Wednesday, Oct 9, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering Turkey’s expected incursion into Syria, the White House’s decision not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, and planned power outages across California today.

By Chris Stanford

Breaking

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists for their development of lithium-ion batteries.

Turkey says Syrian incursion is imminent

Turkey said today that its planned operation targeting Kurdish militants in northeastern Syria would begin “shortly.”

A Kurdish militia, long supported by the U.S. before President Trump ordered the withdrawal of American troops in the area, warned of a “humanitarian catastrophe.”

Mr. Trump has insisted that he is not abandoning the militia, which has worked with the U.S. to defeat the Islamic State but which Turkey considers a terrorist group.

Quotable: “We will resist,” Mazlum Kobani, commander of the militia, told The Times. “We have been at war for seven years, so we can continue the war for seven more years.”

Go deeper: U.S. and Turkish officials say that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has repeatedly guided Mr. Trump toward positions that are at odds with those of his own national security advisers and Republican allies. Mr. Trump announced on Tuesday that Mr. Erdogan would visit the White House in November.

Another angle: Mr. Trump has faced bipartisan criticism in Congress over his decision to pull back in Syria. Our chief Washington correspondent says that Republicans have been willing to break with the president over foreign policy when they believe there are no political consequences back home.

President Trump with Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, last year. The White House blocked Mr. Sondland from speaking with congressional investigators on Tuesday. Doug Mills/The New York Times

White House declares inquiry invalid

The White House said on Tuesday that it would not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry of President Trump, calling it an illegitimate effort “to overturn the results of the 2016 election.”

An eight-page letter signed by Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, argued that the inquiry had denied Mr. Trump’s due process rights. Mr. Cipollone also said that the executive branch would no longer willingly provide testimony or documents. (Read the letter here.)

House Democrats said that the failure to comply with their requests could be an impeachable offense in itself. Here’s how the impeachment process works.

Go deeper: A White House reporter, Annie Karni, described the administration’s calculation: “They’ve basically decided that looking like they’re hiding something is better than looking like they’re cooperating with what they’re calling an illegitimate investigation.”

Another angle: More details emerged about Mr. Trump’s call with Ukraine’s leader in July. According to a memo from a whistle-blower, a White House official who had heard the call was “visibly shaken” a day later, describing the conversation as “crazy” and “frightening.”

The Daily: Today’s episode follows a Democratic member of Congress as she faces questions about the inquiry from her constituents.

Bernie Sanders says he’ll slow down

The senator said on Tuesday that he would “change the nature” of his presidential campaign after suffering a heart attack last week.

Mr. Sanders, 78, gave no indication that he was planning to drop out. Pollsters said that it was too soon to measure how his health issues might have affected voter preferences.

Related: Elizabeth Warren said she had grown more comfortable in discussing parts of her life in explaining why her account of losing a teaching job after becoming pregnant had changed. A conservative news site and other outlets have cited evidence that challenges her description.

Another angle: Joe Biden has long worked to address the effects of climate change, but his track record hasn’t impressed young activists.

Investigating the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Salisbury, England, last year. A secret Russian unit is suspected of being involved. Chris J. Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Secret spy unit in Russia targets Europe

An elite group inside the Russian intelligence system has been attempting to destabilize Europe for at least a decade, but its existence has only recently become known to Western security officials.

The group, known as Unit 29155, has been connected to at least four operations, including the attempted assassination of a Russian former spy in Britain last year.

The details: Little is known about Unit 29155, but there are clues that suggest links to President Vladimir Putin’s brand of “hybrid warfare”: propaganda, hacking attacks and disinformation, as well as open military confrontation.

If you have 6 minutes, this is worth it

Is a bigger MoMA better?

Winnie Au for The New York Times

In a $450 million expansion, the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan has added 47,000 square feet of gallery space and a restaurant.

It opens on Oct. 21, but The Times’s architecture critic got an early look. “It’s smart, surgical, sprawling and slightly soulless,” he writes.

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Here’s what else is happening

California power outages: As many as 800,000 customers were expected to be affected today when Pacific Gas & Electric cuts power as a safety precaution. It’s peak wildfire season, and high winds are forecast.

U.S. businesses and China: The N.B.A.’s commissioner, Adam Silver, planned to travel to Shanghai today to meet with government officials, an effort to defuse the freedom-of-speech dispute that has threatened the league’s future in China. Separately, Activision Blizzard suspended an e-sports player who voiced support for the Hong Kong protests.

L.G.B.T. protections at work: The Supreme Court appeared divided along ideological lines over whether the Civil Rights Act protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers.

Fleeing protests in Ecuador: President Lenín Moreno moved the seat of government more than 150 miles from Quito to shield it from protests about austerity measures.

Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times

Snapshot: Above, a ghost forest in Maryland. As the climate changes, saltwater is being pushed inland along the East Coast, killing woodlands sometimes far from the sea.

Gymnastics record: Simone Biles, the 22-year-old American, won her 21st world championship medal, the most ever for a female gymnast.

W.N.B.A. finals: The Connecticut Sun defeated the Washington Mystics, 90-86. The champion will be crowned after Thursday’s game.

Baseball playoffs: In the American League, the Rays beat the Astros, 4-1, to force a series-deciding Game 5 on Thursday. The winners of the two National League division series will be determined tonight.

Late-night comedy: “Trump deserves a little credit here,” James Corden said. “He’s given an enormous boost to the subpoena industry. That sector has never been hotter.”

What we’re reading: This article from The Anchorage Daily News, about a donation of 10 handmade electric guitars to an Alaska school district. “The story twists and turns like a great solo,” writes Gina Lamb, a Special Sections editor. “Don’t miss the video.”

Now, a break from the news

Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.

Cook: Here’s how to master maduros, fried sweet plantains.

Go: Along the Spree River in Berlin, artists have revived sprawling industrial buildings in which to let their imaginations roam.

Read: Twenty years after “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Stephen Chbosky returns with a 700-page novel, “Imaginary Friend.”

Eat: Bread and Salt, in Jersey City, makes Roman-style pizza that includes “some of the most elevated slices in the area.” Read the review by Pete Wells.

Smarter Living: In July, we collected 10 hotel tips that can improve your stay, and the article is still going strong. People seem to like being reminded to clean the remote and rewash the water glasses.

More recently, we compiled environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic straws.

And now for the Back Story on …

‘Kangaroo court’

President Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he wouldn’t allow a diplomat to testify because he considered it “a totally compromised kangaroo court.”

Paging Ron Ziegler! In July 1974, the White House press secretary attacked the House Judiciary Committee deliberating the impeachment of Richard Nixon, also calling it a “kangaroo court.”

Australia's famed marsupials certainly jump — but not to conclusions. Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The term — describing an irresponsible body that is preprogrammed to disregard justice — goes back at least as far as Aug. 24, 1841, when The Times-Picayune of New Orleans used it in reporting the lynchings of several men.

The Americanism spread to international English, but its full origins are a mystery.

Some speculate that the meaning may be linked to Australian immigrants, or derive from a similarity between a kangaroo’s jumping and a court’s jumping to conclusions.

That’s it for this briefing. Millions of people have decided that our journalism is worth paying for. Click here to subscribe to The New York Times.

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. Jack Begg, our research manager, 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 concerns voters’ questions about the impeachment inquiry.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Burst of wind (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Abdi Latif Dahir is joining The Times in Nairobi as our new East Africa correspondent. He speaks Somali, Arabic and Swahili, and comes to us from Quartz Africa.