Your Thursday Evening Briefing

White House, Syria, Myanmar | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, February 1, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Thursday Evening Briefing]( By KAREN ZRAICK AND SANDRA STEVENSON Good evening. Here’s the latest. J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press 1. That Republican memo that’s roiling Washington? It could become public as early as Friday. [President Trump cleared the way]( for the release of the memo, which is said to criticize the F.B.I.’s actions in obtaining a warrant to spy on Mr. Trump’s campaign adviser Carter Page, above. That puts the ball in the House Intelligence Committee’s court. The uproar has everything to do with the [special counsel’s investigation into Russia’s role]( in the presidential election. We discuss it on [today’s episode of “The Daily.”]( Speaking of which, “The Daily” celebrated its first birthday. It’s been a smash hit. [Here’s the back story on it](. ____ Tom Brenner/The New York Times 2. The White House is also trying to turn up the pressure on Democrats [to bargain on protections for the young, undocumented immigrants]( known as Dreamers. In a speech at a Republican retreat in West Virginia, above, Mr. Trump criticized Democrats for not applauding at his State of the Union address. Earlier, [he boasted — incorrectly]( — that the address drew the highest number of viewers in the speech’s history. He was off by millions (and his address ranks ninth). Optimist, salesman, bully: We looked at the [wildly diverse roles Mr. Trump has assumed]( during his first year in office. ____ Mauricio Lima for The New York Times 3. Our international correspondent at large is no stranger to war zones. He and a photographer went to the [front lines near Manbij, Syria, where rival militias]( — some backed by Turkey, others by the U.S. — are facing off. The possibility of a military conflict between two NATO allies is unprecedented — but, after years of deteriorating relations, not unthinkable. ____ Mulugeta Ayene/Associated Press 4. Across the world, autocratic leaders are engaging in increasingly brazen behavior — [rigging votes, muzzling the press and persecuting opponents](. The global tide is being driven by a bewildering range of factors, among them surging populism, waves of migration crises, economic inequality and the disappearance of rebukes from the U.S. In Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, above at an African Union meeting this week, is running practically unopposed for another term. Potential rivals in the presidential race, scheduled for March, have been sidelined, jailed or threatened with prosecution. ____ Adam Dean for The New York Times 5. “Who wouldn’t do the same to feed a family?” That was our correspondent covering the Rohingya crisis, describing how [some Rohingya refugees fabricate tales of suffering]( to compete for relief supplies. The false narratives, while understandable, can buttress Myanmar’s denials of ethnic cleansing. Some are offered by children, who may simply be repeating tales of horror that they’ve heard. But the Muslim minority’s collective suffering is all too real. Nearly 700,000 have been driven out of Myanmar in recent months by [a military campaign of murder, rape and other atrocities](. ____ Woohae Cho/Getty Images 6. The Winter Games open in South Korea next week under a shadow that rivals any in Olympic history: the threat of nuclear war. Security is already ultratight: The [South mobilized tens of thousands of security personnel]( including 50,000 soldiers, to protect the 100,000 spectators expected to converge each day on Pyeongchang, just 50 miles from North Korea. Even the arrival of Pyongyang’s athletes hasn’t convinced everyone. “North Korea will cause trouble one way or another,” said one analyst. ____ Alessandra Montalto/The New York Times 7. The new book [“Rise and Kill First,” by the journalist Ronen Bergman]( is an exceptional blend of history and investigative reporting. The 750-page tome reveals new details about targeted killing by the Israeli intelligence services. [Here’s an excerpt](. “Bergman never loses sight of the ethical questions that arise when a state, founded as a refuge for a stateless people who were targets of a genocide, decides it needs to kill in order to survive,” our critic writes. ____ United Artists 8. In honor of Black History Month, our top movie critics compiled a list of 28 essential films that help tell [the complex story of black filmmaking in America](. Above from left, Tony Curtis, Cara Williams and Sidney Poitier in “The Defiant Ones.” Thursday would have been [Langston Hughes’s 116th birthday](. Our Op-Ed writer recalls how much his poems meant to her as a child — and asks why she was assigned only his poems about dreams, not demands, in school. ____ Tony Cenicola/The New York Times 9. The comedians Phoebe Robinson, left, and Jessica Williams are not only best friends, they’re also longtime collaborators who have turned their repartee into a hit podcast, “2 Dope Queens.” We caught up with them ahead of the release of their new four-episode HBO series, which makes its debut on Friday, with appearances by their stand-up comedy pals and celebrity guests like Jon Stewart and Sarah Jessica Parker. ____ Marineland 10. Finally, meet the killer whales who talk back. Wikie and her calf Moana, above, [can mimic human sounds]( like “Amy,” “bye-bye” and a very rude raspberry. [Listen to Wikie say hello](. They were part of a new study that illustrates the deep importance of social learning for orcas — and contributes to the case against keeping them in captivity. Have a great night. ____ 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.com](mailto:briefing@nytimes.com?subject=Evening%20Briefing%20Feedback). LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. ADVERTISEMENT Sponsor a Subscription Inspire the future generation of readers by contributing to The Times’s [sponsor-a-subscription program](. 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