Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Europe Edition

Spain, Trade War, Secret Agents: Your Friday Briefing

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

Good morning.

A legal challenge for Spain, questions in Britain and the long arm of Turkey. Here’s the latest:

Image
Credit...Reuters

Spain faces a new obstacle in its political battle against the Catalan separatist movement after a German court ruled that Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia's former leader, cannot be extradited on a charge of rebellion.

In a boon to his supporters, Mr. Puigdemont was released on bail while the court decides whether he can be handed over on a corruption charge. The ruling throws a wrench into the Spanish government’s efforts to recover and prosecute Catalan leaders who fled to other European nations.

Meanwhile, Spaniards are aghast over footage, above, of what appears to be a rare public spat between Queen Sofía and her daughter-in-law, Queen Letizia.

_____

Image
Credit...Tom Brenner/The New York Times

Getting closer to a trade war.

President Trump threatened to hit China with an additional $100 billion in tariffs, further escalating a trade standoff that could have global economic ramifications.

While Chinese leaders say they are not afraid of a trade war, our correspondent says China is more vulnerable than officials admit.

Here’s a blow-by-blow account of the conflict so far. And in our news podcast, “The Daily,” pro-Trump farmers worry about the implications for U.S. agriculture.

_____

Image
Credit...Yulia Skripal

“This is some kind of theater of the absurd.”

That was Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, who is leading an aggressive campaign to discredit Britain over the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, above, which the British authorities have attributed to Moscow.

Russia’s latest salvo: a recording, said to be of Yulia, claiming that both Skripals are healthy, contradicting Britain’s public case for international retaliation.

Separately, British universities are growing increasingly nervous about the potential loss of E.U. funding and students as “Brexit” negotiations lurch along.

_____

Image
Credit...Anne-Christine Poujoulat/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

• The French government appears poised to expel one of France’s most radical — and long-tolerated — Muslim preachers.

El Hadi Doudi, above, has for decades berated Jews, women and the modern world, yet the French authorities occasionally cultivated him as an ally.

The move signals that President Emmanuel Macron is willing to use his broad powers to pressure Muslim clerics and, in some cases, to deport them.

By expelling the imam, Mr. Macron also looks tough as his government struggles to battle radical Islam and counter far-right accusations of weakness.

_____

Image
Credit...Ozan Kose/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Turkish secret agents in 18 countries seized 80 Turkish citizens who the government claims are linked to a group it has accused of plotting a failed coup in 2016. Above, Turkish government supporters in Istanbul on the anniversary of the coup in July.

The scope of the arrests conjured up comparisons to the Central Intelligence Agency’s covert seizures and imprisonments of suspects after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The admission by the Turkish deputy prime minister followed reports that Kosovo had deported six Turks, provoking a political uproar that prompted the Kosovar prime minister to dismiss high-ranking officials.

Image
Credit...Ben Stansall/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Looking terrible. Britain’s push to end the gender pay gap has revealed that some major fashion and beauty companies, which largely employ and market to women, pay men more money. Among the worst offenders: Victoria’s Secret, Burberry and Condé Nast.

The former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly worked hard to silence the women who accused him of sexual harassment. A judge has made the settlements public.

Bumble and Tinder, two of the world’s most popular dating apps, are at war.

• U.S. stocks were up. Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

Image
Credit...Reuters

President Trump denied knowing about a $130,000 hush payment his lawyer made to the porn actress Stormy Daniels, above, his first public remarks on the matter. [The New York Times]

He also criticized the E.U.’s trade policies as “very solidly against us,” despite the fact that the bloc was the top export market for American-made goods in 2016. [Politico]

The Danish inventor charged with sexually assaulting and killing the Swedish journalist Kim Wall has psychopathic traits and showed no remorse about dismembering Ms. Wall’s body, according to a report read out in court. [The Guardian]

Zero tolerance: France’s defense minister vowed to root out sexism in the military, following reports that women were forced to drop out of an elite military academy by ultranationalist male recruits. [BBC]

The European Court of Human Rights rejected the complaint of a man convicted in Germany of posting a photo of Heinrich Himmler, the Nazi war criminal, wearing an SS uniform bearing a swastika. Nazi symbols are illegal in Germany. [Deutsche Welle]

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

Image
Credit...Craig Lee for The New York Times

Recipe of the day: This weekend, plan to make a batch of one-pot meatballs and sauce.

Can coffee rev up your workout?

Distracted by Facebook Messenger, or just worried about its intrusions into your phone? Here’s how to uninstall.

Image
Credit...Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Sumo wrestling forbids women to enter the ring — even to save a life. The rule led to an outcry in Japan after women, including a nurse, were shooed away from helping a politician who had collapsed.

We’re doing an open casting call for the new season of our animated video series on parenting, “Conception.” We want to hear from parents around the world and across the political spectrum about the issues affecting your families. We’re interested in stories from those who have chosen not to become parents, too.

Check your closet: An old painting found in an Iowa storeroom turned out to be by Otto Van Veen, a 16th-century Dutch master. It’s worth millions.

Image
Robert E. Peary in Cape Sheridan, Canada.Credit...Christie's Images, via Reuters

Who was the first person to reach the North Pole? The answer’s more complex than you might expect.

The American explorer Adm. Robert Peary, above, claimed that he and his party reached the top of the world on this day in 1909.

They sent the news by cable when they reached the nearest wireless station, in September of the same year. The Times ran it on the front page: “Peary Discovers the North Pole After Eight Trials in 23 Years.”

The only problem? A week earlier, The New York Herald had credited Peary’s rival, Frederick Cook, with the feat. He claimed to have reached the pole almost a year before, on April 21, 1908.

Peary had supporters including The Times and the National Geographic Society, and it is his name that has mostly appeared in textbooks. A re-examination of his records in 1988 cast doubt on his account.

True or false, the men’s rival claims have bound them together. As one researcher said: “Peary and Cook are like Siamese twins. If you separate them, you lose some vital parts of each.”

Anna Schaverien contributed reporting.

_____

Correction: Thursday’s briefing misstated Arthur Murray’s birthday. It was April 4, 1895, not April 5.

Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online.

Check out this page to find a Morning Briefing for your region. (In addition to our European edition, we have Australian, Asian and U.S. editions.)

Sign up here to receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights, and here’s our full range of free newsletters.

What would you like to see here? Contact us at europebriefing@nytimes.com.

Follow Dan Levin on Twitter: @globaldan.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT