Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

Trump, 'Roseanne', Arkady Babchenko | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, May 30, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Wednesday Evening Briefing]( By KAREN ZRAICK AND DAVID SCULL Good evening. Here’s the latest. Erin Schaff for The New York Times 1. Federal regulators unveiled a sweeping plan [to soften the Volcker Rule]( opening the door for big banks to resume trading activities that were restricted under the 2010 Dodd-Frank law. Jerome Powell, the Fed chairman, above, said it would streamline “overly complex and inefficient requirements.” The changes would give big banks the freedom to engage in more complicated — and possibly riskier — trading. Consumer advocates and other financial watchdogs say that they would allow a return to the Wild West days on Wall Street. ____ Tom Brenner/The New York Times 2. President Trump weighed in [on the cancellation of “Roseanne”]( sort of. Referencing an apology from the parent company of ABC, Mr. Trump noted that he hadn’t gotten his own “for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC.” Ms. Barr wrote that she was [“ambien tweeting” when she used a racist slur]( against Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser to President Obama. Ambien’s maker, Sanofi U.S., hit back: “Racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.” Mr. Trump also tweeted, in reaction to a CBS interview with a congressman, that [he wished he had chosen another lawyer to be his attorney general]( instead of Jeff Sessions. (The president was angered when Mr. Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation last year.) Above, Mr. Trump in Nashville on Tuesday. ____ Tony Gentile/Reuters 3. Italy is confronting a political crisis, one that could mean big trouble for the world economy. Our economics columnist [lays out the stakes]( Italy is the fourth-largest economy in Europe and has one of the largest piles of public debt in the world. A crisis there could endanger banks and investment portfolios everywhere. In Rome, [Italy’s populist parties continued their efforts]( to form a government. Above, Matteo Salvini, the leader of the League party. ____ Minh Uong/The New York Times 4. Google’s work for the Defense Department has touched off an existential crisis at the company. It recently won a share of the contract for the Maven program, which [uses artificial intelligence to interpret video images]( and could be used for drone strikes. By reviewing emails and documents and interviewing about a dozen insiders at Google, our reporters got a detailed picture of how the news fractured its work force, fueling heated staff meetings and prompting employees with moral objections to resign. Executives now face this dilemma: Proceeding with defense contracts could drive away brainy experts in artificial intelligence; rejecting such work would deprive the company of a potentially huge business. ____ Delil Souleiman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 5. The ground offensive to wipe out [the last pockets of Islamic State militants in eastern Syria]( is gaining momentum. Kurdish commanders who had left the front lines to battle Turkish troops in the north have returned. They’re working again with their allies in the American-led military coalition to hunt down the few hundred fighters who remain. (The insurgents are quickly moving underground.) We’re up to Chapter 7 in our new podcast, “Caliphate,” in which the reporter Rukmini Callimachi takes listeners inside the Islamic State and its fall in Mosul. [Listen here.]( ____ Kassie Bracken/The New York Times 6. It’s the hunger season in South Sudan. More than four years of civil war have obliterated the economy and overrun the most productive land, and food scarcity between harvest seasons is intensifying. Within months, millions of people potentially face acute malnutrition. [Our team went to South Sudan]( to document the extent of hunger. They met Tafisa Nyattie, above, who lives in a refugee camp and often runs out of food rations for her children. Juba, the capital, still has food, but the price for even a single plate of bean stew is astronomical. ____ Loren Elliott for The New York Times 7. Researchers say the May 18 attack on a school in Santa Fe, Tex., is the latest example of a copycat shooting [inspired by the 1999 attack on Columbine High School in Colorado.]( The gunman, a 17-year-old junior, wore a black trench coat and fired a sawed-off shotgun, the same attire and weapon used by the Columbine assailants. In dark corners of the internet, the massacre is studied and celebrated, inspiring more attacks. Santa Fe High School reopened to students this week. We texted with a sophomore [who described the day](. “It was tough being there,” he wrote. ____ Efrem Lukatsky/Associated Press 8. Arkady Babchenko, a dissident Russian journalist, was reportedly assassinated in Kiev, Ukraine, on Tuesday. But on Wednesday, he held a news conference, saying that [the killing was staged as part of an elaborate sting operation](. (He’s in the center in the photo above.) Mr. Babchenko and Ukrainian security officials said that a contract had been put on his life and that the only way to track down those responsible was to make it seem as if it had happened. The Ukrainian authorities accused Russian security services of ordering the killing. ____ Singapore Airlines 9. Eighteen hours and 45 minutes: That’s how long it’ll take to get from Singapore to Newark — the [world’s longest commercial flight]( — starting in October. Singapore Airlines will fly the Airbus A350-900 U.L.R., or ultra long range, on the route daily. (Above, a rendering.) The plane is made of a carbon fiber that is lighter than the aluminum of traditional jets. The flights will have 161 seats — 67 in lie-flat business class and 94 in premium economy. No word yet on ticket prices. ____ Patrick Harbron/FX 10. Finally, everyone is sure someone is going to die in Wednesday night’s series finale of “The Americans,” on FX at 10 p.m. Eastern. But who? Hundreds of readers have shared their predictions, which range from the simple — an-eye-for-an-eye justice — to the fittingly byzantine. [Read them here]( and stay tuned for our recap after the show. Above, Keri Russell, who plays Elizabeth. 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). ADVERTISEMENT Sponsor a Subscription Inspire a future generation of readers by contributing to The New York Times [sponsor-a-subscription program](. For every subscription granted through contributions to this program, The Times will provide a digital subscription to one additional student. FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Get more NYTimes.com newsletters » | Sign Up for the [Morning Briefing newsletter »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Evening Briefing newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2018 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018