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, April 12, 2017 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Wednesday Evening Briefing]( By KAREN ZRAICK AND SANDRA STEVENSON Good evening. Here’s the latest. U.S. State Department, via European Pressphoto Agency 1. President Vladimir Putin of Russia sat down with [Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the Kremlin]( for two hours, despite days of escalating acrimony over Syria. President Trump’s shifts on [Russia have created geopolitical whiplash](. In the latest, he [criticized Mr. Putin for supporting the Syrian president](. “Putin is backing a person that’s truly an evil person, and I think it’s very bad for Russia,” Mr. Trump said. “I think it’s very bad for mankind, it’s very bad for this world.” _____ Al Drago/The New York Times 2. [Stephen Bannon]( President Trump’s chief strategist, appears to be in a nosedive after repeated run-ins with Jared Kushner, the president’s adviser and son-in-law. Mr. Trump undercut Mr. Bannon, above, in a TV interview and played down his role in winning the election. It’s unclear how much longer he can survive in his job. Today [on The Daily podcast]( we discuss Mr. Bannon’s career prospects. _____ Stephen Crowley/The New York Times 3. [Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary,]( tried to recover from a whopping gaffe: favorably comparing Syria’s president to Hitler, then saying the Nazi leader hadn’t used chemical weapons on his people and seeming to refer to death camps as “Holocaust centers.” The remarks were “inexcusable and reprehensible,” Mr. Spicer said, and the timing — during [Passover]( — “compounds that kind of mistake.” _____ Louis Nastro/Reuters 4. It seems that everyone has criticized United Airlines. Last night was [Jimmy Kimmel’s turn](. And our tech writer, who is normally pretty enthusiastic about the role of technology, says [Silicon Valley bears some blame]( for the sorry state of commercial aviation in America. “What we are witnessing,” he writes, “is the basest, ugliest form of tech-abetted, bottom-seeking capitalism — one concerned with prices and profits above all else.” _____ Al Drago/The New York Times 5. They’re the ultimate Washington status symbol: the wire-wearing, black S.U.V.-driving protective crews for high-level government officials. Just who gets them is hard to ascertain — the arrangements are secretive by design. But after it came to light that [Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, had a security detail]( that costs as much as $1 million a month, we drew on public records, news accounts and interviews to sketch out the government’s pecking order. _____ Frederick Florin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 6. The European Court of Human Rights ruled against a law that [requires transgender people to be sterilized]( before they can change their gender on government documents. The law is on the books in 22 countries — including Belgium, Finland and Switzerland. The court can’t force them to change it, but, as one expert said, “we can expect that in the majority of countries where this issue comes up, this ruling will be respected as the new precedent.” _____ Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times 7. Is this China’s fountain of youth? As the population ages, [longevity-themed tourism is booming in China](. One of the most popular sites is Bama County in southern China, where many residents live exceptionally long lives. Visitors have descended on the area, which until recently was quite poor, to breathe the clean air, drink “longevity water” and seek out cures like snake and scorpion secretions. If a trip to Bama is not in the cards, there are other options: A new study found that [an hour of running may add seven]( hours to your life. _____ Aaron Borton for The New York Times 8. Carnivorous cooks preparing for Easter this Sunday face a fundamental question: lamb or ham? Ham’s the more common choice nationwide, but that’s changing. And in the future, you may not have to choose at all. Two Virginia business owners have revived a Colonial-era preserving method to create [the lamb ham](. And if you’re looking for [recipes for the rest of Passover]( we’ve got you covered. _____ Jack Davison for The New York Times 9. Lorde, the New Zealand-born pop prodigy, is back. Four years after her universally lauded debut album, “Pure Heroine,” [Lorde is releasing “Melodrama,”]( a testimonial to heartbreak and solitude. _____ Michael Conroy/Associated Press 10. Finally, a fond farewell. [David Letterman’s mom, Dorothy Mengering]( was 95. Her appearances on “Late Night,” like reading the “Top 10 Things Found in Dave’s Mom’s Refrigerator,” brought a sweetness and warmth that softened Mr. Letterman’s acerbic sensibility. _____ 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? Here’s [last night’s briefing](. 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). 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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