Your Friday Evening Briefing

May 8, 2020

Your Friday Evening Briefing

By Remy Tumin, Penn Bullock and Marcus Payadue

Good evening. Here’s the latest.

The New York Times

1. The monthly jobs report from April was wholesale devastation.

The U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7 percent and 20.5 million jobs were lost — the worst month for American workers at least since the Great Depression and possibly in the history of the nation. For comparison, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in February, a half-century low.

Every major sector cut jobs in April, with far-reaching impact from the service industry to white-collar jobs. Health care took a particularly hard hit as Americans were discouraged from using the health system.

Some experts hold out hope that the crisis will recede as swiftly as it arrived. Nearly 80 percent of the unemployed said they had been temporarily laid off and expected to return to their jobs in the coming months. But the broad nature of the cuts means it will take longer for the labor market to recover.

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Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times

2. President Trump praised Attorney General Bill Barr’s decision to drop criminal charges against his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

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In a nearly hourlong interview on Fox News, Mr. Trump, pictured in the White House today, delivered his most extensive and aggrieved remarks on the Russia investigation since the coronavirus swept the nation. The pandemic came up about 20 minutes into the interview.

Mr. Flynn had pleaded guilty twice to lying to the F.B.I. about his communications with Russia. The Justice Department’s abandonment of the case is the latest step in a pattern of dismantling the work of the special counsel Robert Mueller. A former prosecutor likened it to eating the department from the inside out.

Sean Rayford/Getty Images

3. There were more developments in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery.

Officials said that a graphic video of the shooting had been “a very important piece” of evidence in moving forward with criminal charges. “It was extremely upsetting,” one official said. “On a human level, it’s troubling.”

A local defense lawyer said he was the one to publicly release the explosive video this week. Here’s the latest.

On Thursday, the Georgia police arrested a white father and son and charged them with murdering Mr. Arbery, an unarmed black man who was pursued as he was out running. Community members in Brunswick, Ga., above, welcomed the arrests but said they had taken too long.

Mr. Arbery would have turned 26 today. To commemorate his birthday — and mark the date of his death, Feb. 23 — supporters are going for 2.23-mile runs.

Ian Langsdon/EPA, via Shutterstock

4. A single round of social distancing isn’t enough. Our reporter suggests picturing the pandemic as a wave that keeps going. Above, a train station in Paris prepared for distancing measures.

Three scenarios in a Minnesota study agree that more peaks lie ahead, with hot spots popping up over the next 18 to 24 months. And whatever effect the warmth of summer has on the coronavirus, it won’t be enough to safely drop social restrictions.

Distribution of remdesivir, the only drug so far shown to be effective at speeding recovery, has frustrated doctors, favoring hospitals with little need while besieged hospitals have been denied. But an at-home saliva test, developed by Rutgers University and now approved by the F.D.A., has the potential to expand virus screening.

One persistent mystery about the virus remains: how it affects the lungs.

Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

5. Coronavirus around the world.

The Mexican government is not reporting hundreds, possibly thousands, of virus deaths in Mexico City, according to officials and confidential data. Above, coffins of Covid-19 victims at a cemetery there.

Even as authorities in Mexico City press the federal government to release the true numbers, the government is promoting dubious epidemiological models.

And India, while battling its own epidemic, is organizing a vast effort to bring home millions of citizens scattered from Chicago to Kuwait.

Orlando Sierra/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

6. Does “America First” leave the country lagging?

Critics say the U.S. has stepped back from the global response just as it is needed most, giving room for China to fill some of the void.

The Trump administration has pledged $900 million in aid to disadvantaged countries for responding to the coronavirus, but it has also frozen funding for the World Health Organization while sitting out a global meeting on the search for a vaccine.

Mr. Trump’s vow of “America First” has also left the trade relationship with China increasingly unstable, and assurances that an initial phase of a trade deal was moving ahead were dampened by Mr. Trump in his Fox News interview.

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

7. May 8, 1945.

Seventy-five years ago today, Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allies, ending World War II in Europe. While the anniversary was more subdued than originally planned, including a canceled victory parade in Moscow, some poignant rituals went ahead.

Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron of France laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier (and made sure to use hand sanitizer), Queen Elizabeth II addressed the U.K., and veterans like Bernard Morgan, 96, above in England, participated in moments of silence.

Our interactive takes you back to V-E Day, which stands for Victory in Europe.

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC, via Getty Images

8. The Ultimate Fighting Championship is coming back this weekend, the biggest sporting event to take place in the U.S. in almost two months.

But if it were up to Dana White, its bellicose president, he never would have stopped staging mixed martial arts fights, coronavirus pandemic be damned. The fights this weekend demonstrate his unquenchable desire to rule the sports world, but also emphasize some of the liabilities of his hard-charging style.

Our basketball columnist also took a trip down memory lane to when the New York Knicks were … good. Good enough to win a championship that still matters to the city, 50 years later.

Andrea Pirrello/Hulu

9. For your viewing pleasure.

“The Great,” a new Hulu comedy, takes a farcical and fictionalized approach to the life of Catherine the Great, the famed Russian empress. It’s louche, vaguely ridiculous and created by Tony McNamara, who also co-wrote “The Favourite.”

And if laughter is indeed the best medicine, five new comedy specials can remind you of the old normal. The featured comedians, including Jerry Seinfeld, developed much of their material before the quarantine. Their bits can lighten your mood in unexpected ways, our comedy critic writes.

Wesley Allsbrook

10. And finally, cheers to Mom.

Sunday is Mother’s Day, and in honor of the annual celebration of all-things-motherhood, we asked 16 women to write about the messy, glorious, complicated story of identity and having children. Nikole Hannah-Jones, Amber Tamblyn, Jennifer Weiner and more tackle a range of topics — fear, joy, body issues, temper — associated with being a mother.

If you’re looking for a movie to watch with Mom this weekend, these unorthodox matriarchs may be just what we need right now.

Mother’s Day or not, we hope you treat yourself well this weekend.

Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern.

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