Your Thursday Evening Briefing

June 11, 2020

Your Thursday Evening Briefing

By Remy Tumin and Marcus Payadue

Good evening. Here’s the latest.

The New York Times

1. The stock market had its sharpest daily decline in three months.

Stocks had an upward trajectory for weeks, but a grim economic forecast this week and a worrisome uptick in new coronavirus cases rattled investors. The S&P 500 fell nearly 6 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 1,500 points.

The dip came as the Labor Department reported that an additional 1.5 million Americans filed for state unemployment claims last week. That’s the lowest number since the crisis began, but far above normal levels, and layoffs are spreading to more job categories.

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Doug Mills/The New York Times

2. As the divide between President Trump and the armed forces deepens, U.S. military leaders are positioning themselves firmly with those calling for change.

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Gen. Mark Milley, the nation’s top military official as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, apologized for taking part in the president’s walk to a church for a photo op near the White House 10 days ago, above, after federal authorities violently removed peaceful protesters. “I should not have been there,” he said, regretting that his presence “created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.” (Watch the video.)

The president’s vow to block efforts to remove Confederate names from military bases felt like a “slap in the face” for many black veterans we spoke with.

Bryan Denton for The New York Times

3. Federal arrests records show no sign that antifa organized a campaign of violence in the unrest after George Floyd’s death, despite claims by President Trump and Attorney General William Barr.

A review of the arrests of dozens of people on federal charges reveals no known effort by the loose collective of anti-fascist activists to perpetrate a coordinated campaign of violence. At most, some criminal complaints described vague, anti-government political leanings among suspects. Above, a protest in West Hollywood, Calif., last week.

Efforts to reshape policing in places like Northern Ireland, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, among others, offer insights and cautions as the debate over changing forces in the U.S. unfolds.

Erin Schaff/The New York Times

4. The coronavirus may not be done with the nation, but the nation’s capital appears to be done with the coronavirus. Above, a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today.

Though infections are rising in nearly half the states, restless lawmakers and White House officials are focusing on other topics: police brutality, getting children back to school and the renaming of military bases, among others.

President Trump halted daily virus briefings more than a month ago. Senator Chuck Schumer called for the White House to allow Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, to brief Democrats next week on the state of the pandemic.

The grim reality of the virus was particularly evident today: A Chicago hospital reported the first known lung transplant in the U.S. for a Covid-19 patient. It was for a woman in her 20s with no underlying conditions whose lungs were destroyed by the coronavirus.

Ryan Christopher Jones for The New York Times

5. The leaders of New York City’s protests are young, charismatic and drawing crowds of thousands. Many are also independent of any group.

The decentralized nature of the protests has given the uprising unusual stamina, and lawmakers are actually discussing policing changes. “We have to see it all the way to the end,” said Chris Banks, who led the protest in Brooklyn pictured above.

The decentralization, however, makes it difficult for elected officials to know whom to negotiate with.

The absence of masks within the N.Y.P.D. is striking, given that the city — an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic — is still recording hundreds of infections a week, and that dozens of the force’s members have died.

Sebastian Kennerknecht/Minden Pictures

6. The illegal jaguar trade in Central and South America appears to be on the rise, even as habitat loss is threatening the big cats with extinction.

A new study confirms that seizures of jaguar parts have increased tremendously — about 200-fold over five years — throughout Central and South America, and that private investment from China is significantly correlated with trafficking of the species. Corruption and poverty are also associated with the illegal trade.

In other environmental news, more than 1,000 tons of tiny plastic fragments rain down in remote areas of the U.S. each year — 123 million to 300 million plastic bottles’ worth, a new study found.

Anthony Tori

7. Will this be the summer of the road trip?

With travel restrictions loosening and social distancing guidelines still in place, many travelers are surging to the relative solitude that R.V.s offer.

But not everyone.

For many black travelers, the idea of a road trip has long conjured fear, not freedom. And in the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, some worry that they will face even more discrimination on the road. (You can share your stories of traveling while black at the end of the article.)

The New York Times

8. The coronavirus has meant the end of the fashion world as we knew it. But (some of) the shows must go on.

Here’s everything you need to know about what is happening next in the fashion world, from London Fashion Week, which begins tomorrow, to what to expect (if anything) from the fall shows. We’ll continue to update it with new information.

History and human nature prove we will get dressed again. What that looks like is the real question, writes our chief fashion critic, Vanessa Friedman: “What will our post-crisis identities look like?”

David Lee/Netflix

9. Spike Lee’s attempts to expand and correct the record of black lives have changed the course of the cultural mainstream, writes our critic A.O. Scott in his review of the director’s latest movie.

“Da 5 Bloods” follows a group of black veterans returning to Vietnam decades after the war. It’s an anguished, funny, violent argument with and about American history, with an unforgettable performance from Delroy Lindo at its heart. The film is a Critic’s Pick and debuts on Netflix on Friday.

With multiple books about race in high demand, we checked in with two best-selling authors — Layla F. Saad and Ibram X. Kendi — to hear their thoughts on the work they’ve done and the road ahead.

Getty Images

10. And finally, sex in the time of coronavirus.

Wear masks, don’t kiss and consider getting “a little kinky” with physical barriers — that’s the new sex guidance from the New York City Health Department. “You are your safest sex partner,” the agency contends, and the “next safest” is someone in your household.

If you do meet someone worthy of mask-free time, you’ll need to get a sense of what their risk factors are. As an infectious disease epidemiologist put it, “You basically have to have the safe sex conversation before kissing.”

And consider the upside to slowing down. “This is the time to build new muscles and skills of intimacy that so many of us desperately needed,” a psychotherapist said, “but didn’t have time for.”

Have a cozy night.

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

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