Tuesday, July 2, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering the intense protests in Hong Kong, the resumption of commercial whaling in Japan and an extreme hailstorm in Mexico.

By Alisha Haridasani Gupta

Riot police fired tear gas outside Hong Kong's legislative complex on Tuesday. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Hong Kong protesters dispersed after breaching legislative complex

After midnight, hundreds of riot police used tear gas to disperse protesters who had broken into and occupied the city’s legislative complex for three hours.

The city’s leader, Carrie Lam, condemned the acts in an early morning news conference. We’ll bring you live updates here.

Details: At the Legislative Council Building, a group of veteran politicians sympathetic to the protesters pleaded with them not to break in, but a small group of activists stormed the building, spray painting the walls of the inner chamber and defacing portraits. Some even raised a British colonial-era flag in a repudiation of Chinese rule.

The escalation shocked many in the city, divided the movement and raised fears that Beijing would use it as justification to tighten control.

Perspective: The decision to break into the Legislative Council building was “a symbol and a provocation, a test,” writes one protester in an Op-Ed.

Another angle: Many Western-educated Chinese professionals who travel and can see the global internet say the protesters foolishly value individuals’ rights over economic prosperity.

Closer look: “One country, two systems” was Beijing’s pledge when it took back the former British colony in 1997, but concerns about the erosion of civil liberties are mounting. The agreement that grants Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy is set to expire in 2047.

Iran breaches nuclear fuel limit

The country exceeded a restriction on uranium under the 2015 international agreement curbing its nuclear program, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported on Monday.

Though the breach does not give the country the material to produce a nuclear weapon, it signals that Iran may be willing to restore the far larger stockpile it possessed in the years before the Obama-era deal that President Trump withdrew from last year.

Response: The Trump administration had no immediate reaction, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month that the U.S. would never allow Iran to get within one year of possessing enough fuel to produce a nuclear weapon.

Related: In revived talks, the Trump administration may consider freezing North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. The move would essentially enshrine the status quo and accept the country as a nuclear power, rather than pushing it to dismantle its weapons.

A Minke whale at a port in the Hokkaido Prefecture on Monday. Kazuhiro Nogi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Japan resumes commercial whaling

After a hiatus of more than 30 years, the country has officially resumed commercial whaling in its waters, despite a global outcry from conservationists.

But now, beyond international restrictions and backlash, whalers in Japan face a tougher challenge: economics. While whaling holds cultural significance, the market for whale meat is shrinking and labor costs are rising.

Context: The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, but Japanese hunters continued to kill whales in the Antarctic for what the country said was scientific research. In December, Japan withdrew from the international agreement.

By the numbers: In the next three years, the Japanese government aims to reduce the $46 million in annual subsidies it pays to whale hunters. Consumption of whale meat peaked in the ’60s, when whale meat production reached 226,000 tons. In recent years, that number has shrunk to about 3,000 tons a year, according to government figures.

An attack in Kabul adds pressure to peace talks

The Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack in the Afghan capital on Monday that killed at least 40 people and injured at least 63 civilians, including children.

The attack, which was apparently aimed at a government facility, came as officials with the insurgent group met with American diplomats for a third day in Qatar to discuss a U.S. troop withdrawal. But while negotiations drag on, both sides have increased attacks to ramp up pressure.

Reminder: The Taliban and the U.S. started negotiating a peace deal in March, but early attempts faltered over the definition of terrorism and the future role of the Afghan government.

If you have 6 minutes, this is worth it

A new chapter for Ayodhya?

A laborer on the grounds of a workshop where sections of the proposed temple are being constructed and stored. Rebecca Conway for The New York Times

For Hindus, a speck of land in the city of Ayodhya is believed to be where the revered deity Lord Ram was born. In 1992, Hindu fundamentalists razed a 16th-century Mughal mosque there, sparking fatal riots, and erected a makeshift tent that approximated a temple.

Now, after the overwhelming victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in the May election, Hindus are confident a real temple will follow, thrusting the long religious dispute back into the spotlight.

