church of Saint Felix and served it night and day, living a life of extreme abstinence and toil. He and his wife agreed to live as brother and sister; they exchanged their silver utensils for those of wood and pottery, and wore robes of rude cloth, practicing from that time on a genuine poverty. Certain highly-placed worldly persons were very much offended by this abrupt change in the way of life of these persons of such great dignity.

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Nonetheless, in 409 Saint Paulinus was chosen Bishop of Nola, and for more than thirty years so ruled as to be conspicuous, in an age blessed with many great and wise bishops. Saint Gregory the Great tells us that when the Vandals of Africa made a descent on Campania, Paulinus spent all he had in relieving the distress of his people and redeeming them from slavery. Finally, when all had been disposed of, there came to him a poor widow, whose only son had been taken away by the son-in-law of the Vandal king. What I have I give you, said the Saint to her; we will go to Africa and you will offer me to the prince, saying I am one of your slaves, in exchange for the prisoner. Her resistance once overcome, they went, and Paulinus was accepted in place of the widow's son and employed as gardener. After a time the king discovered, by divine interposition, that this valuable slave of his son-in-law was the renowned Bishop of Nola. He at once set him free, granting him also the freedom of all the townsmen of Nola who were in slavery.

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One who knew Saint Paulinus well says he was meek as Moses, as priestly as Aaron, innocent as Samuel, tender as David, wise as Solomon, apostolic as Peter, loving as John, cautious as Thomas, brilliant as Stephen, fervent as Apollos. Saint Paulinus died in 431. His holy remains were transferred several times but restored to the cathedral of Nola in 1908.

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Reflection. Go to Campania, writes Saint Augustine; there study Paulinus, that choice servant of God. With what generosity, with what even greater humility, has he flung from him the burden of the world's grandeurs to take on the yoke of Christ!

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Prayer to Venerate Any Saint

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Saint Paulinus of Nola: Feast Day June 22

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I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men: For kings, and for all that are in high station: that we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all piety and chastity. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

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And another angel came, and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God. And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God from the hand of the angel. (Rev. 8:3-4)

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ETERNAL Father, I wish to honor St. (Name), and I give Thee thanks for all the graces Thou have bestowed upon him (her). I ask Thee to please increase grace in my soul through the merits of this saint, and I commit the end of my life to him (her) by this special prayer, so that by virtue of Thine goodness and promise, St. (Name) might be my advocate and provide whatever is needed at that hour. Amen.

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PROMISE: "When you wish to honor any particular saint and give Me thanks for all the graces I have bestowed on that saint, I increase grace in your soul through the merits of that saint. When you commit the end of your life to any of the saints by special prayers, I appoint those saints to be your advocates and to provide whatever you need at that hour."-Our Lord to St. Gertrude

.

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich revealed in her Visions that saints are particularly powerful on their feast days and should be invoked then

[mastcomm]

Your Wednesday Briefing – The New York Times

Hong Kong limits travel to curtail outbreak

As the number of known cases of the Wuhan coronavirus rose by nearly 60 percent on Monday night into Tuesday, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said the territory would strictly limit travelers from mainland China starting on Thursday.

The move followed days of rising pressure from health care workers, experts and even lawmakers who support Mrs. Lam’s government, and reflected distrust of the mainland as evidenced both from recent protests and the 2003 SARS crisis, in which nearly 300 people died in Hong Kong alone.

Elsewhere, officials in Germany and Japan reported the first known cases of human-to-human transmission of the virus — meaning countries now have to worry not only about quarantining infected travelers, but also about keeping the virus from spreading within their borders.

Toll: At least 106 people have died, China said on Tuesday, and the number of cases increased to 4,515 on Tuesday, from 2,835 on Monday, according to the National Health Commission. The youngest confirmed case is a 9-month-old girl in Beijing.

What’s next: China has extended the Lunar New Year holiday to Feb. 3, and some major cities have gone further, telling businesses not to open until the next week.

Britain declines to bar Huawei

The Chinese telecommunications giant can be part of Britain’s new high-speed 5G wireless network, the British government said, despite intense American arguments that Huawei could be used by the Chinese government as a channel for control and surveillance.

Both the U.S. and China, vying for tech supremacy, had tried to sway Britain’s decision. A Trump administration official said the U.S. was “disappointed.”

The decision did not name Huawei, specifying instead that “high-risk vendors” posing “greater security and resilience risks to U.K. telecoms networks” would be able to provide equipment in some portions of the network, like antennas and base stations, but not parts of the nerve center like servers.

Implications: Britain’s membership in the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group, along with Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S., gives the decision added significance. And it comes as Germany is also deciding whether to work with Huawei.

