Your Wednesday Briefing

Nikki Haley, Saudi Arabia, Sergei Skripal | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, October 10, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By PENN BULLOCK Good morning. A sudden resignation at the White House, a Russian plot in Macedonia and an unusual invitation from North Korea. Here’s the latest: Samuel Corum for The New York Times • Fatigue. That’s a reason cited by Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., [in announcing she would resign]( at the end of the year, according to people close to her. White House staff were caught off guard. People familiar with her thinking say she aims to make some money in the private sector. “It was a blessing to go into the U.N. with body armor every day and defend America,” she said, with President Trump in the Oval Office, above. Mr. Trump said that she had let him know months ago, and that he’d name her replacement in coming weeks. He said he had five candidates in mind, and even discussed the possibility of nominating his daughter Ivanka. Ms. Haley, who was one of the few women in the cabinet, was an outspoken envoy for the U.S. and a popular figure in Washington, but she had collided recently with the national security adviser, John Bolton. She has also long been considered a potential presidential candidate — but she insists she isn’t running in 2020. [Our interactive]( plots the unprecedented staff turnover within the Trump administration. _____ Thanassis Stavrakis/Associated Press • Psychological warfare in Macedonia. We have [the inside story]( of a rare blow against Russia’s global campaign of disinformation and subversion. This summer, American intelligence officials say, they spotted the Kremlin undermining a referendum in Macedonia on whether to rename the country “North Macedonia.” The change would placate Greece over a historical dispute and enable NATO membership, exactly what Russia doesn’t want. So the U.S. transmitted secret information to Greece, persuading it to expel two Russian diplomats even as President Trump cozied up to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. In the referendum last month, Macedonians voted overwhelmingly in favor of changing the name. But turnout was low — just as Russia, in stoking a boycott, had hoped — and Parliament will have to make the final call. Above, a woman voting in the referendum. _____ Ozan Kose/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • “It is like ‘Pulp Fiction.’” A senior Turkish official told us that Turkey believes the highest levels of the Saudi royal court ordered the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi dissident who has vanished. He was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, and that’s where the Turkish official says a team of Saudi agents [dismembered him with a buzz saw](. They left the country 15 hours later, the official says. Another person familiar with the matter says Turkey has video of Mr. Khashoggi being killed. Above, protesters outside the consulate. Saudi Arabia denies any role in Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance, saying he freely left the consulate. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has demanded evidence of this. [Here’s a timeline]( of what we know so far. _____ Andy Rain/EPA, via Shutterstock • “A blurring of distinctions.” British intelligence agencies have recently taken [a back seat to armchair investigators](. “This is a new frontier in terms of internet activism, or internet research,” one expert said. “States are increasingly losing their monopoly over spying.” Bellingcat, an investigative group founded by a blogger, Eliot Higgins, above left outside Parliament, briefed reporters on Tuesday on the poisoning of a former Russian spy, Sergei V. Skripal, and his daughter. The group has identified two Russian men, a military doctor and a colonel, as culprits. British officials refuse to comment on Bellingcat, and Russian officials call the group “uncouth goons” and a potential front for Western intelligence. Its findings in another case have been backed by international prosecutors, and equally angered Russia. Bellingcat claimed to have traced the downing of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet over Ukraine to Russian action. Business Ben Quinton for The New York Times • No obsolescence here: London’s Olympic Park, above, has defied the tendency of such infrastructure to fall into disuse, [providing a template]( for future host cities like Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles. • European leaders are actively working to [help Iran get around new sanctions]( widening a rift with the U.S. • Tech employees concerned their products are being [deployed for government surveillance or censorship]( around the world are increasingly asking their employers how the technology is being used. And in the Philippines, [a start-up on the front lines]( against fake news is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it. • Google’s new gadgets: [glass-bodied Pixel smartphones]( a smart speaker with a built-in screen and a tablet that doubles as a personal computer. • China holds more than a trillion dollars in U.S. debt. Economists are quietly asking whether an escalating trade war could tempt the country to wield its [so-called nuclear option](. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press • Kim Jong-un has invited Pope Francis to visit North Korea. It is unlikely the pope will accept, given the country’s suppression of religious freedom. [[The New York Times]( • Hurricane Michael is on track to hit Florida with powerful winds, torrential rains and potentially devastating storm surge. [[The New York Times]( • A decades-old plastic bottle washed up on a beach in Britain almost unscathed, illustrating the lasting impact of plastic pollution. [[The Guardian]( • Richard Branson said that his company Virgin Galactic would “be in space within weeks,” that he would go in “months” and that others would be “not too long after that.” [[BBC]( • Rick Gates, a top Trump campaign official in 2016, requested proposals from an Israeli company for using fake online identities and social media manipulation to win the election. [[The New York Times]( • To the surprise of many in India, an eruption of sexual harassment accusations against men in entertainment and journalism has had quick results. [[The New York Times]( • “Generation sensible”: Underage drinking has dropped sharply among European youths, most of all in Britain, and no one is entirely sure why. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips for a more fulfilling life. Michael Kraus for The New York Times • Recipe of the day: Keep dinner light and flavorful with a [spicy shrimp salad](. • It’s time to get real about time management. [Here’s how](. • Should you tip your Uber driver? If so, [how much]( Noteworthy White Cube (Ben Westoby) • Counting down the hours: At Tate Modern in London, our correspondent watched a full day and night of the hit video installation “The Clock” [so]( don’t have to](. • On São Tomé and Príncipe, the dual-island nation off Africa’s west coast, nature beats mankind. The sparse human population lives among rain forests, volcanoes and beaches — but [our 52 Places traveler]( found that makes for a tight-knit community. • Neri Oxman, a professor at the M.I.T. Media Lab, weaves together science, technology and art to create startling structures, from a mask made of facial tissue to 3-D printed glass. Her [strange and wonderful discipline]( has captured the attention of Bjӧrk and Brad Pitt. Back Story Boris Roessler/EPA, via Shutterstock Print isn’t dead. In fact, it’s throwing its [most significant]( annual party. [The Frankfurt Book Fair]( kicks off today, bringing hundreds of thousands of people in publishing and related fields together for days of wheeling, dealing, [seeing and being seen](. The tradition dates back some 800 years — long before Johannes Gutenberg turned out Europe’s [first printed page in 1454](. Frankfurt was a flourishing medieval commercial crossroads. In 1240, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II decreed that no one should harass travelers to its autumn fair, where wine, gold, horses and more were bought and sold. Handwritten manuscripts began selling there, a forerunner to the book trade. Frankfurt held its [earliest recorded book fair in 1462](. Then as now, it was a place where people mingled and ideas flowed. [Henri Estienne, a French man of letters]( praised the fair in 1574 for bringing together so many scholars. The effect, he said, was a modern-day Athens: “In reality, it should be happening in that city where once bloomed the most celebrated intellectual life in all of Greece.” The Frankfurter Buchmesse’s 2018 guest of honor? [The nation of Georgia]( which saw more than 150 of its books translated into German this year. Nancy Wartik wrote today’s Back Story. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. [Check out this page]( to find a Morning Briefing for your region. (In addition to our European edition, we have Australian, Asian and U.S. editions.) [Sign up here]( to receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights, and [here’s our full range of free newsletters](. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [europebriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:europebriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Europe)). ADVERTISEMENT LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. 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