Theresa May, Peter Strzok, Emmy Awards: Your Friday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/briefing/theresa-may-peter-strzok-emmy-awards.html

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Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

• “I didn’t criticize the prime minister,” President Trump said today after a tabloid published an interview in which he questioned how Prime Minister Theresa May had handled negotiations on Britain’s departure from the European Union.

The two leaders appeared to be emphasizing unity at a news conference at the prime minister’s country estate, after the president said of Mrs. May’s Brexit plans: “I would have done it much differently. I actually told Theresa May how to do it, but she didn’t listen to me.”

He struck a different tone today: “I don’t know what they’re going to do, but whatever you do is O.K. with me — that’s their decision.”

Mr. Trump also had tea with Queen Elizabeth II. Follow our live updates here.

• Major protests are planned throughout Mr. Trump’s visit. A rally in London today was expected to be one of Britain’s largest since the 2003 protests against the invasion of Iraq.

• Before his bombshell interview about Britain, President Trump reaffirmed his support for the military alliance at the end of its annual summit meeting.

He also claimed “total credit” for having pressed members into increasing their military budgets “like they never have before.” The leaders of France and Italy disputed that there were any new pledges for increased spending.

• The meeting came days before Mr. Trump is scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, although there was little discussion of how to address security threats or of Mr. Putin’s efforts to divide the West.

• “I have the utmost respect for Congress’s oversight role, but I truly believe that today’s hearing is just another victory notch in Putin’s belt and another milestone in our enemies’ campaign to tear America apart.”

That was Peter Strzok, who oversaw the opening of the Russia investigation, rejecting Republican accusations that his political views biased his official actions.

• His comments came during a hearing in the House on Thursday that was punctuated by shouting and personal attacks. Watch an excerpt here.

• A Thai military officer expressed amazement at the success of this week’s operation to rescue a boys’ soccer team from a flooded cave.

“The most important piece of the rescue was good luck,” said the officer, Maj. Gen. Chalongchai Chaiyakham. “So many things could have gone wrong, but somehow we managed to get the boys out.”

• The extraordinary rescue required the assistance of thousands of people. Here’s how they pulled it off.

• Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, told lawmakers that trade talks between the U.S. and China had broken down. “Is there a master plan?” one Republican representative asked. “I implore you to work to end this thing soon.”

Perhaps no state has more to lose from the trade war than Michigan, where China’s ties to the auto industry run deep. Read our report from Detroit.

• The White House declared that the long-running war on poverty “is largely over and a success,” making a case for new work requirements on Americans who benefit from federal assistance.

• The Justice Department said it would appeal a federal judge’s approval of AT&T’s merger with Time Warner, extending the government’s legal challenge of the $85 billion deal.

• Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $4.6 billion to 22 women and their families who said asbestos in its talcum powder products caused ovarian cancer.

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

Tips for a more fulfilling life.

• Here are some of the best beaches worldwide.

• Nine toys that keep kids learning.

• Recipe of the day: Swing by the farmers’ market this weekend and make pasta with eggplant and zucchini.

• Emmett Till inquiry is reopened

The federal government has revived its investigation into the killing of the 14-year-old African-American boy in 1955, one of the most searing examples of racial violence in the South.

In a report submitted to Congress in March, the Department of Justice said it had reopened its inquiry “based upon the discovery of new information,” but it did not elaborate.

• Charges are dropped against Stormy Daniels

The police in Columbus, Ohio, said they had made a mistake in arresting the pornographic film star, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

• “Game of Thrones” leads Emmys pack

The dragon-fueled HBO juggernaut received 22 nominations, the most of any show.

Our critics discussed this year’s snubs and surprises. Here’s the full list of nominees.

• The week in good news

A restaurant in Kentucky that hires people who are in treatment for addiction is one of seven stories that inspired us.

• Quiz time!

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

• Ready for the weekend

At the movies, our critics reviewed “Eighth Grade,” a comedy about a teenage girl, and “Skyscraper,” an “insistently, nay, proudly ridiculous thriller” starring Dwayne Johnson. You can find all of this week’s film reviews here.

We suggest nine new books, and The Times’s former chief book critic, Michiko Kakutani, talks to us about what she’s reading.

The work of the American artist David Wojnarowicz, who spoke out during the AIDS crisis, is in three shows in New York this summer. Our critic visited them. Here are other recommended cultural events in the city.

And it’s a big weekend for sports. Croatia and France play in the World Cup final on Sunday at 11 a.m. Eastern. (Find all of our coverage here.) At Wimbledon, Serena Williams will face Angelique Kerber in the women’s final on Saturday. The men’s semifinals are today.

• Best of late-night TV

Stephen Colbert found the contentious House hearing for the F.B.I. agent Peter Strzok oddly satisfying: “This is the first time I’ve seen Congress as frustrated with Congress as we are!”

• Quotation of the day

“There’s Japanese owners, there’s Chinese owners. As long as they’re making it here, I can’t complain. It’s still paying our wages.”

— Roy Pierce, an autoworker who has helped make interiors for vehicles in Michigan for more than 20 years.

• 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

Dan Saltzstein, an editor for our Travel section, recommends this piece from Slate: “Noir is one of my favorite genres in both literature and film. (I even wrote a travel story about searching for it in San Francisco a few years ago.) But from a modern perspective, it’s problematic — in part because of its protagonists, who tend to be knee-deep in what today is called toxic masculinity. In this wonderful essay, the crime novelist Megan Abbott explores how her favorite noir writer, Raymond Chandler, fares in the #MeToo age.”

Last week, we mentioned an article about Wimbledon’s tradition of using “Mrs.” and “Miss” but not the marital-status-neutral “Ms.” to refer to female players. (The tennis tournament uses courtesy titles only for women, not for men.)

Some non-English-speaking countries have chosen to establish a single honorific for women, regardless of their age or marital status.

Just as Ms. became popular in the U.S. in the 1970s, there was a reckoning in Germany over honorifics, too. In 1972, West Germany’s interior minister banned legislators from using “Fräulein” (the German equivalent of “Miss”) in government documents. The term has largely become taboo among German speakers because of its derogatory connotations; as a diminutive, it implies that an unmarried woman isn’t a full adult.

More recently, the European Parliament issued guidelines in 2009 that frowned on the use of “Miss,” “Mrs.” and their equivalents in other languages in the body’s official documents and that recommended using gender-neutral terms in place of words like sportsmen and statesmen. (“Political correctness gone mad,” one lawmaker said.)

In 2012, Prime Minister François Fillon of France ordered “mademoiselle” banished from government forms and registries after a public campaign highlighting that the term suggested female subjugation.

Matthew Sedacca wrote today’s Back Story.

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