Your Monday Briefing

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Monday, September 25, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Monday Briefing]( By PATRICK BOEHLER Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters • In Germany’s elections, [Angela Merkel won a diminished mandate]( for a fourth term as chancellor. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, became the first far-right party to enter Parliament in more than 60 years. The results suggest that populism — and anxieties over security and national identity — are far from dead in Europe. The shape and the policies of a new governing coalition will involve weeks of painstaking negotiations. (Here are [detailed results]( [The European Union’s longest-serving leader]( Ms. Merkel holds an influential role that may only grow in the next few years, our [chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe writes](. _____ Michael Dwyer/Associated Press • In the U.S., kneeling protests over social injustice by a handful of African-American football players [morphed into a nationwide rebuke to President Trump](. Reactions among fans [were wildly divergent](. (Above, the New England Patriots before their N.F.L. game against the Houston Texans on Sunday.) Separately, the White House [announced a new travel ban]( targeting seven countries, including Iran and North Korea. And in Puerto Rico, our reporters witnessed some of the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. [Some areas remain cut off](. It could take [four to six months]( to resume electrical service. _____ Ivor Prickett for The New York Times • “Bye-bye, Iraq!” That was a chant among Iraqi Kurds at a secessionist rally in Erbil, the regional capital, [ahead of an independence referendum today](. Iraq’s prime minister vowed to take “necessary measures” to preserve the country’s unity. Nearly every major power in the region has opposed the vote, [except Israel](. One reason: A breakaway Kurdistan could prove valuable to Israel against Iran. _____ Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press • In rallies across Catalonia, thousands of campaigners [handed out ballots]( for an independence referendum planned for Sunday, which Madrid has deemed unconstitutional. The Spanish government said that it would centralize the command of all police operations in Catalonia to stop the vote. Critics of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy say that he had [overreached in dealing with Catalan separatists](. (There was even a [raid over the .cat internet domain]( In a much-read Op-Ed, a writer [reflects on the United States’ frequent opposition]( to secessionist movements elsewhere. _____ Daniel Leal-Olivas/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • In Britain, some observers now see Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, as a prime minister in waiting — an astonishing transformation for a politician who spent decades on the fringes of left-wing politics. This week’s Labour Party conference [could reveal more of his strategy](. He has been vague on how he would handle “Brexit” negotiations with the E.U., effectively allowing him to blame the governing Conservatives if the outcome is a mess. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Theresa May [offered substantial payments to the E.U.]( during a two-year transition period immediately after Britain’s exit. Business Dan Kitwood/Getty Images • “There is a high cost to a bad reputation.” That was the reaction of Uber’s new chief executive [in an internal email about London’s decision]( to not renew the company’s ride-hailing license. (Uber [now makes more money delivering food]( than transporting people in some cities.) • A backlash is building in Silicon Valley [against the push for gender equality in tech](. • Pursued by the authorities, the family behind Unaoil speaks up in Monaco [against accusations that it “bribed the world.”]( • An analysis of 90 years of stock trading suggests that, [with a few exceptions, most stocks aren’t good investments](. • Here’s a [look at the week in business]( and [a snapshot of global markets](. In the News Ben C. Solomon/The New York Times • Our videographer went inside the chilling reality of a refugee camp for Rohingya Muslims who fled what rights officials have called “textbook” ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. [[The New York Times]( • A lawyer for Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, acknowledged that Mr. Kushner had used his personal email account to conduct government business. [[The New York Times]( • In France, the party of President Emmanuel Macron performed poorly in partial Senate elections. [[Politico]( • Relatives of a Syrian activist and her daughter, a journalist, who were found murdered in their apartment in Istanbul last week, blame the Syrian government. [[The New York Times]( • A Swede kidnapped at gunpoint in Mali tells of his six-year captivity and his conversion to Islam. [[The New York Times]( • A Belgian court ordered a Holocaust denier to visit one Nazi concentration camp a year for the next five years and write about his experiences. [[The New York Times]( • Saudi Arabia is investigating how an image of a former king seated next to Yoda from “Star Wars” ended up in a new textbook. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Craig Lee for The New York Times • Recipe of the day: Avoid the deep fryer. [Bake your chicken tenders](. • Use your smartphone to [explore a new city like a local](. • Action — not fretting — is an excellent [career and business strategy](. Noteworthy Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for Laver Cup • At the inaugural Laver Cup, Team Europe defeated Team World. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer [won their first doubles match](. “The quality of the spectacle and the depth of the emotions were real in Prague,” o[ur columnist writes](. • Jellyfish can sleep. Three graduate students’ midnight excursion [turned into a study that suggests]( that “you don’t need a brain to sleep.” • Our latest 36 Hours guide, on Madrid, makes the case that [there has never been a better time to visit the Spanish capital](. • Milan Fashion Week: Here’s [our critic’s review](. And tag along with the creative director of Tod’s as [he takes us on a Vespa tour of the city](. Back Story Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images If you’re looking for one of the more giddily narcissistic trends of our time, look to the world’s smallest continent. When the Oxford Dictionaries crowned “selfie” its word of the year ([edging out “twerk”]( a few years ago, its editors noted that the first known use of the term could be traced to a post on an Australian Broadcasting Corporation forum 15 years ago this month. There, a tipsy young man posted a photo of his mouth, asking for medical advice for his lip, which he’d split open at a party. “I had a hole about 1 cm long right through my bottom lip,” wrote “Hopey.” “And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie.” It was a very Australian turn of phrase. In Australia, a barbecue is a “barbie.” Your work colleague, Mr. Fitzgerald, is more often than not “Fitzy” at the pub. Anna Wierzbicka, a linguistics professor at the Australian National University, has described the country’s love affair with such shortenings as reflective of cherished ideals, like “mateship,” humor, informality and a dislike for “long words.” Although, given that Hopey turned out to be [a man named Nathan Hope]( maybe a casual tone is more important than brevity. Adam Baidawi 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)). 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