Your Friday Briefing

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, October 27, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Friday Briefing]( By PATRICK BOEHLER Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Samuel Aranda for The New York Times • Catalonia’s separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont, [said that he would let]( regional lawmakers decide on independence from Spain. Their vote could come as early as today, just as the Spanish Senate approves emergency measures to impose Madrid’s direct rule on the region. “Now each side is backed in a corner,” [a reader commented](. Here are three books (including one by our correspondent) that [explore the dispute’s roots](. (Lee [nuestra cobertura en español aquí](. [Y aquí la opinión]( del periodista Martín Caparrós, que señala que la grieta “llegó para quedarse”.) _____ Pool photo by Alex Brandon • Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that [President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must go](. The comments came after Mr. Tillerson met in Geneva with the U.N. special envoy on Syria. A U.N. investigative panel said that [Mr. Assad’s forces used lethal sarin gas]( in an attack on a rebel-held village in April. The finding was likely to be disputed by Russia. Meanwhile, in Iraq, Sunni Arabs [told our correspondent]( how they were struggling to reclaim relevance under Baghdad’s Shiite-dominated government. As the Islamic State surrenders more territory in both countries, the Red Cross has forcefully warned all sides that detained ISIS fighters and their families [deserve humane treatment](. _____ [Used needles near the Conrail train tracks in Philadelphia earlier this year. President Trump is to sign a presidential memorandum on opioids on Thursday.]Michael Bryant/The Philadelphia Inquirer, via Associated Press • President Trump announced that he was directing his administration to [declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency](. [These maps show]( how the epidemic of drug overdoses has spread. New details emerged on the deadly ambush on U.S. and Nigerien soldiers in Niger three weeks ago. French helicopters swooped in to the rescue but left behind four Americans who had lost radio contact. It is [unclear whether they were still alive]( at the time. Separately, House Republicans [narrowly cleared a budget blueprint]( that would cut taxes by as much as $1.5 trillion. And the White House sent Congress [a list of possible targets of future sanctions on Russia](. The list reads like a who’s who of the Russian defense and intelligence sectors. _____ Matt Rourke/Associated Press • Twitter [banned all advertising by two Russian news outlets]( RT and Sputnik, saying they attempted to “interfere” in the U.S. presidential election last year on behalf of the Russian government. [A Russian troll account]( popular in the U.S. state of Tennessee, shows how easily social media fanned the flames of outrage. Meanwhile, Reddit, the popular internet forum, has [moved to shut down Nazi, racist and far-right forums]( among others. Consumers don’t seem to care about Silicon Valley’s political quandary. Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet [reported glowing quarterly profits](. _____ Jugal K. Patel/The New York Times. Source: Sentinel 2 | Delft University of Technology • The satellite imagery above shows a glacier in Antarctica [shedding massive amounts of ice into the sea](. The ice’s flow at the Pine Island glacier has accelerated 75 percent from 1973 to 2010. Its movement offers scientists a window into how Antarctic ice shelves respond to climate change, raising global water levels and threatening coastal cities. Separately, our reporters in India met [farmers whose lives have been uprooted by a hotter, drier climate](. And temperatures are expected to rise further. Business Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times • In France, President Emmanuel Macron is [betting that economic revival will come]( workers accepting new risks in an overhaul of labo]( laws](. But economists doubt that the Scandinavian model he has proposed can be transplanted to a country where strikes are a cherished ritual. (Above, a street cleaner in the city of Calais.) • The European Central Bank provided a cautious timetable for rolling back purchases of government and corporate debt. [Some governments may be in for a shock](. • Recent extreme weather has hit European reinsurers’ profits. That [means higher premiums for many homeowners](. • Racing Silicon Valley to develop cars of the future, [automakers are showing a new sense]( of bottom-line discipline. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Siegfried Modola/Reuters • In Kenya, deadly protests and an opposition boycott marred the presidential election rerun. Voting was postponed until Saturday in some protest-hit counties. [[The New York Times]( • In Britain, a senior Conservative Party lawmaker’s letter to universities asking how they teach “Brexit” has ignited an uproar and accusations of McCarthyism. [[The New York Times]( • The new Dutch government is seeking to fend off challenges from the right by embracing more conservative policies. [[The New York Times]( • Australia’s High Court has disqualified the deputy prime minister and four senators from Parliament in a ruling over their dual citizenships that could cost the government its parliamentary majority. [[The New York Times]( • In an Op-Ed, an Italian columnist writes about the state of feminism in Italy. [[The New York Times]( • Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s most prominent independent news outlet, intends to arm its journalists with guns that fire rubber bullets amid security fears. [[Associated Press]( • A tiny Swiss company quietly amassed exclusive broadcast rights to the soccer World Cup in much of the Americas. It is now under scrutiny amid a wide-ranging corruption probe. [[The New York Times]( • In Bangkok, our correspondent was among the hundreds of thousands of people who lined the streets to witness the funeral procession of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Jim Wilson/The New York Times • Recipe of the day: An overnight stay in the fridge makes [classic brioche]( even better. • You don’t need to drain your battery before recharging. Here’s some [other tech myths]( people still believe. • Lap desks, headphones and more: Our latest newsletter focuses on [inexpensive ways to improve your home office](. Noteworthy Warner Bros. • Our chief film critic [analyzed how movies helped fuel]( an American obsession with [conspiracy theories]( on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. (Above, Kevin Costner in the 1991 thriller “J.F.K.”) Our journalists pored over the newly released U.S. government files. [Here’s what they found](. • In movie news: 2017 is [horror’s biggest year ever]( at the box office. • Finland has more than three million saunas for its 5.5 million people — and you. [Here are some of Helsinki’s best public options]( for sweating like a local. • And the European Court of Justice ruled that bridge, the card game, [is not a sport]( because it was “characterized by a physical element that appears to be negligible.” Back Story On the lunar calendar, Saturday is the ninth day of the ninth month, and a folk holiday in China: the [Double Ninth Festival](. Also referred to as the Chongyang Festival, the celebration has roots that stretch back centuries. One legend tells of [a hero who defeated a disease-spreading river demon]( with the help of chrysanthemum wine and dogwood. [Mountain climbing]( [chrysanthemums]( and dogwood displays are still a tradition on the day, which has a focus on good health and longevity. In fact, [China designated the date Seniors’ Day in 1989](. (Taiwan named it Senior Citizens’ Day in 1966.) Japan, which adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1872, honors the holiday on the ninth day of September, the ninth month. A common link is the chrysanthemum, a flower native to China but that has long been celebrated in Japan. (The country’s royal family is [metaphorically referred to as the Chrysanthemum Throne]( [A Times article in 1958]( described a centuries-old festival dedicated to the flower: “The ancient court fete became the heritage of lords and nobles. Attired in gorgeous robes, and well provided with sake, they composed poems in honor of the chrysanthemums’ beauty.” Charles McDermid contributed reporting. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. This briefing was prepared for the European morning. [Browse past briefings here](. We also have briefings timed for the [Australian]( [Asian]( and [American]( mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters [here](. If photographs appear out of order, please download the updated New York Times app [from iTunes]( or [Google Play](. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [europebriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:europebriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Europe)). _____ Correction: Thursday’s briefing mischaracterized the sales for the Grand Theft Auto series of video games. The series has sold 250 million units, not made $250 million. ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NYT [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Prefer a different send time? 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