Your Wednesday Briefing

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, May 17, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By PATRICK BOEHLER Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Al Drago/The New York Times • “I hope you can let this go.” President Trump asked the former F.B.I. director, James Comey, [to close the investigation into Michael Flynn]( his former national security adviser, over Mr. Flynn’s financial ties to Russia, according to two people who read a memo by Mr. Comey. [In a video]( our reporter explains the significance of the paper trail Mr. Comey left behind. _____ Doug Mills/The New York Times • Mr. Trump [defended what he called his “absolute right”]( to share classified information about an Islamic State plot with visiting Russian officials. A former and a current U.S. official told our reporters that the [intelligence was provided by Israel]( where he is [headed next week](. Political analysts said that Russia [welcomed Mr. Trump’s possible policy shift]( in the sharing of intelligence. “We look at this chaos with a bit of a smile,” said one analyst close to the Kremlin. Some of Mr. Trump’s senior aides, including Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, above, his national security adviser, are said to worry about [leaving the president]( alone in meetings with foreign leaders. _____ Doug Mills/The New York Times • And the president [had praise for Recep Tayyip Erdogan]( the Turkish president, as a stalwart ally against the Islamic State when the two met in the Oval Office. [Disagreement remained]( over U.S. support for Kurdish insurgents in Syria. Our Turkey correspondent explored the decline of democracy in Turkey [in an interactive video diary]( a new storytelling format we’ve been experimenting with. Separately, Sudan said its president, who faces charges of genocide at the International Criminal Court, [has been invited to attend a summit]( meeting in Saudi Arabia this weekend alongside Mr. Trump. _____ Katsuhiko Hayashi • A new revolution in reproductive technology is on the horizon. Scientists may soon be able to [create a baby from human skin cells that have been coaxed to differentiate into eggs and sperm](. Prominent academics have already sounded an alarm about the possible consequences. “We have come to realize that scientific developments are outpacing our ability to think them through,” one scholar said. _____ Alberto Pizzoli/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • The 70th Cannes Film Festival opens today. Each year, the festival [turns the sleepy French resort town into a carnival of glamour]( that introduces the world to new movements in cinema. [Here’s a preview]( of some of this year’s [more than 50 premieres](. The festival’s dispute with Netflix has [provoked]( accusations]( of cultural imperialism and intransigence. _____ Daniel Rodrigues for The New York Times • We asked 10 writers to share their favorite places near water in Europe. They returned with [intimate essays]( exploring the rugged coast at the Cinque Terre of Italy, Brighton Pier in England (best visited at night) and the turquoise lakes at Croatia’s oldest national park, which withstood a troubled history. “Even as regimes and borders changed, there was always respect paid to the fragility of this one-of-a-kind ecosystem,” a historian told our writer. If we missed your favorite spot, share it [with us on Facebook](. _____ Business Angelos Tzortzinis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • In Greece, labor unions [called for a general strike today]( over planned austerity measures. The economy contracted [for a second consecutive quarter](. • The E.U.’s top court ruled that some aspects of trade agreements needed to be ratified by all the bloc’s national parliaments. The decision [risks complicating negotiations with Britain]( over the country’s departure from the union. • Data protection watchdogs in France and the Netherlands accused Facebook of [collecting too much information on users](. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Leon Neal/Getty Images • In Britain, the official release of Labour’s manifesto was dominated by the cost implications of the party’s most left-wing program in three decades. [[The New York Times]( • In France, the announcement of new cabinet members has been postponed to later today by extended vetting procedures. [[Euronews]( • At climate talks in Bonn, Germany, developing nations and environmental groups are challenging the presence of corporate lobbyists. [[The New York Times]( • The Ukrainian president’s website suffered a cyberattack after Kiev blacklisted widely used Russian internet services. [[Reuters]( • Chelsea Manning, who was jailed in the U.S. for disclosing classified files to WikiLeaks, is expected to be released today. [[The New York Times]( • Security experts say North Korean sleeper cells could have carried out the recent global ransomware assault. [[The New York Times]( • Ian Brady, the [unrepentant British serial murderer]( died at 79. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living [Sleep today is a measure of success, a skill to be cultivated and nourished.]Tim Robinson • Once we would brag of not needing very much of it. [Now, deep slumber is a coveted]( state achieved with gadgets, apps, gizmos and classes. • Need something to watch to help with the elliptical tedium of running on a treadmill? [Watch these shows]( while you work out. • Recipe of the day: Make this [fettuccine with asparagus]( one of your half-hour favorites. Noteworthy Andrew Medichini/Associated Press • French Open: The French Tennis Federation [denied a wild-card entry]( to the two-time winner Maria Sharapova. • Chanel’s $1,300 boomerang came back to hit it. In Australia, [the French brand is being accused]( of cultural appropriation and ignorance. • Eating yogurt might reduce the risk of osteoporosis, [a study found](. • Young Jews have been moving to Berlin by the thousands, and their traditional foods [are a hit on the flourishing foodie scene](. Back Story George Tames/The New York Times There’s an F.B.I. investigation currently in the headlines, but it was on this day in 1965 that a different one ended: [a two-year inquiry into “Louie, Louie.”]( The song was [originally recorded in 1956]( but it was the muddled lyrics of [the 1963 version by The Kingsmen]( that many listeners thought might be obscene. “Parents were concerned, and they figured, ‘My gosh, this sounds like a dirty song, I don’t understand it — maybe we should have an investigation,’ ” said Eric Predoehl, [who is making a documentary about the song’s history](. One parent’s letter to the serving attorney general, Robert Kennedy, [prompted the investigation](. “This land of ours is headed for an extreme state of moral degradation,” the parent wrote. The lyrics may have been indecipherable because, when the band recorded the single in a studio in Portland, Ore., [there was only one microphone]( hanging several feet above Jack Ely, the lead singer. To be heard, he reportedly shouted lines like (maybe) “Me gotta go” and “All the way.” The F.B.I. spent two years analyzing the lyrics, and although [its report]( includes possible interpretations that include obscene references to sex, no one could definitively figure out what Mr. Ely was saying. We gotta go. Evan Gershkovich contributed reporting. _____ This briefing was prepared for the European morning. We also have briefings timed for the [Australian]( [Asian]( and [American]( mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters [here](. Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [europebriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:europebriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Europe)). ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NYT [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Prefer a different send time? 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