Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

Your nightly rundown of the day's top stories delivered straight to your inbox. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, February 8, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Wednesday Evening Briefing]( By KAREN ZRAICK AND SANDRA STEVENSON Good evening. Here’s the latest. Shawn Thew/European Pressphoto Agency 1. The Senate is expected to vote tonight [to confirm Senator Jeff Sessions]( as attorney general. Mr. Sessions brings a sharply conservative bent to the Justice Department and its 113,000 employees. A former prosecutor, he promises a focus aligned with President Trump on tough enforcement of immigration, drugs and gun laws. The Republicans’ [silencing of Senator Elizabeth Warren]( for airing Coretta Scott King’s criticism of Mr. Sessions from decades ago appeared to only [amplify her message](. _____ Doug Mills/The New York Times 2. Mr. Trump lashed out at a three-judge federal appeals panel that appeared [skeptical of his order banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries](. He called the hearing “disgraceful” and hinted that the judges were politically motivated. His nominee for the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, called the president’s attack on the independent judiciary “demoralizing” and “disheartening.” The president also attacked Nordstrom, one of several [retailers that have pulled away from his daughter Ivanka](. The Daily: In today’s podcast, we listen in on the travel ban litigation and revisit the words of the novelist and essayist James {NAME}. Listen [here]( if you’re on a computer, [here]( if you have an iOS device or [here]( for an Android device. _____ Damon Winter/The New York Times 3. It’s love, interrupted. For couples trying to navigate America’s immigration system, the president’s executive order has [thrown relationships into turmoil](. Jehan Mouhsen, above, is pregnant and waiting in New York for her husband, a Syrian doctor who played a crucial role vaccinating more than a million children in his country as polio was on the rise. He’s stuck in Turkey. “I’ve been arrested, and I’ve been tortured and everything,” he said by phone. “But my wife, she doesn’t have to suffer this.” _____ Khaled Abdullah/Reuters 4. Two important developments in counterterrorism news: The White House is finishing an executive order for the [Pentagon to bring future Islamic State detainees to Guantánamo Bay]( prison, according to administration officials and a draft order obtained by The Times. And [Yemen has withdrawn permission]( for U.S. Special Operations ground missions in its country amid outrage over civilian casualties in a commando raid, the first authorized by Mr. Trump. _____ Bryan Denton for The New York Times 5. We visited five cities along the U.S.-Mexico border, where many are anxious about [what a new wall might mean](. An 18-year-old in Nogales, Mexico, suggested that Mr. Trump could take an even larger role in the construction. “This guy is supposed to be a billionaire, right?” he asked. “Why the hell can’t he pay for it himself, then?” Above, the existing wall in Tijuana. _____ Sergei Brovko/Reuters 6. A Russian judge [convicted the opposition politician Aleksei Navalny]( above left, on fraud charges, increasing the likelihood of President Vladimir Putin’s election to a fourth term next year. Mr. Navalny promised to appeal, writing on Twitter: “Putin and his gang of thieves are afraid to face us in elections. Rightly so: We will win.” _____ Andrew Jacobs/The New York Times 7. In East Africa, there are celebrations for a new railway line from Djibouti to Ethiopia that showcases China’s effort to extend its influence on the continent with aid and expertise. Not everyone is comfortable with [China’s vision for Africa]( but there’s a lot to embrace. In tiny Djibouti, that means $14 billion worth of projects, including three ports, two airports, a water pipeline and jobs for thousands of local workers. _____ William J. Smith/Associated Press 8. “If ever I can find some healing and some comfort — it has to be with somebody who is not part of all my world of past and pain. I can find that now — if the world will let us.” That’s from a set of [newly discovered letters from Jacqueline Kennedy]( explaining to a British suitor why she had broken his heart and married Aristotle Onassis. The letters, to be auctioned next month in London, point to the depth of feeling behind the public mask of one of the most celebrated women of her time. _____ Andy Kropa/Invision, via Associated Press 9. It’s New York Fashion Week, and there’s one big change from years past: [less star power](. Celebrities used to be able to command thousands of dollars — some up to $1 million — to show up in a front-row seat. But with money tight, designers are cutting back. And some argue that the scene has played out, and the famous and glamorous are simply no longer interested. “The shows are not cool anymore,” said one fashion writer. “The novelty is gone.” _____ Atlanta History Center 10. Finally, a question. What do you do with a decaying 130-year-old [work of art, mythmaking and Civil War history]( that is longer than a football field, more than 40 feet tall and urgently in need of a new home? Atlanta’s answer: Save it. Thanks to $35 million raised by philanthropists, “The Battle of Atlanta,” one of the largest oil paintings in the world, will be painstakingly restored. _____ Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing [this version of the briefing]( should help. Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a.m. Sundays. Want to look back? 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