Today's Headlines: Russia Uses Its Oil Giant, Rosneft, as a Foreign Policy Tool

[Trump Tries to Shift Focus as First Charges Reportedly Loom in Russia Case]( | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. | [Unsubscribe]( [The New York Times]( [Most Popular]( | [Video]( | [Today's Headlines]( Monday, October 30, 2017 IN THIS EMAIL [NYT] [World](#worldNews) | [U.S.](#nationalNews) | [Politics](#politicsNews) | [Business](#businessNews) | [Technology](#technologyNews) | [Sports](#sportsNews) | [Arts](#artsNews) | [N.Y./Region](#nyregionNews) | [Media & Advertising](#dailyFeatureNews) | [Today's Video](#videoNews) | [Obituaries](#obituaries) | [Editorials](#editorialsNews) | [Op-Ed](#opinionNews) | [On This Day](#onthisdayNews) | [CUSTOMIZE »]( Top News [President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, right, met with President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela at the Kremlin this month.]( [Russia Uses Its Oil Giant, Rosneft, as a Foreign Policy Tool]( By CLIFFORD KRAUSS The Kremlin has used the company to help Venezuela's government avoid collapse as Moscow looks to project more economic and political sway. [President Trump, in a series of Sunday morning tweets, attacked Hillary Clinton, saying Republicans were pushing back against the Russia allegations by looking into her.]( [Trump Tries to Shift Focus as First Charges Reportedly Loom in Russia Case]( By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS In a series of Twitter posts, President Trump attacked Hillary Clinton, saying Republicans were now pushing back against the Russia allegations by looking into her. [Staff Sgt. Logan J. Melgar]( [2 Navy SEALs Under Suspicion in Strangling of Green Beret in Mali]( By ERIC SCHMITT Staff Sgt. Logan J. Melgar, 34, a veteran of two deployments to Afghanistan, was found dead on June 4, and his superiors almost immediately suspected foul play. For more top news, go to [NYTimes.com »]( [Get California Today in Your Inbox]( The news and stories that matter to Californians (and anyone else interested in the state). Delivered Monday through Friday. ADVERTISEMENT Editors' Picks [Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall in the New York City region on Oct. 29, 2012, plunged Manhattan, from Midtown south to the Financial District, into darkness for several days. While much of the region's inundated infrastructure has been repaired, many of the plans to stormproof the city are still just that - plans.]( N.Y. / REGION [Five Years After Sandy, Are We Better Prepared?]( By PATRICK McGEEHAN and WINNIE HU While much of New York City's battered infrastructure has been repaired and even improved, most long-term resiliency measures are still years away OPINION | Op-Ed | Bryce Covert [The Economy Can't Grow Without Birth Control]( By BRYCE COVERT Trump promised growth. He shouldn't limit access to contraception. QUOTATION OF THE DAY "I looked at him and I told him, 'Don't ever talk to me again.'" He said, 'Good luck finding a job in this town again.'" [CAITY MAPLE]( a former intern in Sacramento, who said a prominent male member of the California Assembly offered her a job in exchange for the promise to "spend time with him" and then touched her and remarked on her legs. [] Today's Videos [[Video] Video: 796 Irish Children Vanished. Why?]( For decades, the bones of children lay near a home for unmarried mothers and their babies. It took an amateur historian and the horrific memories of those who had lived there to bring the tragedy to light. [[Video] Video: Rebuilding a Dam in Puerto Rico]( A massive effort is underway to repair a nearly three-foot crack in the Guajataca Dam created during Hurricane Maria. [Defense Secretary Jim Mattis meeting troops at the village of Panmunjom on Friday.]( [[Video] Video: The North Korea Standoff: Decoding a Visit to the DMZ]( Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visited the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea on Friday, at a time of peak tensions. What was the appearance meant to convey? [] World [People carried Spanish flags on their way to a rally against independence for Catalonia in Barcelona on Sunday.]( ['I Don't Want an Independent Catalonia': Rally Backs Unified Spain]( By ALISSA J. RUBIN Catalonia residents who demonstrated in Barcelona on Sunday struck a moderate tone, saying they embraced both their Catalan and Spanish identities. [Farmers tending to an opium crop in Helmand Province in Afghanistan. Opium syrup is increasingly being refined into heroin inside the country.]( [Afghan Taliban Awash in Heroin Cash, a Troubling Turn for War]( By MUJIB MASHAL The Taliban are increasingly refining their own opium, rather than exporting its ingredients, lifting their profits and giving them less reason to talk. [The burial in Florida of Sgt. La David T. Johnson, one of four Americans killed on patrol in Niger this month.]( [In Niger, Where U.S. Troops Died, a Lawless and Shifting Landscape]( By DIONNE SEARCEY and ERIC SCHMITT Militants and smugglers operate in the impoverished African country, where the scale of American military involvement has surprised even high-ranking senators. For more world news, go to [NYTimes.com/World »]( ADVERTISEMENT [] U.S. [The California State Capitol in Sacramento.]