Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

Saudi Journalist, Midterms, DNA | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, October 17, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Wednesday Evening Briefing]( By JEAN RUTTER AND MARCUS PAYADUE Good evening. Here’s the latest. Huseyin Aldemir/Reuters 1. Gruesome details of Jamal Khashoggi’s death were described by a senior Turkish official. Brace yourself. [According to the official’s account]( of audio recordings, killers were waiting for the dissident Saudi journalist inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago. They severed his fingers during an interrogation. Then they beheaded and dismembered him. The new account came as [Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Turkey](. It increases pressure on Saudi Arabia and the U.S. to explain Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance. Our reporting shows that some of the men Turkey has named as suspects have [direct links to the Saudi crown prince]( Mohammed bin Salman. And [our Interpreter column]( examines why Mr. Khashoggi’s case has drawn the world’s attention, when the thousands of deaths in the Saudi-led war in Yemen have not. _____ John Raoux/Associated Press 2. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, now a candidate in a tight Senate race, is discovering the complexities of campaigning while wealthy. He and his wife, above, together have reported a net worth of as much as $510 million, and that could make him the richest member of Congress if he’s elected. To shield himself from accusations of conflicts of interest, he created a [$73.8 million investment account]( that he called a blind trust after he was elected governor. But our reporters discovered numerous ways for Governor Scott to have knowledge about his holdings. And his enormous wealth also underlines a growing trend: candidates spending their own money on their campaigns. The Florida Senate race is one of the country’s [most expensive](. _____ Geoff Robins/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 3. People gathered in Toronto to watch a “bud drop” at the stroke of midnight, signifying the legalization of marijuana across Canada. It’s a first for a major world economy, and the new laws [are likely to have profound effects](. Above, Toronto. “It’s an octopus with many tentacles,” one official said, “and there are many unknowns.” Legalization is fueling a multibillion-dollar industry, and [companies are rushing to cash in](. Want to know more about Canada’s new rules? [We have a helpful Q. and A.]( _____ The New York Times 4. DNA is complicated. Scientists who study the human genome have been dismayed to find [their research misinterpreted and distorted]( by groups with racist agendas. They worry about how new tools allowing them to home in on the genetic basis of traits like intelligence will be misconstrued to fit racist ideologies, or misused to fuel arguments over school achievement gaps, immigration and policing. Scientists need to be more aware of the racial lens through which some of their findings are being filtered, one researcher said, and do a better job of pointing out how they can be twisted. _____ Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times 5. Nobody wants to think about being seriously ill, much less what the medical bills might look like. Deductibles. Co-payments. Treatments that aren’t covered. Lost work. Those fears are well-founded, according to a [survey of nearly 1,500 seriously ill people](. Even with health insurance, more than a third of the respondents had to spend all or most of their savings while they were sick. And most did not have a clear picture of what their insurance was supposed to cover. “What’s staggering here is there’s no way people could know what they would be in for,” said a researcher behind the survey. _____ Americans are also wrestling with school loans. Tens of thousands of borrowers have applied for [federal education loan forgiveness]( for people in public service jobs — but most have been rejected and no balances have been wiped out, our personal finance columnist writes. _____ Rahmat Gul/Associated Press 6. Fear and despair [are gripping Afghans]( after 17 years of war and unending political crises. Bombings seem inevitable. Sectarian divisions are deeper. Casualties fighting the Taliban have become unsustainable. A parliamentary election will be held on Saturday, but at least a third of the country’s polling stations will not be open because of the war. Officials acknowledge the only hope is a political reconciliation through peace talks — but there’s no indication the Taliban will accept a version of Afghanistan that maintains any tenets of democracy, including elections or hard-earned rights for women. One Afghan poet reflected on his country’s hopelessness: “Every time something bad happened, I would turn to poetry — it would give me calm,” he said. “It’s been seven months that I can’t write. It no longer gives me calm.” _____ Jim McAuley for The New York Times 7. “A trustworthy press is the immune system of democracy.” [Craig Newmark]( above, the founder of Craigslist, has often been accused of hobbling the newspaper industry by draining away billions of dollars in classified ad revenue. In what some call a reversal, he’s now on a media giving spree. Mr. Newmark’s most recent gift — $2.5 million — went to New York Public Radio to expand its newsroom. And since June he has given $50 million to journalism education, a new investigative journalism site and other ventures, all in New York City. _____  8. The world’s largest organism is shrinking. Pando is a forest of one: a grove of some 47,000 quivering aspen trees in Utah, all connected by a single root system — and all with the same DNA. Above, Pando’s fall foliage. Now, it’s fighting a losing battle, nibbled by hungry mule deer and cattle and threatened by human encroachment. “It’s been thriving for thousands of years, and now it’s coming apart on our watch,” said one scientist. And in the latest installation of [our Climate Fwd: newsletter]( our climate team explains how droughts and heat might imperil the supply of “luxury essentials” — namely beer. And the team makes a case that taking the bus to school is good for the environment. _____ Gambol Photography 9. Pets in tuxedos and chiffon are becoming increasingly common at weddings, as couples look to [include their furry friends]( in the ceremony. “He has this big, broad-shouldered look,” said one bride, the owner of an English bulldog, above. “I thought he would look really cute in a tuxedo.” We’re collecting photos of pets that walked down the aisle in fancy attire. [Share yours here](. _____ Compass International Pictures 10. Finally, does evil ever die? Just before the release of an updated “Halloween,” we [took a fresh look at the 1978 original]( — a founding father of the slasher film genre. Above, Jamie Lee Curtiss as Laurie Strode. Some reviews at the time were dismissive of the simple plot revolving around a serial killer stalking scantily clad women. But part of the reason “Halloween” has aged so well, our critic writes, is that it “wastes little time on character development, plot, theme or any other elements extraneous to the critical business of sending shudders down your spine.” To see what we mean, [just watch the trailer]( — if you dare. Have a good evening. 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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