China, South Korea, Najib Razak: Your Thursday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/briefing/china-south-korea-najib-razak.html

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Good morning. A continued search for the Thai youth soccer team, rare gun violence in Hong Kong, and South Korea’s stunning upset of Germany. Here’s what you need to know:

• A blow for organized labor in the U.S.

The Supreme Court ruled that government workers who choose not to join unions cannot be required to help pay for collective bargaining. This means that public-sector unions across the U.S., already under political pressure, could lose tens of millions of dollars and see their effectiveness diminished. But being smaller and poorer doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be weaker. Above, Gov. Bruce Rauner of Illinois, right, with Mark Janus, who sued his public sector union, outside the Supreme Court.

And Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court. He was long the decisive vote in close cases, and his departure signals a new direction: President Trump can now move the court to the right.

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• A major upset in New York.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, above, a 28-year-old political newcomer, won the state’s Democratic primary against Representative Joseph Crowley, who had been seen as a possible successor to Nancy Pelosi as the party’s leader in the House.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a former organizer for Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign, declared it time for generational, racial and ideological change. Here’s what we know about the woman who could become the youngest person in Congress.

The primaries highlighted rebellion among Democrats and rewarded loyalty for Republicans, as two incumbents favored by President Trump won. Here are four takeaways, and full results from the seven states that voted Tuesday.

And here’s a look at why some candidates are embracing the socialist label in 2018.

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• The U.S. Justice Department approved Disney’s $71 billion bid for 21st Century Fox’s assets. The decision may complicate any rival offer by Comcast for Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

At stake are cable channels including FX and National Geographic, the “Avatar” and “X-Men” film franchises, and a pair of global television networks: the European pay-TV operator Sky and Star India.

Separately, President Trump chose a more moderate approach to limit Chinese investments in the U.S. The White House had been considering much tougher limits as punishment for what it said was years of China “stealing” intellectual property from the U.S. Above, a technology expo in Beijing last month.

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• Thailand clings to hope.

An emotional search for a young soccer team and its coach — trapped by rising waters in a vast cave complex near Chiang Rai — entered its sixth day.

Soldiers and park rangers lined up at the cave’s mouth. Teams of divers worked their way through submerged passageways. The vigil of family and friends outside echoed across a captivated nation.

“We won’t abandon them,” the provincial governor said. “We are in this fully.”

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• A stunning win.

South Korea knocked Germany out of the World Cup with a 2-0 victory in overtime. It was a humiliating defeat for Germany, the defending champion, which failed to advance from the opening round for the first time since 1938. Above, South Korea’s Son Heung-min celebrated his goal.

Mexico advanced despite losing, 3-0, to Sweden. South Korea’s upset also sent Sweden through to the next round.

Here’s where all of the teams stand. Check back for today’s live scores and analysis.

• McKinsey & Company, the godfather of management consulting, landed its biggest contract in Africa with the South African power company Eskom. It was the worst mistake in McKinsey’s nine-decade history. Above, Eskom power lines running across a settlement in South Africa.

• The U.S. vowed to impose sanctions on all countries that buy Iranian oil after Nov. 4, a tough position that roiled oil markets and is likely to alienate allies and adversaries.

• Facebook has halted its internet drone project, which it had originally envisioned as a way of bringing more people online.

• We have reached “peak screen,” our tech columnist writes. Now, as tech companies feel the tension of making their smartphones less addictive, the future might mean smaller screens.

• U.S. stocks were down. Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

• The world’s tropical forests lost roughly 39 million acres of trees last year — an area roughly the size of Bangladesh, a new report found. [The New York Times]

• Hong Kong is on edge after a woman gunned down four relatives, killing two. The shooting at a park has rattled the city, where gun crimes are exceptionally rare. [The New York Times]

• Tiaras, purses and cash: Malaysia seized nearly $273 million in valuables from the former Primer Minister Najib Razak and his wife, who are embroiled in a corruption scandal. [The New York Times]

• Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met with President Xi Jinping, hoping to start a conversation about China’s position on the South China Sea. He got an earful instead. [The New York Times]

• President Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia will hold a summit in the next few weeks. The planned meeting has worried U.S. allies in Europe. [The New York Times]

• Three activists who were arrested while investigating labor abuses at Chinese suppliers for Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand were released from terms of their bail. [South China Morning Post]

• The police in New South Wales confirmed that the deaths of 27 men in Australia between 1976 and 2000 were most likely homophobic hate crimes. [BBC]

• Japan’s Princess Ayako is the country’s second princess in two years to announce she’s marrying a commoner and renouncing her royal status. [CNN]

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

• Firefox is back. Give it a spin.

• Want to feel happier? Turn to your phone.

• Recipe of the day: Don’t associate grilling with meat only — make smoky broccoli dressed in tamari, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

• Our international reporting is becoming a bit more modern: By rebooting journals — features written by correspondents to bring readers to interesting spots in the world — we are expanding their form, our international editor writes. Keep an eye out for our new dispatches.

• We spoke to an executive at the Ace Hotel, which will open a location in Kyoto, Japan, that is designed by the architect Kengo Kuma on former imperial palace grounds.

• And in this week’s Australia Diary, urban angst and avocado toast: A poet laments a false sense of connectedness in the modern world.

French wine. Tea from China. Bananas. And now Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

These global products have been embroiled in so-called trade wars over the centuries — though top economists agree that “trade war” is an imprecise, even oxymoronic, expression.

Let’s keep it simple: A trade war starts when a country imposes tariffs or quotas on goods from another country, prompting the second country to retaliate. The escalating tit-for-tat is the “war.” (As this Times article explains, a trade war can be a game of chicken, sometimes involving real chickens.)

Trade wars have “been going on pretty much since there’s been trade,” this history of the subject contends. There have been some notable failures: In 1689, King William of Orange put stiff tariffs on French wine and cognac, starting a crippling gin craze in England that lasted 50 years.

The U.S. has also been burned by leveling steep tariffs, most infamously with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which is blamed for worsening the Great Depression.

And before President John F. Kennedy enacted the Cuban trade embargo in 1961, he asked his press secretary, Pierre Salinger, to secure “a lot of cigars.” It wasn’t until Mr. Salinger had scored 1,200 of the best Cuban cigars that Kennedy signed the decree.

Charles McDermid wrote today’s Back Story.

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