Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead.
1. Global markets rode a roller coaster, feeding speculation that the U.S. could be nearing a recession.
Analysts cited the uncertainties of the trade war and its damage to major economies, notably China and — a red flag for the European Union — Germany.
Investors stampeded to safety in long-term bonds, creating what’s called an inverted yield curve. That’s a phenomenon that has preceded every recession in the past 60 years.
Have you been keeping up with the headlines? Test your knowledge with our news quiz. And here’s the front page of our Sunday paper, the Sunday Review from Opinion and our crossword puzzles, including the Mini.
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2. The Trump administration made a major policy change to favor wealthier immigrants.
Starting in October, requests for green cards can be rejected if the applicants are judged likely to need food stamps, subsidized housing or other government support.
That’s a big win for Stephen Miller, pictured above, an architect of the president’s immigration policy who has railed against liberal causes since high school.
Among the forces that aided Mr. Miller’s rise: a constellation of nativist groups founded and funded by an heiress who was originally focused on protecting the environment.
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3. The unorthodox presidency of Donald Trump crossed a new line.
He successfully urged Israel to bar Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from visiting Israel and the West Bank. (Israel relented in the case of Ms. Tlaib, but she declined to go under Israel’s requirement that she not promote a movement to boycott the country.)
The controversy inflamed the politics of both countries and divided American Jews. Above, some of Ms. Tlaib’s Jewish constituents rallied for her in Detroit on Friday.
“If Israel equals Trump, then there is a concern that opposition to Trump will transition, God forbid, into opposition to Israel,” said an Orthodox rabbi in Washington. “It is very dangerous.”
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4. Democratic presidential stragglers have just 10 days to secure a spot in September’s debates.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, above, has poured more than $1 million into advertising in Iowa and New Hampshire.
To make the Aug. 28 cutoff, the candidates need to reach 2 percent support in qualifying polls — double the requirement for the last round of debates.
Campaign pop quiz: What connects these five dates: March 10, March 19, April 19, April 25 and June 27?
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5. In Hong Kong and Russia, mass pro-democracy protests continue to challenge the authorities.
“In Soviet times I would not have been able to stand here,” said a retiree picketing in Moscow on the sixth straight weekend of protests. “But since they are trying by all means to drag us back there, I think that it is time to start seriously resisting.” Above, the police detaining an activist.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Hong Kong’s largest public park on Sunday in a vivid display of the movement’s continuing strength..
China massed paramilitary forces just across the mainland border and used its influence to oust the chief executive of Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s signature airline, which had some workers who participated in the demonstrations.
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6. The Indian government said it would begin loosening restrictions on Kashmir.
Schools and government offices are supposed to reopen on Monday and phone service is to be gradually restored, easing an unprecedented blackout imposed after India unilaterally revoked the Muslim-majority territory’s special status two weeks ago.
Many Kashmiris expect mass protests. And tensions have spiked with Pakistan, which like India has nuclear arms and has long claimed Kashmir. Adding to the furor, India is threatening to strip citizenship from some four million people in the state of Assam, most of them Muslims.
Meanwhile, deadly violence continues to ravage Afghanistan, even as peace talks proceed.
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7. Changes to the Endangered Species Act pleased the gas and oil industry, and infuriated environmental groups.
The alterations, announced by the Trump administration on Monday and set to go into effect next month, weaken some protections and change some of the factors regulators weigh to determine which habitats to safeguard. The upshot: Mining, oil and gas drilling and development will be far likelier in critical habitats.
Environmental groups, Democratic state attorneys general and Democrats in Congress said they would fight the changes. Twenty-nine states and cities have already sued to block the Trump administration from easing restrictions on coal-burning power plants.
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8. Jeffrey Epstein died of suicide by hanging.
That was the determination of the New York City chief medical examiner, which found that the broken bones in Mr. Epstein’s neck were consistent with that form of death. But conspiracy theories have hardly abated.
We reconstructed his last days at a Manhattan detention center: seldom bathing, unkempt, sometimes sleeping on the floor instead of his bunk bed, and using endless meetings with his lawyers to get out of his squalid cell.
Two suits were filed against his estate, including one by a woman who said he groomed her for sex at 14 and raped her at 15. Hundreds of suits against other accused abusers were filed on Wednesday, after a New York State law opened a one-year window to sue regardless of when the sexual abuse had occurred.
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9. Newark officials are distributing bottled water and testing tap water across the city.
Elevated lead levels have been recorded in an expanding zone, attributed to ineffective corrosion treatment at one of the two plants that serve New Jersey’s largest city. It’s just one more affront in a community struggling with poverty and crime.
“We’re ducking bullets, were ducking and dodging bullets every day,” said one resident. “We can’t even take our kids out to play. Now we’ve got to worry about water?
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10. And finally, we have some revelatory reading for you.
The Times Magazine dedicated this week’s entire issue to The 1619 Project, marking 400 years since the first ship brought enslaved Africans to Britain’s North American colonies. The collection of essays reframe American history, revealing surprising ways that slavery shaped our democracy, economy, health system and culture.
And our Opinion section takes stock of how Gamergate — the vicious, misogynistic trolling war that broke out five years ago — set the stage for today’s online culture wars.
Also, the 10th episode of our TV show “The Weekly” unearths a confidential U.S. government document that could have changed the course of the opioid crisis. (10 p.m. Sunday on FX, streaming Monday on Hulu)
On the lighter side, may we suggest our music critics’ latest playlist? Our book critics recommend these nine new books, and we also have our roundup of the week’s best reads.
Happy weekend, and best of luck in the week to come.
Your Weekend Briefing is published Sundays at 6 a.m. Eastern.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/18/briefing/markets-israel-hong-kong.html
2019-08-18 10:00:14Z
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