Home United States USA — Political North Korea, Spain, N. B. A.: Your Friday Evening Briefing

North Korea, Spain, N. B. A.: Your Friday Evening Briefing

234
0
SHARE

Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.
Advertisement
Supported by
By Karen Zraick and Virginia Lozano
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)
Good evening. Here’s the latest.
1. The summit meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea is back on, and again scheduled for June 12 in Singapore.
Mr. Trump announced the date after a meeting with Kim Yong-chol, the top North Korean nuclear arms negotiator. The envoy was the first North Korean official to set foot in the White House since 2000.
But there are many roadblocks ahead. This week, the North’s state media rebuked Mr. Trump’s main strategy: dangling the promise of prosperity if North Korea agrees to denuclearize.
____
2. The latest jobs report was so good, we ran out of words to describe it. Above, a job fair in Atlanta.
The unemployment rate was 3.8 percent, down from 3.9 percent in April and the lowest since early 2000, during the heady days of the dot-com bubble. The stock market rallied in the wake of the news.
In an unusual departure from protocol, President Trump tweeted that he was “looking forward to seeing” the report an hour before its release.
____
3. Representative Jeff Denham, a Republican from California’s farm country, faces a crowded field of five Democrats and one other Republican in Tuesday’s election. (We explained the state’s “jungle primary” system here, and mapped out the races to watch .)
Mr. Denham is responding to his competition by pushing for a vote on a bill to protect the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers.
That could push the party into a politically risky election-year debate on immigration. Trying to avoid a showdown, Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House, has scheduled a meeting on immigration with rank-and-file members when they return to Washington next week.
“Yes, it’s risky,” Mr. Denham said. “But it’s the right thing to do.”
____
4. Come summer, more than a third of Puerto Rico’s schools will have locked their doors over the past two years. Above, students at the Hiram Gonzalez Elementary School in Bayamon, P. R.
Hurricane Maria exacerbated the island’s financial woes, and set off another wave of departures to the mainland, draining classrooms of students.
Teachers have taken to the streets to protest low pay and closings, and parents have organized to fight back.
More than 30 Democrats in Congress have asked the governor to declare a moratorium on school closings.
____
5. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain lost a no-confidence vote over a corruption scandal, amplifying political uncertainty in southern Europe.
Mr. Rajoy’s demise is the result of a long-building scandal that has tainted his conservative Popular Party and comes amid a territorial and constitutional crisis over Catalonia.
Pedro Sánchez, the leader of the main opposition Socialist Party, is set to replace Mr. Rajoy as prime minister as soon as this weekend.
____
6. In a brief but dramatic episode, zookeepers in Germany lost track of two lions, two tigers, a jaguar and a bear.
That prompted an all-hands search effort at the Eifel Zoo in Lünebach, by the police, the fire brigade and a team of veterinarians. Residents stayed indoors after a (mistaken) report by a local broadcaster said that the big cats may have escaped the zoo entirely.
A drone soon discovered all of the animals inside the zoo compound, but the bear was fatally shot during the operation.
____
7. Speaking of escapes, Vermont would like to offer you one.
On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Scott, signed into law a bill that will give people who move to Vermont from another state up to $10,000 to help ease the transition. Above, a quiet road in Fair Haven, Vt.
The initiative is part of a grant program designed to draw tech workers and revitalize the state’s aging work force. To qualify, you must be a full-time employee of a business based outside of Vermont, with the ability to work remotely.
The funds will be distributed on a first-come first-served basis, and $125,000 will be available in 2019.
____
8. LeBron James gave it everything he had, but the Golden State Warriors still walked away with a 124-114 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the N. B. A. finals on Thursday.
Each of the Warriors’ stars had their moments, but none could compare to the incredible performance by James, who had a personal-postseason-best 51 points in 48 minutes.
Game 2 is on Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern time. You can watch it on ABC, and we’ll have live coverage.
____
9. It’s almost summertime, and our Book Review has compiled a list of 73 books for your summer reading list. There are lots of categories, from thrillers to cooking to romance and more. Above, reading in New York’s Union Square.
The most endearingly eccentric offering of the collection might be “Pasta for Nightingales: A 17th-Century Handbook of Bird-Care and Folklore.” (Yale University, $22.50.)
Turns out that in 17th-century Italy, birds were considered a delicacy with medicinal benefits. The eggs and brains of the Italian sparrow, for example, were believed to be useful for “husbands who are cold and have little vigor.” And of course, there’s a recipe for grains of pasta to feed your captive singer.
____
10. Finally, this is your periodic reminder that it’s not all bad news out there.
Here’s The Week in Good News. Our subjects include the Malian immigrant who saved a child dangling from a balcony in Paris, celebrities who are helping to erase the stigma of acne, and how Mosul is coming back to life now that the Islamic State has been driven out. Above, a graduation party there.
Have a great weekend.
____
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern.
And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing. Sign up here to get it by email in the Australian, Asian, European or American morning.
Want to catch up on past briefings? You can browse them here .
What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.

Continue reading...