Thursday, Oct 3, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering the escalating clash between President Trump and Congress, growing concerns of a global economic slowdown and an isle of women.

By Alisha Haridasani Gupta

President Trump speaking to the press at the White House on Wednesday. Doug Mills/The New York Times

Trump impeachment inquiry intensifies

House leaders threatened to subpoena the White House if it did not comply by Friday with requests for documents tied to the Ukraine matter.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representative Adam Schiff warned that any attempt to stonewall the House’s request or intimidate witnesses would be construed as obstruction worthy of impeachment itself.

President Trump responded with a series of angry outbursts. In the Oval Office, next to a visibly uncomfortable president of Finland, he declared angrily that Democrats were “guilty as hell” of corrupting the 2016 election, that former Vice President Joe Biden was “corrupt” and “less smart now than he ever was,” and that a C.I.A. whistle-blower was “a spy, in my opinion.”

What’s next? The State Department’s inspector general, Steven Linick, has just emerged from briefing lawmakers behind closed doors about urgent material he signaled could be relevant to the Ukraine investigation. We’re following the latest in our live briefing.

From The Times: We’ve started an email newsletter with the latest developments in the impeachment inquiry. Sign up here.

Investors’ worry over economy deepens

Global stocks slid again on Wednesday as investors fretted over slowing global growth.

The S&P 500 lost 3 percent over two days, shattering a relatively calm period for Wall Street, with industrial companies, automakers and technology companies hit particularly hard. Wednesday’s selling followed a sharp drop in Europe, where London’s FTSE 100 fell more than 3 percent.

The sell-off began in New York on Tuesday, after news that U.S. manufacturing had contracted in September and the World Trade Organization slashed its global trade outlook.

Adding to concerns: The W.T.O. on Wednesday granted the U.S. permission to impose tariffs on as much as $7.5 billion European products as part of a long-running complaint over European subsidies for the plane maker Airbus. The ruling could escalate the Trump administration’s strained trade relations with Europe.

It doesn’t stop there: Chinese consumers, whose big spending has fueled global growth for years, aren’t spending so big anymore — and that could have repercussions around the world.

If you have 7 minutes, this is worth it

She stands out. And that’s the point.

Ludovic Marin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Sibeth Ndiaye is the first black spokeswoman to represent a French president. Unlike many of her colleagues, she didn’t attend elite French universities. And she wears a bright mix of colors to work, in jarring contrast to the sea of sober suits she is surrounded by.

In a country where clothing is deeply embedded in the national identity, Ms. Ndiaye’s relaxed fashion choices have become a lightning rod for discussions around race, gender and body shape in France. “The way I dress is almost a political statement,” she told The Times.

Here’s what else is happening

Boeing: A senior engineer filed an internal complaint this year saying that the company had rejected a safety system for the 737 Max jet to minimize costs. The engineer said he believed it might have reduced risks that contributed to two fatal crashes.

Hong Kong: The shooting of an 18-year-old, Tsang Chi-kin, during protests this week has divided the tense city, symbolizing the excesses of both the police force and the increasingly violent protesters.

South Korea: A 56-year-old man confessed to raping and murdering 14 women more than two decades ago, the police said, in the nation’s most infamous serial killing.

North Korea: The country launched a short-range missile that for the first time in two years splashed down in Japanese waters, reinforcing the threat the North poses for its neighbors while negotiations with the U.S. languish.

Saudi Arabia: A year after Saudi agents killed and dismembered the dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, Prince Mohammed bin Salman — the kingdom’s de facto leader — is struggling to restore his image.

Birgit Puve for The New York Times

Snapshot: Above, Virve Koster, 91, one of the inhabitants of the Estonian island of Kihnu, which has an overwhelmingly female population that has adapted to living without men.

“Lady Chatterley’s Lover”: Bristol University announced this week that it had acquired the judge’s copy of the racy 1928 D.H. Lawrence novel that was at the center of a landmark obscenity trial in 1960. The move follows a crowdfunding campaign and other efforts to keep the book in Britain after it was auctioned last year to a private buyer in the U.S.

What we’re reading: This Instagram account dedicated to round and roly-poly animals. “Just because, “ writes our Briefings teammate Remy Tumin.

Now, a break from the news

Michael Kraus for The New York Times

Cook: Polenta with mushrooms in a soy-butter sauce is meatless but hearty.

Listen: Our pop music critic Jon Pareles says there’s “something old-fashioned, almost Broadway-ish,” about Zedd and Kehlani’s song “Good Thing.”

Go: From its immersive airport art to its hyper-engineered skyline, Singapore offers a sci-fi vision for the present day.

Smarter Living: There are simple ways to be a more conscious consumer, whether by reducing your carbon footprint or buying from ethical sources. A few tips: Look for companies that have B Corp certification, which means they were vetted for social and environmental responsibility. And shopping secondhand is a simple way to avoid creating more waste.

It’s a golden age for price alerts, which let you know about bargains on (mostly international) flights. Here are a few recommended services.

And now for the Back Story on …

The march of history

Today, Germany commemorates the reunification of East and West, a fusion that took place 29 years ago amid the collapse of Soviet communism and the end of the Cold War.

A graffiti-covered segment of what remains of the Berlin Wall. John Macdougall/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The political upheaval of the late 1980s was so profound that one policy analyst, Francis Fukuyama, theorized that it was “the end of history” — his shorthand for the idea that the Western system of liberal democracy had triumphed around the world and would be “the final form of human government.”

It was a catchy meme, but it didn’t quite work out that way.

Even after the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991, Chinese communism remained intact, and the decades since then have witnessed plenty of dictators, ultranationalism, and government-sponsored and independent terrorism.

In other words, history kept on going.

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 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 anniversary celebration in China and the protests in Hong Kong.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Mary Oliver and Maya Angelou (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Jason Stallman, an executive producer of The Times’s TV program “The Weekly,” talked about how the series is produced.