Friday: Senate rebukes Yemen war

Brexit impasse, Trump inauguration investigated, man in robot suit View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, December 14, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Friday Briefing]( By PENN BULLOCK Good morning. The Senate voted to end U.S. involvement in Yemen, the E.U. rejected bargaining on Brexit and a Russian agent pleaded guilty. Here’s the latest: [A bridge that was destroyed in a Saudi airstrike in Najarah, Yemen, in October. ]A bridge that was destroyed in a Saudi airstrike in Najarah, Yemen, in October. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Senate votes to end U.S. role in Yemen The [Senate voted]( to withdraw American military assistance for Saudi Arabia’s forces in Yemen, in a bipartisan rebuke of President Trump’s continued loyalty to the kingdom and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The vote is largely symbolic, but signals that Congress will take on Mr. Trump’s support of Saudi Arabia when House control shifts to the Democrats in January. Another development: Warring sides in Yemen’s brutal civil war took [their biggest step yet toward peace]( a cease-fire in the port city of Hudaydah, the main artery for humanitarian aid into the bombed and starving country. The U.N. secretary general said Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition agreed to withdraw their forces from the city, and to a prisoner exchange for as many as 15,000 people. Go deeper: The Pentagon has been supplying Saudi Arabia with [bombs and intelligence since 2015](. ______ [Britain's prime minister, Theresa May, center, arrived for a gathering at an E.U. summit meeting in Brussels on Thursday.]Britain's prime minister, Theresa May, center, arrived for a gathering at an E.U. summit meeting in Brussels on Thursday. Alastair Grant/Associated Press Slouching toward Brexit Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain was back in Brussels, [hoping beyond hope that the E.U. would renegotiate the terms of Brexit](. Pleading her case among 27 other European leaders, she was told her ideas were “nebulous and imprecise,” and met with refusal to make any revisions to the agreed-on deal, which has little hope of passing the British Parliament. Details: Mrs. May wants new, legally binding assurances that the deal’s so-called backstop — keeping Britain under E.U. rules until a new relationship and a Northern Ireland border are worked out — will not become a permanent, trapping arrangement. Looking ahead: Though further talks could take place, European leaders insisted there would be no legal changes. “This is crystal clear,” the president of the European Commission said. Mrs. May’s impasse is set to remain just that. Unless Brexit is delayed or reversed, or the clock drives Parliament into submission, Britain will chance a disastrous “no-deal” Brexit on March 29. Preparations for that were stepped up on both sides of the English Channel. ______ [Maria Butina speaking to a crowd in Moscow during a 2013 rally in support of legalizing the possession of handguns.]Maria Butina speaking to a crowd in Moscow during a 2013 rally in support of legalizing the possession of handguns. Associated Press A Russian agent pleads guilty in the U.S. In a deal with U.S. federal prosecutors, Maria Butina admitted to participating in a [Russian-backed effort to win conservative]( support for Russia. She has agreed to cooperate with investigators. Her plea puts a spotlight on Americans she worked with, including [prominent members of the N.R.A.]( and her boyfriend, Paul Erickson, a longtime Republican operative who now faces accusations of fraud in three states. In the White House: President Trump said on Twitter that if there was anything illegal under campaign finance law about his hush-money payments to two women, [it was his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s fault]( and they were civil, not criminal, violations at best. Another angle: Federal prosecutors are looking into whether individuals from Qatar and other Middle Eastern nations [illegally funneled donations to Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee]( a pro-Trump super PAC in hopes of buying influence, according to people familiar with the inquiry. Thomas Barrack Jr., a billionaire financier and one of Mr. Trump’s closest friends, raised money for both funds. ______ [Sandra Laffont, a journalist who helps train teenagers to recognize online misinformation, led a recent workshop at Collège Henri Barbusse near Lyon, France.]Sandra Laffont, a journalist who helps train teenagers to recognize online misinformation, led a recent workshop at Collège Henri Barbusse near Lyon, France. Matthew Avignone for The New York Times Teaching internet literacy in France The French government has a novel experiment against online disinformation: a sweeping effort [to teach students how to navigate media and the internet]( and sort reliable information from junk. Effects: Since 2015, about 30,000 teachers and other educational professionals have received government training on the subject every year. There are even requirements in some places for young welfare recipients to pass a course on internet literacy. So far, there is little research on whether it works. ______ Here’s what else is happening E.U. economy: The European Central Bank said that at the end of December it would [stop the so-called quantitative easing program]( of money-printing it introduced to hold down interest rates and increase lending. It’s a sign of the bank’s confidence in the E.U. economy. [Firefighters and medics worked to rescue victims after a train collision in Ankara, Turkey, on Thursday.]Firefighters and medics worked to rescue victims after a train collision in Ankara, Turkey, on Thursday. Adem Altan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Train accident: A passenger train [collided with a locomotive]( in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, killing at least nine people and injuring dozens. French rap: Médine, a provocative rapper who delves deep into politics, decided after months of far-right outrage to cancel two concerts at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, the site of a terrorist massacre in 2015. “What I had not realized is that, in 2018, you can’t change people’s mind-sets,” [he told us](. Religious crackdown: One of China’s best-known Protestant pastors and his wife have been [charged with “inciting subversion,”]( a serious political crime that can lead to years in prison. Big oil: The largest oil refiner in the U.S. and powerful oil-industry groups [ran a stealth campaign to roll back car emissions standards]( a Times investigation found. 36 hours in Chamonix: The French town at the base of an Alps peak is great for [skiers, climbers, foodies and night-life lovers](. All too human: Russian state television hailed Boris as “one of the most advanced robots.” It could speak and dance, and seemed so human. Turns out, [Boris was just a man in a robot costume](. ______ Smarter Living Tips for a more fulfilling life. Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times Recipe of the day: Keeping dinner meatless? Try [sheet-pan tostadas]( with chile-laced black beans, sweet peppers, avocado and plenty of crumbled cheese. One thing you can do to help the environment: [reduce your food waste](. Jogging and aerobics are proven to make your cells [younger as you grow old](. Back Story Last week we asked you, our readers, for ideas for Back Stories — and we were overwhelmed by the response. Richard Babyak, a reader from Cleveland, suggested we look into the Tantlinger twist lock. USPTO Invented in the mid-1950s by [Keith Tantlinger]( the simple device made it possible to stack cargo containers aboard ships and securely attach them to truck trailers and rail cars. Twist locks are placed into the corner fittings of shipping containers, which can then be locked to others by [turning a metal handle](. They’re simple to operate and extremely secure. To be useful, containers had to be standardized, and others had developed rival ways of stacking them. But after Mr. Tantlinger persuaded his former employer to release the [patent]( royalty free, it was adopted as an international standard. These standardized stackable containers quickly replaced the manual loading and unloading of cargo and the cost of transport plummeted, [ushering in the current era of global trade](. Albert Sun wrote today’s Back Story. ______ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings. [Check out this page]( to find a Morning Briefing for your region. (In addition to our European edition, we have Australian, Asian and U.S. editions.) [Sign up here]( to receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights, and [here’s our full range of free newsletters](. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [europebriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:europebriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Europe)). LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. FOLLOW NYT [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Prefer a different send time? 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