Your Thursday Evening Briefing

North Carolina, Roger Stone, Jussie Smollett View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, February 21, 2019 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Thursday Evening Briefing]( By REMY TUMIN AND DEBBIE BONDULIC Good evening. Here’s the latest. Doug Mills/The New York Times 1. An end may be in sight: The special counsel Robert Mueller is expected to deliver a report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election [within weeks](. The new attorney general, William Barr, will then have to decide how much of it to make public. In[an Op-Ed]( essay, the acting solicitor general under President Barack Obama argues that the report will most likely act as a “road map” for more investigations, rather than be the beginning of their end. Separately, Roger Stone, a Republican operative who is under indictment in the special counsel’s investigation, is [now under a gag order]( after posting a picture on Instagram of a judge with cross hairs in the corner. _____ Pool photo by Travis Long 2. The North Carolina election authorities ordered a new election after the Republican House candidate, Mark Harris, whose campaign has been accused of fraud called for a new vote. Above, Mr. Harris testified before the state board of elections today. It was a stunning collapse of Republican efforts to prevail in the final unsettled House race of last year’s midterms. The announcement [followed days of testimony]( in which other witnesses depicted Mr. Harris’s campaign operation as rife with misconduct, including the illegal collection and completion of absentee ballots. _____ Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press 3. “We hear the cry of the little ones.” That was Pope Francis at start of a historic four-day conference at the Vatican, with his moral authority in question and his papal legacy in the balance. Before 190 church leaders, he called for [“concrete and effective measures” to address clerical sexual abuse]( — an issue that in some parts of the world has eroded trust in the Roman Catholic Church while being ignored and denied in others. Abuse survivors and their advocates pictured above are in Rome to push for a universal policy of zero tolerance. But Vatican officials say legal and cultural barriers make that [virtually impossible](. _____ Kate Warren for The New York Times 4. China is collecting genetic material as [part of its vast campaign of oppression of Muslim minority groups](. Critics say the DNA could be used to track and chase down whoever resists conforming. Under the guise of free medical checkups in the western region of Xinjiang, where much of the population is Uighur, the government collected DNA samples, images of irises and other personal data of tens of millions of people, including the man pictured above. In some cases, people were told the checkups were mandatory. To help them build out the DNA database, China used equipment from a U.S. company, Thermo Fisher, and also got material from a prominent Yale geneticist. _____ Kamil Krzaczynski/Associated Press 5. The actor Jussie Smollett was arrested and charged with a felony. His bail was set at $100,000. The Chicago police said the “Empire” star, [upset by his salary and seeking publicity]( staged the attack he reported on Jan. 29 as an anti-gay, racist hate crime by Trump supporters. Above, Mr. Smollett after his release from Cook County jail. The city’s visibly angry police superintendent said Mr. Smollett had taken advantage of the pain and anger of racism, draining resources that could have been used to investigate real crimes. [Here’s a timeline of how the case unfolded](. _____ Federico Rios Escobar for The New York Times 6. The floundering economy under Mr. Maduro’s rule has forced an estimated [three million people to leave Venezuela]( — largely on foot. Above, Venezuelan migrants arriving in Colombia this month. Ahead of a showdown over aid between President Nicolás Maduro and the opposition on Saturday, the country’s former intelligence chief turned against Mr. Maduro. In an interview with The Times, [Hugo Carvajal called him a dictator]( with a corrupt inner circle and urged the military to break with him. Mr. Maduro has ordered Venezuela’s [border with Brazil]( closed and blocked air and sea traffic with three Caribbean islands to keep out the aid. “How is it that having the power to allow the entry of international humanitarian aid to our country to save lives, you would decide not to?” Mr. Carvajal said in a statement. “Would you be so inhuman? So hypnotized?” _____ Associated Press 7. The torture and lynching of Emmett Till is remembered as one of the most hideous hate crimes of the 20th century, one that changed the course of civil rights. Now a debate is swirling over what to do with a building central to the case: the crumbling Mississippi candy store where the 14-year-old was accused of having whistled at a white woman behind the counter. Some local residents see it as a stain on their community. Others believe it should be restored as a tribute. Using immersive video technology, [we visited the store and people at the center of the debate](. Separately, two senators running for president, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, have [come out in support of reparations to address the legacy of slavery and discrimination]( reflecting a shift in the importance of race and identity issues in the Democratic Party. _____ Matthew Pillsbury for The New York Times 8. What does the future of work look like? This week, [The New York Times Magazine]( tackles the question, examining the discontents of the corporate elite, a new labor movement, women’s stalled advancement in the workplace, and co-working companies. Above, a WeWork in Paris. One argument: The real product sold by WeWork, recently valued at $47 billion, “is [‘office culture’ as a service.”]( _____ James Richard Geer for The New York Times 9. Nigella Lawson was never just a domestic goddess. Her celebrity, especially in Britain and Australia, borders royalty in its breadth and intensity. But she is also the home cook, the anti-expert, the person who cooks for pleasure rather than ego, making her appeal to the masses all that much more approachable. It has been 20 years since Ms. Lawson’s book “How to Eat” debuted. In an interview, [she looks back at her career and the international stardom]( — and scrutiny — that came with it. _____ Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times 10. Finally, may we interest you in some plague water? Historians and craft liquor companies are [collaborating to bring back recipes]( that began as medicines and ended up in punches and cocktails. A Minneapolis distillery, working off medieval texts, will soon begin serving an alcoholic concoction of angelica root, gentian, rose buds, above, and about a dozen other herbs once used to ward off disease. The “plague water” has an earthy, herbal flavor. “I thought, ‘Plague water, how could that possibly taste good?’” one distiller said. “But in fact it tastes like the base for chartreuse.” Stay hydrated tonight. _____ 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](. For questions, email sponsor@nytimes.com or call [1-844-698-2677](. 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