Wednesday: Genoa bridge collapse fallout

Brexit, North Korea, "Game of Thrones" View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, March 6, 2019 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By PENN BULLOCK Good morning. Italy’s criminal inquiry into a bridge collapse, record numbers of migrants reaching the U.S. border, and signs of rebuilding at North Korean missile facilities. Here’s the latest: [The east side of what was left of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy, in August 2018, a little more than week after it collapsed.]The east side of what was left of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy, in August 2018, a little more than a week after it collapsed. Nadia Shira Cohen for The New York Times A bridge collapse brings scrutiny to the Benetton empire When the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy, collapsed last August, killing 43 people, it set off a criminal inquiry and a public relations crisis for the Benettons, the Italian family most famous for its eponymous clothing brand. They control Autostrade per l’Italia, or Highways for Italy, a privatized road operator that managed the bridge and operates more than half of Italy’s 4,000 miles of toll roads. Though the Benettons are not accused of any wrongdoing, they are [facing angry questions about big profits and laissez-faire regulation](. Controversy: Inspections on the bridge were carried out by a company housed in Autostrade’s offices, and an understaffed government appears to have taken a hands-off approach. Twenty-one people are under investigation, including nine Autostrade employees and three officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. Claim: Marco Ponti, an economics professor, took aim at Autostrade when he was on a panel advising the government, saying it made “abnormal” profits from tolls and had power over the government. He says that he was then forced to resign from the panel and that the Benettons later threatened him with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. Looking ahead: Autostrade’s contract with the government runs until 2038. Its relations with the populist government are poisoned, but the contract would be very difficult for the government to break. ______ [Asylum seekers from Central America walking toward U.S. Border Patrol agents.]Asylum seekers from Central America walking toward U.S. Border Patrol agents. Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times Number of migrants entering the U.S. has risen dramatically More than 76,000 migrants [crossed America’s southern border without authorization]( in February, an 11-year high and a sign that the Trump administration’s aggressive policies have not discouraged new migration to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection also declared sweeping changes to procedures for guaranteeing adequate medical care for migrants, [after the deaths of two migrant children]( in the agency’s custody in December. By the numbers: From October to March 3, more than 230,000 migrants were apprehended — a big increase. More than 90 percent of the new arrivals were from Guatemala, officials said. Members of families have come to outnumber individual adult migrants in apprehensions. ______ [Britain’s attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, leaving 10 Downing Street in London on Tuesday. He is now in Brussels seeking to renegotiate Brexit.]Britain’s attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, leaving 10 Downing Street in London on Tuesday. He is now in Brussels seeking to renegotiate Brexit. Tolga Akmen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images With Brexit deadline near, Britain seeks new terms Britain’s attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, was in Brussels on Tuesday evening to try to renegotiate Britain’s deal for leaving the E.U. before the March 29 deadline for withdrawal. He had a big, familiar ask: [undoing an all-important provision known as the Irish backstop](. The backstop keeps Britain under the E.U. customs system until a frictionless border can somehow be created between Ireland, an E.U. member, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. Many Britons fear the backstop could keep Britain stuck under E.U. rules forever. Mr. Cox wants a rewrite that would give Britain leeway to leave whether or not that meant a hard border falling — which would put Ireland in a precarious position by risking a sectarian explosion. Looking ahead: One analyst said that the E.U. was likely to give Mr. Cox “fig leaves” — reassurances that the backstop is not intended as a trap. But those may be enough to satisfy him and, by extension, Parliament, and some analysts see a rising chance of Prime Minister Theresa May winning a second vote on her Brexit plan, promised by next Tuesday. ______ [Even after taking office, President Trump wrote checks to Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer and fixer.]Even after taking office, President Trump wrote checks to Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer and fixer. Sarah Silbiger/The New York Times From the White House, a stream of checks from ‘Individual 1’ On days when he met foreign leaders, haggled over legislation or reportedly pressured the F.B.I. director to drop an investigation into a former aide, President Trump also [signed checks