( [Sexual Misconduct in California's Capitol Is Difficult to Escape]( By JESS BIDGOOD, MIRIAM JORDAN and ADAM NAGOURNEY Women in Sacramento complain of a culture of rampant sexual misconduct and of a system that does not seriously address their complaints. [A blistering attack on Republican atomic energy policies is made by Sen. Albert Gore of Tennessee in Chicago on August 10, 1956, delaying the Democratic platform committee's progress to the civil rights issue. Gore charged the administration was holding back development of economic power for peacetime uses.]( [A Mirror of Today's Political Fray in Letters From 50 Years Ago]( By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON When constituents wrote to a senator from Tennessee in the 1960s about issues like health care, immigration and racial tensions, they often made the same arguments heard in 2017 - sometimes in the very same phrases. [The Delta House floating production system in the Gulf of Mexico.]( [How a 672,000-Gallon Oil Spill Was Nearly Invisible]( By CHRISTINA CARON When a pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico cracked recently, most of the oil wasn't perceptible. The depth was one reason, but environmental forces were another. For more U.S. news, go to [NYTimes.com/US »]( ADVERTISEMENT [] Politics [Representative Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, is pitching herself to voters in next year's Senate campaign as a consensus builder with a compelling life story.]( ['Bedlam Out Here in Arizona' After Jeff Flake Departs Senate Race]( By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG The Republican senator's surprise announcement not to run for re-election has thrown open the race to succeed him, igniting divisions in both major parties. [The Peace Cross, a World War I memorial on state land in Bladensburg, Md.]( [A 40-Foot Cross Has Honored War Dead for 90 Years. Is It Unlawful?]( By EMILY BAUMGAERTNER An appeals court ruled against the longstanding monument in Maryland, potentially setting up a Supreme Court decision on when religious symbols can be on public property. [Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, left, the ranking member on the Finance Committee, and other senators met with President Trump at the White House this month.]( [Democrats Attack Tax Bill as a 'Middle-Class Con Job']( By JIM TANKERSLEY Democrats hope to turn back a Republican bill, painting it as a windfall for business and the rich, and instead work with President Trump on bipartisan legislation. For more political news, go to [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [] Business [Workers from Whitefish Energy, which is based in Montana, working on Puerto Rico's power grid, which was damaged during Hurricane Maria in September.]( [Puerto Rico Cancels Whitefish Energy Contract to Rebuild Power Lines]( By FRANCES ROBLES and DEBORAH ACOSTA The move came following concerns about how the small Montana company won a contract for up to $300 million to rebuild part of the island's hurricane-ravaged electrical grid. [Jerome H. Powell, a Federal Reserve governor, participated in the construction of the current financial regulations and has defended most of them as necessary safeguards.]( [In Choice of Fed Chairman, Trump Downgrades Deregulation]( By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM President Trump has pressed for aggressive financial deregulation, but the candidates for Federal Reserve chairman are unlikely to share those views. [The Post-Equifax Marketing Push: Identity Protection Services]( By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD Americans worried about the Equifax breach are receiving offers from an array of companies promising to guard against theft. For more business news, go to [NYTimes.com/Business »]( [] Technology [Senator Mark Warner in his main office in the Hart Senate Office Building. He said he wants more answers from big tech companies about their roles in spreading foreign propaganda during the 2016 presidential campaign.]( [Mark Warner: Tech Millionaire Who Became Tech's Critic in Congress]( By CECILIA KANG The Democratic senator from Virginia is emblematic of the shifting politics for big technology companies, which face congressional hearings this week. [What Virtual Reality Can Teach a Driverless Car]( By CADE METZ Self-driving vehicles have taken to the roads in a number of cities. They are also training inside computerized simulations of those communities. [In Myanmar, doctored photos and unfounded rumors about Rohingya Muslims, a religious minority, have gone viral on Facebook.]( The Shift [Forget Washington. Facebook's Problems Abroad Are Far More Disturbing.]( By KEVIN ROOSE As the social media giant grows in the developing world, its platform is being used to spread misinformation and incite violence. For more technology news, go to [NYTimes.com/Technology »]( [] Sports [Alex Bregman was mobbed by his Astros teammates after driving in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.]( Astros 13, Dodgers 12, 10 innings | Houston leads series, 3-2 [Astros Down the Dodgers in a Dramatic and Dizzying Slugfest]( By BILLY WITZ In a game that lasted 5 hours 17 minutes and featured 25 runs and seven homers, the Astros won to put themselves on the brink of their first World Series title. [Joe Lockhart with N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell before the Patriots played the Chiefs in September.]( [The Battle-Scarred West Wing Veteran Scripting the N.F.L.'s Anthem Message]( By KEN BELSON Joe Lockhart was at the center of the storm during the Clinton impeachment. Now he finds himself comfortably in the thick of debate over players' kneeling during the anthem. [Martina Hingis at a farewell ceremony Sunday in Singapore. She announced her retirement last week at the WTA Finals.]