Tuesday, Nov 5, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering a slew of investigations into Chinese scientists in the U.S., harmless jellyfish in Indonesia and toxic air in India.

By Alisha Haridasani Gupta and Melina Delkic

The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston where administrators have investigated five faculty members. Scott Dalton for The New York Times

Chinese scientists in the U.S. are under scrutiny

The F.B.I. and the National Institutes of Health have begun a vast effort to root out scientists in the U.S. stealing biomedical research for other countries.

Almost all of their cases center on Chinese scientists, including those who are American citizens, allegedly stealing for the Chinese government. The investigations have fanned fears that China is exploiting the relative openness of the American scientific system.

Details: Some researchers under investigation have obtained patents in China on work funded by the U.S. government and owned by American institutions, the N.I.H. said. Others are suspected of setting up labs in China that secretly duplicated American research, according to government officials.

Case study: Among the redacted emails provided to The Times was one by a scientist planning to whisk proprietary test materials to colleagues in China. “I should be able to bring the whole sets of primers to you (if I can figure out how to get a dozen tubes of frozen DNA onto an airplane),” he wrote.

Diplomats scramble to save Paris climate accord

President Trump on Monday officially yanked the U.S. out of the global climate agreement to slash greenhouse gas emissions, leaving diplomats to plot a way forward without the world’s largest economy.

The letter sent to the U.N. on Monday sets off a yearlong process that would officially pull the U.S. out a day after the presidential election. And even if a climate-friendly Democratic candidate wins the White House, re-entry wouldn’t necessarily be a smooth process.

Global strategy: Making the accord work without the U.S. will require major polluters like India and China to step up. China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, has made significant promises so far, but whether it will deliver is questionable.

The E.U. will likely lead the charge, nudging Beijing to take a more active role, but it remains to be seen whether other global powers will cooperate.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani giving a press conference in Tehran on Monday. Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press

Iran ramps up nuclear activity

The country said on Monday that it had started using a new set of advanced centrifuges — a move that crosses yet another limitation of the 2015 nuclear agreement and brings Iran closer to being able to build a nuclear bomb.

The Iranian government, which has deliberately defied the nuclear agreement in response to President Trump’s withdrawal from the deal, reiterated that it would reverse course if European leaders found a way to ease the impact of American sanctions on Iran.

Context: The 2015 agreement limited Iran to using about 5,000 older centrifuges at its main nuclear development facility. It also restricted Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile to a maximum of 660 pounds.

Since this summer, Iran has installed 60 advanced centrifuges, with plans to add more, and has broken that 660-pound cap.

If you have 5 minutes, this is worth it

Harmless jellyfish: fun or bad news?

Adam Dean for The New York Times

In Indonesia’s Kakaban Lake, four species of jellyfish have evolved in isolation and lost their ability to sting humans — a phenomenon that has turned the rare marine lake into a popular tourist destination.

But these evolved animals are far more vulnerable to their surroundings: A simple collision with a tourist or a slight change in the temperature or salinity of the water could prove fatal.

Here’s what else is happening

8Chan: The anonymous message board that had become a hub for violent extremists is back online, three months after it went dark in the aftermath of a shooting in Texas. The site is now called 8kun.

Vietnam: The police arrested eight people in connection with the deaths of 39 people, said to be Vietnamese, who were found in a truck in England last month. Authorities are still working to identify the victims.

Britain: Eighteen female lawmakers have said they are not seeking re-election, with many citing a wave of online — and offline — abuse and a culture of intimidation. Women’s rights activists worry the current climate could deter other women from running.

McDonald's: Steve Easterbrook, the fast-food giant’s British chief executive, will be replaced after he engaged in a consensual relationship with an employee that violated company policy.

Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Snapshot: Above, a smoggy Monday morning in New Delhi. An opaque haze has blanketed the Indian capital for the last few days, prompting officials to restrict car use and shutter schools. In many areas, the levels of particulates were equivalent to smoking more than two packs of cigarettes a day.

From Opinion: Among our most-emailed articles was Frank Bruni’s column on participating in another daunting medical trial for his vision impairment. What he learned? “While you have no control over much of what befalls you, you have plenty of control over your perspective on it, your attitude about it.”

Fake art: The headquarters of one of Prince Charles’s charities has long been home to artworks by Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. But a well-known American art forger now claims that they are fake — and that he created them.

The Japanese-American experience: “No-No Boy” is said to be the only complete novel published in the immediate aftermath of World War II by a second generation Japanese-American, John Okada, about the community’s experience of being detained in internment camps and then expected to return to normal life. The features director of our T Magazine explores the book’s significance today.

What we’re reading: This excerpt on Grub Street from a new book by the restaurant critic Adam Platt. Steven Erlanger, our chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe, calls it “a lovely, funny memoir of his family and their relationship with food (and drink).”

Now, a break from the news

David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Cook: This recipe for braised chicken with chickpeas has the flavors of a long-simmered tagine, but cooks in a fraction of the time. (Our Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter has more recommendations.)

Watch: The “Star Wars” Skywalker saga is coming to an end, “Frozen” is getting a sequel and “The Shining” characters are baaaaaack. Here’s a look at holiday movies.

Smarter Living: Most people see only a fraction of what big museums have to offer. If you’re visiting one, you’ll need a plan to make sure you get the best experience.

And now for the Back Story on …

All the President’s Tweets

The Times’s deep dive into President Trump’s use of Twitter has been immensely popular with readers since we published it on our website and apps on Saturday morning.

It was also a special section in our Sunday newspaper. Together, the three stories in the package come to about 9,800 words.

President Trump arriving at a campaign rally in Lake Charles, Louisiana, last month. Erin Schaff/The New York Times

The project has drawn hundreds of reader comments. We’re particularly grateful to Neil from the Boston metro area, who posted that he had been inspired to pay for “a recurring monthly subscription donation to provide NYT’s real news to schools.”

The idea for the investigation came in July, when Mr. Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen critical of him hated the U.S. and later added that they should “go back” to where they came from.

Our executive editor, Dean Baquet — who has also been a national correspondent, Washington bureau chief and managing editor at The Times — wondered what else could be found on Mr. Trump’s Twitter account.

A team spent months analyzing more than 11,000 of his presidential tweets. “The fact is,” said one of the editors on the project, “this is how he works. This is how he communicates.”

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

— Alisha and Melina

Thank you
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Melina Delkic 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 on the Democratic presidential race in Iowa.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Game played with a dog (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Compared with a typical Monday, the annual post-New York City Marathon edition of The Times sees a bump in retail sales of almost 50 percent locally.