Boris Johnson’s balancing act: The prime minister is risking a rift with President Trump ahead of negotiating a new trade deal with the U.S., but the potential of 5G makes the gains from a deal look paltry.

How an N.B.A. star dazzled Asia, too

Over his two-decade career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant played an important role in the basketball league’s international expansion.

His stature as an international celebrity, honed by both the N.B.A. and Nike, crystallized during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, when he was swarmed by fellow athletes. In China, he routinely had the highest sales of shoes and jerseys.

Bryant was a frequent visitor to China for basketball camps and promotional stops, and he appeared in commercials, like one with the Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou. He was also popular in the Philippines.

The investigation: All possible causes for the helicopter crash on Sunday that killed Bryant and eight others are still being considered, but the hillsides around the flight’s destination near Los Angeles were enveloped in a nearly blinding fog at the time. The helicopter was not carrying a cockpit voice recorder, and federal investigators aren’t expected to reach a conclusion for months. Here are the latest updates.

Another angle: We spoke to a high school teacher that Bryant considered a mentor and “muse” about their remarkable friendship: “He has left such a void behind,” she said.

Long awaited, Trump peace plan favors Israel

President Trump unveiled his Middle East peace plan on Tuesday in the presence of only one party to the conflict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

What Mr. Trump called a “win-win” proposal would give Israel most of what it has sought and create a Palestinian state with limited sovereignty. The Palestinian leadership immediately rejected the plan, which discards the idea of a full-fledged Palestinian state.

Analysts saw the document as a distraction offered by a president under impeachment working with a prime minister under criminal indictment.

The details: The plan would guarantee Israeli control of a unified Jerusalem as its capital and not require it to uproot any West Bank settlements. Mr. Trump promised to provide $50 billion in international financing for the new Palestinian entity and to open an embassy there.

At the impeachment trial: The president’s legal team made its last oral arguments on Tuesday. Senators will now have 16 hours to ask questions of each side.

A vote on whether to hear witnesses in the trial is expected on Friday, with a few Republican senators appearing to favor calling John Bolton, the former national security adviser whose book manuscript corroborates a central accusation: that Mr. Trump tied Ukraine’s military aid to politically motivated investigations.

If you have 6 minutes, this is worth it

Japan’s skateboarders roll out of the shadows

Japan has an Olympic skateboarding team that is likely to win more medals than that of any other country in the first such competition. But most of its members would not dream of taking out their boards on Japan’s streets, where the sport has long been seen as a pastime of unruly children.

This year’s summer Olympics could give its Japanese adherents something new: everyday acceptance.

Here’s what else is happening

India: A state visit by President Trump is planned for late February, according to Indian officials. The visit could be seen as an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent policies that have deeply divided India and set off deadly nationwide protests.

Belgian king: After a court-ordered DNA test to resolve a decade-long paternity claim, King Albert II, 85, conceded that he was the biological father of the artist Delphine Boël, 51, who has long said she was conceived during an affair between her mother and Albert before he ascended the throne.

Snapshot: Above, a Syrian asylum seeker at a migrant camp in the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus. The tiny island now hosts the most refugees per capita in the European Union, the result of a loophole within its vexing political situation.

What we’re looking at: These photos in The Atlantic of the locust swarms in East Africa. “For those keeping track of the plagues hitting the planet,” writes Andrea Kannapell, the Briefings editor.

Now, a break from the news

Go: Momcations, a getaway designed for tired mothers, are on the rise. While some see it as profiteering, others say it’s a sign of “the mainstream telling moms they deserve a break.”

Smarter Living: Breaking up with a therapist can be nerve-racking. But doing it with these tips in mind can turn it into an opportunity for growth.

And now for the Back Story on …

Reporting in Wuhan

Chris Buckley, our chief China correspondent, is reporting this week from the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Mike Ives, on the Briefings team, spoke with Chris by phone.

What is it like with these unprecedented restrictions in place?

It may be difficult to envisage just how thoroughly people have retreated from the streets and from public life. I had to cross one of the big bridges across the Yangtze for my reporting. And there I was, on one of these Chinese share bikes that are everywhere, on an almost completely empty bridge, spanning one of China’s biggest cities, crossing its biggest river. And there were just two other people on the bridge.

A lot of people wonder how long the shutdown can last. Even now people are worrying about the jobs they may lose, the businesses that will close, the school semesters that they might miss.

You’ve reported that the anger on Chinese social media is intense.

Yes, and you hear that here as well. People erupt with a kind of anger and exasperation over how it was that this dangerous pathogen was among them but they didn’t understand, in many cases, how serious it was or what was going on until the city was shut down.

But that’s leavened by a sense among many people that the most pressing thing is to get through this crisis — so that as few people die as possible and life can return to a kind of normality as soon as possible.

