Your Friday Evening Briefing

China, Russia, Cardi B | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, April 6, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Friday Evening Briefing]( By KAREN ZRAICK AND SANDRA STEVENSON Good evening. Here’s the latest. Lucas Jackson/Reuters 1. Rising tensions between China and the U.S. [pummeled stocks]( as investors began to take seriously the risk of a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. The latest U.S. [jobs report]( didn’t help matters — it showed that job growth slowed in March. Our correspondent in Shanghai says there’s a fundamental question at the heart of the dispute: Which country is more willing [to endure short-term pain for the long-term gain]( of playing a leading role in high-tech industries? ____ Pool photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko 2. The White House imposed new [sanctions on seven of Russia’s richest oligarchs]( — and 17 top government officials. It’s the latest effort to punish the inner circle of President Vladimir Putin, above, for interference in the 2016 election and other alleged misdeeds. And [Facebook announced]( that it would require political advertisers to verify their identities. The rule is meant to prevent foreign interference in domestic politics, like the paid posts by Russian “trolls” ahead of the 2016 election. ____ Doug Mills/The New York Times 3. John Kelly, above, President Trump’s chief of staff, [urged him last week to fire Scott Pruitt]( the E.P.A. leader mired in ethics questions. But Mr. Trump has resisted doing so. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said that Mr. Pruitt’s success in achieving items on the president’s agenda — including rolling back a large number of environmental regulations — may weigh heavily as a counterbalance to [allegations that he misused taxpayer dollars](. “He likes the work product,” she said of Mr. Trump. ____ Loren Elliott/Reuters 4. “We’re doing it for the kids.” That was a Salvadoran woman we interviewed [in the Texas border city of McAllen]( explaining why she had crossed the Rio Grande on an inflatable mattress with her two sons. She said she was fleeing the threat of gang violence. Above, other migrants detained by Border Patrol agents near McAllen. Some locals questioned President Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard to the border. They said there was no security crisis, only the daily challenge of meeting the basic needs of migrants who arrive. ____ Jim Wilson/The New York Times 5. The Trump administration is also cracking down on H-1B visas, which allow skilled workers to enter the U.S. It plans to rescind a program that allowed spouses of those visa holders to work. That would force [thousands of Indian women]( — many of them highly educated and with sought-after skills — to leave their jobs. (The majority of H1-B visas go to Indian nationals. [Here’s how the visas work.]( “We were happily working and feeling settled down with the life we wanted,” said Deepika Jalakam, above with her parents and daughter. “Suddenly, this announcement came and there is instability.” ____ Ahn Young-Joon/Associated Press 6. Park Geun-hye, South Korea’s impeached and ousted president, [was sentenced to 24 years in prison]( on charges of bribery, coercion and abuse of power. The corruption scandal exposed the deep ties between the country’s government and huge businesses like Samsung. Ms. Park did not appear in court. Her supporters, mostly elderly South Koreans, have insisted on her innocence, and hundreds of them protested outside the courthouse, above. ____ Khalil Hamra/Associated Press 7. Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers [faced off along the Gaza border]( for the second Friday in a row. The demonstrations were smaller than last week’s, with a lower death toll: The Gaza Health Ministry said at least nine Palestinians had been killed, and hundreds wounded. The protests are aimed at Israel’s blockade of Gaza, which began after Hamas seized control in 2007. Our reporters say the demonstrators have already achieved a crucial aim: changing the international conversation to one in which Gaza is portrayed as a prison, with Israel as the jailer. ____ Forensic Architecture 8. Can architecture help protect human rights? A firm called Forensic Architecture, based in London, is using tools of the trade [to investigate violence and armed conflict]( around the world. A survey of their work is now on view at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, and our architecture critic says it’s changing the definition of the profession. Above, a rendering of the 2014 Israel-Gaza war. ____ Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times 9. Cecil Taylor, the jazz pianist who defied the genre’s orthodoxy and became one of its most original improvisers, [has died at 89](. He was a supreme example of an uncompromising artist, arguing — mainly through his work, but in principled and prickly interviews as well — against reductive definitions of what a musician of his training and background could or should do. “What I am doing,” he once explained, “is creating a language. A different American language.” ____ Jeff Jones/HGTV 10. Finally, as the hit show [“Fixer Upper” ends]( HGTV is looking for some new power couples. Or couples who use power tools, at least. Above, Joanna and Chip Gaines, who became stars on the series. On the late-night shows, [Jimmy Fallon said]( he didn’t have high hopes for President Trump’s trip to Peru for the Summit of the Americas next week: “When he saw it on his schedule, Trump was like, ‘Wait, there’s more than one America? What is this?’” On Monday night, Mr. Fallon will have a co-host for the first time: [The rapper Cardi B]( who just released her first album, “Invasion of Privacy.” 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.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](. 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