Your Weekend Briefing

Hurricane Harvey, Arpaio, Mayweather View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Sunday, August 27, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Weekend Briefing]( By MAYA SALAM AND DAVID SCULL Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead. Joe Raedle/Getty Images 1. Hurricane Harvey [softened to a tropical storm]( but is still sending as much as three feet of rain over the next five to six days [across a vast area of Texas from Corpus Christi to Houston](. “Catastrophic flooding” is likely, the National Hurricane Center said. Harvey [made landfall along]( stretch of the Gulf Coast]( late Friday, with home-ripping winds and epic rains. Its toll is still emerging, but at least two deaths appear to be related to the storm and hundreds of thousands of people lost power. The Coast Guard [rescued at least 32 people]( from boats in Texas waters. The storm is the first major natural disaster for the [White House and the new FEMA director, Brock Long](. Above, the rescue of a resident in Rockport, Tex. ____ Damon Winter/The New York Times 2. [President Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio]( the former Arizona sheriff who built a national reputation for his harsh campaign against undocumented immigrants, came [without normal deliberation]( and was announced as the hurricane was bearing down. Among the many critics of the decision: House Speaker [Paul Ryan](. At a campaign-style rally in Arizona, Mr. Trump threatened to shut down the government if Congress did not approve funding for his long-promised border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. He again took aim at the media, putting [many journalists on edge](. The president also signed a long-awaited order [barring transgender people from joining the military]( but he gave Defense Secretary Jim Mattis discretion over whether those already serving could remain. ____ Martin Crutsinger/Associated Press 3. On Capitol Hill, Democrats are wasting no time assigning President Trump and G.O.P. leaders the blame for any economic upheaval that may arise [from a government shutdown](. At the same time, congressional Republicans are solidly [in Mr. Trump’s cross hairs]( — particularly Senator [Bob Corker of Tennessee]( and the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who has privately questioned [if Mr. Trump can last a full term](. Janet Yellen, above, the Federal Reserve chairwoman whom Mr. Trump may replace when her term ends in February, delivered a [broad rebuttal to Republican criticism]( that financial regulation is impeding economic growth. “These reforms have made the system safer,” she said. ____ Sam Hodgson for The New York Times 4. Sebastian Gorka, an adviser to President Trump with hard-line views on Islam and immigration, has been [forced out of the]( House]( in the latest exit since John Kelly took over as chief of staff. And we found out that a chief economic adviser to the president, [Gary Cohn, above, considered stepping down]( over the president’s response to the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va. Mr. Cohn, who is Jewish, said in an interview with The Financial Times that the administration “must do better” in condemning hate groups. And our reporter spent some time at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, finding [a different but revealing side of the administration](. ____ Royal Malaysian Navy European Pressphoto Agency 5. International challenges proliferated. Just days after Secretary of State [Rex Tillerson praised Pyongyang]( for showing restraint, [North Korea launched several short-range missiles]( off its coast. On Afghanistan, President Trump — [reversing his stance]( — [embraced deeper involvement]( in a nearly 16-year war. [Here’s what victory]( could look like under the Trump plan. And details have emerged about the [10 sailors lost]( after the destroyer John S. McCain and an oil tanker collided off the coast of Singapore, the [second collision]( of a Navy destroyer in two months. Above, a sailor’s remains. ____ Raymond Roig/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 6. In the south of France, [a wine war]( is pitting independent wine producers against imports from other E.U. countries, like Spain, and the businesses that deal in them. Vigilante vignerons have raided the offices of two big wine distributors and dumped red wine into the streets, and a group of wine growers threw firebombs at one of France’s largest wine brokerages. “I was stupefied,” said one wine broker. “Everything was destroyed.” ____ Sovcomflot, via European Pressphoto Agency 7. In the Arctic, the melting of long-frozen ground is a striking result of climate change. By 2050, [much of Alaska’s permafrost could be gone](. The Russian-owned tanker above, built to traverse the frozen waters of the Arctic without the aid of specialized ice-breaking vessels, [completed the famed Northwest Passage in record time](. ____ Nick Oxford for The New York Times 8. A disease that for nearly two decades was considered all but extinguished is [making a comeback]( syphilis. The deadly sexually transmitted infection is another consequence of the heroin and methamphetamine epidemics, as users trade sex for drugs. Above, Erinn Williams, an investigator in Oklahoma City. And in South America, a virus that causes symptoms similar to dengue appears to be slowly [moving out of the Amazon jungle]( and closer to cities. ____ Sam Hodgson for The New York Times 9. A Times analysis shows that despite decades of affirmative action, [black and Hispanic students are more underrepresented]( at the nation’s top colleges and universities than they were 35 years ago. And two large coding boot camp schools are shutting down, a sign that [years of heady growth led to a glut](. ____ Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports, via Reuters 10. In a boxing fight widely seen as a mismatch, [Floyd Mayweather Jr., above left, came out of retirement to defeat]( McGregor]( with a technical knockout in the 10th round. McGregor, 29, an Irish mixed martial arts star who was boxing professionally for the first time, was the aggressor in early rounds, but Mayweather later took control. The victory left Mayweather, 40, with a 50-0 record as a boxer and a paycheck expected to exceed $200 million (McGregor could make more than $100 million). ____ Rex Features, via Associated Press 11. If you’re watching the U.S. Open, you may be wondering: When did tennis players get so tall? It’s true. There’s been [an evolutionary lurch in the sport](. Above, Kei Nishikori, foreground, and Andy Murray in the French Open in June. Here are the [players to watch]( in the U.S. Open ([Murray has withdrawn]( because of a lingering hip injury). ____ Helen Sloan/HBO 12. Finally, Season 7 of “Game of Thrones” is nearly over. The season was packed with movement and plot development, but there’s still plenty to be resolved. [Here are seven questions]( to keep in mind going into tonight’s finale. Have a great week. _____ If photographs appear out of order, please [download the updated New York Times app]( from iTunes. You can also view [this version](. Your Weekend Briefing is published Sundays at 6 a.m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern, and Your Evening Briefing, weeknights at 6 p.m. Eastern. Want to look back? You can browse [past Morning]( and [Evening Briefings](. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at [briefing@nytimes.com](mailto:briefing@nytimes.com?subject=Weekend%20Briefing%20Feedback). ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Sign Up for the [Evening Briefing newsletter »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Morning Briefing newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Sponsor a Subscription Inspire a future generation of readers by contributing to The New York Times [sponsor-a-subscription program](. For every subscription granted through contributions to this program, The Times will provide a digital subscription to one additional student. Have questions? Email sponsor@nytimes.com or call [1-844-698-2677](.