Monday, Nov 4, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering President Trump’s Twitter habits, India’s toxic air pollution and an antique violin that was left on a train.

By Mike Ives

President Trump has integrated Twitter into the fabric of his administration. Photograph by Al Drago for The New York Times; illustration by The New York Times

How @realDonaldTrump changed the presidency

As President Trump faces growing pressure from the impeachment inquiry, the pace of his tweets has increased. That’s just one insight from our investigation into how his use of the social platform has reshaped the nature of presidential power.

With more than 11,000 tweets since taking office, Mr. Trump has used Twitter as a springboard to change policy, a cudgel against critics and an outlet for self affirmation. He has also elevated people whose words he finds pleasing and lent credibility to caustic views of conspiracy theorists, white nationalists and anti-Muslim bigots.

Quotable: “He needs to tweet like we need to eat,” Kellyanne Conway, the White House counselor, said of the president.

How we know: Times reporters analyzed Mr. Trump’s posts, studied the accounts he follows and interviewed administration officials, lawmakers, Twitter executives and ordinary Americans caught up in his tweets. Read nine takeaways from the investigation.

A farm in Hungary that is owned by a childhood friend of the country's prime minister. Akos Stiller for The New York Times

Corruption fuels Europe’s new feudalism

The European Union spends $65 billion a year on farm subsidies, about three times as much as the United States. It is by far the largest line item in the bloc’s central budget, and one of the biggest subsidy programs in the world.

But some lawmakers in Brussels who write and vote on farm policy admit that they often have no idea where the money goes. Governments of member countries have wide latitude in distributing those subsidies, and in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, most of the money goes to a connected and powerful few, a Times investigation found.

In the Czech Republic, for example, the highest-profile subsidy recipient is Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

Why this matters: Farm policy in the E.U. — widely seen as an essential component of public welfare — is being exploited by the same antidemocratic forces that threaten the bloc from within.

What’s next: The E.U. farm bill is up for renewal this year. But confronting its flaws would require changing a program that helps hold the bloc together.

Climate crisis weighs on an oil giant

Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s giant state-owned oil producer announced plans on Sunday for what could be the largest stock offering ever. Its shares are expected to begin trading next month on the Saudi stock exchange, and investors may value the company at $1.5 trillion.

The company appears to worry that new supplies from Brazil, Canada, Guyana and Norway will push oil prices down. But as climate change drives interest in renewable energy, doubts about the future of fossil fuels may hinder the company’s ability to attract investors.

At the same time, lower gasoline prices could slow the adoption of electric vehicles and other low-carbon technologies.

Related: The actress Jane Fonda has been staging protests in Washington, and getting arrested, to highlight the urgency of the climate crisis. “Why be a celebrity,” she said, “if you can’t leverage it for something that is this important?”

Paying dearly for a flawed breath test

Millions of Americans have blown into a breath-testing device after being stopped on suspicion of drunken driving. If the level is 0.08 or higher, they are all but certain to be convicted of a crime.

Alcohol breath tests have long been a linchpin of the U.S. criminal justice system. But they’re often unreliable and improperly calibrated, a Times investigation found. Some drivers have been wrongfully convicted.

The Weekly: The latest episode of The Times’s TV show is about the reliability of breath tests. Read behind-the-scenes notes about the episode, which is available on FX and Hulu.

If you have 13 minutes, this is worth it

Are U.S. medical schools targets for espionage?

Scott Dalton for The New York Times

The F.B.I. and National Institutes of Health are investigating scientists whom they say are stealing biomedical research for other nations, primarily China.

Inquiries are underway at 71 institutions, including the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, above, and many prestigious medical schools. The dragnet has fanned fears that Beijing is exploiting the relative openness of the American scientific system. But some researchers say ethnic Chinese scientists are being unfairly targeted.

Here’s what else is happening

Trump and Ukraine: Impeachment investigators are examining interactions between President Trump and Petro Poroshenko, a former president of Ukraine who helped plant the seeds for Mr. Trump’s quid pro quo request.

