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 5, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Monday Briefing]( By PATRICK BOEHLER Good morning. There was a rare shooting rampage in Italy, stocks tumbled and the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl. Here’s the news: Bulent Kilic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • Thousands of battle-hardened [Islamic State fighters have escaped Syria]( perhaps to fight another day. Classified Western intelligence assessments say that some militants are defecting to Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria. Others are paying smugglers to spirit them to Turkey, with an eventual goal of returning home to Europe. Meanwhile, Turkey’s military [suffered its worst day yet]( in its two-week offensive against Kurdish-led militants in Syria, a day after other [rebels shot down a Russian warplane](. _____ Giuseppe Bellini/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • A rare shooting rampage has [rattled Italy]( and added fuel to its debate on migration ahead of next month’s elections. A gunman wounded six people in a drive-by attack in the city of Macerata that appeared to have targeted African immigrants. The authorities later [said]( that they found white supremacist material, including Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” at the home of a 28-year-old suspect. _____ Al Drago/The New York Times • President Trump’s scorched-earth assault on the F.B.I. and Justice Department, now largely focused on a Republican memo released Friday, is [unlike anything the United States has seen in modern times](. [Here’s the full memo]( annotated by our Washington correspondent. (Above, Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the F.B.I. who resigned last week.) Democrats pressed for the release of their classified rebuttal, [with a vote expected today]( on whether to make it public. _____ Doug Mills/The New York Times • An Obama-era treaty committing the U.S. and Russia to keep their long-range nuclear arsenals at the lowest levels since early in the Cold War goes into full effect today. But the Trump administration has already vowed to counter a rush by the Russians to modernize their forces, [touching off a new kind of nuclear arms race](. Separately, our diplomatic correspondent in Brussels gauged reactions to Mr. Trump’s threat to cut foreign aid so it would “only go to America’s friends.” Experts [warned of diminishing American influence](. (Above, a U.S. officer carrying the “nuclear football” of launch codes.) _____ Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters • In South Africa, one question dominates the political debate: When should President Jacob Zuma (above right) leave? Real power [has already begun to shift]( to Cyril Ramaphosa (above center), Mr. Zuma’s successor at the helm of the governing African National Congress. We took an [in-depth look at Bell Pottinger]( the British public relations firm that was caught up in the corruption scandal that hastened Mr. Zuma’s downfall. Its spin campaign helped drive racial tensions to levels not felt since apartheid. _____ Damon Winter/The New York Times • Uma Thurman finally talked about Harvey Weinstein. The actress, who said in October that she was waiting to feel “less angry,” spoke about [abusive encounters]( with him and a gruesome episode during shooting of the “Kill Bill” films. And dozens more [young women say they were molested by Larry Nassar]( the former doctor for U.S.A. Gymnastics — even as the F.B.I. was pursuing its case against him. Have you seen organizations make changes to better address sexual harassment? [Let us know](. Business José Jiménez-Tirado for The New York Times • Dozens of entrepreneurs, made newly wealthy by virtual currencies, have moved to Puerto Rico [to build a society that runs on blockchain]( (and to avoid tax). • Consumers in China have lifted the fortunes of many Western brands. But some products — [like tampons, deodorant and breakfast cereal]( — have failed to impress. • Sometimes it’s good to be in another time zone: All gains in U.S. stock prices since 1993 have come outside trading hours, [an analysis suggests](. • New Fed chairman: Jerome Powell takes office today just as the U.S. economy is [beginning to show some signs of strain](. • Asian stocks fell, extending [Friday’s sell-off]( the U.S.]( Here’s [a look ahead at what could move]( global markets this week, including major European bank earnings. In the News Milos Bicanski/Getty Images • More than 100,000 people rallied in Athens against the inclusion of the word “Macedonia” in the name of the neighboring former Yugoslav republic. [[The New York Times]( • Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the 2015 Islamic State attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, is set to face trial in Brussels on charges related to a separate shootout there. [[Reuters]( • The bodies of at least 20 African migrants were recovered off the coast of Melilla, a Spanish outpost in northern Africa. [[The New York Times]( • Egypt and Israel have become unlikely secret allies in a covert war against Islamist militants in the Sinai Peninsula. [[The New York Times]( • Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, is scheduled to meet Pope Francis today for talks that are expected to center on Jerusalem. [[Reuters]( • Carles Puigdemont, the ousted Catalan president, is fighting from Belgium to stay relevant in Spain. [[The New York Times]( • Kenyans fear their country is sliding away from democracy as the government muzzles dissent. [[The New York Times]( • Unscripted moments are rare on President Vladimir Putin’s campaign trail in Russia ahead of the March 18 election. (He is practically guaranteed to win.) [[The New York Times]( • The authorities in Britain fear that fentanyl could become the country’s next most dangerous drug. [[The New York Times]( • The latest in Iran’s debate on veils: A years-old report released by the presidential office suggests that nearly half of Iranians want women to be free to uncover their heads in public. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Karsten Moran for The New York Times • Work on your pizza skills by baking a pie [topped with sweet and hot peppers](. • If your New Year’s resolution has fallen by the wayside, [email our Smarter Living editor](mailto:tim@nytimes.com) (subject line “2018 resolutions”) with your name, your goal and why you chose it, and two steps toward it. Noteworthy A J Mast for The New York Times • It took the Philadelphia Eagles three tries over 52 years, but [they are finally Super Bowl champions](. (This year’s ads [were more humorous than political]( • Laser technology uncovered the ruins of a [vast Maya civilization that had been hidden under tree canopy]( in Guatemala. • Tourists are slowly returning to the Kurdish region of Iraq to find a place of great beauty, haunted by war. We compiled [some travel advice](. • An artist’s plans for an unusual new building next to the site of Edvard Munch’s studio on the outskirts of Oslo [have stirred a heated debate]( in Norway. • The Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam ran out of closet space. About 4,000 costumes have been put up for sale to the public. [The costume sales are incredibly popular.]( Back Story Culture Club/Getty Images A century ago on Tuesday, the Austrian painter [Gustav Klimt]( died in Vienna. Klimt is famous for his heavily ornamented portraits, one of which was confiscated by the Nazis during World War II but later recovered. [It sold for $135 million in 2006]( and the recovery effort inspired “The Woman in Gold,” [a 2015 film starring Helen Mirren](. Among the artist’s quirks — and a source of irritation for his wealthy patrons — was that he often refused to declare his works complete. One Belgian family [stopped paying Klimt for a frieze it had commissioned]( for a palace in Brussels, as a way of motivating him to finish. He eventually did. But patrons who tried to collect his artwork were sometimes offered a refund instead of a painting. Klimt would even tweak pieces after they had won critical acclaim. His painting “Death and Life,” for example, won first prize at the International Art Exhibition in Rome in 1911. But Klimt later changed the background from gold to gray, [according to the Leopold Museum in Vienna]( and gave his representations of death and life “further ornaments.” Mike Ives 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)). 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? 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 Edition newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2018 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018