Thursday: Jeff Sessions resigns

A Washington shake-up, placebos, tiny love stories View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, November 8, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Thursday Briefing]( By PENN BULLOCK Good morning. A resignation in Washington, a growing gun culture in Italy and anger over collapsed buildings in France. Here’s the latest: Doug Mills/The New York Times • “Dear Mr. President, at your request I am submitting my resignation.” President Trump [removed Attorney General Jeff Sessions]( above, an effective implementer of his agenda who became a punching bag after recusing himself from the Russia investigation. Matthew Whitaker, Mr. Sessions’s chief of staff and a Trump loyalist, will become acting attorney general — and will oversee the investigation, whose scope he has criticized as verging on a “witch hunt.” Senior officials in the Justice Department are [intensely suspicious of him]( some seeing him as a White House spy. Mr. Whitaker has the power to [block new moves]( by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, and he could choose not to release the findings. The shake-up thus presents [a stark challenge]( to the resolve of the new Democratic majority in the House, which will be seated in January. At a news conference in which he [bickered with reporters]( Mr. Trump offered to work with Democrats but threatened a “warlike” posture if they investigate him. Afterward he [suspended the White House credentials]( of Jim Acosta of CNN, a very rare step. While Republicans’ disarray didn’t stop them from [gaining two Senate seats]( Democrats showed focus and [flipped 28 in the House](. Voters offered a portrait of [a nation at odds with itself]( while also electing the first Muslim and Native American women to Congress, among [a series of historical firsts](. Here’s [what the blue wave looked like]( and [why it was](. Many important races [are still undecided](. _____ Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press • Gun culture in Italy. The most powerful figure in Italy’s populist government, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, above, has promoted himself as a law-and-order tough guy, cracking down on immigration, declaring a war on drugs and creating a sense of public safety emergency. And he’s [trying to import American-style gun culture](. While campaigning earlier this year, Mr. Salvini pledged to cooperate with a group advocating looser gun laws, and in September they notched a victory when the government made it possible to own more guns, including the semiautomatic AR-15. Italy’s gun lobby doesn’t have the clout the N.R.A. wields in the U.S., but it is growing. _____ Kirill Kudryavtsev/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • A Russian theater director goes on trial. Kirill Serebrennikov, above, renowned across Europe and beyond, is charged in a financial fraud case that is seen by Russia’s intelligentsia as a [test of artistic freedom]( under President Vladimir Putin. He and three co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to embezzle more than $2 million in government funds in a Kremlin-sponsored art project. They face up to 10 years in prison. Mr. Serebrennikov’s productions at the Gogol Center, a small Moscow theater, challenged Russia’s conservative culture and often featured thinly veiled criticism of Mr. Putin. The artistic community fears that Mr. Putin, having tamed the country’s oligarchs and news media, may now be determined to bring the arts to heel. _____ Bay Ismoyo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • More concerns over Boeing instruments. Aircraft problems [may have played a role]( in the fatal crash of a brand-new Boeing 737 Max 8 in Indonesia last week, investigators said. An Indonesian official suggested that inaccurate readings could have prompted the Lion Air plane to enter a sudden, automatic descent. That added a new element to what investigators have been scrutinizing, including faulty airspeed indicators and possibly flawed maintenance. Boeing has issued a worldwide bulletin on how to respond to errant data to all operators of the plane, one of the most popular in commercial aviation. The developments suggested that multiple factors may have combined to cause the crash, which killed all 189 people aboard. Above, investigators examining engine parts. Business Jim wilson/The New York Times • Facebook said that it had [blocked more than 100 social media accounts]( linked to Russian trolls trying to influence the U.S. midterm elections. While Facebook has made strides in cleaning up its service, it continues to behave best when placed under a microscope, [our columnist writes](. Above, its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. • The trade war effect: Some U.S. House districts hit by [retaliatory tariffs]( switched to Democratics in the midterms. Meanwhile, [Canada expressed optimism]( that Democrats would approve a new North American trade deal. • AbeBooks, a secondhand and rare bookselling network owned by Amazon, [bowed to a worldwide strike]( of antiquarian booksellers, appearing to reverse its largely unexplained decision to cut off stores in five countries. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Loic Aedo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • The death toll rose to six in the collapse of two buildings in Marseille, France, above. Residents said city officials had ignored obvious problems with the buildings. [[Agence France-Presse]( • A lawyer in the Philippines who opposed President Rodrigo Duterte’s lethal war on drugs was fatally shot in what a colleague called “premeditated, coldblooded murder.” [[The New York Times]( • A meeting this week between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a top North Korean diplomat has been called off, with Washington’s efforts to get the country to denuclearize increasingly stuck. [[The New York Times]( • Over 200 mass graves holding as many as 12,000 bodies were discovered in parts of Iraq that had been controlled by the Islamic State, illustrating what the U.N. called a “legacy of terror.” [[The New York Times]( • President Emmanuel Macron of France complimented Marshal Philippe Petain — who helped win World War I but collaborated with the Nazis in World War II — calling him a “great soldier” and prompting an outcry among French Jews. [[The Associated Press]( • Canada is already running low on marijuana, three weeks after the country legalized it for recreational use. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips for a more fulfilling life. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Prop Stylist: Courtney de Wet. • Recipe of the day: Sweet potato fans will love this mashed [recipe with bourbon and brown sugar](. • How do you tell someone you don’t want him driving [your children around]( • Essential gear [for solo travel](. Noteworthy Photo illustration by Paul Sahre • New research is closing in on a [biochemical basis for the placebo effect]( the mysterious phenomenon whereby suffering people get better from treatments like sugar pills, above, that shouldn’t work — potentially opening a Pandora’s box for Western medicine. • Scientists say an image of a four-legged animal found in a cave in Borneo was created more than 40,000 years ago, making it [the earliest figurative art in the world](. • Tiny love stories: In 100 words or less, our readers share stories of [a highway kiss, comforting snores and a rare connection](. Back Story Erik Tanner for The New York Times “It’ll be up in lights on Broadway: Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World!” an adventurer exclaims in the 1933 film “King Kong.” Eighty-five years later, [a $35 million musical version]( with the big ape officially opens in New York tonight. Before the movie was released, the excitement was palpable, even if newspapers didn’t exactly know what would be happening. “The film will show prehistoric monsters fighting one another and making weird sounds,” [The Times wrote in 1933](. It was easy to see why the movie would be popular. The stop-motion special effects were groundbreaking, although film scholars saw thinly veiled racist overtones. Nevertheless, [the Times reviewer was enthralled]( “Imagine a 50-foot beast with a girl in one paw climbing up the outside of the Empire State Building.” The movie, starring Fay Wray as the beauty who charms the beast, was among the first to be shown at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, [shortly after the 6,200-seat theater was converted]( to show films. A box office hit, the movie was rereleased periodically and has [featured in numerous remakes](. In the original, Kong was an 18-inch puppet. In the new Broadway production, the ape is 20 feet tall and weighs 2,000 pounds. Not bad for the Eighth Wonder of the World. Kathleen Massara 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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