John Kelly, Brexit, N.F.L.: Your Monday Briefing

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Good morning,

We start today with a look at the wild swings in the stock market, President Trump’s search for a new chief of staff, and a major investigation into the sale of users’ smartphone data.

Investors could face more stock swings in the days ahead, after the S&P 500-stock index fell more than 4.6 percent last week, its worst weekly drop since March. A trade truce between the U.S. and China has already come under strain over the arrest of a prominent Chinese technology executive.

Markets in Asia closed lower today; European stocks also fell.

If you missed it yesterday: China summoned the U.S. ambassador to Beijing to protest the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei. Separately, Robert Lighthizer, who is leading trade talks, said he considered March 1 to be a “a hard deadline” for the negotiations.

President Trump is looking for a new chief of staff, after announcing over the weekend that John Kelly would leave at the end of the year.

Nick Ayers, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence and a leading contender to replace Mr. Kelly, said on Sunday that he would leave the administration at the end of the year.

Looking ahead: Among the possible candidates are Representative Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican; the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin; Mr. Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney; and the U.S. trade representative, Robert Lighthizer.

Catch up: Mr. Trump said on Friday that he would nominate William Barr, who served as attorney general in the first Bush administration, to lead the Justice Department again. The president also confirmed that he would nominate Heather Nauert, a former “Fox & Friends” host, to replace Nikki Haley as ambassador to the United Nations.

After recommending a substantial prison term for President Trump’s former lawyer, federal prosecutors are turning their attention to other Trump Organization executives and to what they might have known about crimes committed in connection with the 2016 presidential campaign.

Mr. Cohen, who pleaded guilty in August to breaking campaign finance laws and other crimes, is to be sentenced on Wednesday. Prosecutors have accused Mr. Trump of directing illegal payments to ward off a possible sex scandal that could have damaged his chances of winning the election.

Closer look: Prosecutors said Mr. Cohen offered only “selective cooperation” in the case, which is separate from the investigation by the special counsel, Robert Mueller.

From Opinion: The sentencing memos filed on Friday suggest that Mr. Trump and others might have been involved in lies told by Mr. Cohen and Paul Manafort, a New York University law professor writes.

And they’re not keeping it a secret.

Most people know that apps can track their movements, but as technology becomes more accurate, snooping on people’s daily habits has grown more intrusive. Sales of location-targeted advertising are set to reach $21 billion this year.

Dozens of companies say the information they collect and sell to advertisers is anonymous, but a Times investigation shows how personal that data is.

How we know: The Times reviewed a database with information from more than a million phones in the New York area. It reveals people’s travels in startling detail, accurate to within a few yards and in some cases updated more than 14,000 times a day. Read more about our reporters’ methodology here.

For you: Here’s how to tell if apps are sharing your location and how to stop them.

The Daily: On today’s episode, our reporters discuss their investigation.

When Justin Trudeau became Canada’s prime minister three years ago, tackling climate change was near the top of his agenda. Putting a price on carbon pollution was his government’s weapon of choice.

The way that’s playing out is a lesson in just how hard a carbon tax might be.

French president to break silence: After a fourth weekend of violent protests over economic inequality, President Emmanuel Macron is to address the nation today, his first substantive public answer to the so-called Yellow Vest movement.

Brexit vote delay: Facing the prospect of a humiliating defeat, Prime Minister Theresa May said today she would seek to postpone a parliamentary vote on her proposal for Britain’s departure from the European Union.

Deadline for Congress: U.S. lawmakers face a deadline next week to avert a partial government shutdown. Funding for President Trump’s proposed wall on the southern border is a major sticking point.

Indictment for former Nissan chief: Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of Nissan Motor, and the company itself were accused by prosecutors in Japan today of violating financial laws by underreporting his compensation.

Snowstorm in the South: Both North Carolina and Virginia declared a state of emergency after a powerful storm left hundreds of thousands without power.

Snapshot: Above, competitors soaked in a hot spring for a hot-pepper-eating contest in Jiangxi Province in China on Sunday. The winner ate 20 peppers in one minute.

In memoriam: Rosanell Eaton, a lifelong devotee of voting rights, was hailed by President Barack Obama in 2015 for her role fighting a restrictive North Carolina voting law that later reached the Supreme Court. She was 97.

Theater reviews: Our critics highly recommend two plays that opened Sunday night in New York. “The Jungle,” imported from London, places its audience at the fraught center of a migrant camp in France. And “Slave Play” unpacks interracial relationships both antebellum and postmodern.

N.F.L. results: Using a play that almost never works, the Miami Dolphins scored a last-second touchdown to beat the New England Patriots. Here are the scores from Week 14.

What we’re listening to: This interview with Wilco’s frontman, Jeff Tweedy, from NPR’s “All Songs Considered.” Mike Ives, a reporter in our Hong Kong office, calls it “great listening not just for Wilco fans, but anyone interested in the art of songwriting or the relationship between pain and creativity.”

Listen to: Our critics’ picks for the best pop albums of the year. There are 28 to enjoy.

Smarter Living: Memes from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission remind us how to stay safe this holiday season. A few examples: “Stand by your pan” as you make your seasonal specialties (to avoid kitchen fires) — and make sure fire extinguishers and smoke alarms work.

And here’s our gift guide, with suggestions that include a visual history of hip-hop and a Rick and Morty cartoon card game.

This evening in Stockholm, Nobel laureates will feast on a banquet with Swedish royalty after receiving their Nobel Prizes. It’s one of many traditions associated with the 117-year-old honors.

But another — in which laureates are awakened at the Grand Hotel Stockholm by young women in white carrying candles — may be fading into history.

But a manager at the hotel said that the tradition would not continue this year “due to fire risk” in the laureates’ rooms. A version will still take place in the lobby and in one of the hotel’s restaurants.

Not every Nobel laureate enjoyed the wake-up call.

When women wearing white came to the American novelist Saul Bellow in 1976, for example, he was irritated.

“I scowled, and then my face formed the smile which is obligatory on such occasions,” he later told a biographer.

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

— Chris

Thank you
To Eleanor Stanford for the cultural smarts, and Kenneth R. Rosen and James K. Williamson for the Smarter Living tips. Mike Ives, a reporter in our Hong Kong office, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is about The Times’s investigation of the sale of smartphone data.
• Here’s today’s mini crossword puzzle, and a clue: Charged particle (3 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Editors at The New York Times have held afternoon news meetings on weekdays since 1946.



Source : Nytimes

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