Your Thursday Briefing

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, March 23, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Thursday Briefing]( By PATRICK BOEHLER Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Toby Melville/Reuters • In London, a lone assailant plowed a sport utility vehicle into pedestrians on the Westminster Bridge and then fatally [stabbed a police officer outside Parliament]( yesterday afternoon, before he was shot and killed. At least [four of his victims died]( and dozens were left injured in the worst assault on the city since the 2005 subway bombings. The attack occurred as [Belgium marked the annive]( of the deadly bombings there last year. The London attacker’s identity has not been released, but Scotland Yard officials said they believed they knew who he was. The Scottish Parliament [delayed]( its vote on requesting permission to hold a second independence referendum. Here’s a quick rundown of [what we know]( — and what we don’t know — about the attack. And here’s a [detailed map](. _____ Delil Souleiman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • U.S. forces in Syria [airlifted hundreds of Syrian fighters]( along with their U.S. advisers, in a major offensive aimed at cutting off the western approaches to Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State. Separately, at least 30 civilians were killed in Syria when an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State hit a school, [according to local reports](. In Washington, [Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson]( told representatives from all 68 nations in the coalition that “circumstances on the ground require more from all of you.” U.N.-sponsored peace talks [resume in Geneva today](. _____ Pool photo by Kayhan Ozer • Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, [issued an awkwardly timed warning]( hours before the London attack, saying Europeans should be concerned about their safety if Western politicians continued with perceived provocations against his government. Turkey [condemned Norway]( for granting asylum to Turkish military officers who it said participated in a failed coup last year. And Frank-Walter Steinmeier used his first speech as Germany’s new president to [condemn Mr. Erdogan’s crackdown on the media](. _____ Al Drago/The New York Times • In the U.S., President Trump’s budget faces headwinds as Republican governors [rebel against domestic spending cuts](. We take a [comprehensive look at the size of the U.S. military]( which would enjoy a $54 billion windfall. House Republicans [face an excruciating vote today]( A yea vote on the bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act [risks havoc for their poorest constituents]( but a nay vote risks the vengeance of the president. _____ Tim Shenk/Doctors Without Borders • “This is great news.” That’s an infectious disease specialist, reacting to a new vaccine that appears to [work against rotavirus]( which kills hundreds of children around the world every day. The Indian vaccine performed well in a large trial in Niger and could help millions of children in some the world’s poorest countries. _____ Business Wang Zhao/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • Hollywood’s [overseas ticket sales fell flat](. Sales in Germany were down 13 percent last year, and in Britain, they slipped 10 percent. • Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the president of the Eurogroup, [rejected calls for his resignation]( led by Portugal’s prime minister after Mr. Dijsselbloem suggested that southern European countries had splurged on “booze and women.” • The Trump Organization is pursuing a hotel project with a globe-trotting Turkish-born real estate developer. We [explore his deep international connections](. • China is encouraging its companies to invest in U.S. start-ups specializing in technology with potential [military applications](. • U.S. prosecutors are investigating [North Korea’s possible role in a cyber bank heist]( of $81 million in what security officials fear could be a new front in digital warfare. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Esther Horvath • The Arctic’s winter sea ice dropped to its lowest recorded level. A summer with no sea ice coverage could occur as early as 2030, one scientist said. [[The New York Times]( • The world has only three to four months to save millions of people in Yemen and Somalia from starvation, the International Red Cross warned. [[Reuters]( • Germany’s government passed a bill that seeks to compensate the thousands of men who had been prosecuted for being gay under a law that was repealed in 1969. [[Huffington Post]( • Ukraine has barred Russia’s participant in the Eurovision Song Contest from entering the country for this year’s competition. [[The New York Times]( • The tomb of Jesus, which had been safeguarded from collapse by an unsightly iron cage since the 19th century, was reopened to the public after a monthslong restoration. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tony Cenicola/The New York Times • Wine is pleasure and conviviality, but it can also be intimidating. [Here’s our guide]( to matching the right bottle with your palate and budget. • Recipe of the day: For an unexpected take on serving steak at home, why not give this recipe for [steak tartare]( a try? Noteworthy Sorokowski et al./Nature • A scholarly sting operation shed light on profiteering among sketchy academic journals: 48 publications [accepted a fake applicant]( whose name meant “fraudster” in Polish — and four made her editor in chief. • A computer program [took five minutes to possibly upend]( the dinosaur classification system that has been used for more than a century. • Lukas Podolski retired from Germany’s national soccer team with a [decisive goal against England](. • Not quite Hygge: The Danish designer Oliver Gustav [takes his gray aesthetic to a moody extreme]( at his Copenhagen home. Back Story Tristan Spinski for The New York Times A little William Wordsworth to start the day: “I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high o’er vales and hills.” For today’s celebration of World Meteorological Day, a [database of cloud images]( is being made digitally available to the public. Users can also [submit]( their own photos. The day is sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization, a U.N. agency, and this year’s theme is “[Understanding Clouds.]( The group is hoping to promote understanding of how clouds affect climate. The organization is responsible for publishing the scientific names and descriptions of cloud types. A similar group, the [Cloud Appreciation Society]( has set off a debate within the cloud community over naming rights. In 2008, its founder proposed the naming of a new cloud type, asperatus, a broad wavy sublime cloud. The U.N. agency had not named a cloud type since 1953 but eventually accepted the Cloud Appreciation Society’s suggestion in 2014 — albeit in a modified form — for the latest edition of the atlas. “There’s a long history of people finding signs in the sky,” the founder of the society [told The New York Times Magazine last year](. “We look up for answers.” Remy Tumin contributed reporting. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. Read the [latest edition of the U.S. briefing here]( and the [latest for Asia and Australia here](. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [europebriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:europebriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Europe)). FOLLOW NYT [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Prefer a different send time? 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