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Europe Edition

Mahmoud Abbas, Donald Trump, Tunisia: Your Monday Briefing

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Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

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Credit...Mohamad Torokman/Reuters

• President Mahmoud Abbas, above center, of the Palestinian Authority said that Israel had killed the 1990s Oslo peace accords. But he reserved his most scathing words for the United States. “Damn your money!” Mr. Abbas said of President Trump.

Mr. Abbas also confirmed a recent New York Times report that the Palestinians had been told they would be offered the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Abu Dis, which they already control, as the capital of a future state.

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Credit...Al Drago for The New York Times

• “I’m not a racist.”

That was President Trump, also insisting that he had not made the derogatory comment that was attributed to him during a meeting on immigration last week.

The vulgar remark had been met with outrage from lawmakers in the U.S., leaders in Africa and elsewhere, but there was also ringing silence across broad parts of Europe, especially in the east.

The president’s words, our national immigration correspondent writes, were a sad reminder of racist attitudes that once shaped American policy.

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Credit...Martin Divisek/European Pressphoto Agency

• In the Czech Republic, President Milos Zeman came first in the first round of presidential elections but failed to pass the 50-percent threshold that would have saved him from having to compete in a runoff.

That vote, in two weeks, will decide whether the country continues to be drawn toward Russia and China under Mr. Zeman’s leadership or moves back more fully into the embrace of the E.U. under Jiri Drahos, above left, Mr. Zeman’s challenger.

Analysts predict a tight race.

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Credit...Armend Nimani/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

• The United States and the E.U. have warned Kosovo against attempts by former guerrillas turned politicians to halt a special war crimes court before it has even begun work.

The court is viewed by many as a vital prerequisite for reconciliation in the aftermath of the bloody Balkan wars of the 1990s.

But critics expect that when Parliament reconvenes this week, some lawmakers will try to undermine it to protect prominent war veterans.

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Credit...Ryan Young for The New York Times; Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times; Amanda Lucier for The New York Times

• Male models and assistants are accusing the fashion photographers Bruce Weber and Mario Testino of sexual misconduct. Condé Nast said it would stop working with the two men, at least for now.

The three men above are among those who told us that they had endured sexual harassment on the job.

After fierce criticism from French feminists, Catherine Deneuve, the French actress, apologized to victims of sexual assault for the letter she and other women recently signed denouncing the #metoo movement.

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Credit...Julian Calder/Royal Collection Trust, via Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2018

• “There are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise they’re quite important things.”

Queen Elizabeth II, who has never granted an interview, relaxed her longstanding reticence to reminisce on camera about her 1953 coronation in a new documentary.

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Credit...Kyle Johnson for The New York Times

• At 54, Jeff Bezos of Amazon is the world’s richest person, with a net worth of more than $100 billion. He had stayed out of the limelight for years, but he has recently started to build a public persona.

• Uber’s $100,000 payment to a hacker has cast a chill over how companies deal with security threats.

• We went inside the newly megarich cryptocurrency community and found a tightknit group of friends debating changing the world order.

• Automakers have reason to celebrate as they gather this week at the Detroit auto show, but less rosy times may lie ahead.

Here’s a snapshot of global markets and a look at what could move them this week.

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Credit...European Pressphoto Agency

• A passenger plane trying to land in Turkey this weekend made a heart-stopping skid off a runway, ending up stuck on a steep slope facing the Black Sea. No one was injured. [The New York Times]

• Security experts called a false alarm in Hawaii this weekend a warning of how a technical error could set off an unintended conflict between the United States and North Korea. [The New York Times]

• On the seventh anniversary of Tunisia’s revolution, thousands of demonstrators rallied against austerity measures and economic malaise. Officials are beginning to address the growing discontent. [The New York Times]

• Syria’s civil war: The Turkish government condemned reported plans for a new Kurdish-dominated border force allied with the U.S.-led coalition. [Reuters]

• Facebook’s recent fiddling with its algorithms has magnified fake news in some countries, including Slovakia. [The New York Times]

• In the U.S., Chelsea Manning, the former Army private convicted of disclosing classified information to WikiLeaks in 2013, has filed to run for the Senate. [The New York Times]

Officials in Ireland are facing agonizing choices about what to do with the remains of young children found buried at a former home for unwed mothers and their babies in the town of Tuam. [The New York Times]

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

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Credit...Minh Uong/The New York Times

• Protect your technology this year.

• Where to get healthier in 2018.

• Recipe of the day: Begin the week with a big bowl of Thai red curry noodles.

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Credit...NASA/JPL/Cornell

• If we ever get to Mars, the beer might not be bad. Hops grows well in Martial soil, an experiment by college students suggests.

• We look at the science behind the Swiss government’s recent decision to ban tossing lobsters and other crustaceans into boiling water.

• A new novel by the Austrian author Robert Menasse lays bare the oddities of the E.U. bureaucracy in Brussels with satire and sympathy.

• The discovery of a secret tunnel under the Berlin Wall that was intended to help reunite a family in the 1960s has fueled memories of a dark chapter in Berlin’s history.

• Toronto has welcomed thousands of Syrians and their cooking, supporting a small boom in food businesses.

In soccer news, Liverpool ensured that Manchester City would not go unbeaten through its Premier League schedule, but its 4-3 victory barely dented City’s invincible aura.

• Three American tennis stars did not make it out of the first day of the Australian Open. (Here’s a look at some players to watch.)

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Credit...Associated Press

The headquarters for the U.S. military has always stood out.

The Pentagon building was already in use when it was dedicated 75 years ago today, at the height of World War II.

Built just across the Potomac River from Washington in less than two years, the Pentagon was home to 22,000 workers by the end of 1942.

It remains one of the world’s largest office buildings, with more than six million square feet of floor space.

The distinctive design came from the shape of the first proposed site, which was hemmed in by streets on five sides. When President Franklin Roosevelt decided on a different location, the shape stayed, but the sides were made even.

The first architectural reviews were not glowing, but they improved over time.

“Called too big, too barren and too expensive when it was completed for $83 million in 1943, the Pentagon is a thriving, functional success in 1968,” The Times wrote in a report for the 25th anniversary of the building, which it extolled as a place of community:

“Everyman, or Littleman, triumphed over all. Thousands of secretaries and office workers have turned the Pentagon into a cluttered, cosy, home-away-from-home.”

Sarah Anderson contributed reporting.

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This briefing was prepared for the European morning and is updated online. Browse past briefings here.

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Follow Patrick Boehler on Twitter: @mrbaopanrui.

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