Monday, July 29, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering the violent clashes in Hong Kong, an ambitious new trade proposal from Beijing and the Fortnite World Cup.

By Alisha Haridasani Gupta

Riot police firing tear gas at protesters on Sunday. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Hong Kong: A tear gas-filled battlefield

The police unleashed rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets this weekend to push back thousands of people demonstrating against alleged police brutality and attacks by a group of men accused of having ties to organized crime groups.

On Saturday, clashes erupted in the northern town of Yuen Long, where demonstrators were rallying against a violent mob attack that had taken place a week earlier. Barely 24 hours later, riot police used tear gas and batons to beat back protesters who were trying to reach the Chinese government’s representative office in the city.

Reminder: For nearly two months, the semiautonomous city has convulsed into demonstrations almost every day, in what has become the territory’s worst political crisis since it was returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The rallies were sparked by an unpopular extradition bill, now shelved, that has come to symbolize broader concerns about Beijing’s encroachment.

Voices: “I didn’t study politics or social science, but I simply understand how precious democracy is from life experience,” said a 63-year-old protester who is often on the front lines waving a British flag.

We spoke to other protesters, as well as pro-government activists on the ground. Here’s what they have to say.

China looks for customers closer to home

Amid the punishing trade dispute with the U.S., China’s biggest overseas customer isn’t buying like it used to, leaving the country with a surplus of goods and a sluggish export sector.

So, in an effort to resuscitate its economy and counter the impact of the trade war, Beijing has started negotiations to create a free-trade zone with its neighbors, including Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

What’s next: Ministers from across the region are expected to meet in Beijing this week to outline a deal. Asian leaders will hold a summit in Bangkok in November.

Obstacles: China’s neighbors might be reluctant to sign on to a free-trade pact because many of them compete against China in a number of industries. And China’s own protectionist policies would have to shift for other countries to sign on.

A 737 Max plane at the Boeing Plant in Washington. Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

The roots of Boeing’s 737 Max crisis: Flawed oversight

Regulators at the Federal Aviation Administration didn’t fully understand Boeing’s dangerous new automated system when they approved the 737 Max plane in 2017, a Times investigation found.

The software that played a role in two deadly plane crashes in October and March was never stress-tested, and the F.A.A. eventually handed over responsibility of approving it to Boeing.

How we know: The Times reviewed internal documents and spoke with a dozen current and former employees at the F.A.A. and at Boeing who described a process that has effectively neutered the oversight agency.

Toll: The two plane crashes together killed 346 people. The 737 Max jets remain grounded, and if the ban persists much longer, Boeing says it may have to halt production.

Congress heads into recess with a big looming question

Will lawmakers impeach President Trump?

That question was left hanging as Congress broke for a monthlong summer recess, just days after the testimony of special counsel Robert Mueller.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee asked a federal judge to unseal grand jury secrets related to Mr. Mueller’s probe — effectively declaring that lawmakers have already started an impeachment investigation. But there are still divisions within the Democratic Party over whether — and how — to proceed.

More turmoil: A day after the president lashed out at a leading African-American lawmaker, Rep. Elijah Cummings, calling him “a brutal bully” and describing his district as a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess,” Democrats accused Mr. Trump of mounting a racist attack. He denied the allegations and accused them of playing “the race card.”

Border wall: The Supreme Court handed the president a victory by allowing the administration to use Pentagon funds to begin building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border while litigation against the funding continues.

If you have 6 minutes, this is worth it

Under Brazil’s new leader, the Amazon falls

Carl De Souza/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Jair Bolsonaro promised during his presidential campaign last year to open up the country’s vast protected lands for commercial purposes and ease environmental protections.

Seven months into his term, the Amazon has lost more than 1,330 square miles of forest cover — a 38 percent increase over the same period last year. At the same time, the government has pulled back enforcement actions against deforestation, alarming researchers, environmentalists and former officials.

