| We’re covering Jeffrey Epstein’s vision for his DNA, Boris Johnson’s refusal to budge on the Irish backstop and FIFA’s potential move out of Switzerland. | |  By Melina Delkic | | | Jeffrey Epstein in Cambridge, Mass., in 2004. Rick Friedman/Corbis, via Getty Images | | | The financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged last month with the sexual trafficking of minors, told scientists and other acquaintances of his plans to seed the human race with his DNA by impregnating scores of women at his sprawling New Mexico ranch, according to an exclusive Times report. | | | Although there is no evidence it ever came to fruition, it reflected Mr. Epstein’s longstanding fascination with transhumanism, a modern-day version of eugenics. | | | Mr. Epstein, who used his wealth to cultivate relationships with a wide range of business, political and scientific luminaries, also claimed to be bankrolling efforts to identify “a mysterious particle that might trigger the feeling that someone is watching you.” | | | How we know: The Times reviewed public documents and interviewed more than a dozen of Mr. Epstein’s acquaintances, including two award-winning scientists and an adviser to wealthy individuals, who said he had told them about his vision. | | | Anti-Brexit protesters in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Wednesday. Charles Mcquillan/Getty Images | | | After he received boos in Scotland and threats of unrest in Wales, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s welcome to Northern Ireland was not much warmer. | | | There, as in the previous parts of what he called his “awesome foursome” tour, critics worried about his pledge to leave the E.U., with or without a deal, by Oct. 31. One political leader warned that Mr. Johnson’s hard-line Brexit policy could lead to a united Ireland. | | | The fraught, seemingly insoluble issue of how to withdraw from the bloc but keep an open border is at the epicenter of the Brexit crisis. So far there is little sign of Dublin or Brussels budging. | | | Reminder: Former Prime Minister Theresa May included in her Brexit plan a so-called Irish backstop, which would keep the U.K. under some E.U. rules if a broader trade agreement could not be reached to prevent the reintroduction of controls at the highly sensitive border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. | | | The plan enraged hard-line Brexit supporters who want to break free of European regulations, and it is unclear what solution will appease them and keep the region at ease. | | | Current plan: Mr. Johnson fully rejects the backstop, even for a limited time, and says he will not impose any controls on the Northern Ireland border — effectively passing the buck to the Irish government. | | | The European Central Bank headquarters in Frankfurt. Daniel Roland/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images | | | Economic growth in eurozone countries slowed considerably in the second quarter, adding to pressure on the European Central Bank to prevent a possible recession. | | | Analysts said that the Trump administration’s trade wars were weighing on the European economy and that Brexit continued to be a source of uncertainty for businesses. The E.C.B. said it was reviewing ways to revive the economy, beginning as early as September. | | | Details: The economies grew 0.2 percent over the preceding quarter, half the 0.4 percent growth rate posted in the first three months of the year, according to Eurostat, the European statistical agency. On an annual basis, the economy rose 1.1 percent from the same quarter a year ago. | | | Other signs: Inflation remained tepid in July at 1.1 percent, down from 1.3 percent in June, and well below the central bank’s target of close to 2 percent. But in positive news, unemployment dropped. | | | Related: The Federal Reserve in the U.S. cut interest rates for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis. | | | Candidates onstage at the Democratic presidential debate in Detroit on Wednesday. Erin Schaff/The New York Times | | | In the second of two Democratic presidential debates in the U.S. this week, 10 additional candidates took the stage in Detroit. As expected, the rivalry between Ms. Harris, a California senator, and Mr. Biden, the former vice president, took center stage. | | | Obama legacy: In a sign of the Democratic Party’s drift to the left since Mr. Biden served as vice president under Barack Obama, Mr. Biden was questioned sharply about Obama administration policies on issues like immigration and trade. Though he may have won sympathy from Democratic voters for absorbing so many blows, his performance was not enough to reclaim firm command of the race. | | | Elin Vinje Jenssen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images | | | Climate change, along with bringing a deadly winter, made for warmer and longer summers there, helping to increase the reindeer populations. That leads to greater competition among the animals for limited food resources, putting them at greater risk of starvation. | | | 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 | | | | Al Qaeda: Osama bin Laden’s son, who was seen as a potential future leader of the terrorist group, is dead, U.S. officials said. Hamza bin Laden was killed at some point in the past two years, but where and how are still unknown. | | | Snapshot: Above, the first trans-Atlantic phone call, from New York to the London office of Sir Evelyn Murray, the secretary of the British General Post Office. We used photos from our archives to look at how phones became so prominent in our lives. | | | FIFA: Senior executives at world soccer’s governing body are giving serious consideration to leaving Switzerland, which has been the organization’s home for nearly 90 years and where in 2015 some of its most senior officials were arrested in connection with a major corruption scandal. | | | What we’re listening to: The “Land of the Giants” podcast from Vox. Mike Isaac, a tech reporter, recommends its scrutiny of “the powerful technology companies that play a role in nearly every aspect of our daily lives, starting with a seven-part exploration of Amazon’s logistics and shipping empire.” | | | Jim Wilson/The New York Times | | | Cook: Mucver (pronounced MOOSH-vair) are zucchini pancakes popular in Turkey. They deserve a delicious yogurt dipping sauce. | | | Go: A new exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, “Basquiat’s ‘Defacement’: The Untold Story,” features rare works by Jean Michel-Basquiat, Keith Haring and others responding to the 1983 death of the artist Michael Stewart. | | | Watch: “Derry Girls,” the hit sitcom set in Northern Ireland during “the Troubles,” returns to Netflix on Friday. It uses a light touch to deal with the heavy hand of history there. | | | Read: In “Semicolon,” Cecelia Watson provides a “biography” for the controversial punctuation mark. The author is “sharpest when acting a bit like a semicolon herself, perceiving subtle connections and burrowing into an argument,” our critic writes. | | | We also have advice on how to repair your skin’s protective film of natural oils, amino acids and sweat, known as the acid mantle. | | | The battle for the Ashes resumes today. It’s one of the oldest and most fiercely contested sporting honors in the world, and it began as a joke. | | | England lost at home to Australia for the first time in 1882, and a newspaper printed an obituary for English cricket, concluding: “The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.” (Cremation was a big news topic in Britain that year.) | | | The team captains for England, Joe Root, left, and Australia, Tim Paine, holding the urn containing the Ashes on Wednesday. Lindsey Parnaby/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images | | | When England then toured Australia, promising to “return with the Ashes,” the captain was handed a tiny urn. | | | England and Australia have fought for the Ashes in 70 series since, usually every two years, with the countries alternating as hosts. With five games lasting up to five days each, it’s a spectacle that fills a summer. | | | Australia took the last series, 4-0 (the fifth game was a draw). But no matter who triumphs this time, the urn will remain in a museum display case in London — it’s considered too fragile to wave around. | | | That’s it for this briefing. See you next time. | | Thank you
Remy Tumin helped compile today’s briefing. Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford wrote the break from the news. Peter Robins, an editor in our London newsroom, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com. | | | Were you sent this briefing by a friend? Sign up here to get the Morning Briefing. | | |
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