Britain braces for leadership change
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May is scheduled to step down and will most likely, according to recent polls, be replaced by Boris Johnson.
There are already signs that the change at the top could set off political turbulence. Several cabinet ministers who are opposed to Mr. Johnson’s abrupt, no-deal Brexit plan — including Philip Hammond, the head of the country’s Treasury — are expected to resign if he becomes prime minister.
Voters are also frustrated, feeling shut out of the process to select who will steer the country through Brexit. Only 160,000 members of the Conservative Party can vote for the next leader, sidelining 99 percent of the population.
Go deeper: Mr. Johnson’s expected ascent and his political philosophies have not been easy for some of his family members.
Iran vs. West tensions flare again
Britain threatened Iran with “serious consequences” for seizing one of its oil tankers over the weekend in Oman’s — not Iran’s — waters, and warned ships to stay away from the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route.
The capture of the tanker is the latest episode in escalating tensions between Iran and the West and comes at a particularly vulnerable time for Britain, where the contest to replace Prime Minister Theresa May has all but paralyzed the government.
The U.S. has offered to share intelligence and coordination to help other nations protect their vessels in the Gulf but made clear that its role would be limited.
What’s next: Boris Johnson, the likely next British prime minister, has said he wants to avoid a confrontation with Iran. But he is famously unpredictable and has sought closer ties with President Trump, who set off the current confrontation by withdrawing the U.S. from the global nuclear deal with Iran last year.
Go deeper: An audio recording of the exchange between a British warship and Iran’s forces and a video of the seizure were released on Sunday.
Chinese investment in the U.S. plunges
The trade war between the world’s two largest economies has slowed the once steady flow of Chinese cash into American ventures.
A number of factors have fueled the falloff, including increased scrutiny and wariness of Chinese investments and Beijing’s tightened limits on foreign spending.
The reduced cash flow is hitting U.S. tech, real estate and auto industries, as well as state governments. Even if the two countries reach a trade deal, experts believe Chinese investment will continue to be tepid.
By the numbers: Chinese direct investment in the U.S. fell to $5.4 billion in 2018 from $46.5 billion in 2016, a drop of 88 percent, according to an economic research firm.
In D.C.: Stephen Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, has revived a long-forgotten Cold War-era group that warned against the dangers of the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s to now focus on a new red scare from China.
Elsewhere: While more of the West starts to rethink investments from China, Belarus has embraced Beijing, letting the country build its roads, power plants and factories — much to the fury of some local residents.
Shinzo Abe declares election victory
Official results in national elections will be announced today, but local news reports said on Sunday that Mr. Abe’s governing coalition had won a majority of seats in the upper house of Parliament. Mr. Abe is set to become the country’s longest-serving prime minister.
Takeaway: In many ways, Mr. Abe’s success stems in part from the lack of a strong opposition rather than from enthusiasm for his party’s vision. He has struggled to fulfill his previous promises of jump-starting the economy and pushing up the country’s birthrate.
News reports also suggest that the coalition didn’t secure enough seats to fulfill Mr. Abe’s long-cherished ambition of revising the country’s pacifist Constitution — a goal that had put off some voters.
If you have 7 minutes, this is worth it
A Dutch ritual: Abandoning children
The Dutch do childhood differently with a keen emphasis on independence — children are taught not to depend on adults too much, and adults are taught to let children solve their own problems.
Here’s what else is happening
India: The country’s space agency will attempt to launch its spacecraft, the Chandrayaan-2, to the moon today at 2:45 p.m. local time (about 5 p.m. in Hong Kong), after a previous attempt was delayed for technical reasons.
Hong Kong: The police fired multiple rounds of tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters on Sunday after some vandalized a Chinese government liaison office during a demonstration to demand an independent investigation into police brutality during previous protests.
Kyoto: Shinji Aoba, the suspect in the arson attack on a renowned anime studio that killed 34 people last week, accused the studio of “stealing my novel,” according to local news reports citing the police. The reports also said he had served time for robbery and was being treated for an unspecified mental illness.