Here’s what else is happening

Australia: A case involving Israel Folau, the evangelical Christian rugby star who was removed from the national team for making homophobic comments online, is headed to court, igniting a debate over religious freedom, freedom of speech and gay rights.

Botswana: Researchers using aerial surveys and field visits determined that fresh elephant carcasses in the country increased by nearly 600 percent from 2014 to 2018, confirming fears that the illegal ivory trade had found its way to one of Africa’s last great elephant refuges.

Spain: Madrid became the first major European city to reverse a ban on high-emissions vehicles, allowing cars free access to an area most had been barred from less than a year ago.

Ulises Ruiz/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Snapshot: Above, vehicles buried in hail in Guadalajara, Mexico. On the last day of June, an extreme hailstorm buried western parts of the country under three feet of ice, baffling authorities who tried to find a way to clean up the mess.

Medical myths: Fish oil does not, in fact, reduce the risk of heart disease. Nor do calorie trackers help you lose weight. A new review of thousands of research papers published between 2003 and 2017 found that nearly 400 were “medical reversals” — correctives to commonly held beliefs. “You come away with a sense of humility,” said the review’s originator.

Lil Nas X: The 20-year-old rapper known for the hit “Old Town Road” said he identified as a member of the L.G.B.T.Q. community on social media on the last day of Pride Month.

Wimbledon: Naomi Osaka lost to Yulia Putintseva in the first round on Monday. And Cori Gauff, 15, the youngest qualifier in the tournament, beat her own idol, Venus Williams. Here are the results for the women and the men.

Perspective: Censorship and on-again, off-again diplomacy with India have left Pakistan dependent on Bollywood to fill theater seats, a filmmaker explains in an Op-Ed.

What we’re reading: This piece from BuzzFeed News. Michael Roston, a science editor, writes: “When I heard a major toilet paper manufacturer was making and marketing a giant roll for millennials, I hoped someone would get to the bottom of the story. Katie Notopoulos’s cheeky exploration cracks the story open, baring it all in a most humorous way.”

Now, a break from the news

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.

Cook: Drag a tortilla through a platter of refried beans with avocado and radish. (Our Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter has more recommendations.)

Watch: The director Danny Boyle discusses a comic sequence featuring Himesh Patel from “Yesterday,” his new film.

Listen: “History Repeats” is from the debut solo album of Brittany Howard, the lead singer for Alabama Shakes. It’s a deep funk workout.

Read: The Times invited 10 Asian-American authors to choose photographs from our archives and write short young-adult fiction inspired by them.

Smarter Living: If you want to take your smartphone on your international travels, first check with your carrier to make sure the phone is unlocked, meaning it’s able to work with on a foreign network. Once you arrive at your destination, go to a wireless store for help choosing the right SIM card for your data needs. You might even get installation help. (Tape your domestic SIM card to your wallet or passport holder for safekeeping.)

And we have five recommendations for picnic gear, including the all-important corkscrew.

And now for the Back Story on …

Soccer versus football

The U.S. faces England in the Women’s World Cup today.

So why is the sport called soccer in the U.S. and very few other places, including Canada, Australia and South Africa, but football in England and most of the rest of the world?

It’s generally accepted that “soccer” or “socca’” began as British shorthand for “association football” to distinguish it from “rugby football,” which is a different game.

Potato, potahto. John Walton - Empics/PA Images, via Getty Images; Brett Carlsen, via Getty Images

Take the abbreviation for “association” (“assoc.”) and combine it with the propensity for British slang to add “-er” (like “rugger” for rugby and “brekkers” for breakfast), and you finally, sort of, get “soccer.”

The Oxford English Dictionary documents the earliest written use of the word in an 1889 letter by the poet Ernest Dowson (“I absolutely decline to see socca’ matches,” he wrote). Others trace it to a few years earlier.

Americans soon seized on “soccer” to distinguish the game from their own vastly different version of football.

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

— Alisha

Thank you
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Victoria Shannon, on the briefings team, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach us at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about the conditions at a border patrol station in Texas that houses young migrants.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Fencer’s weapon (5 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Rory Smith, the chief soccer correspondent for The New York Times, used to cover ... football for The Times of London.