Your Tuesday Briefing

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Tuesday, March 21, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Tuesday Briefing]( By PATRICK BOEHLER Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Eric Thayer for The New York Times • The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, confirmed that his agency was investigating whether members of the Trump campaign [colluded with Russia to influence the presidential election](. His testimony before a congressional panel placed a criminal investigation at the doorstep of the White House. Mr. Comey, above, also said he had no information to support President Trump’s claim that President Barack Obama had Trump Tower wiretapped. And a Ukrainian lawmaker [released an invoice]( that appeared to show a payment of $750,000, disguised as a sale of computers, from a pro-Russian party in Ukraine to Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s onetime presidential campaign manager. _____ Akos Stiller for The New York Times • Across Europe, neo-fascists are stepping out of the shadows, encouraged by mainstream parties’ drift to the right. In Slovakia, they are even taking seats in the Parliament that they aim to replace with strongman rule. “Something very dark and very troubling from the past is coming back,” [a local talk-show host said](. Social scientists say people are most likely to vote for far-right politicians if they live close to diverse areas, but not actually within them. We [visited a sleepy Berlin suburb]( where the theory appears to hold. _____ [A European Union flag near the Parliament building in London. The British government said on Monday it would invoke Article 50 on March 29 to begin the process to leave the bloc.]Justin Tallis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • “Brexit” has a start date: March 29. That’s when the British government will [formally notify the European Union]( of its intention to withdraw, setting off a process that should be completed by early 2019. Prime Minister Theresa May is on a tour of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to increase support for the withdrawal. _____ Damon Winter/The New York Times • Norway is the world’s happiest country, at least according to the [2017 World Happiness Report](. Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and Finland round out the top five. Happiness in the U.S. and China declined. Above, Norwegians. (Need we say more?) _____ Business Francois Lenoir/Reuters • Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister, [appears to be on the way out]( as head of the Eurogroup, the 19 finance ministers from countries that share the euro. • UBS, the Swiss bank, is [set to face trial in France]( in a long-running investigation into whether it helped clients hide funds from the country’s national tax administration. • The E.U. [curtailed meat imports from Brazil]( amid an inquiry into allegations that inspectors took bribes to allow sales of rotten and salmonella-tainted meats. • William A. Ackman, a brash hedge fund manager, was a billionaire before he was 50 and on his way to being a legend of Wall Street — [until a bet turned into a $4 billion loss](. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Patrick Kovarik/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • The five leading contenders in France’s presidential election traded barbs over migration and Islam in their first televised debate. [[Politico]( • Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, was doused with a bright green liquid by an unknown assailant. But Mr. Navalny managed to give the attack a positive spin. [[The New York Times]( • More than $20 billion left Russia in a huge money-laundering scheme involving Moldovan courts and a Latvian bank, according to a leak of bank records. [[Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project]( • Rex W. Tillerson, the U.S. secretary of state, is reportedly planning to skip what would have been his first meeting of NATO foreign ministers in April to attend President Trump’s expected talks with the Chinese president. [[Reuters]( • Air travelers on U.S.-bound flights from 10 airports, including Istanbul’s and Dubai’s, have been barred from carrying electronics other than cellphones and medical equipment in carry-on luggage. [[Associated Press]( • In his confirmation hearing, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, appeared prepared for criticism that his rulings have tilted toward corporate interests. [[The New York Times]( • Six years after the Arab Spring, Egypt’s crackdown on the opposition far exceeds the darkest period of repression during the Mubarak era. [[The New York Times Magazine]( • Pope Francis apologized for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the 1994 [Rwandan genocide]( in which some priests and nuns participated. [[The Guardian]( • “Sesame Street” will add a muppet with autism to its cast next month. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living James Yang for The New York Times • What does it mean to live a productive, happy life? These [five exercises]( tackle the tough questions. • Going for a run this morning? It just might [make you smarter](. • Recipe of the day: This easy yet elegant [pasta with lemon, herbs and ricotta salata]( works for an impromptu weeknight dinner party. Noteworthy Sarah Ryhanen • Flower farmers, mostly in their 30s, are challenging our understanding of bouquets and, in the process, [literally changing the flower landscape](. • In memoriam: [David]( the banker and philanthropist, was 101. • The woolly mammoth could return. But scientists disagree about whether [resurrecting extinct species]( — theoretically possible with gene-splicing — could result in a net loss of global biodiversity. • UEFA’s new president, Aleksander Ceferin, plans moves that [might fundamentally alter the landscape of European soccer](. • The pilfering of toilet paper from Beijing’s public restrooms has become so rampant that some are being outfitted with [high-tech dispensers equipped with facial recognition software](. Back Story Ramin Rahimian for The New York Times The three convicts fashioned papier-mâché dummies of themselves, topped with hair from the prison barbershop, and used a tunnel they’d carved with a metal spoon to plunge into frigid waters, never to be seen again. The [prison break in 1962]( one of the world’s most famous, occurred at Alcatraz, in San Francisco Bay. The federal penitentiary, known as “The Rock,” closed on this day the following year. La Isla de los Alcatraces, or Island of the Pelicans, was named by a Spanish explorer in 1775. The U.S. military constructed a prison and the first operational lighthouse on the West Coast when it acquired the land in the 1850s. The three escapees are presumed to have drowned, although no remains were found. A [1979 film starring Clint Eastwood]( told their story, cementing Alcatraz as a [cultural reference point](. Of the 41 inmates who tried to escape, none are known to have succeeded. The penitentiary, which went operational in 1934, [remains open for tours](. And the [Escape From Alcatraz triathlon]( first held in 1981, draws more than 2,000 athletes every year — perhaps proving that with proper training (and wet suits), it is possible to make it the 1.5 miles to land alive. Inyoung Kang contributed reporting. _____ 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? 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