Thursday, July 18, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering the Democratic split over impeachment, continuing protests in Puerto Rico, and an expected heat wave in the U.S.

By Chris Stanford and Claire Moses

Developing

At least 13 people were killed in a suspected arson at an animation studio in Kyoto, Japan, the police said, with more feared dead. A 41-year-old man has been arrested.

Impeachment bid fizzles in the House

Lawmakers on Wednesday killed an attempt to impeach President Trump for statements that they condemned this week as racist, underscoring Democrats’ division about whether they should try to remove the president from office.

The 332-to-95 vote was the first action to impeach Mr. Trump since Democrats took control of the House in January. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other party leaders have worked to avoid such a move.

Related: Mr. Trump celebrated the vote at a rally in Greenville, N.C., where he repeated his attacks against four Democratic congresswomen and denounced “hate-filled extremists who are constantly trying to tear our country down.” After he mentioned Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the crowd chanted “Send her back! Send her back!”

Another angle: The House also voted to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt of Congress for their refusal to turn over documents related to efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

Democrats deal a blow to Obamacare

The House voted almost unanimously on Wednesday to repeal the so-called Cadillac tax, which would have imposed a steep charge on high-cost health plans.

Set to go into effect in 2022, the tax was expected to be one of the main ways that the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s signature health law, would pay for itself.

Background: The tax, which unions, business groups and Republicans have never liked, has already been delayed twice. Repealing it will increase deficits by nearly $200 billion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Protesters in San Juan, P.R., on Wednesday. Erika P. Rodriguez for The New York Times

Puerto Ricans say they’ve had enough

Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of the capital, San Juan, on Wednesday for a fifth straight day and with a unified message: Gov. Ricardo Rosselló must go.

The protests began after the publication of crass exchanges between the governor and his inner circle, but they also reflected frustration with decades of scandals and mismanagement in the U.S. commonwealth.

Quotable: “This would not have happened, I don’t think, if we wouldn’t have had Maria,” said one protester, referring to the hurricane that devastated the island in 2017. “It’s been too many years of putting up and holding back.”

What’s next: Mr. Rosselló has insisted he will not resign, but some of his goals, including the push for statehood, will almost certainly be shelved.

Manuel Gámez with his daughter Heydi Gámez García at a hospital on Long Island. Christopher Lee for The New York Times

Crossing the border, only to say goodbye

Heydi Gámez García, a 13-year-old from Honduras, had waited for years for her father to join her in the U.S., but he was repeatedly detained at the border.

The girl became increasingly despondent, her family in New York said, and she was found hanging from a phone-charging cable this month. A week later, doctors declared her brain-dead.

Her father, Manuel Gámez, has been temporarily released from a detention facility in Texas to be with his dying daughter. He plans to take her off life support today.

How we know: Heydi’s story has been reconstructed through interviews with her family, a family friend and her father’s lawyer, as well as information from federal court records and the immigration authorities.

Related: The Times Magazine examines how the Department of Homeland Security has been remade under President Trump, with a “zero tolerance” approach to illegal immigration.

If you have 10 minutes, this is worth it

Disaster and empty promises in Canada

Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press

Six years ago, a cargo train carrying more than a million gallons of fuel derailed and exploded in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, killing 47 people. The disaster outraged Canadians and raised alarm about the growing number of trains rumbling through urban centers while carrying dangerous goods.

The government vowed to fix the problem. We found that little has changed.

Here’s what else is happening

Life sentence for El Chapo: The Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison. He is likely to be sent to the country’s harshest federal penitentiary, in Florence, Colo.

Ebola emergency is declared: The World Health Organization’s formal designation adds urgency to the year-old outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 1,600 people have died.

Charges dropped against Kevin Spacey: Prosecutors said a sexual assault case against the actor could not go forward after his accuser refused to continue his testimony.

Judge resigns after outrage: James Troiano, a New Jersey judge who recommended leniency for a 16-year-old boy accused of rape for being from a “good family,” has stepped down from the bench. State officials announced mandatory training for judges on sexual assault, domestic violence, implicit bias and diversity.

FaceApp questions: The photograph-aging app, created by a Russian company, has created a social media trend. It has also prompted privacy concerns.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Snapshot: Above, in Washington Square Park in Manhattan on Wednesday. A heat wave is expected to spread through two-thirds of the U.S. over the weekend, with temperatures passing 100 degrees Fahrenheit in some places.

Late-night comedy: Several hosts discussed the House vote condemning President Trump’s remarks. “Few Republicans spoke out,” Samantha Bee said. “So most House Republicans are A-O.K. with racism, which is great news if Biden is elected, because at least he has a history of working with segregationists.”

What we’re reading: This National Geographic presentation. Michael Roston, an editor in the science department, writes: “Our solar system has so many remarkable moons. This interactive atlas full of spinning orbs lets you enjoy their fascinating diversity.”

Now, a break from the news

Melina Hammer for The New York Times

Cook: You can use virtually any fillet for crisp, pan-roasted fish.

Listen: “It Don’t Hinder Me” is a convincing Southern-rock stomper from Angelica Garcia, who has a ferociously quavering voice, our critic writes.

Watch: “Orange Is the New Black” is coming to an end. Looking at the show’s legacy, our critic calls it “the first ‘Netflix series’ in the sense we think of it now.”

Read: “Three Women,” by Lisa Taddeo, examines the inequality of female desire and debuts on our hardcover nonfiction and combined print and e-book nonfiction best-seller lists.

Smarter Living: It’s tough to be an introvert in a world that equates leadership and ambition with extroversion. But there are ways to create success on your own terms. Know your limits, and create boundaries to ensure that you aren’t constantly forced to test them. When questioned at a meeting, don’t be afraid to say: “I need to think that over. Can I get back to you?”

And here’s what to expect from a meal-planning service.

And now for the Back Story on …

‘For space men and Earth families’

Before the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing on Saturday, The Times has been revisiting Apollo 11 and its impact on history, science and culture.

But we haven’t yet mentioned Tang, the powdered orange drink that John Glenn and the astronauts who followed him took into space (in vacuum-sealed pouches) starting in 1962, on the Friendship and Gemini missions.

Contrary to popular belief, NASA did not invent Tang.

Bags of rehydratable food for space missions. NASA

The credit — or blame — goes to a General Foods scientist, William Mitchell, who created the concoction in 1957. (A master of over-the-top sweetness, he also invented Cool Whip and Pop Rocks.)

But the company seized on the NASA connection in its marketing.

Years later, Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, confessed: “Tang sucks.”

The product is still around. Mondelez, a snack company based in Deerfield, Ill., owns Tang, and its popularity in South America helped make it a billion-dollar brand. It comes in a variety of flavors other than orange, including guyabano and pomelo.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Chris and Claire

Thank you
Mark Josephson, Eleanor Stanford and Chris Harcum provided the break from the news. Victoria Shannon wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is about busing as a tool of school desegregation.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Twin of Romulus (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Over the past three years, the Opinion section of The Times has published about 800 Spanish-language Op-Eds under the direction of Boris Muñoz, who has been honored by the Columbia Journalism School for outstanding coverage of the Americas. Leer en español.