Italy, Ireland, ‘Spider-Man’: Your Tuesday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/briefing/italy-ireland-spider-man.html

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Good morning.

Italy’s government slides into chaos, President Trump pushes another conspiracy theory and France celebrates its Spider-Man. Here’s the latest:

• President Trump, who as a candidate claimed that Washington had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks and hinted that Justice Antonin Scalia was murdered, is now saying that a “criminal deep state” element planted a spy in his presidential campaign.

Now that he is in the White House, Mr. Trump’s baseless stories of secret plots by powerful interests — he has branded his latest unconfirmed accusations “Spygate” — appear to be having a distinct effect, our reporters write in an analysis.

“The diabolical brilliance of the Trump strategy of disinformation is that many people are simply going to hear the charges and countercharges, and decide that there must be something to them because the president of the United States is saying them,” a presidential historian says.

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• “It’s an attack on who we are. The whole fabric of society is breaking down.”

Eight years of budget cutting have refashioned British society, making it less like the rest of Western Europe and more like the United States. In a series of articles, The Times will chronicle how a shrinking welfare state and spreading poverty are changing the fabric of life in Britain.

The manifestations of austerity are omnipresent in a country with a storied history of public largess: closed libraries, public swimming pools and cuts in benefits.

Above, Emma Wilde, a Liverpool resident, has struggled after losing the welfare benefits she depended on to support herself and her two children.

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• Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, has emerged as the most contentious figure in Italian and European politics.

After rejecting a cabinet minister he feared would lead Italy out of the eurozone, defenders hailed Mr. Mattarella as a protector of Italy’s democracy, while populists labeled him public enemy No. 1. The refusal set off the collapse of a populist coalition hours before it was expected to take control.

Instead, Mr. Mattarella issued a new mandate to form a caretaker government under Carlo Cottarelli, a respected economist, and guide Italy to new elections. But that measure is not likely to pass in Parliament and could prompt elections sometime after August.

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• Last week’s referendum liberalizing Ireland’s abortion laws has energized abortion rights advocates in Northern Ireland and created headaches for Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May.

While opinion polls show support for overturning Northern Ireland’s draconian abortion laws, which date to the 19th century and only permit termination if the life of a woman is endangered, the issue is entangled in sectarianism.

The debate sits squarely at the ongoing power struggle between Britain’s central government in London and the so-called devolved states of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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• Call him the Spider-Man of the 18th.

A migrant from Mali is being hailed as a hero in France after he scaled four stories in Paris’s 18th Arrondissement to save a child dangling from a balcony. As seen in an onlooker’s video, Mamoudou Gassama hauled himself hand over hand from one balcony to another.

But the rescue also thrust Mr. Gassama into the spotlight over France’s tightening immigration policy. President Emmanuel Macron of France met with Mr. Gassama, above, and said he would be granted legal status in recognition of his courage.

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• Uber’s abrupt sale of its Southeast Asia business to Grab, its top competitor in the region, left behind unhappy customers, drivers and regulators.

• As big airlines face a wave of retirements, a fresh batch of pilots are getting a chance, and the training, to seize the opportunity.

• China awarded Ivanka Trump seven new trademarks around the same time her father, President Trump, vowed to save ZTE, the Chinese telecommunications company that faced ruin after being punished for violating U.S. sanctions.

• Saudi Aramco has reached a deal with Halliburton to increase its output in three Saudi shale fields, a sign of the company’s efforts to produce more natural gas to support its growing chemical industry.

• Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

• The European Commission proposed a ban on many single-use plastic items, like straws and disposable cutlery, in an effort to clean up Europe’s beaches and seas. [The New York Times]

• The Syrian government took up the rotating presidency of a United Nations-backed disarmament forum this week, outraging Western officials. [The New York Times]

• Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan is seeking one last chance to influence President Trump before the possible U.S.-North Korea summit meeting. He will meet with Mr. Trump to discuss issues like North Korean short-range missiles that could hit Japan. [The New York Times]

• In 1944, an American warplane was shot down off the coast of Papua New Guinea. It was found just a few weeks ago, 74 years after the death of a 21-year-old soldier from California who was aboard. [The New York Times]

• One million French smokers have quit in the past year, according to a new study by Public Health France. The steep drop is probably due in part to antismoking campaigns. [BBC]

• Austria introduced drastic cuts to benefits for immigrants and refugees in an effort to curb new arrivals. [BBC]

• Russia’s “bridge of stupidity”: Despite warning signs, the 150th truck got stuck under an infamous low-clearance bridge outside of St. Petersburg. [Moscow Times]

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

• Recipe of the day: Surprise your co-workers with a delicious lemon sheet cake with buttercream frosting.

• Tips to upgrade your rental the landlord-friendly way.

• Five cheap(ish) things to help with summer camping.

•They call them lucky losers. With eight men withdrawing from the main draw of the French Open, that left eight spots to be filled by players who had lost in the qualifying rounds. Marco Trungelliti, above, ranked 190th, drove 10 hours from Barcelona to claim a spot and won his first-round match.

• Our travel writer’s destination was science, and he ended up at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland. It houses the 17-mile-long ring that is arguably the world’s most famous science facility.

• The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s big island has destroyed homes and forced the evacuation of thousands. But its lava fields may yield clues as to whether Mars is — or was ever — habitable.

The Dodgers weren’t the first baseball team to abandon a city, but perhaps no fans felt — and still feel — more collective trauma than those from Brooklyn.

On May 28, 1957, the borough’s beloved “Bums” and the New York Giants won permission to move to California. They left the next year for Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively.

Jerry Reinsdorf, a Brooklyn native who currently owns the Chicago White Sox, said that losing the Dodgers broke his heart.

“I’m still ticked,” Mr. Reinsdorf said recently. “There’s no way that an iconic franchise should have been allowed to move.”

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont also invoked a similar pain recently, saying fans had no concept that the team did not belong to Brooklyn.

“It was a disaster. Walter O’Malley, his name remains in infamy,” he said of the owner of the Dodgers at the time.

Some have tried to shift blame from O’Malley because of his battle with New York over a new stadium. But in 1986, the White Sox threatened to leave Chicago for the same reason.

“Frankly,” Mr. Reinsdorf said then, acknowledging the parallel, “I don’t know if I have the heart to do it.”

He didn’t have to find out. Chicago complied.

Robb Todd wrote today’s Back Story.

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