Wednesday, July 3, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering vanishing ships in the Persian Gulf, China’s new surveillance tools and the great journey of a speedy arctic fox.

By Alisha Haridasani Gupta

The scene at Hong Kong's damaged legislature building on Tuesday. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

China denounces ‘extreme radicals’ in Hong Kong

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that the demonstrators who stormed the city’s legislature this week had committed “serious and illegal acts” that were a “blatant challenge” to the “one country, two systems” framework that ties the semiautonomous city to Beijing.

Although the unrest in Hong Kong has become an embarrassment for China’s ruling Communist Party, experts say it’s unlikely that President Xi Jinping will take drastic action, such as deploying troops. Here are more takeaways from the protests.

In China: While the demonstrations in Hong Kong have been largely absent from Chinese news media, state media outlets blamed the unrest on western forces seeking to spark a revolution, while leaving out details of the protesters’ wider political demands.

On the ground: One of our video journalists was on the streets with the protesters on Monday.

An oil tanker carrying crude oil arriving in Zhoushan, China.

Ships vanish to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran

Buying Iranian oil isn’t illegal under international law, but many foreign companies fear being punished by the sanctions imposed by the U.S. last year when the country withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord.

Some shipping fleets, particularly those from China, have defied the restrictions by “going dark” — disabling automated tracking systems — to pick up cargo in Iranian ports, according to commercial analysts and intelligence from the authorities in Israel, a foe of Iran.

Impact: American and Israeli intelligence agencies say Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is deeply entwined with the country’s petrochemical industry. Undercutting the sanctions keeps funds flowing to the group and reduces pressure on Iran to return to talks about its nuclear program.

The Daily: In our latest episode, a national security reporter for The Times discusses what Iran can learn from North Korea about relations with the U.S.

China widens its surveillance sweep

Until recently, China had used a muscular combination of high-tech surveillance and manpower to monitor and subdue Muslim minorities in the western Xinjiang region.

Now it has expanded its digital dragnet to include people who don’t even live in Xinjiang or China.

Border authorities routinely install a secret app — called Fengcai — on phones belonging to tourists and visitors that gathers personal data, including text messages and contacts. It also checks whether the devices have photos, videos, audio files or documents that match a list of 73,000 items. They include everything from ISIS publications to a photo of the Dalai Lama.

How we know: A team of journalists from The New York Times and other publications examined the policing app used in the region and interviewed several people who crossed the Xinjiang border recently. We also asked researchers in Germany and the U.S. to analyze the app’s code.

Another Dubai princess defects

Princess Haya, the most visible and glamorous of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s six wives, fled to London with their two children. She is seeking a divorce, a member of Dubai’s royal family said, and political asylum in Britain.

Princess Haya, who is well-known in British high society, is at least the third woman to flee the palace of the ruler of Dubai. Two of the sheikh’s daughters — Sheikha Shamsa al-Maktoum and Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum — also tried to defect and are said to be held in Dubai against their will.

Complications: While it is easy for men to divorce their wives under Islamic law, which governs marriage in the United Arab Emirates, it is harder for women, and custody of children is generally given to the man.

If you have 9 minutes, this is worth it

A vulnerable population silenced

A market in Rakhine State. Minzayar for The New York Times

Rakhine State is an isolated ribbon of land in western Myanmar where the country’s military carried out a brutal mass expulsion of the Muslim Rohingya group and, for decades, suppressed the ethnic Rakhine community.

Now the government has cut off the state’s access to the internet, underscoring how easily a government can silence a population in the digital age.

Here’s what else is happening

China: In a rare question-and-answer session, Premier Li Keqiang, the country’s no. 2 official, made an unusually public effort to ease trade tensions with the U.S. He promised to cut tariffs, loosen limits on foreign investments and protect intellectual property.

The E.U.: The bloc nominated Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s multilingual defense minister, to become the president of the European Commission, and Christine Lagarde, the director of the International Monetary Fund, to head the European Central Bank.

President Trump’s taxes: The House of Representatives filed a lawsuit to force the Treasury Department to turn over the president’s tax returns, escalating the fight with the administration and shifting it into federal courts.

London: The body of a man believed to have been a stowaway on a Kenya Airways flight to Heathrow Airport fell out of the landing gear compartment and plunged into a backyard garden in London.

July 4: Tanks, a military flyover and a speech from President Trump at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial will all be part of the Independence Day festivities in Washington on Thursday. The pomp and circumstance marks a change from decades in which the events included no public displays of America’s military prowess and almost no participation by previous presidents.

Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters

Snapshot: Above, people in Chile test their solar glasses before the solar eclipse, the first since August 2017, which covered parts of South America, from Chile to Argentina.

Women’s World Cup: The U.S. is facing England in the semifinals in Lyon. Follow live updates here.

No Kimono: After objections from Japan, Kim Kardashian West announced she would change the name of her shapewear line from Kimono. Still, Japan’s trade minister said he planned to send someone to speak to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Arctic fox: A tagged fox trekked 2,175 miles from Norway to Canada in just 76 days, “the fastest movement rate ever recorded” for the species, stunned researchers said.

Cold brew or iced? Which one is better? What’s even the difference? We’ve got answers.

What we’re reading: This article in Jezebel. Jessica Grose, the editor of NYT Parenting, writes, “We recently wrote about how celebrities became influential in the world of vaccines, but Anna Merlan has been covering the subject for years. Her most recent piece is about getting kicked out of America’s biggest anti-vaccine conference.”

Now, a break from the news

Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Cook: The ingredients for a Caprese salad work especially well in a weeknight chicken dinner.

Listen: Hear a selection of Hootie & the Blowfish deep cuts and a conversation with Tim Sommer, who signed the group, on the latest Popcast.

Read: “Whisper Network,” by Chandler Baker, is part #MeToo shocker and part legal thriller. The feminist novel is set in Dallas, Tex.

Smarter Living: If you’re the “only” in a group setting — whether you’re a woman, a person of color or another minority — don’t underestimate the importance of your presence. Study after study shows that companies with greater diversity have better performance and are more productive. Here are some more tips about how to navigate your outsider status, including advice about how to advocate for yourself.

And, since there’s technically no such thing as a ‘guilty pleasure,’ go ahead and watch that trashy show.

And now for the Back Story on …

Tennis phenoms

Cori Gauff’s upset victory over Venus Williams on Monday was a study in chronological contrasts — Gauff, the youngest player in the women’s singles draw at Wimbledon, is just 15, while Williams, the oldest, is 39. But teenage tennis prodigies are an age-old story.

Cori Gauff upset Venus Williams in straight sets on Monday, 6-4, 6-4. Toby Melville/Reuters

Young stars like Martina Hingis and Monica Seles have frequently found fame on the global stage, though the high-profile flameout of players like Jennifer Capriati — along with the prospect of stress injuries and the frequent involvement of aggressive tennis parents — spurred officials to set limits on players younger than 18 in 1994.

(The restrictions are only for women; male prodigies like Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who tend to be just a few years older, can do as they please.)

Gauff will be allowed to compete at only five more W.T.A. tournaments before her 16th birthday next March, under what has become known as the Capriati Rule. One of the few young players who were grandfathered into professional tennis without such restrictions was Venus Williams.

That’s it for this briefing. We’ll be off for the long July 4 holiday weekend in the U.S., and will return on Monday.

— Alisha

Thank you
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Adam Pasick, on the briefings team, 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 the signals that President Trump may be sending to Iran as he cultivates a relationship with North Korea.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Overcaffeinated (5 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• In January 1978, The Times initiated a stand-alone sports section. The first edition included an interview with the tennis star Billie Jean King about her comeback.