(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

Good morning.

We’re covering a congressional visit to the southwestern border and President Trump’s Independence Day plans, and looking ahead to tonight’s Women’s World Cup semifinal between the U.S. and England.

Lawmakers criticize migrant holding sites

A group of congressional Democrats visited two border facilities in Texas on Monday and said conditions in them were “toxic” and “broken,” including rooms that lacked running water and children who were separated from their families.

The visit came on the same day as a ProPublica report about a secret Facebook group for Border Patrol agents that featured jokes about migrants’ deaths and doctored images of Hispanic lawmakers. The head of the Border Patrol said the Facebook posts, one of which encouraged agents to “hurl a ‘burrito’” at lawmakers, were “completely inappropriate.”

Related: Senator Cory Booker, a Democratic presidential candidate, today announced a plan to drastically alter the nation’s immigration detention system. If elected, he said he would create new standards for civil detentions and phase out contracts with private prisons through an executive order.

Another angle: President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador took responsibility for the plight of thousands of his fellow citizens who emigrate each year — including a father and daughter who drowned last week while trying to cross into the U.S.

China denounces ‘extreme radicals’ in Hong Kong

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today that the demonstrators who stormed the city’s legislature this week had committed “serious and illegal acts” that “trampled on the rule of law.”

Although the unrest in Hong Kong has become an embarrassment for China’s ruling Communist Party, experts said it was unlikely that President Xi Jinping would take drastic action, such as deploying troops.

Takeaways: Here are four things to know about the recent protests and why they took a destructive turn this week.

See for yourself: One of our video journalists was on the streets with the protesters on Monday. We also have a map showing where demonstrations have taken place in the past month.

Ships vanish to evade sanctions on Iran

It isn’t illegal under international law to buy and haul Iranian oil or related products, but under the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration in November, foreign companies that do that and then conduct business with American companies risk punishment by the U.S.

Some shipping fleets have defied the restrictions by “going dark” when they pick up cargo in Iranian ports, according to commercial analysts and intelligence from the authorities in Israel.

Yesterday: Iran violated a key provision of the 2015 international accord restricting its nuclear program, and signaled that it would soon breach another. The moves completed a sharp shift in strategy for Iran, which had been abiding by the deal even after President Trump withdrew.

The Daily: On today’s episode, a national security reporter for The Times discusses what Iran can learn from North Korea in its relations with the U.S.

Minority women are winners in the jobs race

The U.S. economy hit a milestone on Monday, having now grown every month for more than a decade, assuming later versions of the data confirm the trend. That’s the longest expansion on record.

While minority women haven’t been the only beneficiaries of the growth, the barriers that have kept them from job and wage gains appear to be falling.

The employment rate for Hispanic women aged 25 to 54 has jumped by 2.2 percentage points since mid-2007, the most of any group in that age range. Black women came in second, adding 1.6 percentage points.

Another angle: American consumers have been spending, but businesses are sounding more pessimistic, pointing to softer growth ahead, or even a contraction. Who’s right? Our chief economics correspondent explains.

If you have 6 minutes, this is worth it

Can Baltimore save its orchestra?

The musicians of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, pictured above, have been picketing in front of their hall since being locked out by management two weeks ago over a contract dispute.

The showdown raises familiar questions about how venerable ensembles will survive. But the labor strife has been especially dispiriting in Baltimore, a city with severe pockets of poverty that had always seen its orchestra as an embodiment of its pluck.

Here’s what else is happening

Military display on July 4: Tanks and a military flyover will be part of the Independence Day festivities in Washington on Thursday, President Trump said. He is scheduled to speak from the Lincoln Memorial, in what had long been a nonpartisan celebration.

2020 fund-raising: President Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee said today that they had raised $105 million in the second quarter of this year, dwarfing what President Barack Obama raised in the equivalent period of 2011.

Japan resumes commercial whaling: The country resumed the practice after a hiatus of more than 30 years, defying calls to protect animals that were once hunted to the brink of extinction.

Snapshot: Above, at a fountain in Rome last week. A record-shattering heat wave in Europe is part of what researchers say is an unmistakable trend as rising greenhouse gas emissions warm the planet.

Women’s World Cup: The champion U.S. soccer team faces England in a semifinal match today starting at 3 p.m. Eastern. Read our preview.

Baseball player dies: Tyler Skaggs, a 27-year-old pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels, was found dead in a hotel room several hours before his team was scheduled to play the Texas Rangers, team and local officials said.

Late-night comedy: Most shows are in reruns, so our column is taking the week off.

What we’re reading: This piece from BuzzFeed News. Michael Roston, a science editor, writes: “When I heard a major toilet paper manufacturer was making and marketing a giant roll for millennials, I hoped someone would get to the bottom of the story. Katie Notopoulos’s cheeky exploration cracks the story open, baring it all in a most humorous way.”

Now, a break from the news

Cook: Drag a tortilla through a platter of refried beans with avocado and radish. (Our Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter has more recommendations.)

Watch: Every month, subscription streaming services add a batch of titles to their libraries. Here are July’s highlights.

Go: Robert O’Hara’s interpretation of Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play “A Raisin in the Sun,” starring the brilliant S. Epatha Merkerson, puts the audience in the hot seat. It’s playing at the Williamstown Theater Festival Main Stage in Williamstown, Mass.

Listen: Hear a selection of Hootie & the Blowfish deep cuts and a conversation with Tim Sommer, who signed the group, on the latest Popcast.

Smarter Living: If you want to take your smartphone abroad, first check with your carrier to make sure it’s unlocked and will work with a foreign SIM card. Once you arrive, go to a wireless store for help choosing a local network. You might even get installation help. (Tape your domestic SIM to your wallet or passport holder for safekeeping.)

And we have five recommendations for picnic gear, including the all-important corkscrew.

And now for the Back Story on …

Tennis phenoms

Cori Gauff’s upset victory over Venus Williams on Monday was a study in chronological contrasts — Gauff, the youngest player in the women’s singles draw at Wimbledon, is just 15, while Williams, the oldest, is 39. But teenage tennis prodigies are an age-old story.

Young stars like Martina Hingis and Monica Seles have frequently found fame on the global stage, though the high-profile flameout of players like Jennifer Capriati — along with the prospect of stress injuries and the frequent involvement of aggressive tennis parents — spurred officials to set limits on players younger than 18 in 1994.

(The restrictions are only for women; male prodigies like Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who tend to be just a few years older, can do as they please.)

Gauff will be allowed to compete at only five more W.T.A. tournaments before her 16th birthday next March, under what has become known as the Capriati Rule. One of the few young players who were grandfathered into professional tennis without such restrictions was Venus Williams.

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

— Chris

Thank you
Melina Delkic helped compile this briefing. Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford provided the break from the news, and Adam Pasick, the editorial director of newsletters, 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 about the signals that President Trump may be sending to Iran as he cultivates a relationship with North Korea.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Overcaffeinated (5 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• In January 1978, The Times initiated a stand-alone sports section, the first edition of which included an interview with the tennis star Billie Jean King about her comeback.

Chris Stanford writes the U.S. edition of the Morning Briefing. He also compiles a weekly news quiz. He joined The Times as a home page producer in 2013, before which he worked at The Washington Post and other news outlets. He is now based in London. @stanfordc

Source: Read Full Article