Your Tuesday Briefing – The New York Times

Hungary’s leader shared criticism of Ukraine

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a fierce critic of Ukraine, met with President Trump in the Oval Office in May, days before Mr. Trump told his top advisers that Ukraine “tried to take me down” in the 2016 election.

Mr. Orban’s negative outlook on Ukraine was similar to the views of Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who spoke with Mr. Trump by phone around the same time.

Some White House officials had opposed Mr. Orban’s visit, including the national security adviser John Bolton. The episode came up last week during testimony to impeachment investigators, whose inquiry is focused on Mr. Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to look into his political rivals.

Related: House Democrats had hoped to hold an impeachment vote by Thanksgiving but are now planning to hold a series of hearings to sharpen their case, extending the process into December.

Canada has prospered since Mr. Trudeau, 47, came to power in 2015, with unemployment at its lowest level in decades. But his re-election campaign was damaged by his efforts to influence a corporate corruption case and by questions about his authenticity.

What’s next: Mr. Trudeau is not expected to form a formal coalition, instead relying on the support of smaller parties on a vote-by-vote basis.

ISIS stands to gain from U.S. withdrawal

President Trump’s decision to pull American troops from northeastern Syria has greatly improved the prospects of the Islamic State, analysts say.

The militant group still has as many as 18,000 “members” in Iraq and Syria, according to Pentagon estimates, and although it’s unlikely to regain vast territory, ISIS remains a threat, particularly as an underground insurgency.

News analysis: The withdrawal from Syria reflects Mr. Trump’s conviction that bringing troops home — or at least moving them from hot spots — is more important than negotiating concessions, our chief White House correspondent writes.

Backlash against the homeless in California

San Francisco residents installed boulders on a sidewalk to deter people from sleeping there. Homeowners in Los Angeles used prickly plants.

Such measures represent a growing frustration with the homeless in a state with skyrocketing housing prices and a widening gap between rich and poor.

The details: San Jose counted 6,200 homeless people this year, up 42 percent from the last count two years ago. In Oakland, the figure climbed 47 percent.

Quotable: “Some people who I’d put in the fed-up category, they’re not bad people,” said the chief executive of a social services agency in Los Angeles. “They would describe themselves as left of center, and sometimes very left of center, but at some point they reach the breaking point.”

For you: Times reporters are taking a deeper look at the issues driving inequality in California, and we want to know your questions.

If you have 6 minutes, this is worth it

The cost of making water

Snapshot: Above, an artist’s rendering of a crater left by an asteroid about 66 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs. The event also acidified the oceans, resulting in a mass extinction of marine life as severe as that which occurred on land, according to a new study.

World Series preview: Game 1 between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals is tonight. Here’s what to expect.

N.B.A. season begins: Zion Williamson, arguably the most anticipated rookie since LeBron James, won’t play until at least December because of a knee injury. Here’s a look at the Eastern and Western conferences.

Late-night comedy: Senator Mitt Romney admitted that he was behind the “Pierre Delecto” Twitter account, which “sounds like an evil chef at Au Bon Pain,” Jimmy Fallon said.

What we’re reading: This account of how the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations unit receives America’s war dead, by The Record of North Jersey. Will Lamb, a Times editor, called it “an extraordinary and moving look at a sensitive mission that few of us get to see.”

Now, a break from the news

Smarter Living: Taking a vacation can be a great way for adult siblings to reconnect. Splitting up the planning encourages communication. And don’t be afraid to embrace solo side trips.

And our Social Q’s column tackles the tricky subject of dealing with an ex who interferes with family visits.

And now for the Back Story on …

Esperanto

Long before appearing in an errant presidential tweet about Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Esperanto was the name given to a language invented by a doctor in the late 1800s.

Its creator, L.L. Zamenhof, was from what is now Poland. He hoped that Esperanto would be adopted universally as a way to bridge international differences. If everyone spoke the same language, he reasoned, “education, ideals, convictions, aims, would be the same too, and all nations would be united in a common brotherhood.”

Dr. Zamenhof was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910, and Esperanto was later proposed as the official language of the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations.

Esperanto has a Latin-based alphabet of 28 letters and relatively simple grammar rules.

While no country recognizes it as an official language, Esperanto has recently experienced a surge of interest online, including on Duolingo, the language-learning app, and as an option on Google Translate.

As an Esperantist would say, “Bonan matenon!” (“Good morning!”)

A correction: Monday’s Morning Briefing misstated the circumstances of the new $450 million expansion of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The first phase of construction began in February 2016, not four months ago. (The museum was closed for the past four months during the project’s final phase.)

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

— Chris

Thank you
Melina Delkic helped compile today’s briefing. Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford provided the break from the news. Chris wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at [email protected].

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is the second of a two-part series about the effort to extract detainees from northern Syria.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Slices of history (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Get to know the 21 reporters who are covering the 2020 election for The Times.