Your Friday Evening Briefing |
Good evening. Here’s the latest. |
 | | Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press |
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1. The postmaster general told lawmakers that the largest vote-by-mail push in American history would be delivered “fully and on time.” |
But he was unable to offer many specifics about how the Postal Service would ensure on-time delivery of ballots, and said that a plan was still being drafted. |
And worries about the integrity of the November election have reached social media companies: Facebook is laying out contingency plans in case Mr. Trump tries to delegitimize election results, including a political ad “kill switch.” |
 | | Erin Schaff/The New York Times |
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2. After nearly five decades in national politics, Joe Biden met his moment. |
Mr. Biden formally accepted his party’s nomination with one of the most forceful speeches of his career, our politics reporter Katie Glueck writes. The address capped four nights of a virtual Democratic convention that showcased a party unified around Mr. Biden and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris. |
Mr. Biden offered a new image for the next four years, our TV critic writes: Goodbye Uncle Joe, “hello, father of the nation.” |
 | | Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters |
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3. Europe is bracing for a new phase of the pandemic. |
In recent days, France, Germany and Italy have experienced their highest daily case counts of the coronavirus since the spring. Spain is also in the midst of a major outbreak. Fears are growing that the end of summer travel season will bring a new wave of infections. Above, Rome this week. |
Worried that citizens would not tolerate more draconian measures, European leaders have largely avoided imposing widespread lockdowns, opting instead for a localized strategy that relies on measures like targeted movement restrictions and increased mask requirements. |
Back in the U.S., outbreaks at universities are forcing last-minute changes, leaving students scrambling. Large outbreaks at Notre Dame drove it to suspend in-person classes, as a student newspaper criticized the university in a front-page editorial with a stark headline: “Don’t make us write obituaries.” |
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 | | Max Whittaker for The New York Times |
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4. The wildfires in Northern California are spreading, almost completely uncontained. Five people have died. Above, Pope Valley. |
The fires have forced more than 60,000 people out of their homes and burned across more than 771,000 acres. The rising smoke has spread as far away as Nebraska. Many evacuees have struggled to find a place to go, especially with the pandemic still limiting indoor gatherings. Here’s the latest. |
The blazes were ignited during an extraordinary period of nearly 12,000 lighting strikes over several days, which caused about 560 fires. What is it about California that makes wildfires so catastrophic? There are four key ingredients. |
 | | Joseph Rushmore for The New York Times |
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5. An uneasy pause has settled over America’s economic recovery. |
To make matters worse, enhanced unemployment benefits and a small-business loan program expired, with no hint of an agreement between the White House and Congress over a new relief package. As a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School put it: “We built half a bridge, and we didn’t bother to finish it.” |
 | | Brian Snyder/Reuters |
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6. A federal judge sentenced the actress Lori Loughlin to two months in prison for her role in the 2019 college admissions scandal. Her husband was sentenced to five months. |
The couple, pictured last year, had pleaded guilty to conspiring to pass their daughters off as rowers so they could be admitted to the University of Southern California. Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton of the District of Massachusetts said their privileged life made their crime all the more blameworthy. |
No school was more deeply embroiled in the 2019 admissions scandal than U.S.C., where a former top athletics official was among those indicted. This week, the university said it had discovered roughly a dozen students a year, dating to 2012, who had been admitted as recruited athletes but ultimately did not play on a team. |
 | | Dimitar Dilkoff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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7. Russian doctors cleared the transfer of the Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny to Germany to treat a suspected poisoning. Moscow had initially blocked the trip. |
The decision came after a German medical team examined the prominent opposition leader at a Siberian hospital and decided it was safe for him to travel. Mr. Navalny fell violently ill on Thursday on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow. |
Since Mr. Navalny’s arrival at the hospital in Omsk, above, his family and associates have been bitterly critical of the authorities, who refused to release detailed information on his condition, denied that he was poisoned and contended that he was too unstable medically for travel. |
 | | Todd Heisler/The New York Times |
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8. A crowded bar, the roar of fans at a ballgame, the bustle of a subway. |
The sounds of a pre-pandemic New York are hard to imagine today. But the echoes of city life that are unsettling are also reassuring, reminding us of the New York that will hopefully return. |
Our photographer and reporter used audio produced by the New York Public Library and Mother New York to explore the contrast of then and now. Turn up your volume for this one. |
“Where else can you pause just about anywhere,” writes Dan Barry, “and have a front-row view to the tragicomedy of life forever unfolding on a pavement stage?” |
 | | September Dawn Bottoms/The New York Times |
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9. If you’ve ever read the wildly popular novels by Elena Ferrante, you’ve come across the translation work of Ann Goldstein. |
The self-effacing translator worked with the “My Brilliant Friend” author again for her latest book, “The Lying Life of Adults,” out next month. “I don’t think it’s necessary to have an affinity for the writer,” Ms. Goldstein said, “but with Ferrante, I do.” |
 | | Lucy Jones |
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10. And finally, a quest for digital cool. |
There are so few ways to express yourself when you’re Goldman Sachs. Sure, you have money and power, but how do you let the masses know what it’s like to really be you, the bank, beyond spreadsheets and jargon? You design a font, of course. |
The bank wanted something so legible that it could be read from a phone screen to a billboard. All the numbers needed to line up perfectly in a financial table. The result is Goldman Sans, a typeface the bank describes as “approachable without being whimsical” and “natural, with a wink.” |
Have an expressive weekend. |
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. |
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