Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead.
1. The seven-year campaign by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act went hurtling off the rails in the Senate, at least temporarily easing many Americans’ anxiety about losing their health care.
John McCain of Arizona returned to the Senate after a brain cancer diagnosis, enabling his party to bring its proposals to a vote but sinking its last-gasp measure with a decisive nay. Two other Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, also opposed it. Find out how your senator voted.
Exultant Democrats are urging Republicans to help them repair the existing law, but President Trump said his party should “let Obamacare implode” or “demand another vote.”
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2. Before we shift to other news, here are a few more major elements of a very difficult week for President Trump.
Reince Priebus is out as his chief of staff, and Mr. Trump wants John F. Kelly, the Homeland Security secretary and a fellow hard-liner against illegal immigration, to replace him. Above, Mr. Priebus, hours before the announcements.
The dismissal came the day after it was revealed that Anthony Scaramucci, the White House communications director, had called Mr. Priebus a “paranoid schizophrenic” and smeared Steve Bannon, the president’s chief strategist, in a profanity-laden rant. Mr. Scaramucci’s vulgarities challenged news organizations.
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3. The shake-up may have ramifications for Attorney General Jeff Sessions, shown above center in December, helping celebrate President Trump’s election. Anthony Scaramucci is one of his sharpest critics, while Mr. Bannon and Mr. Priebus have urged Mr. Trump to spare him.
Senate Republicans have formed a cordon around Mr. Sessions, their longtime colleague from Alabama, and residents there are siding with him over the president they helped elect.
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4. With the Republican base frustrated by the turmoil in Washington, the administration delivered a one-two punch to L.G.B.T.Q. Americans, leaving gay rights advocates furious.
On the day that the Justice Department filed court papers arguing that a major civil rights law does not protect gay and lesbian employees from discrimination, the president announced via Twitter that transgender people would be barred from the military.
A blindsided military said that until the administration worked through official channels, transgender people could still serve.
And law enforcement authorities across the country criticized Mr. Trump for urging police officers not to be “too nice” while transporting suspects.
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5. On Russia, President Trump appears to be bowing to Congress, even at the risk of escalating tension with Moscow. Above, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
The White House said he would sign a bill imposing sweeping sanctions on Russia — and limiting his own ability to lift them — for Russia’s suspected meddling in the 2016 election.
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6. Looking further abroad, South Korea and the United States are expected to start negotiations to allow the South to build more powerful ballistic missiles after North Korea tested one that experts say could hit California and beyond.
North Korea released the photograph above, identifying it as the launch.
At the Pentagon and inside American intelligence agencies, there was a sense that the North had crossed a long-sought threshold.
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7. In Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif stepped down as the country’s prime minister after the Supreme Court ruled that corruption allegations disqualified him.
Imran Khan, a populist politician and former cricket star, has emerged as the strongest contender to succeed Mr. Sharif, but his path to victory is far from assured.
And our reporter visited a camp in northern Iraq where girls and women freed from years of captivity and serial rape under the Islamic State, like the one above, are showing extraordinary signs of psychological damage.
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8. Despite deadly protests, President Nicolás Maduro has promised to hold a vote today to enhance his power by pushing a radical plan — including rewriting the country’s Constitution — to consolidate his leftist movement’s grip over the nation.
U.S. officials said the Trump administration’s move to impose modest sanctions on Venezuela was just a precursor to escalating actions if the vote proceeds. Tougher penalties could deal a devastating economic blow to Venezuela and raise gas prices in America.
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9. Jeff Bezos, above, Amazon’s C.E.O., unseated Bill Gates as the world’s richest person (for a moment).
A pop in Amazon.com shares on Thursday pushed Mr. Bezos’s wealth to $90.6 billion, compared with Mr. Gates’s $90 billion.
Mr. Bezos’s success is inextricable from the decline of mall culture in America, which a filmmaker is chronicling on YouTube.
Elon Musk of Tesla is also riding high. His rocket company, SpaceX, is now worth about $21 billion, making it one of the world’s most valuable privately held companies.
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10. As technology becomes ever more commonplace, more devices are collecting data on us.
Some vehicles can track phone calls and texts, and log queries to websites. Who gets what information and for what purposes? Here’s a primer.
Even your Roomba may be mapping your home and collecting data. If shared with a company like Amazon, Apple or Google, the data from iRobot’s robotic vacuum could be a windfall for marketers.
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11. The 2017 N.F.L. season is around the corner, but as more research about football’s effects on the brain is released, kickoff is becoming troubling.
Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist, has examined the brains of 111 N.F.L. players who played virtually every position. Of those, 110 were found to have C.T.E., the degenerative disease linked to repeated blows to the head, which can cause memory loss, depression and dementia.
The connection, she said, “is no longer debatable.”
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12. In climate news, California’s environmental effort is more ambitious than ever. The state plans to rethink every corner of its economy, from urban planning to dairy farms. Its mission: cut greenhouse gas emissions more than even President Barack Obama had proposed.
If you’d like to reduce your carbon footprint, look up. Flying is bad for the planet, but there are ways to lessen its impact (for example, know your fuels).
And it’s not your imagination. Summers are getting hotter, and fast.
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13. Finally, just because you’re not a kid anymore doesn’t mean you can’t learn to be resilient. In fact, some of the qualities of middle age may give older people an advantage when it comes to bouncing back after a crisis, big or small.
In a similar vein, you can better handle stress by, among other things, practicing optimism, taking stress breaks and being kind to yourself.
Have a great week.
Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help.
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