What else are you seeing there?

You see a combination of reactions when you approach people to talk. First of all, there’s a natural wariness about getting close to anybody. But once you reassure them — you’re outside, at a distance of a good 10 feet — they can be very open and also very generous.

How does that compare to the response you normally get?

The reaction you get as a foreign reporter varies quite a bit across China. But I think these circumstances, where people feel that they — and, in a sense, we — are all in this together, and that you’re there somehow experiencing this as well, make it easier to create that connection.

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. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S. • We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about the ripple effects of John Bolton’s coming book. • Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: What causes Pinocchio’s nose to grow (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • Jason Polan, a New York sketch artist, produced hundreds of illustrations for the print edition of The Times. He died on Monday at age 37.

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/your-wednesday-briefing-the-new-york-times-5/

[companionjones]

The West Wing Masterlist

  *Josh Lyman*

Emergencies ~ ☔️Josh comes to you late one night (more like very early in the morning) because he’s not doing so great in regards to his PTSD.

He Talked You Through A Storm ~ ☔️Pretty much as the title suggests.

It Was Just So Natural ~ ☁️Josh kisses you, without warning, on his way out for the night. Why?

My Job ~ ☔️After a heroic but tragic act, the Senior Staff waits for you to come out of surgery in a hospital waiting room.

Senator John Delphin ~ 🌧/☀️Josh finds out someone made you cry.

Who’s Y/n? (1/2) ~ 📚The State of the Union is coming up, so Toby’s going crazy. He hasn’t had time to finish it because the White House has just gotten through what could’ve been an international calamity. With Toby working on that, there’s no one to work on a lesser speech that the President has to make. That is, until Donna recommends you.

Your Job ~ ☁️Just a little thing with Josh’s and your dynamic in the White House.

   *Toby Ziegler*

The Couch ~ ☁️Familial!Toby Ziegler x Fem!Reader, familial!most of the Senior staff x Fem!Reader. After some high-stakes few days, you fall asleep on the couch in Josh’s office. He lets you get your rest. You get a few visitors throughout the day.

[mastcomm]

Your Wednesday Briefing – The New York Times

Hong Kong limits travel to curtail outbreak

As the number of known cases of the Wuhan coronavirus rose by nearly 60 percent on Monday night into Tuesday, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said the territory would strictly limit travelers from mainland China starting on Thursday.

The move followed days of rising pressure from health care workers, experts and even lawmakers who support Mrs. Lam’s government, and reflected distrust of the mainland as evidenced both from recent protests and the 2003 SARS crisis, in which nearly 300 people died in Hong Kong alone.

Elsewhere, officials in Germany and Japan reported the first known cases of human-to-human transmission of the virus — meaning countries now have to worry not only about quarantining infected travelers, but also about keeping the virus from spreading within their borders.

Toll: At least 106 people have died, China said on Tuesday, and the number of cases increased to 4,515 on Tuesday, from 2,835 on Monday, according to the National Health Commission. The youngest confirmed case is a 9-month-old girl in Beijing.

What’s next: China has extended the Lunar New Year holiday to Feb. 3, and some major cities have gone further, telling businesses not to open until the next week.

Britain declines to bar Huawei

The Chinese telecommunications giant can be part of Britain’s new high-speed 5G wireless network, the British government said, despite intense American arguments that Huawei could be used by the Chinese government as a channel for control and surveillance.

Both the U.S. and China, vying for tech supremacy, had tried to sway Britain’s decision. A Trump administration official said the U.S. was “disappointed.”

The decision did not name Huawei, specifying instead that “high-risk vendors” posing “greater security and resilience risks to U.K. telecoms networks” would be able to provide equipment in some portions of the network, like antennas and base stations, but not parts of the nerve center like servers.

Implications: Britain’s membership in the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group, along with Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S., gives the decision added significance. And it comes as Germany is also deciding whether to work with Huawei.

Boris Johnson’s balancing act: The prime minister is risking a rift with President Trump ahead of negotiating a new trade deal with the U.S., but the potential of 5G makes the gains from a deal look paltry.

How an N.B.A. star dazzled Asia, too

Over his two-decade career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant played an important role in the basketball league’s international expansion.

His stature as an international celebrity, honed by both the N.B.A. and Nike, crystallized during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, when he was swarmed by fellow athletes. In China, he routinely had the highest sales of shoes and jerseys.

Bryant was a frequent visitor to China for basketball camps and promotional stops, and he appeared in commercials, like one with the Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou. He was also popular in the Philippines.

The investigation: All possible causes for the helicopter crash on Sunday that killed Bryant and eight others are still being considered, but the hillsides around the flight’s destination near Los Angeles were enveloped in a nearly blinding fog at the time. The helicopter was not carrying a cockpit voice recorder, and federal investigators aren’t expected to reach a conclusion for months. Here are the latest updates.

