Your Monday Briefing

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Monday, July 1, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering a nuclear deal that would initially keep North Korea’s arsenal intact, clashes between protesters and the police in Hong Kong and what it’s like to live in Barcelona’s most famous Gaudí home.

By Melina Delkic

President Trump and Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, on the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone on Sunday. Erin Schaff/The New York Times

A North Korea arms deal that allows arms

For weeks before President Trump’s historic meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, a plan was taking shape inside the Trump administration that might allow for a nuclear freeze by the North instead of complete denuclearization.

While the approach could stop that arsenal from growing, it would not, at least in the near future, dismantle any existing weapons, variously estimated at 20 to 60. Nor would it limit the North’s missile capability.

The new approach tacitly accepts the North as a nuclear power — something administration officials have often said they would never stand for. Still, it is a significant — but limited — first step.

Details: American negotiators would seek to expand on Mr. Kim’s previous offer to give up the country’s main nuclear-fuel production site, at Yongbyon, in return for a lifting of the most onerous sanctions against the country. (Mr. Trump rejected that proposal.)

The goal now is to get Mr. Kim’s new negotiating team to agree to expand the definition of the Yongbyon site well beyond its physical boundaries.

Complications: A senior U.S. official involved in North Korean policy said there was no way to know whether North Korea would agree to such a deal. In the past, he said, its negotiators have insisted that only Mr. Kim could decide those boundaries. And the North would have to accept intrusive inspections.

Protesters in Hong Kong on Monday tried to march to the site of a ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover of the territory to China. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Tense scenes in Hong Kong on handover anniversary

Hundreds of riot police officers with helmets and shields used batons and pepper spray to push back people who tried to march to the site of an annual ceremony on Monday morning marking the 22nd anniversary of the territory’s return to China from Britain.

Protesters tried to charge by pushing steel barricades at the police and hid under umbrellas to protect themselves from pepper spray. They were stopped by officers who struck them with batons and doused them with pepper spray.

Context: Huge crowds of demonstrators have taken to Hong Kong’s streets for weeks to protest a bill that would allow extraditions to mainland China. The public anger has already prompted Hong Kong’s leader to indefinitely suspend the proposed legislation, but demonstrators want it to be fully withdrawn.

Bigger picture: Beyond the opposition to the bill, the protests have been a dramatic expression of the deepening anxiety many in Hong Kong feel about the erosion of the civil liberties that set the city apart from the rest of China.

Police force: The Times reviewed hundreds of videos and photos of police interventions against protesters, and spoke to experts in crowd control. Here’s what the evidence shows.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Vietnam, center, and Cecilia Malmstrom, the E.U.'s chief trade negotiator, center right, at the government office in Hanoi before signing a trade deal on Sunday. Minh Hoang/EPA, via Shutterstock

E.U. signs trade deal with Vietnam

The European Union signed a trade deal with Vietnam, underscoring the bloc’s commitment to opening up its market and trading freely in the face of rising protectionism and trade tensions around the world.

The latest deal would eliminate 99 percent of the tariffs on goods and services between the European and Vietnamese markets. Some tariffs would progressively be cut over a decade, and some agricultural products would be limited by quotas.

Global picture: After E.U.-U.S. trade talks broke down and President Trump vowed to protect American workers and goods, the E.U. decided to become more assertive in reaching free trade agreements, E.U. officials have said.

Latin America trade deal: The Vietnam deal came just two days after the E.U. agreed to another, much bigger deal with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. It took two decades of negotiations, and it is the largest trade agreement ever concluded by the European bloc.

If you have seven minutes, this is worth it

Living in a famous Gaudí home

Samuel Aranda for The New York Times

You might think that living in the last house built by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí — La Pedrera, or the stone quarry — would be glamorous. But one resident said the abundance of tourists meant that she had to fight past the snaking lines to get to her elevator and keep away curious visitors who try to ask to see her home.

But still, she said, “Paying what I pay to live in such an extraordinary place in the heart of Barcelona, I would be very silly to move anywhere else.” And she has willingly opened her door to the occasional stranger “who looked interesting.”

