Your Monday Briefing – The New York Times

Deutsche Bank staff flagged Trump and Kushner transactions

Anti-money laundering specialists at the German bank recommended in 2016 and 2017 that transactions connected to President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, be reported to a federal financial crimes watchdog.

But executives ignored the employees. While international real estate deals sometimes trigger money-laundering concerns, employees saw the bank’s inaction as part of a pattern of rejecting valid reports to protect relationships with lucrative clients.

How we know: Five current and former bank employees detailed the cases. The flagged transactions set off alerts in a computer system designed to detect illicit activity. At least some involved money flowing between overseas entities and individuals, including Russians.

Response: A spokeswoman for the Trump Organization said the family businesses had “no knowledge of any ‘flagged’ transactions with Deutsche Bank.”

Reminder: Deutsche Bank was the only mainstream financial institution that remained consistently willing to do business with Mr. Trump, despite the repeated red flags. The relationship between the president and the bank is under investigation, and he has sued to block the bank from complying with congressional subpoenas.

Australians shrugged off climate change in elections

Polls had indicated that, in Saturday’s national elections, voters would elect officials who promised to tackle problems like the warming seas killing the Great Barrier Reef and the drought punishing farmers.

But in only a few districts was it so. Instead, in a result that dumbfounded Australian analysts, voters re-elected Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his conservative coalition, which has long resisted calls to cut carbon emissions and coal.

Takeaway: Within Australia, conservatives will face more enraged opponents and a more divided public. And left-leaning political candidates around the world, like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, could see it as a signal to steer clear from making climate change a campaign issue.

Where is Colombia’s peace?

In 2016, when the Colombian government brokered a deal to end five decades of civil war, the world applauded.

Investment in rural development was supposed to secure peace with the main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC.

In a new series dedicated to holding governments accountable, The Times found that the peace deal isn’t working. Promised schools, roads and electricity never arrived in many rural areas, hundreds of activists and community leaders have been killed amid continuing violence and the drug trade that once financed the FARC is still up and running.

Takeaway: Peace deals are difficult to carry out, particularly on this scale, making peace hard to achieve.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of the most divisive leaders India has produced in decades, appears headed for a second term, according to exit polls released shortly after the marathon, seven-phase election wrapped up.

More than half a dozen polls suggest that Mr. Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, will pick up at least 280 of the 545 seats in the lower house — well past the 272 seats needed to form a government on its own.

Exit polls have a patchy track record. But if the official results, due Thursday, back them up, it would appear that Mr. Modi has been unscathed by economic distress and sectarian tensions, giving him a strong hand in the next term.

“One thing we know for sure is that Modi remains incredibly popular despite everything that’s happened in the last five years,” said Milan Vaishnav, a South Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Nothing really sticks to him.”

Critics worry that victory will embolden Mr. Modi to assert the Hindu nationalist policies that his party campaigned on, placing India squarely within a global shift to the right.

Send us your feedback or questions on this series here.

Here’s what else is happening

Coming this week: European Parliamentary elections, considered the truest barometer of public attitudes toward the bloc, will take place from Thursday through Sunday as far-right parties across the continent continue to gain strength.

Japan: Chiitan, a cutesy, unofficial mascot for the city of Susaki, charmed the internet and John Oliver, with mischievous and often violent antics — until it was suspended by Twitter.

Knot science?: Dr. Elisabetta Matsumoto, a physicist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is embarking on a five-year project to untangle the mathematics and mechanics of “the ancient technology known as knitting.”

Eurovision: Duncan Laurence, representing the Netherlands, won the annual, unapologetically kitschy singing contest that in the past had catapulted acts like Abba and Celine Dion to international fame. This year’s competition included 41 countries and took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, against a backdrop of intense political tensions in Gaza.

‘Game of Thrones’: This is it. The wildly popular HBO series comes to a close this week. Here are eight questions the finale must answer.

What we’re reading: This guide from The Washington Post, recommended by Anna Holland, a London-based editor. “I loved seeing where ambassadors go to eat in Washington when they miss home,” she writes. “I left New Mexico nearly 15 years ago, but my hunt for proper enchiladas (stacked, with red chile and a fried egg) continues.”

Now, a break from the news

Cook: Thai-style cucumber salad balances big flavors and textures with snappy cucumbers, velvety peanut sauce, crunchy cilantro-peanut topping and zingy chile oil.

Go: Our Frugal Traveler columnist tried to get a taste of Prague without skimping on beer or the sights.

See: London productions of classic plays — from Anton Chekhov to Cy Coleman — feature strong female performances.

Read: George Packer’s “Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century” is one of 10 new books our reviewers recommend.

Smarter Living: Everyone has cherished grudges, but they don’t do you any good. You free yourself from stress and unhappiness when you give them up. Think about what set off the grudge. Create a little mental space between what happened and how you reacted. And try a different way of telling the story — where you’re more of a hero and less of a victim.

And next time you’re doing laundry, spice up your folding techniques.

And now for the Back Story on …

The world’s third-largest economy

Japan releases new quarterly growth data today. The news is likely to be bad.

In the 1980s, Japan was in China’s place: an upstart economic powerhouse vying with the U.S. to be the world’s largest economy.

Watching the trade war from Tokyo, there’s a strong sense of déjà vu and relief that President Trump, preoccupied by China, hasn’t put much muscle behind his threats to slap tariffs on Japanese automobiles.

Japan just has to keep him happy. Mr. Trump arrives in Tokyo on Saturday to meet the new Japanese emperor, Naruhito.

During the visit, Mr. Trump is expected to talk trade with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The leaders have previously bonded over their love of golf. If they hit the links again, Mr. Abe may want to let him win.

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

— Alisha

Thank you
To Mark Josephson, Eleanor Stanford and Kenneth R. Rosen for the break from the news. Ben Dooley, our Japan business correspondent, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at [email protected].

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