Your Wednesday Briefing

Florida, Rohingya, Emmanuel Macron | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, September 13, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By JENNIFER JETT Good morning. The New York Times is providing full free digital access to European readers through Sunday. Here’s what you need to know: Pool photo by Christophe Ena • The damage from [Irma, now a post-tropical cyclone, is still being assessed]( across the southeastern U.S. as many families begin the journey home. In the Florida Keys, residents who didn’t evacuate showed us the extent of Irma’s damage. [“We lost everything,” one said](. President Emmanuel Macron of France, visiting the territories of Guadeloupe, St. Barthélemy and St. Martin, above, said his government had ordered [one of the largest airlifts of aid since World War II](. [King Willem-Alexander]( of the Netherlands and [Boris Johnson]( the British foreign secretary, were also in the Caribbean visiting their countries’ territories. _____ Claude Paris/Associated Press • Thousands of people turned out across France for [mass demonstrations against the country’s new labor code]( as well as its author: Mr. Macron. The rallies were the first major street protests faced by Mr. Macron, whose popularity has plunged since he won the presidency in May. Above, steelworkers burning flares in Marseille. _____ Sputnik Photo Agency, via Reuters • Turkey signed a deal to [buy a Russian surface-to-air missile system]( complicating its relationship with NATO and making its European Union membership even more unlikely. While NATO does not ban purchases of military hardware from manufacturers outside the alliance, it does discourage members from buying equipment not compatible with that used by other members. Above, the missile system on display during a military parade in Moscow in 2015. _____ Matthew Stockman/Getty Images • The World Anti-Doping Agency has [agreed to clear 95 of the first 96 athletes]( implicated in Russia’s yearslong doping program, according to an internal report. The closed cases are likely to set off a debate over whether Russia’s schemes were so successful in destroying evidence that defensible cases cannot be built against some athletes, or whether officials have taken a soft approach to punishments. Above, Russian athletes at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. _____ Dan Kitwood/Getty Images • Rohingya Muslims living in Pakistan, where hundreds of thousands fled from Myanmar security forces in the 1970s and ’80s, are [watching the current exodus]( anger](. “We need world pressure behind us to end this violence, this hell,” one said. “Just issuing statements isn’t enough.” The U.N. Security Council is meeting today to discuss the crisis. Above, a Rohingya woman collapsed after arriving in Dakhinpara, Bangladesh. _____ Business Toby Melville/Reuters • Rupert Murdoch’s bid for full control of Sky, the British satellite television giant, [hit another obstacle]( as the British culture minister hinted at an intensive competition inquiry that would delay, if not scrap, the $15 billion acquisition by Mr. Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. • Apple [unveiled the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X]( (pronounced “10,” not “ex”). We [answered your questions]( about the new models. • Bell Pottinger, a British public relations firm known for its questionable clients, has collapsed over a [race-baiting campaign in South Africa](. • Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain is [easing the cap on pay increases]( for workers in the public sector, starting with police and prison officers. Britain reports wage data today. • Austria began a [public sale of a 100-year bond]( in a first for the eurozone. • The pound hit a one-year high against the dollar. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Choi Jae-gu/Yonhap, via Reuters • South Korea, in an effort to deter North Korea’s leaders, is planning a “decapitation unit” that it says would be capable of carrying out cross-border assassinations. Above, South Korean marines during a military exercise. [[The New York Times]( • British lawmakers voted to give the governing Conservative Party a majority on parliamentary committees, even though it is not a majority government. The move may help “Brexit” legislation get passed. [[Politico]( • Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, is expected to call for a more integrated European Union in his annual address to the bloc today. [[Reuters]( • Israel’s Supreme Court ruled against mass exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews from compulsory military service, calling them discriminatory and unconstitutional. [[The New York Times]( • The Sagrada Família, one of Barcelona’s main tourist attractions, was evacuated and inspected by a bomb squad in what turned out to be a false alarm. [[Associated Press]( • Prosecutors in Barcelona ordered the police to seize ballot boxes ahead of a Catalan independence referendum that has been declared illegal. [[BBC]( • An 11-year-old boy and his parents died after falling into a volcanic crater near Naples. [[The Guardian]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Nathan Benn/Corbis, via Getty Images • Feeling older? [Embrace the positives](. • Worth it if you’re traveling by air: a cadre of [entertaining flight safety films](. • Recipe of the day: Parsnips are underrated. Toss them with [pasta, bacon and a creamy sauce](. Noteworthy David Zalubowski/Associated Press • Peter Hall, above, the British theater director who [founded the Royal Shakespeare Company]( has died at 86. Here are [five shows that sealed his legacy](. • Arab visitors have gone to Piestany, Slovakia, for vacation for decades. But [a surge in Islamophobia]( now threatens to make it less welcoming. • After two years of sniping (and worse) from critics, Chris Dercon has finally taken the helm of the [Volksbühne, one of the most influential theaters in the German-speaking world](. His appointment as director has spurred an angry debate tied to Berlin’s future. • Paris St.-Germain [opened the Champions League]( with a 5-0 rout of Celtic, seemingly starting to validate the billion-dollar investment in the club by its owner, Qatar Sports Investments. Back Story Fritz Reiss/Associated Press When did World War II formally end? By one measure, it was not in 1945, but 1990. The Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany, [signed 27 years ago this week]( was the catchy title of an agreement that ended foreign-occupation rights in German territories, paving the way for German reunification. The “two-plus-four” agreement, as it was called, involved West and East Germany and the powers governing them after the war: Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the U.S. “Two plus four adds up to one Germany in a Europe whole and free,” James Baker, the U.S. secretary of state, said after the signing in Moscow, which came almost a year after [the fall of the Berlin Wall](. The treaty was [only a few pages long]( but negotiations took seven months. It was only in the last days that some disputes, [including the role of NATO]( were resolved. A day after the signing, [Germany and the Soviet Union]( initialed a “good neighbor” pact, and within a month [the Unification Treaty ended Germany’s 45-year division](. Families were reunited, [travel restrictions were removed]( and [frivolity unfolded](. Little more than a year later, [the Soviet Union itself fell](. Thomas Furse 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](. 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? 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