Your Monday 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]( Monday, February 12, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Monday Briefing]( By PATRICK BOEHLER Good morning. Hungary’s odd autocracy, Israel’s clash with Iran in Syria and the latest from the Winter Olympics. Here’s the news: Tobias Schwarz/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • Europe risks losing the gatekeepers of its democracy: centrist parties. In Germany and elsewhere, coalitions of mainstream parties have made them indistinguishable to many voters and fueled the rise of nationalist demagogy. Our Interpreter columnist [warns of an incremental erosion of democracy](. (Above, Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, who [said she intended]( to stay in office until 2021.) Hungary leads this trend. Prime Minister Viktor Orban [has pioneered a]( soft autocracy]( that combines crony capitalism and far-right rhetoric with a single-party political culture. _____ Ammar Awad/Reuters • A new conflict [between Iran and Israel is emerging]( in Syria’s multipronged civil war. Israeli jets [carried out what is believed to be the country’s first direct engagement]( with Iranian forces in Syrian territory. And in another first in decades, one Israeli fighter jet crashed under enemy fire. Our correspondent visited Kobani, a city in northern Syria, where the local Kurdish government plans to [preserve downtown ruins as a monument]( of the battle against the Islamic State. Separately, our video team looked at four men from West London who became known as [“the Beatles” of the Islamic State]( — both for their British accents and their brutality. _____ Doug Mills/The New York Times • More than 100 gold medals will be awarded in 15 different sports at the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The first one went to [Charlotte Kalla of Sweden]( above, for the skiathlon. So far, Norway is leading the medal count (8), and Germany has the most gold medals (4). [Here are the full schedule and live results]( and [our extensive coverage](. (You can also [sign up for our Sports newsletter]( to get the latest in your inbox.) Gold in geopolitics went to North Korea. The visiting sister of Kim Jong-un outflanked President Trump’s envoy, Vice President Mike Pence, [in the game of diplomatic image-making](. _____ Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters • Mary Lou McDonald, above, is Sinn Fein’s first female leader. She succeeds Gerry Adams, who led the Irish party for 34 years. Her ascendance [could swing the party’s political center of gravity back to the south]( where it has a strong chance of entering a coalition government for the first time after the next election. “The truth is, my friends, I won’t fill Gerry’s shoes,” she said. “But the news is that I brought my own.” Separately, ahead of March 4 elections in Italy, we profiled the country’s most popular female politician: [Emma Bonino](. (Her slogan is “Love Me Less, Vote Me More.”) _____ Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency • American and European intelligence officials revealed a tale worthy of a John le Carré novel. At a Berlin hotel, [U.S. spies paid $100,000 to a Russian]( who had promised information on stolen cyberweapons and kompromat on President Trump. What he provided was unverified and possibly fabricated. Separately in the U.S., Republican operatives [are alarmed]( about Mr. Trump’s fixation on the Russia inquiry and unwillingness to stay on message ahead of midterm elections. (Over the weekend, he also [expressed doubts]( about the #MeToo movement.) _____ John Yuyi • The thing you’re doing now, reading text on a screen, is going out of fashion. We have only just begun to [glimpse the deeper, more kinetic possibilities of an online culture]( in which text recedes to the background, and sounds and images become the universal language. Business Sam Hodgson for The New York Times • Stock markets: Funds that track financial indexes have become a dominant force. [They can act as accelerants]( adding momentum to the current turmoil. • The Greek Parliament is set to debate the creation of a committee to investigate prosecutors’ assertion that Novartis, the Swiss drug maker, [bribed top politicians](. • Iceland is [expected to use more electricity on virtual currencies]( than to power homes this year. • The Weinstein Company sale has hit a snag. A lawsuit in New York says [it should benefit harassment victims]( not executives. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets]( and a [look at what could move them]( this week, including Airbus earnings. In the News [A part of the AN-148 aircraft that crashed after taking off from Domodedovo Airport, outside Moscow, on Sunday.]Reuters • A Russian plane carrying 71 people crashed shortly after takeoff from Moscow, killing all on board. [[The New York Times]( • In Gaza, a standoff between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is ravaging the economy. Some predict a total collapse, or a desperate war to break Israel’s blockade. [[The New York Times]( • In Britain, calls for another Brexit referendum are gaining momentum amid political infighting and dire warnings by business leaders. [[The New York Times]( • Salah Abdeslam’s defiance at his terrorism trial in Brussels reflects many Muslims’ sense that European judicial systems are stacked against them. [[The New York Times]( • In South Africa, pressure mounts on President Jacob Zuma to resign. The leadership of his party, the African National Congress, meets today to discuss a transition. [[Times Live]( • In memoriam: Asma Jahangir, a fearless Pakistani rights activist, died at 66. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times • Wednesday is Valentine’s Day. Spend it at home with [these recipes](. • Here’s what to do [if you have a bad iPhone battery](. • Go meatless with [creamy polenta and mushrooms]( cooked in soy sauce and butter. Noteworthy Max Mönch, Alexander Lahl and Philipp Seefeldt • Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther shook the Roman Catholic Church and the world. An Op-Ed video [explores the intellectual transformation that he set off](. • The French hit television show “Baron Noir” [shows politics as dark and gritty]( under a female president whose style has similarities with Emmanuel Macron. (The series finale airs tonight.) • The quality of synthetic diamonds has increased to the point where they have [made their way into jewelry stores](. • Is your dog ready for Instagram? The breed counts, [but so does cuteness](  Back Story Philip Montgomery for The New York Times The [Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show]( opens in New York today, an event that bills itself as the World’s Greatest Dog Show. The competition has cultivated a strong following since it opened in 1877 at Gilmore’s Garden, a venue that later became known as [Madison Square Garden](. So where did the “Westminster” come from? In the 1870s, a group of men met regularly at the Westminster Hotel near Union Square. They had an extraordinary affinity for the bar, as well as for dogs, and they decided to put on a dog show. William F. Stifel’s book “[The Dog Show, 125 Years of Westminster]( details what happened next. … They couldn’t agree on the name for their new club. But finally someone suggested that they name it after their favorite bar. The idea was unanimously selected, we imagine, with the hoisting of a dozen drinking arms. After the Kentucky Derby, the Westminster Dog Show is the second-oldest continuously run sporting event in American history. The first show had over 1,200 entries, and the judging took several days to choose a winner. (Here’s [our 1877 report on the preparations]( Last year, the [show had close to 3,000 dogs]( from all 50 states. Judges hold themselves to two days. Here’s [our collection of stories on the show]( and we’ll be adding live coverage beginning at 6 p.m. in New York. (That’s around midnight in Paris.) Claudio E. Cabrera contributed reporting. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. [Sign up here]( to get it by email in the Australian, Asian, European or American morning, or to receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights. Browse our full range of Times newsletters [here](. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [europebriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:europebriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Europe)). _____ Because of an editing error, Friday’s newsletter misstated the year in which Anna Quindlen wrote about public fascination with the idea that alligators lurk in sewers. Her article was written in 1982, not 1935, the year a Harlem teenager set off the urban legend. 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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