Your Friday Briefing

What you need to know today. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, November 24, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Friday Briefing]( By JENNIFER JETT Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Carlos Barria/Reuters • Lawyers for Michael T. Flynn, above, President Trump’s former national security adviser, are said to have [terminated an information-sharing agreement]( with the president’s legal team. Mr. Flynn’s lawyers had been sharing information with Mr. Trump’s lawyers about the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. The move indicates that Mr. Flynn is cooperating with prosecutors or negotiating such a deal. Pro-Western liberals in Russia have [criticized America’s fixation on the Russian meddling]( saying that it reinforces the Kremlin’s portrayal of President Vladimir V. Putin as a “master geopolitical genius.” _____ Eitan Abramovich/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • News of a catastrophic explosion dampened hopes in the [search for an Argentine submarine and its crew of 44]( that went missing on Nov. 15. The sailors’ relatives, above, reacted with grief and anger at the Argentine authorities, especially after they learned that an explosion had been recorded a week earlier in the submarine’s last-known vicinity. Separately, the U.S. Navy has [ended its search for three sailors]( who have been missing since a transport plane crashed near Japan this week. _____ Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters • Rwanda has offered to [house or help repatriate some of the thousands of African migrants being held in Libya]( and reportedly auctioned there as slaves. “Given Rwanda’s political philosophy and our own history, we cannot remain silent when human beings are being mistreated and auctioned off like cattle,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, referring to the 1994 genocide there. Above, migrants in Tripoli, Libya, this month after being rescued by the Libyan Navy. _____ Katherine Jacobsen/Associated Press • The radiation cloud that wafted over Europe earlier this fall, which probably came from a Soviet-era nuclear plant in Russia, posed no threat to human health or to the environment. But Moscow’s [shifting statements and reluctance to release information]( have raised worries about more dangerous leaks in the future. “The cover-up is more interesting than the accident,” one expert said. Above, a river near the nuclear plant that may have been the source of the recent leak. _____ Oliver Bunic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • The conviction of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb commander, on war crimes charges was meant to close a chapter on a conflict that unleashed Europe’s worst atrocities since World War II. But Serbia, which was seen as the aggressor in the Bosnian wars, has [never accepted responsibility]( for the crimes committed in the name of the Serbian people, and has even welcomed convicted war criminals back into the fold. Above, supporters of Mr. Mladic in Belgrade. The country is torn between its close relationship with Russia and the prospect of E.U. membership, which is losing public support. “If we want to be a part of it, we have to make up our minds,” one analyst said, “and sooner rather than later.” _____ Business Toby Melville/Reuters • It’s Black Friday, a day of sales that marks the unofficial beginning of the holiday shopping season in the U.S. but is [spreading across the Atlantic](. Above, a billboard in London. • Wherever Mark Zuckerberg goes in Silicon Valley, he [seems to generate a housing problem]( including at a community for recreational vehicles where residents were evicted this month. • Meet the two men who are competing for what may be the most coveted job on Wall Street: [running Goldman Sachs](. • The European Banking Authority is expected to unveil today the results of its latest transparency exercise for more than 130 banks in the region. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Adam Dean for The New York Times • Myanmar and Bangladesh said they had moved closer to the possible repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya. Above, a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. [[The New York Times]( • Robert Mugabe, the longtime leader of Zimbabwe who was ousted last week, will continue to live in the country with his wife, Grace, his spokesman said. [[The New York Times]( • E.U. leaders are meeting today in Brussels with representatives from six Eastern European countries. [[Deutsche Welle]( • German lawmakers have been told that it is “inappropriate” to use Twitter or other social media during parliamentary sessions. They shared their thoughts about that on Twitter. [[Politico]( • Britain will not be allowed to have one of its cities designated a European capital of culture as planned in 2023 because it will no longer be part of the E.U., the European Commission said. [[The Guardian]( • A fire at a waffle factory outside Brussels blanketed the city with thick black smoke — and the smell of burned waffles. [[Reuters]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Ng Han Guan/Associated Press • Your phone [isn’t slow because a new phone]( was released: a conspiracy debunked. • How to give your [fridge a good, deep cleaning](. • Recipe of the day: This weekend, get ambitious with a recipe for [sugarplum gingerbread cake](. Noteworthy Lauren Joy Fleishman for The New York Times • Nigeria has become a [major exporter of literary talent]( as young fiction writers experiment with new genres. Above, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, a Nigerian publisher who is expanding her imprint to the U.S. • “Dark,” Netflix’s first original German-language series, suggests German television may be [entering a new era](. • Residents on Croatia’s Adriatic coast hope to create a new local industry based on a [wild daisy used in high-end cosmetics](. So far they haven’t had much success. • Switzerland’s Lauterbrunnen Valley, whose splendors have inspired poets like Wordsworth and Tennyson, is best experienced through its [well-marked hiking trails]( our reporter writes. • The final race of the Formula One season is on Sunday in Abu Dhabi, where 20 finalists will also compete to become [first world champion of the official Formula One video game](. Back Story PA Images, via Getty Images Britain is a country rich in tradition, and this week it displayed one of its lesser — but still curious — bits of pomp. On Wednesday, the chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, left his official residence at No. 11 Downing Street (the prime minister is at No. 10) holding a small red box. He then traveled to Parliament [to deliver his annual budget](. The box customarily contains the chancellor’s speech to the House of Commons. The word “budget” comes from the old French word “bougette,” or little bag, drawing on a time when financial documents were carried in leather pouches. [The British started using a box in the mid-1800s]( and kept the same one until, quite battered, [it was replaced in 2010](. It is said that, in 1869, the chancellor, George Ward Hunt, arrived at Parliament [only to realize that he had left his speech behind](. Chancellors since have held the box aloft upon leaving home, a sight always dutifully photographed by assembled journalists. Above, Hugh Dalton, then the chancellor of the Exchequer, before presenting his budget in 1947. The theatrics surrounding a new budget have been adopted by some of Britain’s former colonies, [including India]( and the U.S., where [the Government Publishing Office proudly displays]( copies of the White House’s spending plan before distributing them to Congress. Charles McDermid contributed reporting. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. This briefing was prepared for the European morning. [Browse past briefings here](. We also have briefings timed for the [Australian]( [Asian]( and [American]( mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters [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 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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