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Europe Edition

Libya, Donald Trump, El Salvador: Your Tuesday Briefing

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

Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

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Credit...Sunday Alamba/Associated Press

• In Nigeria, our reporter spoke to some of the 7,000 migrants who had been returned from Libya over the last year. They described appalling conditions in Libyan detention centers: Some spoke of beatings and sexual abuse. Some said they were made to dismember corpses and remove their bones.

Nigeria’s government faces a new challenge: what to do with the returnees. “I’m angry because I’m back in this jobless country,” one said.

Separately, at least 64 people, including at least five children, drowned after their overcrowded rubber dinghy sank off the Libyan coast. Most of those aboard the vessel were from sub-Saharan Africa.

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Their Status Is Temporary. But to Salvadorans, the U.S. Is Home.

Omar Salinas has Temporary Protected Status, which is granted to U.S. immigrants from countries crippled by disaster or war. The Trump administration has announced that it will end the program.

By definition, T.P.S. is temporary, meant to be temporary. It’s not meant to be forever. We are fighting all together for these T.P.S. to be approved again so we can stay in this country. [music] Good morning. We have a full-time staff of about 12 people. And over 50 percent would be T.P.S. We’re just together more than we are with our families at home. And we spend a lot of time together. We work hard together. And we generate money for our lives, to live, and to eat, and to buy homes, and to have cars. And so we’re all really close. I don’t really have trust in the government anymore. I really wonder who they’re really looking after and the long-term effect. Without T.P.S., quite frankly, I really don’t know how I would run my business. Hey, Jose. Everything O.K.? I don’t remember where they are going. So I’m going to have to look at the email. O.K., bye. Thanks. Jose and I started to work together about 21, 22 years ago. And we’ve been working together since. There are times when businesses can be difficult and you worry about the next day. But I’m not worried about being kicked out of my country, or where I live, and where I’ve lived for 25 years, or even longer. I just can’t even possibly — I can’t imagine. I just can’t. Hey. Hi. How are you? Good. How are you? You’ve been here a while? Thank you. Yeah. You see this one tree here? We’re going to take that out. What, this one? Yeah. And one of those are going to go in there. My name is Morel Salinas. Or in Spanish — [speaking Spanish] My family, they came to the United States because El Salvador is like really dangerous right now. There’s a lot of bad people. And they came here because they wanted to live a better life. And they wanted to have a wonderful life with their children. It’s really beautiful here. I feel very safe. I am afraid because my family might not stick together. My biggest present for Christmas is to keep my family together. We don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re hoping for the best, because our kids are going to be — I don’t know how can we explain it to them. Because ending that program, they’re probably going to be looking to deport us back to our country. If that ever happens, we’re going to be probably trying to hide from immigration and stay here. We are celebrating Christmas like we always do. It’s been 23 years already. Oh my God, Mommy, Barbie. Oh my God, a clock. I always wanted a clock. I got Barbies. Look at this. I love this. Oh, wow, there’s bad guys. There’s so much. Yes. I’m going to open the one that’s going to be for all of us. Huh, oh my gosh. Thank you, Mommy.

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Omar Salinas has Temporary Protected Status, which is granted to U.S. immigrants from countries crippled by disaster or war. The Trump administration has announced that it will end the program.CreditCredit...Photo by Isabel Castro

Nearly 200,000 people from El Salvador will have to leave the United States after living there legally for more than a decade, the U.S. government said.

It is the Trump administration’s most consequential reversal of immigration policies to date.

Meanwhile, President Trump’s approval ratings continue to defy economic growth. They are among the worst of any first-term president since modern polling began.

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Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

• Robert Mueller, above, the special counsel investigating possible collusion with Russia in the 2016 presidential election, is said to be seeking to interview the president. No formal request has been made and no date has been set.

We profiled the man behind the firm that compiled the notorious dossier of possible links between President Trump and Russia. His enemies are legion on both sides of the Russia divide.

And here’s our political reporter’s verdict on “Fire and Fury,” the book that caused an uproar in the White House: It’s plausible, but that doesn’t mean it’s all true. (We also collected reactions from across the political spectrum.)

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Credit...Official Iranian Presidential Website, via European Pressphoto Agency

• President Hassan Rouhani, center, of Iran lashed out at his hard-line opponents: “One cannot force one’s lifestyle on the future generations.”

Mr. Rouhani expressed understanding for protesters who had taken to the streets across the country, and he pledged that access to social media services would be restored.