Australia: The government strongly rebuked Beijing for detaining Yang Hengjun, a Chinese-born Australian writer who has called for the liberalization of China.
Canada: Jagmeet Singh, a Sikh leader of the country’s left-leaning New Democratic Party, is the first ever nonwhite contender for prime minister in national elections in October — a breakthrough even for a country that prides itself on multiculturalism and liberal values.
Snapshot: Above, Brighton Beach, New York. Large parts of the U.S. were blanketed by a “heat dome” over the weekend with temperatures soaring to almost 40 degrees Celsius (more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit) in the hardest-hit places. Temperatures are expected to cool off this week, and rain is forecast in some places.
Food delivery: Our reporter spent 27 frantic hours as a food deliveryman, cycling up and down New York City to get an inside peek at how technology is changing some of the lowest-status occupations.
Marvel: The studio unveiled a slate of new interconnected movies and TV shows with a diverse lineup, including the first openly L.G.B.T.Q. superhero in one of its films, as well as a film anchored by an Asian superhero.
Venice: Two German visitors who set up a travel stove to make coffee on the steps of the 400-year-old Rialto Bridge were fined $1,000 and ordered to leave the city, which for decades has been inundated with tourists, under new rules designed to preserve “decorum.”
What we’re reading: This article in The Anchorage Daily News. Dodai Stewart, a deputy metro editor, calls it “a harrowing piece of local journalism that quickly transports you into the struggle of hiring a police force in a small town in Alaska, where low pay and poor appeal mean only that almost the only applicants are convicted criminals.”
Now, a break from the news
Cook: Good toasted bread with garlic and tomato is a perfect snack.
Go: The British intelligence and security agency known as GCHQ is celebrating its centenary (and looking for recruits) with “Top Secret: From Ciphers to Cyber Security,” an exhibition of 100 objects at the Science Museum in London.
Listen: Our latest Popcast focuses on the father of bossa nova, João Gilberto, whose death at 88 was announced this month.
Read: “The Nickel Boys,” Colson Whitehead’s first novel since “The Underground Railroad,” is one of 11 new books we recommend.
Smarter Living: Older dogs and cats require extra love and care. Since they can’t tell you when something is wrong, use a notebook to track any changes in behavior — including appetite, thirst and sleeping patterns — and share it with your vet. (Increase those visits to at least twice a year.) And if your aging animal has bouts of anxiety, it’s possible that alternative therapies, like CBD oil, might help.
And we collected the seven most important supplies for a starter earthquake kit.
And now for the Back Story on …
Summer Santas
This really is Christmas in July, at least in Denmark.
For the 62nd year, the World Santa Claus Congress is convening at an amusement park north of Copenhagen.
The festival draws the red-suited and white-bearded — along with Mrs. Clauses and elves — from about a dozen countries.
The four-day affair typically includes a Santa obstacle course race, a mass visit to the Little Mermaid statue and a parade, as well as discussions about how to be a good Santa.
It was the idea of the Danish entertainer Christian Jorgen Nielsen. As “Professor Tribini,” he performed as a street singer, juggler, clown, magician and actor before his death in 1973.
To be well trained, well clad and snowy-bearded, performers these days can spend thousands of dollars on Santa school, outfits and beard salon appointments.
But the best-paid Santas can recoup that quickly. The wage tracking site Payscale, citing 2017 data, said high earners could make more than $20,000 during the 40 or so days of the Christmas shopping season.
That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.
— Alisha
Thank you
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Victoria Shannon, on the briefings team, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at [email protected].
P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is on why Ed Dwight, who trained to be the first black astronaut, never went to space.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Kuwaiti ruler (4 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The Graphics, Science and Immersive Storytelling teams at The New York Times collaborated on telling the story of the Apollo 11 mission using only the astronauts’ own words and photographs.
