| We’re covering the two back-to-back shootings in the U.S., a planned citywide protest in Hong Kong and a successful hoverboard journey across the English Channel. | |  By Alisha Haridasani Gupta | | | An informal vigil in El Paso on Saturday for the victims killed in a shooting. Celia Talbot Tobin for The New York Times | | | Federal investigators are treating a shooting on Saturday at a Walmart in El Paso, Tex., as an act of domestic terrorism. At least 20 people were killed and 26 wounded. Less than 24 hours later, a gunman opened fire in Dayton, Ohio, killing at least nine people and wounding 27 others. | | | 8chan: The online messaging board where the manifesto was posted before the El Paso attack has become a megaphone for mass shooters and a recruiting platform for white nationalists. Its founder wants to “shut the site down.” | | | On Sunday, authorities warned the public not to participate in Monday’s general strike, saying that it could push the semiautonomous city into a “very dangerous situation.” | | | Experts believe the strike, which is expected to sprawl across multiple districts, might have a greater impact on the territory’s beleaguered government than the mass demonstrations of the last two months. | | | Reminder: The demands of the largely leaderless protest movement have broadened beyond the full withdrawal of the extradition bill to now also include an independent investigation into police violence, direct elections and the release of all protesters arrested since early June. | | | This is the third tanker Iran has captured in the past month — and the second it has accused of “smuggling oil” — while the U.S. ramps up its “maximum pressure” campaign in an attempt to force the country to renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal. | | | Tehran has also reneged on the commitments in that deal, which President Trump abandoned last year. | | | Go deeper: China and other countries have been importing more oil from Iran than was previously known, according to a Times investigation, in clear defiance of U.S. sanctions. | | | The Russian village Usun-Kyuyol, where the loss of permafrost has created hummocks and craters. Emile Ducke for The New York Times | | | The government in distant Moscow has been unable to do much, and even state-run institutions are ill-equipped to assess the changes, forcing Siberia’s indigenous people to adapt using their own resources. | | | Quotable: “There might as well have been a war here,” said the resident of one village where permafrost loss has damaged buildings, roads and livestock. | | | Andrea DiCenzo for The New York Times | | | The percentage of women who work in Japan is at its highest ever, but cultural norms haven’t kept up: Women are still expected to shoulder the burdens of completing housework and caring for children and elderly relatives. | | | A growing number, fed up with the double standards and eager to focus on their own freedoms, are forgoing marriage altogether — a trend that has alarmed a government determined to reverse the country’s declining population. The woman pictured above is posing for a solo bridal portrait. (Read in Japanese.) | | | PAID POST: A MESSAGE FROM CAMPAIGN MONITOR | | Email Marketing 101: Never Sacrifice Beauty for Simplicity | | A drag-and-drop email builder, a gallery of templates and turnkey designs, personalized customer journeys, and engagement segments. It's everything you need to create stunning, results-driven email campaigns in minutes. And with Campaign Monitor, you have access to it all, along with award-winning support around the clock. It's beautiful email marketing done simply. | | | Learn More | | | | ISIS: Despite the military defeat of the terrorist organization in Syria this year, the group’s leaders could launch international attacks before the end of the year, according to a new U.N. report. The report warns that militants are monitoring political developments in Western Europe and considering attacks that would inflame domestic divisions. | | | Tainted pork: Details about the spread of a drug-resistant salmonella variant in American pork that has sickened hundreds of people have been largely unattainable as livestock executives who sit on federal agricultural committees have worked to keep public health inspectors off farms, a Times investigation found. | | | Glyn Kirk/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images | | | Snapshot: Above, Franky Zapata, the French inventor of his jet-powered hoverboard, arriving in Dover, England, on Sunday. He used his device, which he calls the Flyboard Air, to cross the English Channel in about 22 minutes. | | | What we’re reading: This essay in Air Mail, a news site for world travelers. Lynda Richardson, a Travel editor, writes: “I was engrossed by Elena Ferrante’s four-book series, the Neapolitan novels — and surprised to learn in this piece that her powerful voice falls flat for many Italian women.” | | | David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. | | | Go: Sure, “Game of Thrones” fans flock to Belfast, but Northern Ireland’s capital also attracts foodies, culture seekers and history buffs. We have recommendations for a weekend there. | | | Smarter Living: Among the obstacles to navigate when starting a job is a new social environment. Research shows that building relationships with co-workers and chatting with supervisors can promote workplace harmony and even good personal health. So accept those early offers of coffee or lunch and steer clear of gossip, and skirt or deflect tricky personal questions. | | | We also have 10 tips to help you have a cleaner, safer, more relaxing hotel stay. | | | But high heels actually began life as a men’s shoe. One theory says they were designed to help mounted soldiers keep their feet in the stirrups. Persians, the stories go, brought the innovation to Europe in the 15th century. | | | Madrid Pride's high-heel race in July. Paul White/Associated Press | | | Since then, the shoes have been associated with male aristocracy (17th century), witchcraft (18th), female sex appeal (19th on) — and back, foot and calf injuries and strain. | | | They’re also tools for activists. Mostly men compete in Madrid Pride’s annual high-heel race (minimum height: 4 inches). And some U.S. cities host awareness-raising “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” high-heel events for men. | | | That’s it for this briefing. See you next time. | | 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 the team at briefing@nytimes.com. | | P.S.
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