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Article snippet: (Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: • The French chef Jérôme Brochot, above, is giving back his Michelin star — because he can’t afford it and neither can his declining old mining town in Burgundy. It is a drastic step that says everything about the crushing reality of “the other France” — the provinces where many old jobs have gone and more storefronts are vacant. In 2017, France embraced a new president, grappled with sexual harassment and achieved the distinction of having the most expensive home in the world. Our Paris bureau chief takes stock of a tumultuous year. _____ • The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is increasingly going global: It now has an estimated 2,000 employees deployed to more than 70 countries. The expansion has created tensions with some European countries who say the U.S. is trying to export its immigration laws to their territory, but other allies have welcomed the assistance in curbing terrorist attacks, drug shipments and human trafficking. (Above, U.S. agents assisting in the breakup of a Nigerian criminal ring in South Africa.) _____ • The Egyptian authorities hanged 15 men for a 2013 attack in the Sinai Peninsula. Rights activists and Islamists said that the latest mass execution could drive more young Egyptians into the arms of the Islamic State. Despite the military’s scorched-earth approach to militants in Sinai — including summary executions and the destructio... Link to the full article to read more