Here’s what else is happening

Russia: The country’s most prominent opposition leader, Aleksei Navalny, was hospitalized with a “severe allergic reaction,” his spokeswoman said, a day after the police in Moscow arrested more than 1,300 demonstrators in a protest that he had planned against government corruption.

Iran: According to Indian officials, Tehran released nine Indian mariners who had been detained two weeks ago after the country seized the United Arab Emirates-based tanker they were on, claiming it was smuggling oil. The move came days after Iran fired a medium-range missile, escalating tensions with the West.

India: A tiger was speared and beaten to death by villagers after it had attacked several people in a national tiger reserve about 200 miles east of New Delhi, the authorities said. A video of the killing sparked widespread backlash.

Turkey: The country has started to repatriate hundreds of children of Islamic State followers from Iraq. Many have been exposed to psychological and physical trauma.

Italy: Officials said that two American teenagers admitted to fatally stabbing a police officer in Rome who had been trying to recover a backpack that they had been accused of stealing.

Vincent Tullo for The New York Times

Snapshot: Above, the stage for the first Fortnite World Cup — a global championship of the wildly popular video game with $30 million in cash prizes — inside the Arthur Ashe tennis stadium in New York this weekend.

In memoriam: Margaret Fulton, the best-selling Australian cookbook author who introduced the country to bolder flavors, died at 94.

What we’re reading: This essay in Real Simple, by the Times Magazine writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner. “What if some of us just can’t — or won’t — follow all that advice about becoming mindful, calm and deliberate?” says the briefings editor, Andrea Kannapell. “Taffy explores her own valuation of chaos.”

Now, a break from the news

Kiera Wright-Ruiz's tamagoyaki. Constantine Poulos for The New York Times

Cook: Swap your scrambled eggs for tamagoyaki, a Japanese rolled omelet.

Read: Max Porter’s “Lanny,” a Booker Prize nominee, is equal parts fairy tale, domestic drama and fable. It’s one of six new books we recommend.

Watch: Our TV critic has new recommendations, including an Icelandic cop drama, a dog documentary and the final season of “Orange Is the New Black.”

Go: A secret “Gossip Girl” tour at the Lotte New York Palace hotel in Manhattan takes the show’s fans through the spots where so much of the scheming and drama was filmed.

Smarter Living: Nearly 70 percent of pregnant women in the United States (and nearly 12 percent of children) use what researchers call “complementary and alternative medicine.” Our Parenting editor, Jessica Grose, has done the same, and now suggests a healthy dose of skepticism.

And we can help you master the art of the tablescape.

And now for the Back Story on …

... Ellipses

Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie, “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” hit theaters this weekend. But as eagle-eyed grammarians noticed, the ellipsis shifts on billboards and in trailers to “Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood.”

What gives?

The movie premiere last week in Hollywood, L.A., California. Nina Prommer/EPA, via Shutterstock

The Times’s film editor, Stephanie Goodman, asked the distributor, Sony, which version was correct, and the answer was, essentially, both. The studio called it “a creative decision.”

That kind of license seems fitting. The ellipsis once simply signified an incomplete statement or the omission of several words in a sentence, but it has taken on new meanings thanks to the casual punctuation style of emails and texts; many apps also use it as a “typing awareness indicator.”

According to a Cambridge researcher, the first use of the ellipsis is in a 1588 translation of a play by the Roman dramatist Terence.

As Quartz reported, the mark became common in the 18th century, often to get around libel laws, and has been notably used since by the columnist Herb Caen, the novelists Ford Madox Ford and Joseph Conrad, and more than a few social media-happy politicians.

That’s it for this briefing. Till next time ...

— Alisha

Thank you
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Adam Pasick, editorial director of newsletters, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime companion.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Pricey Italian fashion label (5 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The New York Times received 13 News and Documentary Emmy nominations, the most in our history, and the Op-Doc “Traveling While Black” was nominated for a Primetime Emmy.