Your Friday Briefing

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, March 3, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Thank you for supporting Today’s Headlines: European Morning. Welcome to the European edition of The Times’s Morning Briefing, your new rundown for the day’s top stories, delivered Monday through Friday. If you have any questions or concerns, please [contact us]( Europe Edition [Your Friday Briefing]( By PATRICK BOEHLER Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Doug Mills/The New York Times • The Trump administration faced renewed turmoil over new disclosures of contacts top aides had with Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, during the presidential campaign or before the inauguration. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the top U.S. law enforcement official, [recused himself from any investigation]( into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Here’s [a timeline]( of his meetings. Mr. Kislyak also met with Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, [Jared Kushner]( in December. The [jowly and cordial diplomat]( has told associates that he is likely to be replaced by a hard-line general. _____ Gordon Welters for The New York Times • With an eye on Russia, Sweden sought to justify the [return to mandatory military service]( — abolished in 2010 — by citing a “deteriorating security environment.” The neutral country will also begin to dust off public shelters that have not been inspected for two decades. _____ Eirini Vourloumis for The New York Times • The mayor of Calais [has banned the organized distribution of food to migrants]( in an effort to prevent the establishment of new makeshift migrant camps in the French city. We visited refugee camps in Greece, where [tens of thousands of migrants are languishing]( many of them children. Their lives there have taken on an air of permanence. Above, a birthday party at a Syrian refugee camp north of Athens. _____ David Vincent/Associated Press • Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate in France’s presidential election, [lost her parliamentary immunity]( as a European lawmaker amid an inquiry involving graphic photographs of Islamic State violence. She is among a group of women who are leading what were once fringe parties — pushing their extremist views to the political mainstream and drawing support from [female voters](. _____ Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • Syrian government forces [again drove Islamic State militants out of Palmyra]( the ancient city that was among the leading tourist attractions in prewar Syria. The Islamic State had used the city as a propaganda windfall, making a sport of pilfering and vandalizing prized antiquities it considered heretical and using the Roman theater for public beheadings. _____ Amr Nabil/Associated Press • Egypt’s top appeals court [cleared former President Hosni Mubarak]( of any responsibility for the killing of hundreds of people during the 2011 protests that ended his 30-year rule, sweeping away the final legal hurdle to his release from detention. None of the Mubarak-era figures who grew rich and influential during his time in power are still in jail. _____ Business Drew Angerer/Getty Images • Shares of Snap Inc., valued at $24 billion in its public offering, [jumped more than 40 percent]( in the company’s first day of trading. [Here’s a look at tech I.P.O.s since 1992]( and where valuations stand now. • Wall Street has been on an upward trajectory since Election Day. Our columnist looks at what the [Trump effect and booming markets mean for the global economy](. • U.S. federal officers [raided Caterpillar offices]( over an inquiry into accusations that the company reduced its American tax bill by shifting profits to Switzerland. • Eurozone inflation [reached a four-year high](. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Konstantin Chernichkin/Reuters • In Ukraine, nationalist activists armed with hunting rifles and clubs are trying to choke off coal supplies that provide income for Russian-backed separatists. [[The New York Times]( • Aleksei A. Navalny, a Russian anticorruption crusader, accused Prime Minister Dmitri A. Medvedev of amassing a lavish empire of luxury properties, yachts and a vineyard in Italy. [[The New York Times]( • European lawmakers, in a nonbinding vote, called for an end to visa-free travel for U.S. citizens until visa restrictions on five E.U. member states are lifted by Washington. [[Reuters]( • Nations and philanthropists pledged close to $200 million for family planning at a conference in Brussels to compensate a U.S. ban on funding for groups that advocate abortion. [[Associated Press]( • In Germany, the arrests of two people who are suspected to be members of the Nusra Front, a Syrian terrorist group, are part of an effort to weed out radical Islamists. The domestic intelligence service estimates that number at 1,600, up from 100 three years ago. [[The New York Times]( • Did China buy better soccer? Play begins today in [the Super League]( which outspent the British Premier League for the first time and is now packed with high-ticket stars. [[Reuters]( Smarter Living Sam Kalda • Here’s a reminder that a delayed flight is often an [especially good moment to be mindful](. • Recipe of the day: For a filling, meatless meal, [a cabbage and potato gratin]( gets the job done with style. Noteworthy Reuters • A replica of London’s Tower Bridge in China, celebrated as “even more magnificent” than the original, has set off a debate over whether copycat buildings [are actually denigrating Chinese culture](. • Scientists have determined the probable cause for the woolly mammoth’s demise in Siberia based on a message left in the tooth of a male mammoth. It supports the idea that as a population dwindles, [natural selection becomes less efficient](. • An English sheep farmer [makes his case]( in an Op-Ed on why demand for cheap food is killing the American dream for millions of people. “Food is more than a commodity,” he writes. • New Orleans may be known for Mardi Gras, but the Alabama town of Mobile dates [its Carnival celebration]( to 1703, when it was the capital of the French colony of Louisiana. • And here’s our 36-hours guide to the delightful Moroccan metropolis of Fez, where new hotels, shops and cafes [complement the city’s ancient beehive allure](. Back Story James Nieves/The New York Times Iceland endured a mock constitutional crisis last week after the president, Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson, jokingly told a class of high school students that he would like to ban pineapple pizza toppings. An uproar on social media ensued, and Mr. Johannesson retracted his proposal. [He wrote in a statement]( that “presidents should not have unlimited power,” adding that he “would not want to live in such a country. For pizzas, I recommend seafood.” Unlike Mr. Johannesson, [Saparmurat Niyazov]( the Turkmenistan president who died in 2006, stood out as a head of state who used his office to impose his personal preferences on citizens. He renamed January [after himself](. April was renamed after his mother. Mr. Niyazov also banned circuses and video games. And he had a [golden rotating]( of himself installed in Ashgabat, the capital. His successor, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, relocated the statue and [ordered his own built](. Last month, he was re-elected, winning [98 percent of the vote](. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. Read the [latest edition of the U.S. briefing here]( and the [latest for Asia and Australia here](. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [europebriefing@nytimes.com](mailto:europebriefing@nytimes.com?subject=Briefing%20Feedback%20(Europe)). FOLLOW NYT [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Prefer a different send time? Sign up for the [Americas]( or [A]( and Australia]( editions. | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Morning Briefing: Europe newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018