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Jeff Sessions, John McCain, O.J. Simpson: Your Thursday Briefing

Senator John McCain in 2008. He has a glioblastoma, one of the most common but also one of the most malignant brain tumors.Credit...Brian Snyder/Reuters

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Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Trump lashes out at Russia inquiry.

President Trump said on Wednesday that he wouldn’t have appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions had he known that Mr. Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia investigation, calling that move “very unfair.”

In a wide-ranging interview with three Times reporters, Mr. Trump also criticized the officials involved in the inquiry, saying: “I’m not under investigation. For what? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Read excerpts and listen to audio clips from the Oval Office discussion.

Also on Wednesday, the president had a message for Republican senators seeking to repeal the Affordable Care Act: Keep trying. We looked at three things he’s doing to “let Obamacare fail,” as he’s put it.

• McCain is diagnosed with brain cancer.

Senator John McCain has one of the most malignant types of brain tumor, his office disclosed on Wednesday.

Mr. McCain, 80, has represented Arizona for more than three decades and was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee. He learned of the tumor after surgery last week to remove a blood clot.

Lawmakers united in support of their colleague after the news was announced.

• Manafort owed millions to pro-Russia interests.

Financial records in the tax haven of Cyprus, where Paul Manafort had bank accounts, indicate that he had as much as $17 million in debt before he joined Donald Trump’s campaign last year.

• China’s expanding influence.

Myanmar, a former military dictatorship that the U.S. worked hard to press toward democracy, is now depending on Beijing to help solve its problems.

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Members of the rebel United Wa State Army in Myanmar in June. China made use of its ties to the group to bring its leaders, and those of six other rebel groups, to a peace conference in May.
Credit...Ye Aung Thu/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

• Parole hearing for O. J. Simpson.

The former football star is set to appear before a Nevada parole board after almost nine years in a state prison. A decision is expected today.

Mr. Simpson, 70, was convicted in 2008 of several felonies, including kidnapping and robbery, and was sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison. His convictions came 13 years after the case involving the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

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O.J. Simpson at a hearing in Las Vegas in 2013.Credit...Pool photo by Ethan Miller

• “The Daily,” your audio news report.

In today’s show, our reporters discuss their exclusive interview with President Trump.

Listen on a computer, an iOS device or an Android device.

• Hundreds of millions of dollars in Deutsche Bank loans to Trump businesses are under scrutiny.

• Facebook is working on a tool that could help drive subscriptions to news organizations that publish articles directly on the online service, an effort to improve the fraught relationship between the site and media companies.

• Y2K, the turn-of-the-21st-century computer scare, could offer lessons for fighting climate change, our tech columnist writes.

• U.S. stocks were up on Wednesday. Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

• Enter the wilderness for increased exercise benefits.

• But don’t exercise too hard. Doctors say they’re seeing more of a rare but dangerous condition among newcomers to spin classes.

• Grilled steak marinated in teriyaki sauce is a foolproof dinner.

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Summer grilling at its best.Credit...Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times

• 8,150 feet above Oregon.

In today’s 360 video, soar to dizzying heights in Wallowa County, which is remote even by the standards of the rural Northwest.

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Soar to dizzying heights in Wallowa County, Ore., a remote county even by the standards of the rural Northwest.CreditCredit...Tegra Stone Nuess for The New York Times. Technology by Samsung.

• The living and the dead.

In October, government forces in Iraq set out to retake Mosul, the Islamic State’s biggest stronghold in the country.

A contributor to The Times Magazine spent months with them, during a conflict that cost thousands of lives.

• The city that never sleeps (or shuts up).

With noise complaints doubling over five years, New York is considering a law to help quiet the din.

• Rapping in middle age.

At 47, Jay-Z reflects on where he’s been, where he’s going and what he’s leaving behind. Our critic appraises his new album, “4:44.”

• Best of late-night TV.

On “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert summed up his view of the White House’s truthfulness: “Every time they tell us it’s a nothing burger, it turns out to be a juicy quarter pounder with sleaze.”

• Quotation of the day.

“If he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else.”

President Trump, expressing frustration with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recused himself from the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

If the flurry of tournaments this summer isn’t enough for you, take note today of the start of an international competition that is as important to some athletes as the Olympics.

Over the next 10 days, about 3,500 athletes from more than 100 countries will compete at the 10th World Games in Wroclaw, Poland.

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Team Japan during the women’s tug of war competition at the World Games in 2005.Credit...Michael Sohn/Associated Press

Like the Olympics, the competition occurs every four years and is under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. Some of the 31 sports at the World Games might be described as niche: tug of war, lifesaving, boules and casting (like fishing but without water).

The World Games are billed as a steppingstone for lesser-known sports to admission at the Olympic Games, and many representatives of those sports have put their hopes into showing that they, too, can attract a crowd.

John Liljelund, the world’s top floorball official, said, “We have a clear possibility to showcase the value and interest of our sport.”

There are precedents, although it is unclear how much of a role the World Games played.

Rugby, a World Games sport, was elevated to Olympic glory during last year’s Games in Rio de Janeiro. Surfing, karate and baseball will become Olympic sports in Tokyo in 2020.

Patrick Boehler contributed reporting.

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Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help.

Your Morning Briefing is published weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern and updated on the web all morning.

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A correction was made on 
July 20, 2017

An earlier version of this briefing referred incorrectly to a column about the rapper Jay-Z. It is a critical appraisal of his new album, not an interview with him.

How we handle corrections

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