( On Tennis [In Third Retirement, Martina Hingis Cedes Her Doubles Kingdom]( By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY Hingis, who played her last match on Saturday, was a tennis prodigy who ended her career at 37 with 5 major titles in singles and 20 in doubles. For more sports news, go to [NYTimes.com/Sports »]( [] Arts [The staging of Claude Vivier's ]( Critic's Notebook [A Canadian Composer's Death-Obsessed Search for Connection]( By ZACHARY WOOLFE Claude Vivier, who died violently in 1983 at just 34, has gotten greater attention in recent years, including a new staging in Toronto. [Robyn Kerr, left, is a farmer's wife introduced to the power of writing by Devin E. Haqq in ]( [Review: 'Knives in Hens,' a Wondrous Drama of the Lust for Language]( By BEN BRANTLEY David Harrower's remarkable play, depicting a romantic triangle in a desolate, premodern world, finally receives its New York premiere. [The Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov at Carnegie Hall on Oct. 28, the first night in a season-long series of concerts.]( [Review: A Russian Pianist Who Doesn't Play It Safe (Even With Chopin)]( By ANTHONY TOMMASINI The brilliant, thoughtful Daniil Trifonov kicked off a bold series of Perspectives programs at Carnegie Hall with a homage to Chopin. For more arts news, go to [NYTimes.com/Arts »]( [] New York [The Rebuilding Years, Post-Sandy]( By THE NEW YORK TIMES and JONAH MARKOWITZ Those affected by Hurricane Sandy five years ago shared how the storm changed their lives physically, emotionally and financially, and how things have changed for the better since. [Stephen Ryan-Vuotto, 55, said he was abused by Rev. Robert V. Lott more than 50 times between 1975 and 1985. He had kept silent, in part, because after the abuse ended, he became a priest.]( [Former Priest Says Revered Colleague Was a Predator]( By SHARON OTTERMAN A former priest who received a settlement from a victim compensation fund said he was abused by the Rev. Robert V. Lott, who is the namesake of several organizations. [Mr. Quaglione, left, and Mr. Brannan, at a debate this month, are seeking to replace Mr. Gentile on the City Council, who is barred from seeking another term because of term limits.]( [Hitch a Ride on de Blasio's Coattails? A Brooklyn Democrat Says No Thanks]( By J. DAVID GOODMAN For Justin Brannan, a Brooklyn Democrat seeking election to the New York City Council, the shadow of Mayor de Blasio looms menacingly. For more New York news, go to [NYTimes.com/NewYork »]( [] Media & Advertising [A new anti-bullying campaign draws attention to the difference between how people behave online versus in real life.]( [How Do You Stop Bullying? Advertisers Try to Help]( By MARTHA C. WHITE Monica Lewinsky is leading a campaign to address the issue of cyberbullying while other brands like Burger King are also addressing the topic in ads. [On N.F.L. Thanksgiving Menu: Six-Second Ads]( By SAPNA MAHESHWARI The league has been looking for a way to reduce commercial time. So Fox will run ads between plays and see how viewers react. For more media and advertising news, go to [NYTimes.com/Media »]( []Obituaries [A section of relief tile from the original 1991 installation of Ms. Holup's ]( [Wopo Holup, Who Adorned Public Spaces With Art, Dies at 80]( By NEIL GENZLINGER At Battery Park in Manhattan and many other places, countless people have seen her works, which often incorporated images from the natural world. [Terry Laughlin demonstrating the crawl stroke at his pool in New Paltz, N.Y., in 2013.]( [Terry Laughlin, Who Taught Swimmers Not to Struggle, Dies at 66]( By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK Mr. Laughlin developed Total Immersion Swimming, which emphasized form over speed and helped thrashing swimmers learn to glide through the water. For more obituaries, go to [NYTimes.com/Obituaries »]( [] Editorial [Phil Murphy at a campaign event in June.]( Editorial [Phil Murphy for Governor of New Jersey]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD The Democratic candidate, a former financier and ambassador, offers the best opportunity to end the chaos of the Chris Christie years. Editorial [Insect Armageddon]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD They're not cute like polar bears, but insects are critical to the ecosystem and their decline should worry us. For more opinion, go to [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [] Op-Ed [Demonstrators at the Women's March on Jan. 21 in Washington, D.C.]( Op-Ed Columnist [Checking My Male Privilege]( By CHARLES M. BLOW Every man must work as hard as every woman to eliminate gendered violence. [President Trump with Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, as the president visited Capitol Hill last Tuesday to push for his tax plan.]( Op-Ed Columnist [Donald Trump Wants to Raise Your Taxes]( By DAVID LEONHARDT His plan is politically vulnerable because it's full of stealth tax increases for the middle class and poor. Op-Ed Contributor [The Silence of the Democrats]( By MICHAEL TOMASKY Why aren't the potential 2020 contenders taking a stand on the way the country is heading? For more opinion, go to [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [] ON THIS DAY On Oct. 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round of a 15-round bout in Kinshasa, Zaire, to regain his world heavyweight title. 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