2020 race: One year before the election, President Trump trails Joe Biden but leads Elizabeth Warren in key battleground states, according to new surveys from The New York Times Upshot and Siena College.

U.K. truck case: Eight people were arrested in Vietnam today as part of a multicountry investigation into how 39 people died in a refrigerated truck in England last month.

McDonald’s fires C.E.O.: Steve Easterbrook was ousted after he engaged in a consensual relationship with an employee that violated company policy.

Under Armour under scrutiny: The sportswear giant is to report third-quarter earnings today, a day after saying it was cooperating with a federal inquiry of its accounting practices.

Toxic haze in India: Air pollution in northern India climbed to poisonous extremes over the weekend and into Monday. In many areas, deadly particulate matter levels were equivalent to smoking more than two packs of cigarettes a day.

An urban battlefield: See how a Times photojournalist covered a day of unrest in Hong Kong.

Benjamin Norman for The New York Times

Snapshot: Above, runners at the New York Marathon on Sunday. Joyciline Jepkosgei upset fellow Kenyan Mary Keitany in her marathon debut. Geoffrey Kamworor, also of Kenya, won the men’s race for the second time.

N.F.L. results: Baltimore shocked New England, Kansas City beat Minnesota and kickers are having a bad year. Here’s what happened in Week 9.

Antique violin’s return: Last month, a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London left his 310-year-old instrument on a train. He got it back in a supermarket parking lot.

Metropolitan Diary: In this week’s column, a rush to pay for a soda, mysterious cake boxes and more reader tales of New York City.

What we’re reading: This deep dive into Condé Nast, in New York magazine. “It’s a fly-on-the-wall look at the company and its iconic magazines — including Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker — that are struggling to adjust to new leadership and the rapidly shifting media landscape,” writes Alisha Haridasani Gupta of the briefings team.

Now, a break from the news

David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Cook: Looking for spice? This vegan mapo tofu delivers.

Watch: The “Star Wars” Skywalker saga is coming to an end, “Frozen” is getting a sequel and “The Shining” characters are baaaaaack. Here’s a look at holiday movies.

Read: Carmen Maria Machado follows up her acclaimed short story collection with a memoir about her frightening relationship with another woman.

Smarter Living: Taking a long weekend from Saturday to Monday might help you save on hotel and flight costs.

And now for the Back Story on …

The U.S. Embassy in Tehran

Today is the 40th anniversary of Iran’s takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, the start of a hostage crisis that lasted 444 days and lives on in the countries’ strained relations.

The embassy complex remains in place, with its surrounding brick wall now known for anti-U.S. murals.

Fresh anti-U.S. murals were unveiled this weekend at the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Atta Kenare/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The wall is a focus of Iran’s annual commemorations of the takeover, which came after President Jimmy Carter allowed the ousted monarch, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, to enter the U.S. for cancer treatment.

Iranians were angry at the support for the shah, who had been empowered by a 1953 coup engineered by the U.S. and Britain. The coup became a blueprint for other regime change efforts during the Cold War.

In 2000, The Times obtained a copy of the C.I.A.’s classified history of the coup, which noted Western interest in retaining control of Iranian oil.

The embassy building is now home to a museum called the U.S. Den of Espionage. Trip Advisor reviews say it’s worth a visit.

A correction: Because of an editing error, Friday’s Morning Briefing incorrectly described the adoption of daylight saving time. At least seven U.S. states and the Canadian province of British Columbia are considering moving to daylight saving time year-round; they have not yet done so.

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

— Mike

Thank you
Victoria Shannon helped compile today’s briefing. Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford provided the break from the news. Andrea Kannapell, the Briefings editor, 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 on the Democratic presidential race in Iowa.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: App hiree (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Tom Workman, a key source for the report on alcohol breath tests, died of bone cancer in September. Our reporter recalls that his mind “worked a lot like the computer systems into which he delved.”