Your Friday Evening Briefing

Jobs, Tariffs, Syria | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, August 3, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Friday Evening Briefing]( By JOUMANA KHATIB AND MARCUS PAYADUE Good evening. Here’s the latest. Dustin Chambers for The New York Times 1. Good news for employment in the U.S. — especially for the least-educated workers. The country [added 157,000 jobs in July]( continuing a strong hiring streak. The figure was slightly below what economists expected, and unemployment fell to 3.9 percent from 4.0. But the unemployment rate for workers without a high school diploma fell to 5.1 percent — its lowest since the government began collecting that data, in 1992. _____ Adam Dean for The New York Times 2. China raised the stakes of President Trump’s trade war, [threatening to tax]( an additional $60 billion worth of goods. Above, a Chinese cargo ship. The move follows another escalation from Mr. Trump: On Wednesday, he told his administration to consider [increasing the rate of tariffs]( on Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent. And in the U.S., manufacturers facing a shortage in skilled workers are getting creative in their effort to [lure rural workers](. _____ Al Drago for The New York Times 3. “They can make anything bad because they are the fake, fake disgusting news.” That was President Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Thursday. He went to endorse Lou Barletta, a candidate for senator, but ended up using much of the event to [repeat his usual criticism]( of the news media and Washington press corps. We [fact-checked the 15 false claims]( Mr. Trump made during the rally, on everything from immigration to Beyoncé. _____ NASA 4. Meet the next astronauts to launch from U.S. soil — [a first since 2011](. The flights — on commercial spacecraft made by Boeing and SpaceX to and from the International Space Station — are slated begin next year, NASA said. (A Government Accountability Office report published last month raised alarms that the project is running behind schedule, and could miss key deadlines.) But the crew members are understandably excited: As one put it: “The opportunity to fly in a new vehicle is any test pilot and astronaut’s dream.” _____ Nati Harnik/Associated Press 5. In Nebraska, the [fight over the death penalty]( is taking on new urgency. The first execution there in 21 years is planned for this month. But on the heels of Pope Francis’ condemnation of capital punishment, opponents are clamoring to delay the execution. Gov. Pete Ricketts, above, a supporter of the death penalty who has said in the past that his views on the subject are compatible with those of Catholicism, appeared unswayed. “While I respect the pope’s perspective, capital punishment remains the will of the people and the law of the state of Nebraska.” _____ Adam Dean for The New York Times 6. The Rohingya are returning to Myanmar — at least [according to the government](. Last year, 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled the country in an exodus that the U.S. and other countries condemned as ethnic cleansing. Dozens of the Rohingya have now been repatriated, officials say. But that’s not what our correspondent found. _____ Jeenah Moon for The New York Times 7. Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer argued to dismiss the rape charges against him, saying emails one of his accusers sent after the alleged attack [suggest their relationship was “both consensual and intimate.”]( The emails could pose a hurdle for prosecutors, as the defense team may use them to cast doubt on the accuser’s credibility. In one, she wrote, “I love you, always do. But hate feeling like a booty call. :).” Mr. Weinstein is also charged with physically forcing two other women to engage in oral sex with him, one in his TriBeCa office in 2004 and a second at his apartment in 2006. _____ Ivor Prickett for The New York Times 8. For millennia, the Euphrates River has given life to Syria’s dry east. Today, it’s the collision point for the international powers fighting for influence there. Our reporters [traveled along the ancient waterway]( and found a hostile front, separating warring sides as the river moves from north to south. _____ Ella Kelly 9. Finally, this is your periodic reminder that it’s not all bad news out there. Here’s the [Week in Good News]( featuring a campaign to help refugees get to know the U.S., an Icelandic music festival that’s addressing the gender gap in its performers; and a promising development for the endangered quoll, above. Have a wonderful 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](. ADVERTISEMENT Sponsor a Subscription Inspire the future generation of readers by contributing to The Times’s [sponsor-a-subscription program](. 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