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Europe Edition

Putin, Britain, World Cup: Your Monday Briefing

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Good morning. President Trump and President Vladimir Putin are set to meet this afternoon. Today, let’s start with a tight focus on what’s at stake:

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Credit...Felipe Trueba/EPA, via Shutterstock

• President Trump will meet with President Vladimir Putin of Russia today in Helsinki, Finland, the culmination of a weeklong trip marked by a series of breaks with traditional diplomacy.

Mr. Putin has long wanted this meeting, and when the two leaders sit down, he will already have accomplished virtually everything he could reasonably hope for.

“If Trump says, ‘Let bygones be bygones because we have a world to run,’ that is essentially what Moscow needs from this,” one analyst said.

Our team of reporters is following every angle in real time. Check our live briefing for the latest.

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Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

On the eve of the Putin meeting, Mr. Trump told CBS that he considered the E.U. a trade “foe,” days after a contentious NATO summit meeting. He also refrained from condemning Moscow for its assault on the 2016 election, despite the indictments announced on Friday of 12 Russian intelligence officers on charges of hacking Democratic Party organizations.

The indictment of the Russian operatives provides never-before-seen detail about the central role of the online avatar Guccifer 2.0 in the dissemination of stolen Democratic documents.

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Credit...Ben Stansall/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

• British investigators believe the same military unit used to disrupt the 2016 U.S. presidential election may also be responsible for the nerve agent attack in Britain against a former Russian spy in March.

The attack was probably carried out by current or former agents of the service, known as the G.R.U., officials said. British investigators are closing in on identifying the individuals they believe poisoned the former spy, Sergei V. Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia.

But officials have not ruled out the possibility that another Russian intelligence agency, or privatized spinoff, could be responsible.

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Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

• “He told me I should sue the E.U.”

Prime Minister Theresa May revealed the advice President Trump had given her on how to negotiate Britain’s withdrawal from the E.U.: Go straight to court.

In her comments to the BBC, Mrs. May appeared to be pushing back against Mr. Trump, who had criticized her for ignoring his suggestion.

Twitter had a field day during Mr. Trump’s visit to Britain, including when the president momentarily seemed to (gasp!) walk in front of Queen Elizabeth II. And a paraglider was arrested after unfurling a banner that read “Trump Well Below Par” over his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.

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Credit...Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Champions du monde!

With a potent mix of greatness, grit and good fortune, France ended an enthralling run by Croatia, 4-2, to claim its first World Cup title in 20 years.

This was a victory that France deserved, our columnist writes, having played the tournament with a cool head and unleashing all of the emotion only at the very end, as millions of fans poured into the streets. In the low-income Paris suburbs that many of the players call home, immigrants celebrated a moment of national unity.

As the outcome echoes around the world, we have to ask: Was Russia 2018 the greatest of all World Cups?

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The curious case of the $2,630.52 used paperback: Some Amazon booksellers are charging sky-high prices, leaving authors perplexed — and annoyed.

Sir Alan Parker, one of Britain’s most famous corporate strategists, resigned this spring from Save the Children U.K. over his handling of a #MeToo scandal. Our reporter examines how a three-year-old sexual harassment matter quickly spiraled into a fiasco.

The European Council is slated to sign a trade agreement with Japan, and the European authorities are expected to hit Google with a multibillion-dollar antitrust fine. Here are the headlines to watch for this week.

Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

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Credit...Ryan Christopher Jones for The New York Times

No touching, no nicknames, no sharing food. Those are the rules for thousands of migrant children held in U.S. detention centers as they await reunification with their families after crossing the border with Mexico. Above, Yoselyn Bulux, 15, originally from Guatemala, was separated from her mother at the border. [The New York Times]

Documents obtained by the Israeli government through a covert operation indicate that the Iranian nuclear weapons program was larger and more sophisticated than once suspected. [The New York Times]

An Irish photographer’s drone captured signs, exposed by drought conditions in the soil, of a 5,000-year-old monument in a field north of Dublin. [The New York Times]

Haiti’s prime minister resigned over his handling of a plan to raise fuel prices that set off a wave of deadly protests. [The New York Times]

Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service saved nearly 500 people over the weekend as they tried to cross a narrow stretch of the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa. [Associated Press]

Tips for a more fulfilling life.

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Credit...Kyle Dorosz for The New York Times

Here are some tips on how to start knitting.

How to make the most of Amazon Prime Day.

Recipe of the day: A delightful summer ratatouille with farro and feta will ease the Monday blues.

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Credit...Andrew Testa for The New York Times

Cambridge, the English university town, is home to about 120 cattle. The urban herds have become another emblem of the city’s distinction. “Seeing a cow gives a kind of rural feeling, the momentary illusion of being out in the country,” a librarian said.

A group of Muslim women in Zanzibar were told not to play soccer. Instead, they formed a team. Their resistance to criticism has brought them together into what they say feels like the beginning of a movement.

What happens when you lose the key to a temple with millions of dollars’ worth of gold? Our reporters went to the Jagganath Temple in India, where a missing key to a treasure vault set off a scandal that has shaken Hindus’ trust.

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Credit...Associated Press

President Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia are meeting today in Finland, a country with its own complicated relationship to Russia.

Finland was taken over by the Russian Empire in 1809 after being part of Sweden for almost 700 years. It gained independence in 1917 (the country celebrated its 100th anniversary last December with a national coffee break and patriotic karaoke).

Peace with the newly established Soviet Union did not last, with the two countries fighting two conflicts during World War II. The first was a Soviet invasion called the Winter War, which was fought in temperatures exceeding minus 40. (That conflict inspired The Times to write about the Finnish cultural trait of sisu, calling it a “special kind of strong will.”)

Finland battled the Soviet Union again from 1941 to 1944. Above, Finnish troops in 1941.

As a neutral party in the Cold War, Finland hosted numerous meetings between U.S. and Soviet leaders. But it was careful not to risk its sovereignty by antagonizing its powerful neighbor, a policy Western scholars called “Finlandization.”

Today, Finland and Russia are major trade partners and share a 24/7 military hotline. But Finland still has mandatory military service for men, partly to defend its 833-mile border with Russia. Last year, it increased the size of its military, citing Russian aggression.

Jennifer Jett wrote today’s Back Story.

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