North Korea, Harvey Weinstein, Jack Johnson: Your Friday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/25/briefing/north-korea-harvey-weinstein-jack-johnson.html

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Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

• After canceling a summit meeting with the North Korean leader, President Trump said that talks could still happen, and Pyongyang replied today that it was willing to give Mr. Trump “time and opportunity” to reconsider.

But for now, Mr. Trump’s efforts to persuade Kim Jong-un to give up his nuclear arsenal — which began with threats of “fire and fury” before turning to flattery — have stalled.

Here’s our full story about the announcement on Thursday, as well as an annotated version of Mr. Trump’s letter to Mr. Kim.

• The techniques Mr. Trump used in real estate negotiations didn’t translate easily to nuclear weapons. Read more from our national security correspondent’s analysis.

• The disgraced Hollywood producer was arrested by New York City detectives today on charges that he raped one woman and forced another to perform oral sex on him.

We traced the major moments in Mr. Weinstein’s downfall. The flood of accusations against him helped set off a global reckoning over sexual misconduct in the past year.

• Separately, the celebrated actor Morgan Freeman apologized after several women accused him of sexual harassment.

• Voters will decide today whether to repeal a constitutional amendment that has exposed deep divisions across Ireland, particularly among women.

Irish law currently bans abortion even in cases of rape or incest, allowing it only if a woman’s life is at risk. The government has said that if voters overturn the amendment, it would introduce a measure allowing unrestricted terminations during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

• The voting is also a test for Facebook and Google, which have taken steps to prevent foreign online influence. Here’s how those efforts are working out.

• President Trump’s chief of staff and a lawyer representing the president in the Russia investigation attended the start of two classified meetings on Thursday requested by members of Congress.

The purpose of the briefings was to review sensitive material about the F.B.I.’s use of an informant in the inquiry. Mr. Trump has made unsubstantiated claims that Democrats planted a spy in his campaign.

• John Kelly, the chief of staff, and Emmet Flood, the lawyer, left both meetings before officials began briefing lawmakers, the White House said, but Democrats called the presence of the two men an abuse of authority.

• Fifteen people were injured at an Indian restaurant outside Toronto on Thursday after two people set off a bomb, the police said.

The suspects remain at large after the attack in Mississauga, Ontario, a city of more than 700,000.

• The explosion comes just a month after the driver of a van plowed into pedestrians in Toronto, killing 10 people.

• Those new privacy policies flooding your inbox? Read them. The world’s toughest data privacy rules went into effect today in the European Union, and they affect far more than Europe.

• If you want to earn what a C.E.O. does, you might have to work 275 years. Publicly traded companies in the U.S. are now required to disclose how their chief executives’ compensation compares with the pay of employees. The results are eye-opening.

• Ford is phasing out its passenger cars with one exception: the Mustang. Our business columnist explains why the automaker is saving an American icon.

• U.S. stocks were down on Thursday. Here’s a snapshot of global markets today.

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

• Our restaurant critic suggests the best fruit for summer.

• Lifestyle changes can help remove plaque in your arteries.

• Recipe of the day: Ease into the weekend with a spicy beef stir-fry.

• A long-dead boxer is pardoned

Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight boxing champion, was given a posthumous pardon by President Trump on Thursday, more than 100 years after the racially tainted criminal conviction that tarnished his legacy.

Johnson, who died in 1946, served 10 months in federal prison after being convicted of transporting a white woman across state lines.

• The week in good news

A national park in Bolivia covers more than 7,000 square miles and might be the world’s most diverse protected area. Read about it and six other stories that inspired us.

• Quiz time!

Did you keep up with this week’s news? Test yourself.

• Ready for the weekend

At the movies, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” has arrived, and critics’ takes are all over the map. Here’s a roundup, as well as all of our film reviews this week.

On TV, we reviewed Amazon’s “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” the retelling of a tale of vanishing Australian schoolgirls, and “The Fourth Estate,” Showtime’s documentary about life here at The Times.

We took another look at “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and discuss how well it travels from page to stage. We also have the perspective from a newbie to the wizarding universe.

We spoke to the author David Sedaris about his next book and have eight other reading recommendations.

An exhibition at the New York Botanical Garden showcases the little-known paintings of Hawaiian flowers by Georgia O’Keeffe.

Elsewhere in the city, we recommend: 13 pop, rock and jazz concerts, 14 plays and musicals, 22 art exhibitions and seven things to do with kids.

• Best of late-night TV

The comedy hosts had one question about the canceled talks between President Trump and North Korea’s leader: What happens to all those commemorative coins?

• Quotation of the day

“Zero warheads was never going to be on the table.”

— Robert Litwak, of the Wilson Center for International Scholars, who wrote a detailed study of how to deal with the North Korean threat.

• The Times, in other words

Here’s an image of today’s front page, and links to our Opinion content and crossword puzzles.

• What we’re reading

Michael Wines, a national correspondent, suggests checking out @Rainmaker1973 for a break from ideological venom: “Twitter is usually an indigestion-generating, if addictive, meal of snark, retort, counter-insult and blind rage. Here’s an antacid: a literate, perpetually curious, good-humored and prolific chronicler of scientific wonders, astonishing optical illusions, space-exploration tidbits and just about anything else that tickles one’s intellectual fancy.”

A pair of photographs widely circulated on Chinese social media this week invoked the Boxer Rebellion, a painful chapter of China’s history, as a commentary on how the country’s position in the world had changed.

The Boxer Rebellion began in northern China in the late 19th century, when foreign powers had established concessions in major cities.

A conservative and superstitious militia called the Yihetuan — known as “Boxers” in English because its members practiced martial arts — was killing Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians. With the eventual support of the ruling Qing dynasty, the Boxers forced diplomats and other foreigners to take refuge in the Beijing Legation Quarter for 55 days in 1900.

An alliance of eight states (Austria-Hungary, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the U.S.) sent thousands of troops to rescue the diplomats, with atrocities committed all around as they defeated Chinese forces. The foreign troops began a yearlong occupation of Beijing and other cities, resulting in rape and the rampant looting of Chinese property.

Under the accord that followed, China was required to pay more than $330 million in indemnities, although most of it was spent in China on infrastructure and education. The defeat further weakened the Qing dynasty, which was overthrown in 1911.

Jennifer Jett wrote today’s Back Story.

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