Your Friday Briefing

Anthony Scaramucci, Health Care, Russia View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, July 28, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Friday Briefing]( By JENNIFER JETT Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times • U.S. senators are debating a [narrower measure to repeal the Affordable Care Act]( that would still leave 15 million more Americans without insurance next year. But some Republicans — including Lindsey Graham, Ron Johnson and John McCain, above — want guarantees that their “yes” votes would not mean approval but rather provide a basis to start negotiations with the House of Representatives on something better. Americans who fear they could lose their insurance are [following the health care debate with dread](. _____ Spencer Platt/Getty Images • “We will continue to treat all of our personnel with respect.” America’s highest military officer said [transgender people would continue to serve]( until the White House worked through official channels to carry out the ban President Trump unexpectedly announced on Twitter. On the same day Mr. Trump announced the ban, his Justice Department argued in legal filings that a major federal civil rights law [did not protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation](. Gay activists called it [“anti-L.G.B.T. day.”]( Rivalries inside the White House [spilled into public view]( as Mr. Trump’s new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, attacked Reince Priebus, the chief of staff, in a call to CNN and in profanity-laced remarks to The New Yorker. And [Attorney General Jeff Sessions said]( the president’s public rebukes of his job performance were “hurtful” but pledged to carry on. _____ Mikko Stig/Lehtikuva, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • The Senate [approved sweeping sanctions against Russia]( forcing President Trump to either take a tougher line against Moscow or issue a veto amid investigations into ties between his presidential campaign and Russian officials. President Vladimir Putin of Russia [derided the proposed sanctions]( and the investigations into U.S. election meddling as “boorishness.” _____ Alex Potter for The New York Times • About 180 women, girls and children from Iraq’s Yazidi ethnic minority have [escaped sexual enslavement to Islamic State militants]( since the operation to recapture Mosul began last year. But after years of captivity, they show extraordinary signs of psychological injury. Our reporter visited Souhayla, a 16-year-old girl who spends her days lying in a tent in northern Iraq, unable to hold up her head. “I’m happy to be home,” she said, “but I’m sick.” _____ David McNew/Getty Images • Jeff Bezos, above, the founder of Amazon, [was briefly the world’s wealthiest person]( with holdings worth more than $90 billion — until his stock price dropped him back behind Bill Gates of Microsoft. But investors’ response was relatively muted, considering Amazon reported profits that were [less than a third of what Wall Street had expected](. Business Kevin Coombs/Reuters • Libor, the scandal-plagued benchmark for interbank loans, could be [phased out by British regulators by 2021](. • AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, said a cancer drug in development that was seen as a crucial driver of growth [had not shown as much progress as expected](. • SpaceX, the rocket maker founded by Elon Musk, is now valued around $21 billion, making it one of the [world’s most valuable privately held companies](. • France has temporarily [nationalized its biggest shipyard]( amid a dispute with an Italian company over its ownership. • A record price: The Hong Kong-based LKK Health Products Group bought the [London skyscraper known as the Walkie Talkie for $1.7 billion]( — the most ever paid for a single British property. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Santi Palacios/Associated Press • Italy is planning to send warships into Libyan territorial waters to stem a rising tide of migrants. [[The New York Times]( • Muslims resumed praying at the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem after Israel removed the last traces of security structures near the entrances to end a two-week standoff. [[The New York Times]( • The managers of Grenfell Tower, the London high rise where a fire last month left at least 80 people dead, may face a criminal inquiry. [[The New York Times]( • Charlie Gard, the terminally ill British infant, will spend his last moments in a hospice before he is taken off life support, according to a ruling by the British High Court. [[The New York Times]( • The Iranian launch of a missile into space was not in violation of the nuclear accord. But President Trump is looking for other reasons to abandon the deal. [[The New York Times]( • Mikheil Saakashvili, a former Georgian president who gave up his citizenship to help fight corruption in Ukraine, was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by President Petro Poroshenko, leaving him stateless. [[The New York Times]( • Two senior Swedish ministers resigned because of a data breach that may have exposed citizens’ personal information. [[CNN]( • The Pakistani police arrested 25 people in a rural village after the village council ordered a man to rape a teenage girl publicly to avenge the sexual assault of his sister. [[The New York Times]( • The Turkish Parliament passed changes to its bylaws that critics said would further silence the opposition. [[Associated Press]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Ivan Alvarado/Reuters • Tattoos may [change the way you sweat](. • It’s probably wiser [to spend money]( save time]( than spend time to save money. • Recipe of the day: Keep tonight’s dinner meatless with [hot and sour seared tofu](. Noteworthy Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times • A severe drought and sweltering temperatures have led officials in Rome, whose ancient aqueducts once symbolized the city’s power, to [consider rationing drinking water](. • Swamp soccer. Wife carrying. Phone throwing. In Finland, [“we have some weird hobbies.”]( • And The Times bids farewell to our chief book critic, Michiko Kakutani, who has guided readers through literature’s changing landscape for 38 years. Here are [highlights of her tenure](. Back Story Enrico Nawrath/Bayreuth Festspiele Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany was joined by the [king and queen of Sweden]( this week for the opening of the [Bayreuth Festival]( a tradition The Times once called “[the Woodstock of the opera set]( The festival was started in 1876 by Richard Wagner, the German composer. It is still managed by his descendants and devoted exclusively to his operas, such as the “Ring” cycle and “Tristan und Isolde.” They are performed in the theater he designed and built, and some fans [wait decades for tickets](. Bayreuth has something of an operatic history of its own. Wagner, who died in 1883, was [a notorious anti-Semite]( and in the 1920s and ’30s the festival became associated with the Nazis. The opera “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” was a favorite of Hitler’s. “Die Meistersinger” was also the opening performance this year, [led by Barrie Kosky]( the first Jewish director in the festival’s history. Above, a scene from Mr. Kosky’s “Die Meistersinger.” Next year’s festival will feature another milestone: Yuval Sharon will become the first American to direct a production. “For me, Bayreuth has always been this very holy place,” [Mr. Sharon told us earlier this month](. “I’ve already had five anxiety dreams about it, so that means I’m on the right track.” Charles McDermid contributed reporting. _____ This briefing was prepared for the European morning. [You can browse through past briefings 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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