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Europe Edition

Syria, Samsung, Xi Jinping: Your Monday Briefing

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Good morning.

No respite in Syria’s war, Ukraine’s “Hapsburg Group” and Samsung’s new smartphone. Here’s the news:

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Credit...Hamza Al-Ajweh/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

• Airstrikes continued against a rebel-held suburb of Damascus where more than 500 civilians have been killed in the past week.

There were new reports of a suspected chlorine attack, despite a U.N. Security Council resolution on Saturday that called for a 30-day cease-fire.

Our correspondents examined two phenomena in the regional turmoil: a Russian effort to repatriate women and children from territory held by the crumbling Islamic State, and a push for gender equality that’s swelling in Kurdish-controlled areas.

Separately in Prague, the Czech police arrested a Syrian Kurdish leader. Turkey is seeking his extradition.

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Credit...Andy Wong/Associated Press

• In China, President Xi Jinping’s efforts to extend his rule as leader, perhaps indefinitely, raised fresh fears of a resurgence of strongman politics and of a new era of hostility and repression.

For decades, the prevailing belief was engagement with China would make China more like the West. Instead, our correspondents write, China appears to have gone in the opposite direction.

Predictably, government censors rushed to block criticism of the decision.

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Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York Times

In the U.S., questions are swirling over whether and when President Trump might answer questions from Robert Mueller, the special counsel. His investigation seems to be racing toward an as-yet-undefined goal, our correspondent writes.

New charges accused Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, of paying off a group of European politicians, nicknamed the Hapsburg Group, to lobby for the pro-Russian government that then controlled Ukraine.

(The politicians were not named, but the focus quickly turned on four former statesmen. Here’s a look their reactions.)

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Credit...Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times

• In Italy, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement is leading in polls in part because of its promise to stand apart from the political elite it considers discredited.

But some scandals, including the inflated résumé of Alessia D’Alessandro, above, a candidate in the southern region of Campania, drew criticism that the party was, most damningly, just like other parties.

On the political fringes, the violent nationalism that fueled Benito Mussolini’s rise has returned with force. Politically inspired violence, including by anti-fascist activists, has become an almost daily occurrence.

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Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

• The 23rd Winter Olympics wrapped up in Pyeongchang, South Korea, with a rousing closing ceremony that included K-pop and a conga line.

These Games are likely to be most remembered for the scandal over Russian doping and for the brief unity of the Koreas — an extraordinary diplomatic moment that raised the possibility of renewed international talks with the North.

Our colleagues at the Games shared their favorite moments, reminders that such competitions can bring out the best of the human spirit.

Here’s the final medal count. (Norwegians fretted that their medals record risks ruining their favorite sports.)

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Credit...Abbey Lossing

• Cryptocurrencies and blockchain were meant to be great equalizers. Instead, women are finding that the gold rush is already stacked against them.

• The Weinstein Company said that it would file for bankruptcy. The film studio has been struggling in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against its co-owner.

• Saudi Arabia is making overtures to China and Russia for help in diversifying its oil-dependent economy. At stake is the future of the Saudi welfare state.

• Li Shufu, the Chinese businessman who owns the Geely automotive group, has amassed a nearly 10 percent stake, worth $9 billion, in Daimler, the German maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks.

• Samsung unveiled its latest Galaxy smartphone at the GSMA World Congress in Barcelona. (It features an upgraded camera.)

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

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Credit...Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times

• In Niger, French officials are screening migrants before they take a perilous trip across the Mediterranean. A few get a plane ticket. For everyone else, the message is: Stay home. [The New York Times]

• In the U.S., shooting survivors are increasingly pushing for gun control as a growing number of businesses are cutting ties with the National Rifle Association, the country’s chief gun lobby. [The New York Times]

In Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, will outline this week their visions for economic ties with the E.U. after Brexit. Mr. Corbyn is expected to endorse a customs union. [BBC]

• Hungary’s governing party, Fidesz, unexpectedly lost a local government by-election, raising slim hopes for the opposition six weeks before a parliamentary election. [Reuters]

• On Sunday, Russia’s divided opposition groups united to mourn the third anniversary of the death of Boris Nemtsov, the outspoken Kremlin critic who was killed in 2015. [The Moscow Times]

• Measles cases quadrupled in Europe last year, and at least 35 children died of the highly infectious disease amid persisting anti-vaccine movements. [The New York Times]

• A bitter cold is descending on Europe this week. Expect some of the coldest temperatures in years in affected areas. [Bloomberg]

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

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Credit...Lars Leetaru

• Traveling? Here are some simple tips to get by if you don’t know the language.

• You can weather a turbulent stock market.

• Try a meatless meal of Sri Lankan dal with coconut and lime kale.

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Credit...Jacques Demarthon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

More fraternité than égalité: Out of the 57 restaurants newly honored in France’s latest Guide Michelin, only two have female chefs, raising calls for a reckoning.

• Sridevi Kapoor, Bollywood’s first female superstar, has died at 54. She was one of the few actresses in India whoheadlined films without a man in a leading role.

• The Romanian film “Touch Me Not” unexpectedly won the top prize at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. It had not been considered a front-runner, partly because of the frankness of some of its sex scenes.

• As he watched Manchester United beat Chelsea, our soccer correspondent wondered whether financial strength was all a club needed to satisfy fans in the YouTube age.

• And check out your fellow readers’ answers to the question, What are you most proud of? (Even some of our journalists piled in.)

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Credit...Ruby Washington/The New York Times

“Was it really that bad?”

That’s what Arthur Bicknell asked years after his play, a mystery-farce called “Moose Murders,” opened and closed on the same night this month in 1983 — setting a punishing new standard for Broadway flops.

“The simple answer,” he conceded to The Times, “is yes.”

Reviews at the time were brutal. Brendan Gill of The New Yorker said it “would insult the intelligence of an audience consisting entirely of amoebas.” Dennis Cunningham of CBS advised, “If your name is Arthur Bicknell, change it.” (In one account, a woman leaving the theater shouted to a police officer, “Arrest this play!”)

Here’s the Times review by Frank Rich, who years later would call it “the worst play I’ve ever seen on a Broadway stage.”

In the years since its ill-fated Feb. 22 debut, “Moose Murders” has gained notoriety, if not respect. In 2011, Mr. Bicknell published “Moose Murdered: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Broadway Bomb.”)

In fact, there have been “revivals” of “Moose Murders” around the world — and at least one comical twist. In 2007, the Repertory Philippines misidentified the author of the play in its posters and playbills around Manila. Instead of Mr. Bicknell, it credited The Times’s critic, Mr. Rich.

Charles McDermid contributed reporting.

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Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online.

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A correction was made on 
Feb. 26, 2018

An earlier version of this briefing misidentified the source of an article about the death of Boris Nemtsov, an outspoken Kremlin critic. It is from The Moscow Times, not The New York Times.

How we handle corrections

Follow Patrick Boehler on Twitter: @mrbaopanrui.

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