Your Thursday Briefing

Family Separations, Britain, Hungary View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, June 21, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Thursday Briefing]( By DAN LEVIN Good morning. President Trump’s U-turn, Britain’s security shift and Hungary’s anti-immigrant laws. Here’s the latest: Al Drago for The New York Times • “We’ve got to be keeping families together.” In an abrupt reversal, President Trump signed an executive order to [end the separation of migrant families at the U.S. border](. Instead, parents and children are to be detained together, indefinitely. But more than 2,300 children will not be immediately reunited with their parents, an administration official said. Mr. Trump is seeking to contain a full-blown political crisis over the separations. The backlash is fierce: His policy’s most vocal defender, Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of Homeland Security, [was confronted at dinner]( by chanting protesters. Before Mr. Trump’s about-face, Pope Francis said he agreed with American bishops, who have called the separation policy [“immoral” and “contrary to Catholic values.”]( Meanwhile, the U.S. is moving more rapidly toward [a future in which whites are no longer a majority]( a new study found. _____ Eric Piermont/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • Shifting fears, shifting alliances. Britain appears to have joined the U.S. and Australia in concerns about China’s taking over companies that play a role in national security. [The British government is holding up]( the sale of Northern Aerospace, an airplane parts maker, to Gardner Aerospace, a bigger supplier bought last year by a Chinese industrial conglomerate. At the same time, Europe is forging alliances to counter President Trump’s trade policies, with the E.U. [opening free trade negotiations with Australia]( this week. Separately, [Mr. Trump will meet Queen Elizabeth II]( next month during his long-delayed first trip to Britain, where he is deeply unpopular. _____ Darko Bandic/Associated Press • The Hungarian Parliament approved legislation that [criminalizes the act of helping asylum seekers enter the country illegally]( with up to a year in jail and creates a parallel court system that some fear will be used for politically sensitive cases. The move defies the E.U. by accelerating efforts by the far-right prime minister, Viktor Orban, to transform the country into what he calls an “illiberal democracy.” The government named the legislation the “Stop Soros” bill, after the Hungarian-American financier and philanthropist George Soros, who has helped Hungarian rights organizations targeted by Mr. Orban. Above, migrants crossing into Hungary in August 2015. _____ Facundo Arrizabalaga/Epa-Efe/Rex, via Shutterstock • An “exquisite lack of industriousness.” That’s our soccer writer on Cristiano Ronaldo’s style of play in the World Cup. “It is not that he cannot run, or doesn’t want to; he is just in no hurry until he has to be.” One [goal by Ronaldo, above, was enough for a 1-0 victory]( that put Portugal on the verge of the knockout stage. It also made Morocco, now last in Group B, the first team eliminated from the World Cup. And in a strange coincidence, the infamous antidoping [lab that corrupted the Sochi Olympics]( is now a gastro pub recommended to fans on the World Cup website. Here’s our full [World Cup coverage](. Business Drew Angerer/Getty Images • Bidding war for 21st Century Fox: [Disney upped its offer 35 percent]( to $71.3 billion, about $6 billion more than Comcast’s, for Rupert Murdoch’s entertainment conglomerate. Stock in all [three companies rose](. Above, Bob Iger, chief executive of Disney. • Instagram is launching [IGTV, a new feature for vertically shot videos]( that can be up to an hour long, a move that opens direct competition with Google’s YouTube and Instagram’s own parent company, Facebook. • Volkswagen and Ford are [exploring a strategic partnership]( the latest example of rivals joining forces in the face of bigger threats, like those from electric cars. • The E.U. will begin [taxing a range of U.S. imports]( on Friday, including Harley-Davidson motorcycles and cranberries, in response to President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminum. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Bassam Khabieh/Reuters • Horrific details about chemical attacks by the Syrian government were left out of a U.N. report on the recapture of rebel-held suburbs of Damascus, the capital. [[The New York Times]( • In Afghanistan, the Taliban killed at least 30 Afghan soldiers, indicating an end to a brief lull in violence after cease-fires by both sides. [[The New York Times]]( • Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, plans to pour at least $80 million into the 2018 election in an effort to expel Republicans from power. [[The New York Times]( • Canada will be the first major national economy to legalize recreational marijuana use. [[The New York Times]( • A British inquiry found that as many as 650 patients at a small hospital died from overdoses of prescribed heroin and other painkillers that they did not need. [[The New York Times]( • Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain won a crucial Brexit vote in Parliament, bolstering her government’s plans to withdraw from the E.U. [[Reuters]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Hayley Powers Thornton-Kennedy • Gentlemen: Thinking of sandals this summer? [Read this before revealing your toes](. • 7 tips to keep your bedroom cool [when the temperature rises](. • Recipe of the day: Keep things simple, and make a [loaded baked potato](. Noteworthy Matt Cardy/Getty Images • Today is the summer solstice, when the Earth’s tilted axis exposes the Northern Hemisphere to direct sunlight for longer than any other day of the year. Astronomers have long wondered whether that tilt [helps make life possible](. • The aftermath of a volcano. The Fuego volcano buried one Guatemalan village in sand, ash, rocks and tree trunks. Using augmented reality, [we captured what was left](. • In memoriam: Bonaldo Giaiotti, 85, [an Italian bass opera singer who gave more than 400 performances]( at the Metropolitan Opera. Back Story Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press Female athletes gained a prominent new stage in the U.S. on this day in 1997, when the Women’s National Basketball Association began play. With backing from the N.B.A., the women’s league initially featured eight teams and a distinctive orange-and-oatmeal-colored ball. The inaugural game brought together teams from two of the nation’s biggest markets, the New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks. But before the game was even set to tip, a frenzy ensued. The musician who was supposed to sing the national anthem before the game, Jeffrey Osborne, was late. “He was stuck in traffic,” Val Ackerman, the league’s first president, told ESPN for [a story about the 20th anniversary of the game](. “So that created some chaos at the beginning. They had to use a recording of the anthem.” That did nothing to ease doubts about the league’s potential for success, but Rebecca Lobo, who played for New York in that first game, [urged naysayers to give it a chance](. “People can say whatever they want at this point, but they should turn on the game and make their judgments,” she said. The league’s attendance [eclipsed one million]( in its first year and [finished last season above 1.5 million](. Adriana Lacy wrote today’s Back Story. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. [Check out this page]( to find a Morning Briefing for your region. (In addition to our European edition, we have Australian, Asian and U.S. editions.) [Sign up here]( to receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights, and [here’s our full range of free newsletters](. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [europebriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:europebriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Europe)). ADVERTISEMENT LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. FOLLOW NYT [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Prefer a different send time? 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