Your Wednesday 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]( Wednesday, December 27, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By PATRICK BOEHLER Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times • The French chef Jérôme Brochot, above, [is giving back his Michelin star]( — because he can’t afford it and neither can his declining old mining town in Burgundy. It is a drastic step that says everything about the crushing reality of “the other France” — the provinces where many old jobs have gone and more storefronts are vacant. In 2017, France embraced a new president, grappled with sexual harassment and achieved the distinction of having the most expensive home in the world. Our Paris bureau chief [takes stock of a](. _____ Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations • The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is increasingly going global: It now has an estimated 2,000 employees deployed to [more than 70 countries](. The expansion has created tensions with some European countries who say the U.S. is trying to export its immigration laws to their territory, but other allies have welcomed the assistance in curbing terrorist attacks, drug shipments and human trafficking. Above, U.S. agents assisting in the breakup of a Nigerian criminal ring in South Africa. _____ Ed Giles/Getty Images • The Egyptian authorities [hanged 15 men for an attack]( in the Sinai Peninsula in 2013. Rights activists and Islamists said that the latest mass execution could drive more young Egyptians into the arms of the Islamic State. Despite [the military’s scorched-earth approach]( to militants in Sinai — including summary executions and the destruction of whole villages — the insurgency there has grown since 2013. _____ Thierry Gouegnon/Reuters • The largely peaceful voting in Liberia’s presidential runoff [was an accomplishment]( given that the West African country has not witnessed a peaceful transition of power since 1944. Voters are choosing between a soccer star, George Weah, and Vice President Joseph Boakai. An outcome is expected this week. _____ via Reuters • Peru’s former president Alberto Fujimori, after his release prison on a medical pardon, [asked for forgiveness]( for the wrongs committed during his rule in the 1990s. The pardon was seen by some as a political reward to Mr. Fujimori’s son, whose faction of lawmakers abstained in a vote to impeach the current president. Separately in Peru, our journalists traveled to a remote outpost to meet the last member of a hunter-gatherer tribe. (As [the last native speaker of their language]( he hasn’t had a conversation in it since 1999, but he still dreams in it.) _____ Ulrich Perrey/European Pressphoto Agency • Christmas might be over, but don’t throw away the tree! That’s the message from environmental advocates, who recommend looking up local programs to [make sure your tree stays out of a landfill](. There are many uses for old trees: They can be made into mulch, turned into wood chips and, in New York, are used to reinforce sand dunes on beaches. Business Chris Philpot • As a new generation of executive leaders are speaking out about moral and political issues in the Trump era, [business schools are revising their syllabuses](. • Apple, Google and Microsoft are [accelerating their efforts to remake health care]( with new tracking apps, sensors and other tools. • In China, microlenders are using artificial intelligence and smartphone data — like how fast prospective borrowers type on their devices — [to determine who will pay them back](. • Tackling traffic congestion: New York City is [considering a new fee on riders of for-hire vehicles]( in Manhattan to raise money to help fix public transport. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Atul Loke for The New York Times • India is “sitting on a volcano” of diabetes. A father’s effort to ban junk food sales in and near schools aims to change what children eat. [[The New York Times]( • The Kremlin is clearly afraid of Aleksei Navalny, the Russian anticorruption activist, but it is unclear exactly what it fears, our correspondent writes. [[The New York Times]( • Ukraine’s military and Russian-backed separatists are expected today to conduct the first major prisoner exchange in more than a year. [[RFE/RL]( • In Romania, the governing Social Democrats have revived efforts to decriminalize some corruption offenses amid a series of measures that critics say undermine the rule of law. [[Reuters]( • Chess diplomacy: Saudi Arabia blocked Israeli players from participating in the world championship in Riyadh. [[The New York Times]( • New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, has taken 100 actions against the White House and congressional Republicans so far, over issues like birth control, environmental rules and the travel ban. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. • Got a new iPhone X? [Here are 11 gestures]( that will help you use it. • A vacation in Mexico doesn’t have to come with a high price tag. Here’s how to [travel there on a budget](. • Recipe of the day: For dinner, consider an American mash-up of Italian and Spanish cooking: [arroz con pollo risotto](. Noteworthy John Hersey • Scientists are [designing artisanal custom proteins]( not found in nature. One team has built proteins to help fight flu viruses and break down gluten in food. • Rock has become an increasingly aging genre. [Here’s the story]( of a devotee who has documented the staggering number of musicians who have recently gone to the great gig in the sky. • Simonetta Puccini, who worked to foster the legacy of the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, [died at 89](. • “The Post,” the newspaper drama, revolves around the Pentagon Papers and other real-life events. But how much is real? [We sort fact from fiction](. • English soccer’s traditional Boxing Day schedule [overflowed with goals and gripes](. • From maximalist pajamas to subversive Swedish men’s wear, [here are nine fashion brands]( our editors discovered this year. Back Story Baskin-Robbins With a Willy Wonka-like skill for inventing flavors, the pair behind the ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins strived to make America’s tastes more adventurous. The partnership between Burton (Butch) Baskin and Irvine Robbins, who were brothers-in-law, was cut short by Mr. Baskin’s death at 54 on Christmas Eve in 1967. But by then, as [Mr. Robbins later described]( in a Times interview, the duo had already started down the path of the “magic of the unusual.” With origins starting in California in 1945, the chain later introduced 31 flavors (one for every day of the month). [The original list]( shows the pair’s imaginative flair: vanilla burnt almond, egg nog, peppermint fudge ribbon. Over the years, a “Beatle Nut” flavor was developed for the Fab Four’s debut on American TV, a “Lunar Cheesecake” in honor of the 1960s NASA space missions and more than 1,300 other combinations. These experiments didn’t always work out. A 1971 review in The Times called caramel rocky road “[as dismal a venture as it sounds]( Still, Mr. Robbins noted in 1976 that, with increasingly bold tastes, Americans were “[not embarrassed to ask for some of these wild flavors]( But even now, with the chain’s history of wacky combinations and thousands of locations around the world, the five best sellers are relatively plain: vanilla, chocolate, chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip and pralines ’n cream. Anna Schaverien contributed reporting. _____ This briefing was prepared for the European morning and is updated online. [Browse past briefings here](. You can get the briefing delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday. 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