Meanwhile, the country’s top nuclear official said Iran might rethink its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency if President Trump left the 2015 nuclear accord.

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Credit...Andrew Medichini/Associated Press

• Italy is hardly the first country to force its grocery vendors to switch from plastic bags to biodegradable and compostable ones.

But with national elections set for March 4, a new law that compels grocers to charge shoppers for the new bags immediately pushed all kinds of political buttons.

“We’re already taxed and harassed, and soon they’ll be charging for air,” a fruit and vegetable vendor in Rome said.

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Credit...Jason Lee/Reuters

• The tech backlash reaches Apple: Major investors are pushing the company to do more to protect young users from the negative effects of its technology. And in France, the company is said to face an inquiry over slow iPhones.

• H&M apologized for an online store image showing a black child in a sweatshirt that said “coolest monkey in the jungle.” It said the shirt would no longer be sold.

• In India, cash remains king, despite aggressive campaigns from electronic payment firms backed by Chinese and U.S. tech giants.

• Our reporter is in Las Vegas at CES, the consumer electronics show, to look for the latest tech innovations. (You can ask him questions here.)

Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

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Can the Olympics Bring the Koreas Together?

North Korea has agreed to send athletes to the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, but the Olympics have long been a window into geopolitics between the two sides.

Escalating brinkmanship, crippling sanctions, intercontinental missile testing — can the hair-trigger standoff between North and South Korea be defused by figure skating? The 2018 Winter Games will be hosted by North Korea’s mortal enemy about 40 miles from their border, in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Whether the regime ends up as a participant or a pariah, it will not be the first time the Olympics has been at the center of a geopolitical chess game. Despite a tiny economy and decades of international isolation, North Korea has produced an impressive slate of world-class athletes, and won dozens of Olympic medals, from judo to gymnastics, table tennis to wrestling. In the early 2000s, the two Koreas, still formally at war, actually marched together in the Olympic ceremonies. This year, even with the global crackdown on the regime, South Korea’s president and the International Olympic Committee have been repeatedly urging North Korea to attend the so-called games of peace. To fully understand the global push to get North Korea to compete, you need to rewind to the 1988 Olympics. Seoul was selected as the host city. To North Korea, it was not just a snub, but an affront to their national dignity. They demanded, with apparent support from China and the Soviet Union, that the International Olympic Committee allow the North to co-host and move some events across the border. There were two years of secret negotiations and threats. Ten months before the 1988 games, two agents of the regime placed a bomb on Korean Air Flight 858, killing more than 100 people. The bombers later said that the goal was to sabotage the Olympics by scaring off attendees. But the games went on as planned and were hailed as a historic success for the South. Meanwhile, North Korea, which carried out a feeble boycott after being abandoned by the Soviets and Chinese, was named a state sponsor of terror by the United States. What followed was years of international isolation, crippling hardship and famine, and aggressive nuclear ambitions. There have been periods of calm. The North occasionally sent teams to international competitions in the South. In 1991, the two Koreas actually united to play as a single team in youth soccer and table top tennis tournaments. But North Korea notoriously lashed out again when the South was hosting the World Cup in 2002. During the final set of matches, two boats from the North opened fire on a South Korean patrol ship, triggering a gun battle that killed and injured dozens of sailors on both sides. It was the last major international sports competition held in South Korea. Today, the threat posed by North Korea has been intensifying. But diplomacy has found a place on the playing field. There were the North and South gymnasts in Rio, the cross-border women’s hockey and soccer matches last spring, the tae kwon do exchange in June. And then there was a pair of figure skaters from North Korea, who, in September, won worldwide fans and qualified to compete in the Olympics, skating to a Beatles song. But it remains to be seen whether the games can offer a diplomatic off-ramp for the Korean standoff or even a brief reprieve for a whirl around the rink.

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North Korea has agreed to send athletes to the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, but the Olympics have long been a window into geopolitics between the two sides.

• North Korea agreed to participate in the Winter Olympics next month in the first direct talks with the South in more than two years. [The New York Times]

• In Britain, a cabinet reshuffle intended to show Prime Minister Theresa May’s newfound authority seemed to do the opposite. [The New York Times]

• Top European Union officials have urged member countries to fill the bloc’s budget gap after Britain’s departure. [Associated Press]

• Russia said that its main air and naval bases in Syria thwarted an attack by 13 armed drones. [The New York Times]

The U.S. Supreme Court reopened a death penalty case, giving an inmate in the state of Georgia a chance at a new trial because of a white juror’s racist statements. [The New York Times]

• As violence rises in Mexico, a handful of towns are quietly breaking from the state. Their experiments in quasi-independence have sometimes come at a terrible cost. [The New York Times]

• In South Africa, genetic fingerprinting methods used in the criminal justice system are now being used against wildlife poachers. [The New York Times]

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

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Credit...Peter Dasilva for The New York Times

• Recipe of the day: Make a loaf of classic zucchini bread for yourself, and another to share.

