Your Friday Evening Briefing

Donald Trump, Jobs, International Women’s Day View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Friday, March 8, 2019 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Friday Evening Briefing]( By MELINA DELKIC, REMY TUMIN AND ELIJAH WALKER Good evening. Here’s the latest. Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press 1. President Trump visited Alabama in the wake of destructive tornadoes there. “You saw things that you wouldn’t believe,” [he told reporters in a neighborhood gravely damaged]( on Sunday by the storm outbreak, which left at least 23 people dead. He also visited a church serving as the hub of a volunteer relief effort, where he signed Bibles, pictured above. Back in Washington, his administration lost two advisers. Bill Shine, the White House communications director and former Fox News executive, [resigned]( and will work for President Trump’s re-election campaign. The Air Force secretary, Heather Wilson, said she would resign to become president at the University of Texas at El Paso. She is [one of the highest-ranking women]( at the Pentagon. The president tweeted about both resignations, which he said were amicable, as well as Michael Cohen. He asserted [that his former lawyer asked him directly for a pardon]( and was denied, which contradicts Mr. Cohen’s testimony. _____ Andree Kehn/Sun Journal, via Associated Press 2. A weak monthly jobs report [clouded the economic picture](. Just 20,000 new U.S. jobs were added — a small fraction of the 175,000 that analysts had expected. It was the weakest jobs report since September 2017. Still, [wage growth and jobless figures are promising signs](. Some saw the jobs news as a fluke, and others a troubling omen. Above, a worker in Lewiston, Me., helps to weatherproof a home. The report may have been tinged with aftereffects from the government shutdown. And one possibility is that the economy, which has added 20 million jobs during a decades-long expansion, is close to exhausting the supply of workers. _____ Mark Zaleski/Associated Press 3. The U.S. women’s soccer team sued U.S. Soccer, accusing it of “institutionalized gender discrimination,” [just three months before the Women’s World Cup](. The discrimination, the athletes said, affects not only their paychecks but also where they play and how often, how they train, the medical treatment and coaching they receive, and even how they travel to matches. Above, the team at a tournament last week. It was a sudden and significant escalation of their yearslong fight over pay equity and working conditions. The team, which includes some of the world’s most famous female athletes, has been a leading force in women’s sports for more than a generation. _____ Daniel Brenner for The New York Times 4. Immigration check-ins used to be routine. Now, for families across the country, the dinner before the appointment has turned into a grim ritual, where they are unsure if it will be the last meal they share together. Nearly a million people in the United States have received deportation orders but have managed to stay anyway, having their deportations postponed at regular check-ins with immigration officials. That rhythm changed when the Trump administration said it would expand deportation priorities to include anyone who had crossed the border illegally. [We visited with one family in Denver]( above, as they gathered the night before a check-in. We also have a story about a mother and daughter who were seeking asylum in the U.S. from Honduras — [they both have H.I.V., but only one was allowed entry](. _____ Meridith Kohut for The New York Times 5. Venezuela ground to a halt on the second day of an unprecedented nationwide power blackout. [President Nicolás Maduro accused the United States of orchestrating it](. A failure at the Guri hydropower plant, a militarized zone protected by soldiers, caused the blackout. The government canceled classes, and banks, government buildings and most businesses were closed. Hospitals used generators and focused on their most vulnerable patients. Above, a bakery in Caracas without power. Analysts and contractors said the power plant failure was a result of years of mismanagement and corruption. And Elliott Abrams, the Trump administration’s special representative for Venezuela, denied any U.S. involvement. _____ Dave Chan/Getty Images 6. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made feminism a central part of his government and brand in Canada. But after two female cabinet ministers quit, some women are questioning that commitment. The growing distrust comes in the wake of a weekslong political crisis in which a former attorney general resigned from the cabinet and accused Mr. Trudeau’s team of pressuring her to negotiate a settlement in a corruption case. [Some wonder whether his alleged bullying conflicts with his progressive legacy](. “You can’t just add women and stir,” a professor of women’s and gender studies said. _____ Lazarus Jean-Baptiste/CBS NEWS, via Associated Press 7. “I worried that if I got up, that would say to him, this is over.” Gayle King kept her calm as the R&B singer R. Kelly screamed and pounded his chest during her interview with him, the first after he was charged with sexually abusing four women, three of whom were underage. “CBS This Morning” began airing clips of the interview this week; tonight CBS will air a prime-time special that includes new footage. So how did she keep her cool? [We asked Ms. King what it was like to be on the other side of that interview](. _____ Tony Cenicola/The New York Times 8. The Trump administration may [slow the pace of a light bulb revolution]( in American homes, and energy efficiency advocates are worried. Last month, the Department of Energy said it would roll back a regulation doubling the number of light bulbs subject to energy-efficiency requirements. And industry groups have been pushing back on efficiency requirements that would go into effect next year. Both the Bush and Obama administrations pushed these standards, leading to a sharp decline in electricity use in American households. Many Americans would recognize the curly, efficient bulbs this push brought into homes. These last longer than inefficient bulbs and use less power. _____ [Rear Adm. Wendi Bryan Carpenter, retired, Navy, 1977-2011,
As some have said, if we put on our flight boots, we were often becoming a “first” at something. I was the first female Navy pilot to instruct in the T-44 Pegasus trainer for the advanced maritime prop pipeline. I was one of the first female instructors in the EC-130 aircraft for “Take Charge and Move Out” squadrons. I was also among the first mission commanders and maintenance check pilots. I was among the first female aviation assignment officers. I was the first female naval aviator to be promoted to the rank of one-star and then two-star admiral in the Navy. I was the first woman to command the Navy’s Warfare Development Command.]via Wendi Bryan Carpenter 9. Happy International Women’s Day. To honor the day, 40 women shared their stories about life in the military — their [accomplishments, challenges and unforgettable moments](. Women made up 16 percent of the active-duty military as of 2017. As Rear Adm. Wendi Bryan Carpenter, above, put it: “If we put on our flight boots, we were often becoming a ‘first’ at something.” From Opinion, Kristen Ghodsee, a professor of Russian and East European studies at the University of Pennsylvania, offers a history of the holiday’s [roots in socialism and labor movements]( through a personal lens. And in today’s [In Her Words newsletter]( our writer focuses on Sweden, where parents get 480 days of parental leave, new pronouns encourage gender-neutrality and feminist foreign policy takes center stage. _____ Charles El Mir/Johns Hopkins University 10. Finally, a stellar discovery about [the resilience of asteroids](. Asteroids, when colliding with other objects, have cores with gravitational pulls that may pull back ejected shards. It seems that they not only absorb mind-boggling amounts of damage, but they are also able to rebuild themselves, according to a new study, as well as previous research. Above, a simulation of an asteroid after a collision. NASA suggests giving the space rocks a gentle nudge to change their trajectory. Have a starry night. Remember to set your clocks forward an hour on Sunday, and look forward to more daylight! _____ 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](. NEED HELP? Review our [newsletter help page]( or [contact us]( for assistance. ADVERTISEMENT 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 2019 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018