Your Tuesday Briefing: Syria, Brexit, Deutsche Bank

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/briefing/syria-brexit-deutsche-bank.html

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Good morning.

We’re covering the efforts to undo the chaos in northeastern Syria, the looming tension amid a quirky British ceremony and what climate change means for wine producers.

They filled a vacuum opened by President Trump’s decision to abandon the United States’ former Kurdish allies there. The Kurds then made a deal with the Syrian government to try to drive back Turkey’s incursion.

Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president (and in the view of the U.S. a war criminal), has benefited greatly, along with Iran and Russia.

Mr. Trump, who essentially greenlighted the Turkish operation last week, took a harsher line today, raising tariffs on Turkey’s steel and suspending trade-deal negotiations with the country.

Reaction: A Saudi ambassador called the U.S. withdrawal “a disaster for the region.” Foreign ministers from all 28 E.U. member states agreed to stop selling arms to Turkey, the first time the bloc had reached such a decision about a NATO ally.

“The E.U. condemns Turkey’s military action, which seriously undermines the stability and the security of the whole region,” the ministers said in a strongly worded statement.

Amid the fanfare of hostage-taking, royal jewels and other centuries-old traditions for the opening of a new session of the British Parliament, the frantic search for a deal to leave the E.U. loomed.

Even in her speech, which was written by the government, Queen Elizabeth II said it was the “priority” of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to leave by Oct. 31, and avoided using harder words like committed or determined. The rest of the speech essentially set up Mr. Johnson’s government for a general election; critics dismissed it as a Conservative Party manifesto.

Reality: What’s next is, as you might have guessed, unclear. The scramble for an agreement that has an Irish border solution closer to that of Mr. Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May — but one that won’t turn off Brexit hard-liners to the point of rebellion — will go into Thursday, when E.U. leaders meet to either sign off or consider an extension.

But experts say that it will be difficult to put a deal in principle into an official legal document so quickly.

Of note: One of the critical factors will be the decision of the 10 lawmakers from Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party who prop up Mr. Johnson’s government but fiercely opposed the Brexit plan negotiated by Mrs. May.

A $4,000 bottle of French wine. Luxury golfing trips. Hiring the children of the well-connected.

Deutsche Bank has conducted a brazen campaign of charming and enriching China’s political elite to become a major player in the country. Over 15 years, it used expensive gifts, nepotism and questionable consultants to do so.

Its strategy worked: By 2011, the German company was ranked as the top bank for managing initial public offerings in China.

How we know: Confidential documents prepared by the company and its outside lawyers covering a 15-year period were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with The New York Times as part of a joint investigation.

What we know: The documents show that the bank’s top leadership was warned about the activity but did not stop it. Here are our other findings from the investigation.

Around the world, smart wine producers are working on ways to keep their vineyards flourishing despite hotter summers, warmer winters, droughts and the sometimes violent expressions of climate change, like freak hailstorms, spring frosts, flooding and wildfires.

In the first of a four-part series, The Times’s wine critic, Eric Asimov, teases out the major themes: new technologies, experiments with different grapes, a shifting map for viticulture, higher-altitude vineyards and planting to limit rather than maximize exposure to sunlight.

Spain: The country’s Supreme Court sentenced a former deputy leader of Catalonia, Oriol Junqueras, to 13 years in prison. A Spanish judge also issued a new European arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont, the former Catalonian leader.

Notre-Dame attack trial: Two women accused of trying to ignite a car loaded with gas cylinders near the cathedral in 2016 were sentenced to 25 to 30 years in prison. Their case shed light on the world of female jihadists in homegrown terrorism.

Cancer treatments: A critical drug that serves as the backbone of treatment for most childhood cancers, including leukemias, lymphomas and brain tumors, has become increasingly scarce, and doctors are warning that they may soon be forced to consider rationing doses.

Snapshot: Above, the first phone calls in Kashmir in months, after a communications blackout imposed by India. Parents checked in with children, lovers called partners, and doctors spoke to patients after the government partially restored service. “People won’t die now because they can’t call an ambulance,” one cardiologist said.

Booker Prize: Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo have both won this year’s prestigious literary award, after the judges rebelled against the one-winner-only rules. Ms. Evaristo, who wrote “Girl, Woman, Other,” is the first black woman to win.

Fortnite: The video game, one of the world’s most popular, went dark after everything in its virtual world was consumed by a black hole on Sunday, prompting speculation that it is undergoing a major transition.

What we’re reading: This Grist article about the signs of climate change experienced by Alaskans. Dodai Stewart, a deputy editor on the Metro desk, says it’s “a mix of data, experts and anecdotes, nicely woven into a story that is as alarming as it is informative.”

Cook: One pan is all you need for roasted chicken thighs with shallots and grapes. (Our Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter has more recommendations.)

Watch: In making “Lucy in the Sky,” starring Natalie Portman, Noah Hawley may be the first director who has ever had to narrow his focus to do a movie set in outer space.

Listen: John Zorn’s song cycle “Jumalattaret” pushed the new-music master Barbara Hannigan to her limit. Is the cycle unsingable, or perhaps a masterpiece in the making?

Read: Elton John’s memoir “Me” is a very crowded book by a rock star who’s kept a lot to himself until now.

Smarter Living: Having a hobby lowers stress, increases life satisfaction and usually broadens social networks. (Browsing social media and tapping screens don’t qualify.) Think you’re just too busy? In our guide to finding a hobby, an expert in work-life balance recommends thinking about your free time in weeks, rather than days, to find room.

And our Social Q’s column takes on the etiquette of public kissing.

On Tuesday night in the U.S., 12 Democratic candidates will appear in Ohio in the first presidential campaign debate that The New York Times has planned and hosted in more than a decade. CNN is co-hosting.

Our National editor, Marc Lacey, who will be one of the debate’s four moderators, is a former White House, international and national correspondent. Here are a few highlights from his interview with our Reader Center.

How did you find out you would help moderate?

My phone rang one recent night. I ignored it. It rang again. I ignored it again. The same call and no response continued a few more times right in the middle of the last presidential debate, which I was watching from home.

It turned out that it was Patrick Healy, our political editor. … Apparently there had been a meeting among the top Times brass in which various people were proposed for the Times moderator role.

When Pat asked me, I chuckled. It turns out he wasn’t joking.

How do you spend your time when you’re off duty?

I have a dog named Sandy who greets me at the end of each workday with so much enthusiasm that I forget all the hostile tweets I might have received that day. The debate’s going to be great, I have no doubt, especially to my labradoodle. To her, no matter what happens onstage, I will have won.

You can find more photos and stories about Marc on The New York Times’s Instagram account.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Melina

Thank youTo Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about the Kurdish forces in Syria. • Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Made a small, plaintive sound, as a cat (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • The New York Times Company has been named a top company for women who work in technology by AnitaB.org, a nonprofit dedicated to improving opportunities for women in the field.