Your Thursday Briefing

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, September 7, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Thursday Briefing]( By PATRICK BOEHLER Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Rinsy Xieng/RCI Guadeloupe, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, [hit the eastern Caribbean](. At least five people were killed. The effect on French overseas territories there “will be hard and cruel,” [warned]( Emmanuel Macron, the French president. Check here for an [updated map]( of the storm’s trajectory. Check here for the [latest updates]( and here for [travel advice](. The question on many people’s minds — [whether climate change]( has worsened the hurricane season — is not so easy to answer, our reporter says. _____ Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times • The European Union’s victory in court against Slovakia and Hungary over the two countries’ refusal to accept migrants [highlighted the deep]( the bloc](. (And for many in Brussels, [the migration issue and others]( dwarf negotiations with London over “Brexit.”) Some Central and Eastern European countries have opposed the resettlement of migrants to relieve the burden on other member countries, notably Greece and Italy. Slovakia has since relented, but Hungary has remained defiant. Readers [had mixed reactions](. “We used to get orders from Moscow, and we don’t want to get them from Brussels now,” one Hungarian engineer said. Above, migrants blocked from entering Hungary in 2015. _____ Doug Chayka for The New York Times • Facebook said hundreds of [apparently fake Russian accounts]( bought political ads on its network during the U.S. presidential campaign last year and that it was cooperating in an investigation into Russian meddling. After initially denying that fake news on the service had had any influence on the election, Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has gradually come around to the notion that the company must do more. Our tech columnist looks at the political views that guide Silicon Valley’s tech elite as its political clout is growing. A new study [suggests it is extremely liberal]( — except when it comes to regulation. _____ Jewel Samad/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • At the U.S. Open, the women’s [semifinals will be all-American]( Madison Keys defeated Kaia Kanepi to advance to a matchup against CoCo Vandeweghe, above, [who eliminated Karolina Pliskova](. Sloane Stephens and Venus Williams [will meet in the other semifinal](. Juan Martín del Potro [ousted Roger Federer]( and Rafael Nadal won his quarterfinal against the Russian teenager Andrey Rublev. In soccer news, several prominent national teams, including the U.S., are [struggling to qualify for n]( year’s]( Cup](. _____ Jackie Molloy for The New York Times • New York Fashion Week begins. It risks irrelevance, [our chief fashion critic writes](. [Here’s an inside look at how our reporters]( prepare to cover Fashion Month, as shows then move to London, Milan and Paris. And [here’s our recurring guide]( to the biggest names in the industry. Separately, two French fashion conglomerates [pledged to curb]( the use of ultra-skinny models, amid an outcry over health issues. [I]( a video]( we asked 12 women who worked in the industry about the expectations, racism and body shaming they experienced. Business Michael Probst/Associated Press • The European Central Bank meets in Frankfurt. The weak dollar [stymied its widely anticipated reduction of its stimulus measures](. Above, Mario Draghi, the bank’s president. • Stock in Intel rose more than 2 percent after the E.U.’s top court ordered that a [$1.3 billion antitrust fine]( revisited]( in a ruling that could embolden U.S. tech giants to challenge other tough rulings. • Two Aeroflot flight attendants secured an unexpected legal victory when a Russian court ruled that [the airline could not link income levels to clothing sizes](. • Omega, the Swiss watchmaker, is [building a new factory]( to meet rebounding demand from China. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Manu Fernandez/Associated Press • In Spain, Catalonia’s regional Parliament in Barcelona voted to hold an independence referendum on Oct. 1. [[El País]( • In Washington, President Trump sided with congressional Democrats on a stopgap budget deal that temporarily raises the debt limit, [catching Republican leaders]( — and his own aides — off guard. [[The New York Times]( • Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said he opposed [an American proposal]( to impose an oil embargo against North Korea. [[The New York Times]( • Pope Francis has begun a six-day visit to Colombia aimed at nudging a country racked by 52 years of war toward an enduring peace with former guerrillas. [[The New York Times]( • In a much-read Op-Ed, a writer argues that Israel could have brought Josef Mengele to justice for the atrocities he committed at the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, but that its espionage agency had other priorities. [[The New York Times]( • And a paternity test has demonstrated that Salvador Dalí, the Surrealist painter, was not the father of a woman who could have claimed a part of his estate. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Karsten Moran for The New York Times • Recipe of the day: [Our guide]( is an excellent place to start making homemade ice cream. • Give yourself at least an hour to [write a love letter](. • Making your bed can [improve your whole day](. Noteworthy Ilvy Njiokiktjien for The New York Times • Utrecht [is one of the world’s most bike-friendly places](. The Dutch city found that more bicycle-friendly infrastructure meant more regular cyclists, and fewer road accidents. • John le Carré, the British writer, will make a rare public appearance in London today to promote his latest novel, “A Legacy of Spies.” Here’s [an excerpt]( a [review]( and a [conversation with the author](. • A new film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 novel “It” is about to hit theaters. [Our critic called the film]( “a skillful blend of nostalgic sentiment and hair-raising effects.” The director narrates a scene [in this video](. • Three chiffon dresses, two robes lined with white tiger fur, one sword. Those are some of the more than 80 opulent gifts [Saudi Arabia gave President Trump]( when he visited in May. Back Story It’s an important day in the origin of Uncle Sam, that red-white-and-blue personification of the United States. Today in 1813, a newspaper in Troy, N.Y., [made an early reference]( to the name and to the “U.S.” stamp on government supplies that supposedly gave rise to it. Some of those supplies included beef from Samuel Wilson, a butcher in Troy who has been [widely credited as the source of the name](. American soldiers in the War of 1812 referred to the food as being from “Uncle Sam.” (The city of Troy still proudly refers to itself as [the “Home of Uncle Sam,”]( although some historians have [traced the name’s origins back even earlier]( In the 1860s, the political cartoonist Thomas Nast gave form to the name, drawing [a tall, bearded man in a top hat](. The character’s appearance became cemented in the American mind during World War I, when [a version by the artist James Montgomery Flagg]( pointed from a military recruitment poster with the words “I want you for U.S. Army.” It was an indelible image with a slogan that was unforgettable ([at least by headline writers at The Times]( Sandra E. Garcia contributed reporting. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. This briefing was prepared for the European morning. [You can browse through past briefings here](. We also have briefings timed for the [Australian]( [Asian]( and [American]( mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters [here](. If photographs appear out of order, please download the updated New York Times app [from iTunes]( or [Google Play](. 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? Sign up for the [Americas]( or [A]( and Australia]( editions. | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Morning Briefing: Europe Edition 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