Denmark, Merkel, Russia: Your Monday Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/01/briefing/denmark-merkel-russia.html

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Good morning.

Denmark targets immigrant “ghettos,” Angela Merkel battles her own alliance and Russia stuns in the World Cup.

Here’s the latest:

• Denmark is adopting harsh new laws targeted at immigrant “ghettos.”

The Danes, who have struggled to integrate non-Western families for decades, are getting tough: From age 1, immigrant children will receive mandatory instruction in “Danish culture.”

The new laws aim to regulate life in 25 low-income and heavily Muslim enclaves, officially described by the government as “ghettos” and populated by what Danish newspapers call “ghetto parents” and “ghetto children.” Above, an intersection near a housing project in Copenhagen that is classified as a ghetto by the Danish government.

Noncompliance could result in a halt to welfare payments.

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• Chancellor Angela Merkel’s reprieve over migrants didn’t last long.

Ms. Merkel had fended off mutiny within her conservative alliance last week after migration talks with European leaders. But Ms. Merkel’s interior minister, Horst Seehofer, has threatened to resign over the dispute with the chancellors’ migration policy.

If Mr. Seehofer takes his party out of the coalition, Ms. Merkel will lose her majority. The two parties are set to talk today.

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• Hundreds of records left behind by the Islamic State reveal how the group won points with the populace by resolving minor disputes.

It was a terrorist version of the “broken window” school of policing — prosecuting minor crimes in the communities it took over, no matter how trivial. Above, an agreement ending a dispute over a chicken, complete with the parties’ fingerprints.

Nearly 400 documents abandoned in one Islamic State police station and provided to The Times show that hundreds of people trusted the group to settle their issues. It also sheds light on how the group managed to hold onto so much land at the height of its power.

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• Merci, Madame.

Thousands gathered on the heights of Paris’s left bank to honor Simone Veil, a Holocaust survivor and women’s rights champion, as she was interred at the Panthéon, above.

Ms. Veil died last year at 89. She was the fifth woman to be interred at France’s burial place for some of its most illustrious citizens.

In the scorching July heat, many wept at the passing of Ms. Veil’s coffin, but beyond grief there was pride and gratitude. Ms. Veil embodied much of France’s modern identity: its rebuilding efforts after World War II, women’s rights and European integration.

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• A World Cup shocker.

Russia, the lowest-ranked team in the field, beat powerhouse Spain on penalties. Our reporter described the scene:

“Stunning finish there as Akinfeev kicks away the last attempt by Aspas. The Russians pour toward him and he dives, fists outstretched into the grass to absorb their love. The crowd has gone absolutely bonkers in here.”

Croatia beat Denmark, also on penalties, and will face Russia.

And Wimbledon starts today. All eyes will be on Serena Williams, but here are six other players to watch.

• Did Russia help promote Brexit? Leaked messages suggest Arron Banks, above center, the biggest donor to the Brexit campaign, had a more engaged relationship with Russian diplomats than he has disclosed.

• The BBC apologized to Carrie Gracie, a senior journalist who quit as China editor this year over unequal pay. The broadcaster agreed to pay for the years she was underpaid.

• The world’s biggest luxury groups — LVMH, Kering and Richemont — have been quietly reorganizing their boardrooms as they prepare for what may be a new stage of acquisitions and consolidation.

• Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

• Andrés Manuel López Obrador, above, Mexico’s leftist presidential candidate, was handed a resounding victory and a mandate to reshape the country. [The New York Times]

• An arts festival in Germany decided last month to drop the band Young Fathers from its bill because of its support of a movement protesting the treatment of Palestinians. [New York Times]

• In a Hollywood-style jailbreak, a helicopter landed in a prison courtyard in France and flew away with a well-known criminal. A manhunt was underway for the inmate, Rédoine Faïd.[New York Times]

• Patrice Lumumba was killed after helping Congo win independence from Belgium. Now Brussels has a square named after him. [The New York Times]

• A bombing in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, left 19 people dead, killing mostly Sikhs and Hindus, including the only Sikh candidate running for office. [The New York Times]

• A controversial data storage law that requires Russian telecom companies to store users text messages and phone conversations for six months went into effect Sunday. [The Moscow Times]

• Doctors in Copenhagen have developed an artificial ovary they say could help women have children after cancer treatments that damage fertility. [The Guardian]

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

• How to clean your filthy, disgusting laptop.

• Learn to make a new city your home.

• Recipe of the day: Start the week on a high note with a Canadian butter tart.

• Of all the gin joints in all the world … Rick’s Café, opened in Casablanca, Morocco, in 2004 by a former American diplomat, pays homage to the movie “Casablanca,” and is a testament to the power of art to affect destinies in real life.

• The Royal Opera House in London, the Komsiche Oper Berlin, the Glynedbourn Festival and the Opéra de Paris — those locations only skim the surface of the conductor Vladimir Jurowski’s prodigious career. He discusses why he challenges audiences to rethink historic connections.

• “Pompeii’s Unluckiest Man” became a meme-worthy sensation some 2,000 years after his death. But now archaeologists, who previously thought the man had been crushed by a flying boulder while fleeing Mount Vesuvius in 70 A.D., believe he died from asphyxiation from the pyroclastic flow.

How are Wimbledon ball boys and girls chosen? As the tennis tournament’s main draw begins today, here’s a look at the selection process.

In 1920, Wimbledon became the first tennis tournament to introduce ball boys (girls were not included until 1977). They were initially drawn from a children’s charity, then in later years from local schools.

This almost led to a shortage in 1969 when students could not be spared during examinations. The tournament faced “the prospect of the world’s best players having to scurry and stoop to retrieve balls,” as The Times wrote.

That would certainly not be an issue today: There are about 700 applicants each year, for 250 positions.

Candidates are on average 15 years old and are nominated by their teachers. They must pass several exhaustive written tests about the game’s rules.

Next is physical training. Skills like rolling the ball are crucial, and ball boys and girls must do this “with the precision of a champion snooker player.”

Once the tournament begins, there are additional challenges. “Being hit with a 120 mph serve is quite memorable,” one coach said. “And it will happen to all of them.”

Jillian Rayfield wrote today’s Back Story.

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