Emmanuel Macron, Theresa May, French Open: Your Monday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/briefing/emmanuel-macron-theresa-may-french-open.html

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Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

• In France, President Emmanuel Macron’s upstart movement won a solid victory in the first round of parliamentary elections, dealing another blow to traditional parties.

Mr. Macron had recruited a roster of newcomers to politics, including Hervé Berville, above, a 27-year-old survivor of Rwanda’s genocide who won the most votes in his Breton constituency.

But turnout was the lowest in recent history. Few candidates passed the 50 percent threshold allowing them to avoid a second round of voting on Sunday.

Among those facing a second-round vote: Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the far-right and far-left candidates who lost to Mr. Macron, and Manuel Valls, the former prime minister.

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• In Britain, Prime Minister Theresa May announced a reshuffled cabinet, as she faces calls to resign after her Conservatives lost their majority in Parliament last week.

Though she asked Michael Gove, a key “Brexit” advocate, to join her cabinet, Mrs. May’s chastened government is likely to strike a less confrontational approach to Europe.

Mrs. May seeks to continue to govern with the support of the Democratic Unionist Party, a socially conservative party from Northern Ireland. Her two top aides resigned under pressure.

Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party benefited from a high turnout of younger voters in last week’s election, many of whom opposed leaving the European Union.

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• The Islamic State has been focused for years on attacking Britain and Iran, a review of court records and statements by officials suggests.

The British police released images of ceramic knives and fake suicide vests used by the three London Bridge attackers this month.

President Trump may cancel or postpone his visit to Britain, where his criticism of London’s mayor after the attack angered many.

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• Russia’s opposition leader Aleksei Navalny is testing public sentiment toward President Vladimir Putin with his call for protests today. It is Russia Day, a national holiday.

Separately, some gay Chechens, facing persecution at home, have found refuge in Europe. More are waiting in safe houses throughout Russia, an activist said.

In Ukraine, an assassin pretending to be a French journalist tried to kill two ethnic Chechen critics of Mr. Putin. The would-be victims are well known for volunteering to fight Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine.

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• At the French Open, Jelena Ostapenko became the first unseeded player to win the women’s title since 1933.

And Rafael Nadal vanquished Stan Wawrinka in the men’s final for his 10th title at the tournament.

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• Britain’s economy is slowing and consumers are grappling with rising prices.

• China has built hundreds of dazzling new bridges, including the world’s longest and highest. But many have fostered debt and corruption.

• Uber’s board met to discuss a leave of absence for Travis Kalanick, the company’s chief executive, according to several sources.

• Good news! Cellphone use in the European Union is set to become cheaper this week. Here’s a look at other business news we’re watching this week.

• Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

• The U.S. attorney general, Jeff Sessions, is to testify tomorrow about issues related to Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. [The New York Times]

• In Kosovo, preliminary results suggested a coalition led by Ramush Haradinaj, the former rebel leader, would win parliamentary elections. His return to power would anger Serbia. [The New York Times]

• Italy’s populist Five Star Movement suffered a severe setback in local elections, exit polls suggested, undermining its hopes of winning national elections. [Reuters]

• Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, addressed a crowd of tens of thousands at a rally in Barcelona for Catalan independence from Spain. The region’s president announced a referendum in the fall. [The Guardian/El País]

• “President, I am overwhelmed.” Turkish students, facing exams, are begging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to unblock Wikipedia. [The New York Times]

• A son of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, Libya’s late dictator, was released by the militia that had held him captive since the 2011 uprising. He remains wanted by the International Criminal Court. [The New York Times]

• Start that next big thing, even if it’s terrifying.

• Getting more sleep has become a status symbol.

• Recipe of the day: Sustain yourself — and the family — for the week with a sheet of broccoli rabe lasagna.

• In New York, rivalries among European immigrants endure in amateur soccer.

• “Oslo,” an against-the-odds story of international peacemaking, was named best play at the Tony Awards.

• A lot happened last week. Test your knowledge in our world news quiz.

• Our film critics picked the 25 best movies of the 21st century. Their top European pick, at No. 5, is the Romanian film “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu.”

• Finally, our food editor fell in love with pork gyros, a dish he discovered in Melbourne, Australia. That city has the largest Greek population outside Greece. “Each of us, regardless of education, smarts or experience, has gaps in what we know, deep lacunas into which we occasionally get to place amazing treasure,” he writes.

The staging was powerful: A U.S. president stood behind panels of bulletproof glass near the Berlin Wall at the height of the Cold War.

On this day 30 years ago, President Ronald Reagan issued a challenge to the Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev. “Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

The wall — which had divided the German capital since 1961 — was a physical and metaphorical symbol of the ideological and economic differences that separated East and West.

The Times called Reagan’s address an effort to undercut Europe’s growing approval of Gorbachev, who had instituted a liberalizing policy called glasnost, or openness. (The Soviet news agency Tass called the speech “openly provocative” and “warmongering.”)

The effects of Reagan’s speech have since been debated. Political commentators and historians noted that it received relatively little news coverage at the time. Initial drafts met resistance in the White House, and the call to tear down the wall did not appear until later versions.

But this much is certain: A little more than two years later, on Nov. 9, 1989, East and West Germans began dismantling the wall.

Inyoung Kang contributed reporting.

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