• Planning on getting organized this year? Try a paper planner, instead of apps.

• And don’t let a lack of self-awareness hold you back.

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The 52 Places Traveler: Meet the Applicants

Over 13,000 people applied for our first-of-its-kind job: someone who will go to every destination on this year’s 52 Places to Go list. Meet a few of them here.

Hi. Hello. Hi, guys. Good morning, 52 Places team. My name is Kimberly Ivany. Rachel Nuwer. Buzz Bissinger. Carmina Balaguer. Jennifer Neal. Talek Nantes. Jamie Lafferty. I’m Jada Yuan. Jordi from Barcelona. Sandra E. Garcia. I’m Scott. Snd I‘m Olivia. And I want to travel the world for The New York Times. I’m a chef and author. Professional adventure cartoonist. Filmmaker and cinematographer. I’m an investigative journalist. I’ve written several books, including “Friday Night Lights.” I have degrees in both medicine and public health. So what we’re proposing is a father-daughter traveling team. for your writer-at-large position. Welcome to Mount Tabor Park. We’ve arrived here at the little island, and it is paradise. We are here at Pelican Bay State Prison, working with them on business coaching. This is Buckstone Jump. Look at it! Isn’t it beautiful? And we’re going to go under. And Nick, how late are you staying open? We’re open until 8 o’clock. There’s a woman on the side of the road over there painting the landscape. Oh, we live in a beautiful place. It forces you to get outside and pay attention. Hey, New York Times. We‘re here in Toronto. Let’s tour Old Montreal. Let me give you a guided tour of how I got here. I want you to meet the coconut crab. And if I become The New York Times Travel writer-at-large, you can meet more awesome crabs like this, and have adventures with me, on the road. What could be a better, better experience? So, think about it. With us you get two for the price of one.

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Over 13,000 people applied for our first-of-its-kind job: someone who will go to every destination on this year’s 52 Places to Go list. Meet a few of them here.

• Over 13,000 people applied for our first-of-its-kind job: someone who will go to every destination on this year’s 52 Places to Go list. Meet a few of them here.

(Later this week you’ll meet the person who got the job and the full list.)

• Oprah Winfrey was the big winner at the Golden Globes, and her acceptance speech had many fans begging her to run for president in 2020.

• In the U.S. college football national championship, Alabama beat Georgia to win its fifth title in nine seasons. Here are highlights and analysis.

• A new 3-D videomicroscope gives surgeons “Superman eyes” and helps them perform and teach delicate brain operations.

• Amid the face-freezing misery in parts of Europe and the U.S., one phenomenon that is a staple of winter has drawn attention in the social-media era: the frozen pond rescue.

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Credit...Pantone Color Institute, via Associated Press

Welcome to the year of purple.

The Pantone Color Institute, which helps manufacturers select colors for designs, has been naming a color of the year since 2000 (It chose Greenery last year, and Rose Quartz — think millennial pink — shared the title with Serenity blue in 2016).

This year the shade is Ultra Violet. “We wanted to pick something that brings hope and an uplifting message,” the institute’s director, Leatrice Eiseman, told The Times.

In ancient times, purple dye was made from the mucus of sea snails in the Phoenician city of Tyre, in what is now Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast.

Because the color was difficult and expensive to produce, it became associated with power and royalty, from ancient Rome to the kingdoms of Europe. In the 1500s, Queen Elizabeth I decreed that only members of the royal family could wear the color.

In 1856, a British chemist, William Henry Perkin, made the color more accessible when he accidentally created a purple dye while trying to concoct a treatment for malaria.

More than 160 years later, a color that’s rare in nature is about to have its moment.

For more on the color purple, read on.

Valencia Prashad contributed reporting.

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This briefing was prepared for the European morning and is updated online. Browse past briefings here.

You can get the briefing delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday. We have four global editions, timed for the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia, and an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights. Check out our full range of free newsletters here.

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

Follow Patrick Boehler on Twitter: @mrbaopanrui.

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