Your Thursday Evening Briefing

Shutdown, Syria, Opioids | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, December 20, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Thursday Evening Briefing]( By JEAN RUTTER AND MARCUS PAYADUE Good evening. Here’s the latest. Doug Mills/The New York Times 1. A deal to avert a U.S. government shutdown was teetering after President Trump, above, told House Republican leaders [he would not sign a stopgap spending bill]( to keep funds flowing past midnight Friday if it did not include border-wall funding. A House Republican leader told reporters that Republicans would try to add $5 billion in funding for the wall to the bill, along with disaster relief money to lure Democratic support. But Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, said any wall funding would be an automatic “nonstarter.” The chaos in Washington [helped send stock prices lower](. And here’s what to expect [if the government does shut down](. Separately, Mr. Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William Barr, [criticized the investigation by the special counsel]( Robert Mueller, in a memo to top Justice Department officials in June. And a department official said that Matthew Whitaker, the acting attorney general, would not be recusing himself from the Mueller investigation. _____ Rodi Said/Reuters 2. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned after his last-minute attempt to convince Mr. Trump to keep troops in Syria was rebuffed, officials said Earlier, Mr. Trump [defended the withdrawal]( from bipartisan criticism, not least for leaving Syria open territory for the geopolitical ambitions of Russia and Iran. And President Vladimir Putin welcomed the move, [calling it “the right decision.”]( Above, schoolchildren walking past a U.S. patrol in Hasakah, Syria. [America’s Kurdish allies]( in Syria discussed releasing 3,200 Islamic State prisoners in response. And [analysts called]( the decision an abandonment of key allies and a boon for ISIS. _____ Caitlin Ochs for The New York Times 3. Planned Parenthood is facing accusations of discriminating against pregnant workers. The organization has been accused of sidelining, ousting or otherwise handicapping pregnant employees, [according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees](. A spokeswoman said the organization was investigating the allegations we reported. The accusations are a sign that discrimination against pregnant women and new mothers [remains widespread in the workplace]( — even in organizations that define themselves as champions of women. Above, in Manhattan. In some cases, managers were accused of considering pregnancy in hiring decisions, for example, or denying rest breaks recommended by a doctor. Some women said they were afraid to announce a pregnancy at work, sensing they would be seen as abandoning their colleagues. _____ Zach Lieberman and Leslye Davis of The New York Times 4. Why do people misuse opioids? And why can’t many stop? Overdoses have passed car crashes and gun violence to become the leading cause of death for Americans under 55. Some people are more susceptible to addiction than others. But no one is immune. Through interviews with drug users and addiction experts, our journalists created[a visual representation, above, of how these powerful drugs can hijack the brain]( from temptation and tolerance to relapse and recovery. Separately, a bipartisan criminal justice bill that appears poised to become law could reduce the sentences of some federal inmates. We spoke to a man serving a life sentence for selling crack cocaine [that could be reduced to less time than he has already served](. _____ Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA, via Shutterstock 5. Drones shut down Gatwick Airport in London. Flights at Britain’s second-largest airport [were halted for nearly 24 hours]( at the peak of the holiday season after two drones were spotted flying nearby. Passengers were diverted to airports as far away as Paris. Above, the ticketing area. The police used Twitter to ask for the public’s help finding whoever was flying the drones, which they described as “of industrial specification.” One expert said their flight path “very much points to this being planned and not just some rogue hobbyist.” _____ Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press 6. Uber’s driverless cars are back on the road —[with two drivers apiece](. After one of its cars killed a pedestrian this year in Arizona, the company grounded its autonomous fleet for nine months. As it eases back into testing the vehicles, they will operate on a limited loop in Pittsburgh, above. Each will have two drivers ready to take over, and no passengers will ride in the cars. Tests will be limited to 25 miles an hour and cars will operate only during daylight. “We will continue to prioritize safety,” an Uber spokesman said. _____ Doug Mills/The New York Times 7. Missy Franklin is making a graceful exit. With Olympic gold medals and a world record, she was a swimming superstar. She was also candid about her struggles with anxiety, depression and disordered eating. Franklin, 23, above, announced her retirement in a letter posted on ESPN’s website this week. “I choose to look at this as a new beginning,” she wrote. Tributes poured in, but many of them sounded like eulogies. Our sports reporter, a former swimmer herself, explains [why she thinks fans’ sorrow is misguided](. _____ Disney Enterprises 8. Hakuna Matata™? It’s a phrase meaning “no worries” in Swahili, a language spoken across much of Africa. Disney’s “The Lion King” popularized it 20 years ago — and the company then claimed it as intellectual property. (It was the catchphrase of Timon and Pumbaa, shown above with Simba.) Now 100,000 people, angry about cultural appropriation, have signed an online petition [asking Disney to drop its trademark](. “The term ‘Hakuna Matata’ is not a Disney creation,” the petition notes, “hence not an infringement on intellectual or creative property, but an assault on the Swahili people and Africa as a whole.” Trademark experts said the issue had been blown out of proportion. The trademark does not mean that the company actually owns the phrase or that it can ban anyone from using it. _____ BigHit Entertainment 9. Think of it as Pop 2.0. For the first time in decades, our music critic writes, the playbook for pop success has been updated, profoundly reshaping the sound of America. It used to be that “going pop” implied an artistic compromise. But thanks to digital streaming, formerly niche genres — K-pop, Latin trap, melodic hip-hop and more — have become the center of the conversation. Above, the K-pop giant BTS. [The new breakthrough artists often work with a common grammar]( even though they emerge from different scenes. They both rap and sing. Their moods are melancholic, rarely ecstatic. Some are casually bilingual, other take in musical ideas from around the globe. And they are, by and large, extremely gifted at self-presentation on social media — they learned to invent themselves online as much as in a studio. _____ Cade Collins; Ash Furrow/500px Plus, via Getty Images (dog) 10. Finally, could someone get the lights? Children immersed in the digital world [are using PowerPoint presentations]( to lobby their parents for puppies, Pumas or whatever else is on their wish lists. Two siblings even made the case for splurging on a family vacation home. “With a PowerPoint it was a little bit more impactful because they could see the amount of effort and work I put into it instead of just my usual begging,” said one girl who tried — unsuccessfully — to persuade her parents to buy her a horse. Have a compelling 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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