Another angle: We spoke to a high school teacher that Bryant considered a mentor and “muse” about their remarkable friendship: “He has left such a void behind,” she said.

Long awaited, Trump peace plan favors Israel

President Trump unveiled his Middle East peace plan on Tuesday in the presence of only one party to the conflict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.

What Mr. Trump called a “win-win” proposal would give Israel most of what it has sought and create a Palestinian state with limited sovereignty. The Palestinian leadership immediately rejected the plan, which discards the idea of a full-fledged Palestinian state.

Analysts saw the document as a distraction offered by a president under impeachment working with a prime minister under criminal indictment.

The details: The plan would guarantee Israeli control of a unified Jerusalem as its capital and not require it to uproot any West Bank settlements. Mr. Trump promised to provide $50 billion in international financing for the new Palestinian entity and to open an embassy there.

At the impeachment trial: The president’s legal team made its last oral arguments on Tuesday. Senators will now have 16 hours to ask questions of each side.

A vote on whether to hear witnesses in the trial is expected on Friday, with a few Republican senators appearing to favor calling John Bolton, the former national security adviser whose book manuscript corroborates a central accusation: that Mr. Trump tied Ukraine’s military aid to politically motivated investigations.

If you have 6 minutes, this is worth it

Japan’s skateboarders roll out of the shadows

Japan has an Olympic skateboarding team that is likely to win more medals than that of any other country in the first such competition. But most of its members would not dream of taking out their boards on Japan’s streets, where the sport has long been seen as a pastime of unruly children.

This year’s summer Olympics could give its Japanese adherents something new: everyday acceptance.

Here’s what else is happening

India: A state visit by President Trump is planned for late February, according to Indian officials. The visit could be seen as an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent policies that have deeply divided India and set off deadly nationwide protests.

Belgian king: After a court-ordered DNA test to resolve a decade-long paternity claim, King Albert II, 85, conceded that he was the biological father of the artist Delphine Boël, 51, who has long said she was conceived during an affair between her mother and Albert before he ascended the throne.

Snapshot: Above, a Syrian asylum seeker at a migrant camp in the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus. The tiny island now hosts the most refugees per capita in the European Union, the result of a loophole within its vexing political situation.

What we’re looking at: These photos in The Atlantic of the locust swarms in East Africa. “For those keeping track of the plagues hitting the planet,” writes Andrea Kannapell, the Briefings editor.

Now, a break from the news

Go: Momcations, a getaway designed for tired mothers, are on the rise. While some see it as profiteering, others say it’s a sign of “the mainstream telling moms they deserve a break.”

Smarter Living: Breaking up with a therapist can be nerve-racking. But doing it with these tips in mind can turn it into an opportunity for growth.

And now for the Back Story on …

Reporting in Wuhan

Chris Buckley, our chief China correspondent, is reporting this week from the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Mike Ives, on the Briefings team, spoke with Chris by phone.

What is it like with these unprecedented restrictions in place?

It may be difficult to envisage just how thoroughly people have retreated from the streets and from public life. I had to cross one of the big bridges across the Yangtze for my reporting. And there I was, on one of these Chinese share bikes that are everywhere, on an almost completely empty bridge, spanning one of China’s biggest cities, crossing its biggest river. And there were just two other people on the bridge.

A lot of people wonder how long the shutdown can last. Even now people are worrying about the jobs they may lose, the businesses that will close, the school semesters that they might miss.

You’ve reported that the anger on Chinese social media is intense.

Yes, and you hear that here as well. People erupt with a kind of anger and exasperation over how it was that this dangerous pathogen was among them but they didn’t understand, in many cases, how serious it was or what was going on until the city was shut down.

But that’s leavened by a sense among many people that the most pressing thing is to get through this crisis — so that as few people die as possible and life can return to a kind of normality as soon as possible.

What else are you seeing there?

You see a combination of reactions when you approach people to talk. First of all, there’s a natural wariness about getting close to anybody. But once you reassure them — you’re outside, at a distance of a good 10 feet — they can be very open and also very generous.

How does that compare to the response you normally get?

The reaction you get as a foreign reporter varies quite a bit across China. But I think these circumstances, where people feel that they — and, in a sense, we — are all in this together, and that you’re there somehow experiencing this as well, make it easier to create that connection.

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. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S. • We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about the ripple effects of John Bolton’s coming book. • Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: What causes Pinocchio’s nose to grow (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • Jason Polan, a New York sketch artist, produced hundreds of illustrations for the print edition of The Times. He died on Monday at age 37.

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/your-wednesday-briefing-the-new-york-times-5/