Macron, Berlin, Denmark: Your Thursday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/25/briefing/macron-berlin-denmark.html

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Good morning.

A French rebuke of “America First,” Germans rally for Jews and a dose of Danish justice. Here’s the latest:

• France and the U.S. will “make this planet great again.”

That’s what the French president, Emmanuel Macron, told Congress, even as he argued that the U.S. should remain a part of the Iran nuclear deal and rejoin the Paris climate accord.

Mr. Macron’s sharply critical speech was an implicit rebuke of President Trump’s “America First” policies, just a day after the two leaders showered each other with praise. (Their awkward interactions gave American talk-show hosts plenty of joke fodder.)

Meanwhile, a rights group said Iran had seized a third British citizen, possibly to use as a bargaining chip as tensions with the West rise over the fate of the nuclear agreement.

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• The leaders of North and South Korea will meet on Friday in a rare moment of face-to-face diplomacy after 70 years of bitter rivalry. (Above, schoolchildren released butterflies near the Demilitarized Zone.)

They’re set to discuss issues that have bedeviled the Korean Peninsula for much of the 20th century — including an official end to the Korean War — and others that are shaping the 21st, namely the North’s nuclear weapons. Here’s a quick rundown of what they’ll cover, and what comes next.

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• “A symbol of tolerance.”

In Berlin, hundreds of Jews and non-Jews wore skullcaps during a demonstration against anti-Semitism, above, after Jewish leaders warned that wearing the head covering openly in Germany was too dangerous.

That warning followed a recent assault on an Israeli by a Syrian refugee — who could be heard on a video yelling “Yehudi,” Arabic for “Jew” — challenged the city’s recently won reputation for diversity 70 years after the Holocaust.

The rally brought together officials from across Germany’s political spectrum, but many of Berlin’s 100,000 Jews say discrimination remains part of daily life.

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• In Copenhagen, the Danish inventor Peter Madsen, above, was convicted of killing Kim Wall, a journalist whose body he admitted to dismembering and discarding from the submarine he built, in one of the most gruesome and closely watched cases in Scandinavian history.

Mr. Madsen was sentenced to life in prison, but under Danish law, he could be considered for release in as little as 12 years.

For Danes, Ms. Wall’s murder and the trial that followed were chilling, not least because there are so few killings in Denmark. “Her death could have been anyone’s,” writes the journalist who has covered the case for The Times.

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• Despite a major privacy scandal, Facebook reported strong increases in profit and revenue. But even as the social network’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has vowed to protect users better, his company has failed to stop scammers impersonating him from swindling people out of thousands of dollars.

• The French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, sometimes called the King of Africa for his business dealings on the continent, is being investigated over allegations that his company helped the presidents of two African nations gain power in exchange for lucrative contracts.

• Comcast, the American cable giant, offered $30.7 billion for Sky in a takeover battle with Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox for control of the British broadcaster.

• As Meghan Markle prepares to marry Prince Harry next month, she has the potential to change the perception of fashion brands, the royal family and much more, our chief fashion critic writes.

• Takeda, a Japanese drugmaker, reached a tentative agreement to buy Ireland-based Shire for $64 billion in one of the biggest pharma deals to date.

• Ford Motor is considering exiting or selling money-losing operations in Europe, as the automaker seeks to turn around its fortunes both in the U.S. and abroad.

• Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

• In Spain, the chief of the Madrid regional government, Cristina Cifuentes, above, resigned after a website posted video that appeared to show her being detained for shoplifting. [The New York Times]

• Street protests resumed in Armenia amid political deadlock and growing popular anger against the country’s pro-Russia governing elites. [The New York Times]

• Pope Francis will host three Chilean victims of clergy sexual abuse to ask forgiveness for voicing doubts about their accusations, and will let them talk with him “as long as they wish.” [The New York Times]

• A Turkish court convicted 13 independent newspaper employees of terrorism-related crimes, raising the pressure on journalists who are critical of the government. [The New York Times]

• The E.U. is wrestling with a plan that would allow the police to forcibly fingerprint migrant children. Rights groups have condemned the proposal, but supporters say it could help reunite families and trace children who have fallen into the hands of criminal gangs. [Politico]

• A Palestinian engineer killed in Malaysia is the latest Hamas figure to be targeted abroad by Israel’s Mossad spy agency, part of a broader operation to dismantle a terrorism training project, officials say. [The New York Times]

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

• Recipe of the day: These mint-chocolatey grasshopper brownies cry out for a scoop of ice cream.

• These apps will help you plan a last-minute trip.

• Here are some tips to protect your browsing privacy.

• In Sweden, archaeologists discovered the remains of a fifth-century massacre, above, complete with the bones of humans butchered with swords, axes and clubs. The dig offers a glimpse of the violent chaos across Europe as the Roman Empire fell.

• Enzo Ferrari: A biography of the legendary Italian carmaker shines a light on the man and the automotive empire he built. “In Italy, there was the pope and then there was Enzo,” the author said.

• Elwood Higginbotham, a black man, was lynched by a white mob in Mississippi 83 years ago. For his descendants, a new historical inquiry into his death offers a chance to confront the past.

“It’s a dictatorship at the door and a democracy on the dance floor.”

That’s what Andy Warhol said was the key to success for Studio 54, the famously wild New York City nightclub that opened its doors on April 26, 1977.

Donald and Ivana Trump were among the first guests — but they arrived early in the night. It would be hours before it turned into a hedonistic dance party of epic proportions.

“All of us knew that night that we weren’t at the opening of a discothèque but the opening of something historical,” said Robin Leach, who went on to host “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”

His comments were included in the book “The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night,” by Anthony Haden-Guest.

The owners of Studio 54, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, above, came to be known as the “first pashas of disco.”

But by 1979, the owners had been charged with tax evasion for skimming from club receipts. After serving time in prison, they went on to open hotels and clubs.

Mr. Rubell died in 1989, and Mr. Schrager was pardoned by President Barack Obama just before he left office.

Karen Zraick wrote today’s Back Story.

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