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• On Sunday, German voters are widely expected to endorse Chancellor Angela Merkel in general elections.
That raises the question of what happened to her contender, Martin Schulz, whose chances of unseating her appear to have fizzled. Some analysts said that Mr. Schulz should have put more emphasis on his tenure as president of the European Parliament and less on his experience as a mayor.
Mr. Schulz says he still has a chance. Here’s an extended interview with a local newsmagazine.
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• “Boris is Boris.”
That was the reaction of Theresa May, the British prime minister, to a 4,000-word essay by Boris Johnson, her foreign secretary, last week in which he staked out a hard-line position on the country’s departure from the European Union.
The article has reignited a fierce debate ahead of a policy speech by Mrs. May on “Brexit” on Friday, in which she is expected to strike a conciliatory tone, and the Conservatives’ party conference next month.
Above, Mrs. May in Canada, where she had talks mostly on trade with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. She is scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly tomorrow.
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• In Washington, our correspondents explored the aggressive tactics used by the U.S. Justice Department’s investigation into Russian attempts to disrupt last year’s presidential election. Above, Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the inquiry.
Meanwhile, one of our reporters overheard two of the president’s lawyers clash at a popular Washington steakhouse over how much they should cooperate with the investigation.
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• We asked experts to judge some advanced economies’ health care systems by their quality, sustainability and reach. They found some key advantages in the Swiss and German systems.
We’d love you to weigh in, too: How does your health care system compare? What advice would you give? Let us know in the comments section of the article.
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Business
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• Ryanair said it was expecting to pay up to 20 million euros in compensation after pilot shortages forced the budget airline to cancel hundreds of flights. Here’s the full list of canceled flights.
• Toys “R” Us, one of the world’s largest toy store chains, is the latest company to join a wave of brick-and-mortar retail bankruptcies.
• How do you deal with a public relations disaster on social media? Our advertising reporter took part in a simulation to find out.
• Swiss prosecutors are investigating why bank notes worth thousands of euros clogged a UBS bank branch toilet and nearby restaurants in Geneva.
• Here’s a snapshot of global markets.
In the News
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• Satellite images of Myanmar suggests that hundreds of Rohingya villages have been recently set on fire. In a speech, Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto leader, refused to condemn the military, which has been accused of ethnic cleansing. [The New York Times]
• In the U.S., St. Louis entered its fourth day of street protests after the acquittal of a white former police officer who in 2011 shot and killed an African-American man. [The New York Times]
• Spain expelled North Korea’s ambassador over the country’s nuclear tests. [The Guardian]
• In Turkey’s new school curriculum, the prominence of Charles Darwin and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is expected to be downgraded, and that of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan elevated. [The New York Times]
• An Egyptian court acquitted Ibrahim Halawa, a young Irish man who was one of the most prominent foreigners trapped in its harsh judicial system. [The New York Times]
• In Britain, a group of amateur archaeologists that includes a butcher and a builder stumbled on a Roman masterpiece mosaic. [The New York Times]
Smarter Living
Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.
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• Our guide to modern parenting: It’s all about juggling responsibilities.
• Recipe of the day: a lovely, velvet-textured German chocolate cake.
• Can we train ourselves to need less sleep? Sadly, the answer is a pretty resounding “no.”
Noteworthy
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• Stanislav Petrov, above, was a Soviet lieutenant colonel when he helped prevent the outbreak of nuclear war by dismissing a computer’s erroneous warning that the U.S. had launched a missile strike. Mr. Petrov died at 77.
• After Sean Spicer poked fun at himself at the Emmys, we asked the former White House press secretary if he regretted his briefing on the crowd size at the presidential inauguration. “Of course I do,” he said.
• Lady Gaga postponed the European leg of her “Joanne” tour, scheduled to start Thursday in Barcelona, citing “trauma and chronic pain.”
• And the latest 36 Hours guide takes you to the Italian city of Perugia, which our writer calls one of the country’s most underrated destinations.
Back Story
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North Korea’s economic output might be smaller than Vermont’s, but in the production of one thing the reclusive country recently outpaced the entire United States: tungsten.
It’s a rare-earth metal whose price has surged 50 percent since July.
Tungsten has the highest melting point of any metal, at 3,422 degrees Celsius, making it useful in light bulbs.
Smartphone makers need tungsten because it helps withstand electronic heat in touchscreens. Armed forces need it for its ability to harden the steel used in missiles. Automakers use 25 percent of the global supply for their cutting tools.
Most of the world’s tungsten comes from China, where the government has been exerting greater control over production, in part because domestic demand has ballooned. The country makes more cars than the U.S. and Japan combined.
The U.S. has had concerns about the increasing price of the rare-earth metal since at least the 1960s.
A London-trained American-Chinese citizen, K.C. Li, was credited with first trading the mineral in the U.S. His Wah Chang Corporation was established in New York in 1916.
Thomas Furse contributed reporting.
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