to Michael Cohen,]( his former lawyer and fixer — remuneration for hush payments made to two women who claimed they had affairs with Mr. Trump. On 11 occasions through 2017, Mr. Trump or his trust cut such checks, and six of them were provided this week to The Times. They have put Mr. Trump in potential legal jeopardy: Mr. Cohen has pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in connection with the payments to the women, and prosecutors have said that Mr. Trump directed the scheme, identifying him in filings as “Individual 1.” Defenders of the president say the checks prove only that Mr. Trump paid his personal lawyer, not that he knew what the money was for, but his accounts of what he knew have been murky. Another investigation: New York State regulators have issued an [expansive subpoena to the Trump Organization’s longtime insurance broker]( the first step in an investigation of insurance policies and claims involving the Trump family business. During his congressional testimony last week, Mr. Cohen indicated that the company had inflated the value of its assets to insurance companies. ______ Here’s what else is happening North Korea: The country is [rebuilding the facilities]( it uses to launch satellites into orbit and test engines for intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to analysts and intelligence officials, in a possible sign that the North is preparing to resume missile tests after the breakdown of its U.S. summit meeting last week. London: Three suspicious packages that appeared to contain [homemade bombs capable of igniting a small fire]( were found in and around transport hubs in the city. Ireland’s national police service said it was helping Britain investigate but would not elaborate. Mental health: Two British psychiatrists have denounced their field’s standard four-week timeline for weaning patients from antidepressants, arguing that it [should be done over months or even years]( to avoid harsh withdrawal symptoms. Separately, a nasal spray version of the drug ketamine [has shown promise as a fast-acting antidepressant](. [The Taj Mahal in Agra, India, in January, barely visible through polluted air.]The Taj Mahal in Agra, India, in January, barely visible through polluted air. Andrew Kelly/Reuters Pollution: According to a new report, [most of the world’s 20 most polluted cities]( are in South Asia — 15 in India, two in Pakistan and one in Bangladesh — making it a particularly toxic region. Saudi Arabia: An American woman who moved to the kingdom in 2011 [has been trapped there since she divorced her Saudi husband]( because of so-called guardianship laws, her cousin told The Times. The woman, Bethany Vierra, is unable to use her bank account, leave the country with her daughter or even seek legal help without her ex-husband’s permission. Sweden: The Nobel Foundation announced that prizes in literature for both 2018 and 2019 [would be awarded this year](. There was no award last year because of a scandal involving sexual abuse and accusations of financial wrongdoing at the Swedish Academy, the body that chooses the winner. Britain: More than 5,000 people [answered an urgent call for a stem cell donor]( for a 5-year-old boy with cancer, stunning a nonprofit organization and lifting hopes of finding a match. “Game of Thrones”: HBO released the trailer for the show’s final season, which includes tantalizing [glimpses of the battles to come](. ______ Smarter Living Tips for a more fulfilling life. Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Recipe of the day: Make this [pasta with fresh herbs, lemon and peas]( even better with flakes of good olive-oil-packed tuna. (Sign up for the [Five Weeknight Dishes]( newsletter for more recipe recommendations.) Listening feels like a lost art these days. Here are ways to give someone [your full attention](. Why is vegan beauty all the buzz now? [We break it down](. Back Story Thugs: It seems the world is full of them. Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, painted himself as a “thug’s thug” in public testimony, [our Op-Ed columnist Maureen Dowd]( judged. Leaders like [Nicolás Maduro]( of Venezuela, [Kim Jong-un]( of North Korea and [Narendra Modi of India]( have been called thugs, too. The word can be traced to “[thag]( a Hindi word meaning “thief” or “con man,” whose roots go back to Sanskrit. [A scene from a new Bollywood movie, “Thugs of Hindostan,” that is loosely based on thugs in India in the 1800s.]A scene from a new Bollywood movie, “Thugs of Hindostan,” that is loosely based on thugs in India in the 1800s. Yash Raj Films It’s believed that for centuries, gangs of thieves and assassins called thugs operated throughout India. In thrall to Kali, the goddess of destruction, they were believed to commit “thuggee” — setting up and often strangling victims. In the 1800s, the British who were beginning to spread across the country decided to put a stop to them. Under the leadership of [Lord William Bentinck]( thousands of people identified as thugs were [captured, convicted and sentenced](. In the 1830s, thugs were declared “destroyed.” Some now question whether thugs were as destructive as reported [in colonial representations](. Alisha Haridasani Gupta wrote today’s Back Story. ______ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings. 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