Here’s what else is happening

Skripal case: A senior Russian intelligence officer coordinated the nerve agent attack in Britain on Sergei Skripal from a hotel in London, the investigative group Bellingcat found, citing new evidence that casts further doubt on Moscow’s claims that it had no involvement in the attack.

Sudan: Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters filled the streets of Sudan’s major cities on Sunday in a defiant rebuke of the generals whose violent crackdown in June left scores of people dead.

OPEC: Officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will begin two days of meetings today in Vienna, where they are likely to agree to continue cutting back on oil production in an attempt to drive up prices.

Belarus: Russia wants to “integrate” with Belarus in a “union state” headed by President Vladimir Putin. Belarus’s autocratic leader, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has other ideas, and is trying to build a separate identity for Belarusians, including resurrecting their language.

Alabama case: Local residents defended the indictment of a woman whose fetus was fatally shot, an event that prompted outrage across the country. But in Alabama, many considered it just. “You have to go by the law,” one man said.

Miguel Medina/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Snapshot: Above, the Pride March in Milan, one of many global WorldPride festival celebrations this weekend. In Istanbul, participants were forced to disperse as police officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets; in North Macedonia, revelers gathered for the Balkan country’s first Pride parade; and in Paris, thousands braved sweltering heat to turn out for the city’s annual festivities. See our photos.

Women’s World Cup: Megan Rapinoe, the U.S. team midfielder, and her teammates are refreshingly bold about demanding excellence from themselves and equitable treatment from others, our sports reporter writes. The U.S. plays England and the Netherlands faces Sweden in the semifinals this week.

What we’re listening to: “This Is Uncomfortable,” a new podcast by the producers of Marketplace. Lance Booth, a photo editor, writes: “The host, Reema Khrais, looks at the personal impact of money issues — such as how to balance a relationship when one person has debt and the other doesn’t — and highlights how weirdly uncomfortable it is to talk to loved ones about money.”

Now, a break from the news

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Cook: Make butter tarts, and celebrate Canada Day no matter where you are.

Watch: The director Danny Boyle discusses a comic sequence featuring Himesh Patel from his new film “Yesterday.”

Go: The Morgan Library & Museum explores a dense, underappreciated period in the artist Maurice Sendak’s career in an exhibition of sketches, dioramas and more.

Read: The Times invited 10 Asian-American authors to choose photos from our archives and write short young-adult fiction inspired by them.

Smarter Living: Learning to recover from failure is a skill like any other. When you’ve fallen down, try a little self-compassion. Remind yourself you aren’t alone — everybody fails from time to time. And imagine what you’d say to a friend in the same situation. Rachel Simmons, the author of “Enough as She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Healthy, Happy, and Fulfilling Lives,” offers more ideas in our Working Woman’s Handbook.

And we’ve got some tips on how to find the best deals on hotel rates.

And now for the Back Story on …

Portable music

Masaru Ibuka just wanted to listen to his favorite opera music on business trips. Back in 1979, he didn’t have many options — there was no stereo audio device small enough to be practical to take on a plane.

But since he was the co-founder of Sony, Mr. Ibuka could get what he wanted. So the Sony designer Norio Ohga built him a slimmer version of the company’s Pressman cassette-tape player.

The Walkman in 1988. Frédéric Reglain/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

The result was introduced in Japan on this day 40 years ago as the Sony Walkman, weighing in at less than a pound (the Pressman weighed 3.8 pounds).

The device came to the U.S. in 1980 as the Sound-About. In Australia and Sweden, it was called the Freestyle, and in Britain it became the Stowaway.

But it was Walkman that stuck, and sales skyrocketed. In 1986, “Walkman” even entered the Oxford English Dictionary.

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

— Melina

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 inclusion and authenticity at New York City’s celebration of L.G.B.T.Q. Pride, the largest in the world.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Fencer’s weapon (5 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The New York Times began publishing announcements of same-sex unions in September 2002, long before gay marriage was legally recognized in the United States.