Your Monday Evening Briefing

Your nightly rundown of the day's top stories delivered straight to your inbox. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, July 17, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Monday Evening Briefing]( By REMY TUMIN AND SANDRA STEVENSON Good evening. Here’s the latest. Win Mcnamee/Getty Images 1. The absence of Senator John McCain [because of emergency cranial surgery]( could delay a vote on the Republicans’ health care bill for a week or more. The bill’s detractors plan to use the time [to mobilize further opposition]( to the measure. Despite the setback, Mr. Trump laid claim to having signed more bills “than any president, ever.” [Our analysis]( is that, in fact, he is slightly behind the pace of the last six presidents, and that about half the bills he signed were minor and inconsequential. _____ Eric Thayer for The New York Times 2. The U.S. government’s top ethics watchdog chief, who is stepping down Tuesday, said the country is “[pretty close to a laughingstock at this point]( President Trump’s repeated trips to his family’s business properties — including 40 to a family golf course — “creates the appearance of profiting from the presidency,” he said. Mr. Trump continued to defend [his eldest son]( though revelations continued to grow about his meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer last year. We looked at [a Russian developer]( the Kremlin may have used as a conduit to the Trumps. _____ Jonathan Corum/The New York Times 3. Even the farthest reaches of the United States aren’t immune to the national infrastructure crisis. Eight thousand miles from the mainland is the McMurdo Station, home to the [most ambitious research program in Antarctica]( for 50 years. The station’s buildings are aging and inefficient, and the price tags for replacements are high. Efforts to cut federal spending leave the McMurdo’s fate unclear. _____ Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times 4. South Korea reached out to North Korea, [offering to hold military and humanitarian talks]( at their heavily armed border, above, and even to arrange reunions for families divided decades ago by the Korean War. The new South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, has proved more interested in engaging with the North than President Trump’s advisers. The South’s overture comes as the U.N. Security Council is discussing a new set of sanctions against the North over its recent ICBM test, and as a South Korean-born [American peace activist, Christine Ahn]( was denied entry by the South on the grounds that she might “hurt the national interests and public safety.” _____ Spencer Platt/Getty Images 5. Tens of thousands of people who took out private loans to pay for college [may get their debts wiped away](. The National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts has repeatedly failed to prove the current ownership of loans that, in an echo of the subprime mortgage crisis, it initially made through banks and then sold to investors. The troubled loans total at least $5 billion. Trying to avoid loans all together? Here’s what you [need to know]( about saving for college. _____ Matt Rourke/Associated Press 6. Before Cosmo DiNardo confessed to the brutal killings of four young men in Bucks County, Pa., friends and neighbors described [signs of a volatile, bullying personality]( getting worse over time. “He’s been talking about killing people since he was 14,” one friend said. _____ Jim Wilson/The New York Times 7. “This is no longer a coastal, elite housing problem. This is a problem in big swaths of the state.” That's Scott Wiener, a Democratic state senator in California, on the extreme rise in housing costs. He is sponsoring a bill to [crack down on communities]( that are not doing enough to bring in affordable housing. _____ Noah K. Murray/USA Today Sports, via Reuters 8. Aaron Judge is hitting homers like no other rookie before him. The musclebound, 6-7 Yankees outfielder [spent the winter tinkering with his swing]( after a dismal introduction to the majors last August. Now, our baseball columnist writes, his technique “is a portrait of technical precision that has allowed his rare physical gifts to flourish.” In basketball,[the Houston Rockets are unexpectedly up for sale](. Leslie Alexander paid $85 million 24 years ago for the team, which is now valued at more than $1.6 billion. _____ Pool photo by Stephen Crowley 9. What qualifies as “appropriate dress” these days? The U.S. House of Representatives was criticized for turning away a female reporter in a sleeveless dress, not so different from the one Melania Trump wore above, and the L.P.G.A. issued guidelines prohibiting golfers from wearing too-short skirts. Social media, and our fashion critic, [weigh in](. _____ Night of the Living Dead, LLC, via Image 10 10. Long before “The Walking Dead” or “Get Out,” there was George Romero. The godfather of zombie movies, who died Sunday at the age of 77, introduced filmgoers to a new type of mainstream monster through “Night of the Living Dead,” pictured above, but he never left the living off the hook, either. Times film critics discuss his [towering influence on horror]( and take a look at his [five most memorable films](. Have a wonderful evening. Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing [this version]( of the briefing should help. Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a.m. Sundays. Want to look back? Here’s [Friday’s briefing](. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at [briefing@nytimes.com](mailto:briefing@nytimes.com?subject=Evening%20Briefing%20Feedback). ADVERTISEMENT Looking for Something to Watch? Three times a week, receive recommendations on the best TV shows and films to stream and watch. Sign up for our Watching newsletter [here](. Sponsor a Subscription Inspire the future generation of readers by contributing to The Times’s [sponsor-a-subscription program](. For questions, email sponsor@nytimes.com or call [1-844-698-2677](. FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Get more NYTimes.com newsletters » | Sign Up for the [Morning Briefing newsletter »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Evening Briefing newsletter. 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