Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Friday. |
 | | By Ella Koeze/Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics |
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1. U.S. employment grew, but Delta could set back the gains. |
Still, most experts think unemployment will keep falling as the labor market recovers the ground lost in the pandemic. The new monthly numbers show job growth not seen in recoveries from the previous three recessions. Our economics correspondent says the clearest message from the July numbers is that the economy is healing. |
 | | A community Covid-19 vaccination and testing site in San Francisco's Mission District.Mike Kai Chen for The New York Times |
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2. The F.D.A. is rushing to authorize extra doses of the coronavirus vaccine for Americans with weakened immune systems. The move is expected this month. |
The change reflects a growing concern within the Biden administration about vulnerable groups amid the surge of the Delta variant. The authorization would mean that people with impaired immune responses who need an extra shot, such as certain cancer patients, would be able to get one legally rather than seeking shots on their own, as many now do. |
 | | A community-run soup kitchen near East London, South Africa, in May.Joao Silva/The New York Times |
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3. An estimated 270 million people worldwide could face life-threatening hunger this year, compared with 150 million before the pandemic. |
For years, global hunger has steadily increased as poor countries confront conflict, extreme poverty and climate change. But over the past two years, economic shocks from the pandemic have accelerated the crisis. The number of people now on the brink of famine jumped to 41 million from 34 million last year, according to the U.N. World Food Program. |
The situation is particularly bleak in Africa, where new infections have surged. |
 | | Gov. Andrew Cuomo has spent most of his time in the Executive Mansion in Albany this week. Cindy Schultz for The New York Times |
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4. A woman who accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of groping her last year has filed a criminal complaint. |
The complaint from the woman, an executive assistant whose name has not been publicized, raises the possibility that Cuomo may face criminal charges related to his behavior, though charges, let alone a conviction, are not guaranteed. Any escalation of his legal problems could heighten his political woes as he faces possible impeachment. |
On Friday, Cuomo's lawyers held a news conference in which they issued their most forceful response yet to a report that accused the governor of sexually harassing 11 women. They called the state attorney general's investigation unfair, suggested it was rushed and questioned its independence. |
 | | Afghan police in the desert outside Zaranj in 2015.Bryan Denton for The New York Times |
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5. The Taliban captured an Afghan provincial capital, the first to fall since the U.S. began withdrawing troops. |
The Taliban have besieged a host of such cities for weeks, and the capture of Zaranj, a city of 160,000 people on the Afghanistan-Iran border, is the Taliban's first major breakthrough. Taliban fighters faced little resistance in taking Zaranj, and Afghan officials said a deal had been negotiated with the Taliban allowing the authorities in the city to flee. |
The Biden administration had pinned their hopes on a peace deal that would halt the country's relentless violence with a power-sharing agreement. But the prospects of a negotiated outcome, which could partially salvage the 20-year American project in Afghanistan, appear to be fading fast. |
 | | The mayor of Rech, Germany, lost his mother and his home in the recent floods.Lena Mucha for The New York Times |
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6. Three weeks after a megaflood killed 189 people in western Germany, the small village of Rech has been humbled by a calamity that no one had thought possible. |
"We have to rebuild, but we have to rebuild differently," said Dominik Gieler, the mayor of Rech. "We have to completely rethink how we live with our environment." |
 | | Allyson Felix after winning her historic 10th Olympic medal.Doug Mills/The New York Times |
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7. Allyson Felix of the U.S. is officially the most decorated female Olympic runner. |
Looking ahead, the U.S. men's basketball team plays France in the gold medal game tonight, the U.S. women's basketball team will play Japan in the gold medal game on Sunday and artistic swimming teams will have one final chance to perform on Saturday. Those swimmers can choose their music for their performances — and many of them seem to prefer their music to be a little bit creepy. Take a listen. |
The closing ceremony is set for 7 a.m. Eastern on Sunday. The U.S. is in danger of losing the gold medal race for the first time in a Summer Olympics since 2008. |
 | | For a brief time this summer, New York nightlife was back with unbridled joy.Hilary Swift for The New York Times |
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8. "It just feels like happiness, like that bubbly feeling." |
There was a glorious yet fleeting moment this summer, between waves of Covid cases, when New York City felt almost normal. At no time was that more evident than between sunset and sunrise, when the city's streets, bars and clubs became electric once again. Our reporters and photographers documented the short-lived return of the city's party scene. |
During quarantine in New York City, few activities exploded in popularity more than skateboarding. Now, a larger community is doing a better job of representing a diversity of skaters. Take a look. |
 | | A tufted titmouse eyes a raccoon gorging on a downed bird feeder.Linda Davidson/The Washington Post, via Getty Images |
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9. There's a sneaky way birds find material to insulate their nests. |
Many scientists assumed that mammal hair in a bird's nest came from shed hair or was scavenged from a dead animal. But a new study, based largely on YouTube videos, shows that birds routinely pluck tufts of hair from living raccoons, dogs, foxes and even people. The study's authors dubbed the phenomenon "kleptotrichy." |
In other animal studies, researchers have identified certain genes in harvestmen arachnids, also known as a type of daddy longlegs, that explain how the tips of their elegant legs are so flexible they can twirl like a monkey's tail. |
 | | The Phillie Phanatic at Citizens Bank Park in July.Victor Llorente for The New York Times |
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10. And finally, the man in the mascot suit. |
In America's four major sports leagues, about nine out of every 10 teams have a mascot. It wasn't that way before Dave Raymond came along. For the first 16 years of his four-decade career, Raymond was the man behind the Phillie Phanatic, the Philadelphia Phillies' mascot and perhaps the most iconic among America's furry avatars. |
His signature moves were such a revelation — whomping his paunch, suctioning a plunger to the head of a bald man — that they established an entire industry. In the years after he stopped performing, Raymond took the Phanatic's success and distilled it into a four-step process for developing mascots from scratch. He has since used this process to help create more than 130 characters. This is how he does it. |
| David Poller compiled photos for this briefing. |
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. |
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