Russia, Facebook, Trains: Your Thursday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/22/briefing/russia-facebook-trains.html

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Good morning.

Boris Johnson’s Hitler comment, Mark Zuckerberg’s admission and Emmanuel Macron’s big challenge. Here’s what you need to know:

• Tensions between Britain and Russia hit a new peak.

Boris Johnson, the top British diplomat, told Parliament that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, would use the World Cup this summer as a propaganda tool, much as Hitler did with the 1936 Olympic Games.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned foreign diplomats to suggest Britain itself may have been responsible for poisoning a former Russian double agent and his daughter with a nerve agent. (The British ambassador did not attend.)

Separately, European leaders are expected to approve a deal today to avoid a sudden change of trade rules when Britain quits the European Union next March. But Brexit supporters are angry about policy retreats from London.

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• President Trump plans today to announce at least $50 billion worth of annual tariffs and other penalties against China for its theft of technology and trade secrets, which administration officials say has robbed American companies of billions of dollars in revenue and killed thousands of jobs. Above, Mr. Trump led a delegation of top U.S. companies to China last year.

The measures represent Mr. Trump’s most aggressive move yet against a fast-rising economic rival that he has accused of preying on the United States.

Mr. Trump also defended his decision to congratulate Mr. Putin on his re-election, and he lashed out at the news media for reporting that he had disregarded the advice of his national security team in doing so.

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• “We also made mistakes, there’s more to do, and we need to step up and do it.”

Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, broke his silence on the growing furor over reports that outside companies harvested data from 50 million accounts.

He said Facebook would crack down on outside apps and bolster privacy. The company has lost about $50 billion in market value since the reports were published, and growing numbers of users are considering deleting their accounts. British officials investigating fake news say Mr. Zuckerberg misled them and have summoned him for an explanation.

On “The Daily,” we talk to one of our reporters who broke the story and discuss how a key data scientist at Cambridge Analytica, one of the companies involved, became a whistle-blower.

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• A proposal by President Emmanuel Macron to erase the special status — and cut the generous benefits — of French railway workers has created a new and formidable challenge to his campaign to reshape France: strikes.

A wave of nationwide walkouts by public sector workers, the first since Mr. Macron took office, begins today. Trains, planes and schools will be affected, and how he responds will be a signal of his resolve.

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• The European authorities proposed revamping how digital businesses in the region are taxed, outlining broad changes that they hope will curb tax avoidance across the bloc. Above, Google’s headquarters in Dublin.

• The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. Under a new chairman, Jerome Powell, it signaled two more increases this year.

• Swiss prosecutors began an investigation into the French luxury group Kering, owner of Gucci and Saint Laurent, widening the legal scrutiny of its tax practices in Europe.

• One of Turkey’s leading media groups was sold to an ally of the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a move widely seen as likely to further limit the independence of the Turkish news media.

• Our technology reporter in Mumbai explains how cheap mobile data is changing India, and why WhatsApp is indispensable.

• Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

• Israel confirmed it had destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, breaking years of secrecy as tensions mount over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. (Israel released the above image yesterday.) [The New York Times]

• The ashes of Stephen Hawking, the renowned cosmologist, will be interred next to the grave of Sir Isaac Newton at Westminster Abbey. [The New York Times]

• In the U.S., a portrait emerged of the bomber who terrorized Austin, Tex., hours after he blew himself up. The police say they found his video confession. [The New York Times]

• More than 20 people were at the table for President Trump’s meeting with the Saudi crown prince. None were women. [The New York Times]

• Bird populations across the French countryside have collapsed by a third over the last 15 years, and scientists say pesticides are to blame. “The situation is catastrophic,” a researcher said. [The Guardian]

• Former President Nicolas Sarkozy of France faces corruption charges in connection with his 2007 election campaign, which is alleged to have received illegal financial support from the Libyan government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. [The New York Times]

• Kosovo’s Parliament ratified a border agreement with Montenegro, though opposition lawmakers tried to stop the proceedings by releasing tear gas. [Reuters]

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

• Recipe of the day: Brighten up the usual salmon dinner with a sauce of capers, scallions, parsley and garlic.

• Thinking of going to Brazil? You’ll need this vaccination.

• Here’s how to protect your data on Facebook.

• Nepal wants to remove 200,000 pounds of trekkers’ garbage in a campaign aimed at “saving the glory of the Everest region.” (They’re going to need more yaks.)

• In Germany, a growing number of art museums offer tours for dementia patients, designed to bring stimulation and solace.

• A scientist in Australia asked people across the country to mail her fallen feathers, like the ones shown above, so she could map bird movements as the country’s wetlands disappear. The response, she says, has been “really exciting.”

On this day in 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Eisenstadt v. Baird that it’s unconstitutional for a state to deny unmarried people access to contraception.

The court ruled in 1965 that state bans on contraceptives for married couples violated their privacy rights. But a few states still restricted access for single people.

Bill Baird, an activist, violated one such law in Massachusetts. He appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court, which struck down the law.

Justice William Brennan held that the law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because it discriminated between married and unmarried people.

The case became an important precedent in subsequent landmark rulings by the Supreme Court, including its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that recognized abortion rights, and, more recently, the 2015 decision guaranteeing a right to same-sex marriage.

A movie about Mr. Baird’s case is in development. Above, Mr. Baird in 2012.

Mr. Baird has continued working as an activist, but his legacy is complicated by what The Times described in 1993 as an “unapologetic zealotry” and a willingness to criticize “even his ideologic allies.” Planned Parenthood once called him an “embarrassment.”

Jillian Rayfield contributed reporting.

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