Aleksei Navalny, Boris Johnson, Algeria: Your Tuesday Briefing

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Good morning.

We’re covering the Kremlin’s history of eliminating opponents, Boris Johnson’s critics in Scotland and why the Duchess of Sussex is working with Vogue.

Navalny and the Kremlin’s history of eliminating opponents

The hospital treating the Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny sent him back to prison without identifying the cause of the illness, despite the strenuous objection of his doctor, who said he had apparently been poisoned in the wake of anti-Kremlin protests.

Unease among his fellow opposition members and supporters stemmed from the Kremlin’s long history of eliminating its opponents, often by poisoning them.

Reminder: Mr. Navalny was rushed to the hospital on Sunday from his jail cell, suffering from swelling and hives, which officials described as an allergic reaction. He was sentenced last week to 30 days in jail for organizing an illegal protest, days before a demonstration he had called drew thousands of people in Moscow on Saturday.

Scope: In Russia, independent journalists, rights advocates, opposition politicians, government whistle-blowers and others are smeared in the news media, jailed on dubious charges and, in some cases, killed.

Boris Johnson receives chilly welcome in Scotland

A chorus of jeers and boos met the British prime minister as he arrived in Edinburgh on Monday.

In his rush to leave the E.U., he has been accused of jeopardizing the much older union that he leads: that of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Mr. Johnson did his best to defuse that risk during his trip, promising hundreds of millions of pounds for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and appealing for a renewal of “the ties that bind our United Kingdom.” He also softened his tone around the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.

Reminder: In Scotland, where a majority voted to remain in the E.U. in 2016, the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has called for a new referendum on leaving the U.K. An economically damaging no-deal Brexit could be a gift to those campaigning for Scottish independence.

U.S. and China resume trade talks

But don’t get your hopes up: Prospects are dimming for a transformative deal, as Beijing and Washington both appear more focused on avoiding a breakdown that could rattle stock markets — and hurt President Trump’s chances of re-election.

There are few signs of progress on the most difficult issues: new protections for American intellectual property, which U.S. products China would agree to buy, and how many of Mr. Trump’s tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods would persist.

Détente: Since his meeting with President Xi Jinping last month, Mr. Trump has followed through on promises to back off a new round of tariffs and consider granting waivers for American companies to do business with Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant.

In standoff with protesters, the Algerian Army blinks

Five months into a popular uprising that pushed out President Abdelaziz Bouteflika after 20 years in power, an epic standoff continues between protesters and the army command in Algeria, Africa’s largest country.

That the movement has so far been bloodless makes it perhaps unique in the Arab world, protesters and analysts say. The police and their armored vehicles line the marchers’ route, but they stand by silently, wary of initiating a violent confrontation.

What protesters want: A democratic government free of the military, devoid

Quote of note: “We’ve removed a president without exiling him,” as in Tunisia, said a former government minister. “Without imprisoning him,” as in Egypt. “And without killing him,” as in Libya, he added.

If you have 23 minutes, this is worth it

Scammers who impersonate military members

A fraud has flourished on Facebook and Instagram, where scammers pretend to be U.S. service members to cheat vulnerable and lonely women out of their money.

The deception has defrauded thousands and smeared the reputations of soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines. It has also led to tragedy.

Here’s what else is happening

California shooting: A 6-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s were killed in a shooting at a food festival in Gilroy, Calif., the police said. The motive of the gunman, who was killed in an exchange with the police, is unknown.

Italy: Questions have been raised about the validity of a confession by two American teenagers that they killed a police officer in the wake of a bungled drug deal.

Brazil: A fight between rival gangs in a prison in northern Brazil left at least 52 inmates dead, including at least 16 who were decapitated, according to prison officials.

Climate change: Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, plans to travel to New York in an open-cockpit racing yacht to attend a U.N. meeting on global warming, in a journey that would take two weeks but would have a lower carbon footprint than a flight.

Uber: The ride-hailing giant laid off about 400 workers around the world in an effort to cut costs after its initial public offering.

Snapshot: Above, the Duchess of Sussex, who is guest-editing British Vogue’s September issue, considered the most influential edition of the year for fashion magazines. She turned down the chance to appear on the cover.

Megan Rapinoe: The soccer icon spoke to our Talk columnist about politics, activism and the pressure to win.

What we’re reading: This essay in The Paris Review. The author, who broke up with her fiancé and headed to Texas to study the whooping crane, paints a poetic yet relatable picture of her ordeal, one that could prompt us all to examine our own relationships.

Now, a break from the news

Cook: Try chicken schnitzel with smashed, spiced cucumbers. (Our Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter has more recommendations.)

Watch: Anthony and Joe Russo narrate a scene from “Avengers: Endgame” featuring a beer-guzzling Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth.

Go: The composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s opera “Das Wunder der Heliane” has premiered in America nearly a century after it was written. See it at Bard College in New York State now through Aug. 4.

Read: From our archives, a collection of book reviews written by some of the biggest names in literature, including Thomas Pynchon, Nora Ephron and Kurt Vonnegut.

Smarter Living: It was once common practice for drivers to flash their headlights at oncoming vehicles that had their high beams on. But experts now say it could have unintended consequences, especially for drivers impaired by alcohol. Here are some tips.

And the experts at Wirecutter, a Times site, have compiled a list of the best back-to-school essentials.

And now for the Back Story on …

The Glass Ceiling

Six female candidates are vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, but almost no one is talking about the “glass ceiling.”

The term dates to 1978, when female employees at Hewlett-Packard and the New York Telephone Company used it to describe their inability to rise beyond the ranks of middle management. Betty Friedan, a founder of the National Organization for Women, told The Times in 1986 that it described women who “get to a middle level and then there’s a glass ceiling — not overt discrimination, just a feeling that you can go this high and no higher.”

Hillary Clinton made the phrase a staple of her presidential campaigns and noted, upon her 2016 loss, that the United States still had not shattered that “highest and hardest glass ceiling.”

But the 2020 candidates are using other language: Senator Kamala Harris prefers to talk about her willingness to “break things,” while her colleague Elizabeth Warren has vowed to “persist.”

“Words have their moments, especially colloquialisms,” the linguist Robin Lakoff told The Times last week, noting that glass ceiling “seems tired.”

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

— Melina

Thank you[email protected].

P.S.The Daily.” Our latest episode is about an idea to end partisan gerrymandering in the U.S. Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Stylishness (5 letters)You can find all our puzzles here. dropped the first trailer for “Modern Love,” a rom-com anthology series based on the Times column, with a cast that includes Anne Hathaway, Tina Fey and Dev Patel. The show premieres on Oct. 18.