Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

View in browser|nytimes.com

AUGUST 28, 2019

Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

By remy tumin, inyoung kang and marcus payadue

Good evening. Here's the latest.

Cassandra Crichlow, via Reuters

1. Hurricane Dorian is barreling toward the Southeastern U.S.

The storm, upgraded to a Category 1 in the afternoon, slammed the Virgin Islands, above, but skirted Puerto Rico. By Monday, it could threaten Florida as a Category 3 hurricane.

We're tracking Dorian's path and have live updates here.

And here are some tips for getting ready: Make a plan that doesn't rely on cellphones, collect documents, seal what you can, clear the yard, bottle water and freeze food.

Nazanin Tabatabaee/West Asia News Agency, via Reuters

2. A secret U.S. cyberattack in June wiped out a critical database that Iran used to target oil tankers, senior U.S. officials said.

The attack came the day President Trump authorized but called off a retaliatory airstrike after Iran shot down an American drone. The downside, the officials said: It cost the U.S. access to a critical network used by the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's paramilitary force. Above, a Guard boat swept near a British-flagged ship this month.

And an administration official responded to reports that Mr. Trump has been telling aides to get his wall on the southern border built by whatever means necessary, including seizing land on the Mexican frontier.

While Mr. Trump has publicly discussed seizing land for the wall, the official said, the president was joking: "He winks when he does it."

Daniel Sorabji/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

3. Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, looking to stifle growing opposition to Brexit, cut short Parliament's window to prevent a "no deal" departure from the European Union on Oct. 31.

The surprise move was derided by opponents as undemocratic and possibly unconstitutional, and revealed a pugnacious, ruthless side of Mr. Johnson, our correspondent writes. Above, anti-Brexit demonstrators near 10 Downing Street.

Here's how the timetable has changed.

Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press

4. Italy may bring back the prime minister who just stepped down.

The return of Giuseppe Conte, above, is part of a deal struck by the Five Star Movement and a former vicious foe, the Democratic Party, that sidelines the hard-right nationalist leader, Matteo Salvini, above in background.

Whether the new coalition lasts — or can function — is unclear. But the turnabout was a relief to the European establishment after more than a year of euroskeptic provocations, anti-migrant crackdowns and flouting of the bloc's financial rules.

The New York Times, Source: NASA

5. We've talked a lot about the fires raging in the Amazon. But that's only a part of the story — intense fires are burning around the world.

They're spreading in the Arctic, Central Africa and Indonesia. In Alaska, fires have consumed more than 2.5 million acres of tundra and snow forest. Some researchers fear climate change could be causing a feedback loop, encouraging fires that release yet more carbon. Above, a map showing fires detected in the past year.

In Brazil, hundreds of environmental protection workers warned that budget and personnel cuts set the stage for a rise in deforestation and fires. And our Brazil bureau chief explained how the country got to this point on today's episode of "The Daily."

Of note: Greta Thunberg, the teenage Swedish climate activist, arrived in New York, below, for climate talks after a 15-day journey across the Atlantic on an emissions-free yacht.

Mike Segar/Reuters

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

6. A Palestinian student was barred from entering the U.S. after immigration officials at Logan International Airport in Boston objected to his friends' social media posts.

So instead of heading to Harvard, above, Ismail B. Ajjawi, 17, was sent back to Lebanon. He told The Harvard Crimson that his phone and laptop were searched before his visa was revoked.

Free-speech advocates widely criticized the situation and the Trump administration policy requiring that nearly all U.S. visa applicants submit their social media user names.

"The chilling effects of incidents like these ripple through communities far beyond Harvard's incoming freshman class," a lawyer said.

Pablo Rochat

7. Would you pay $2,245 for a Peloton bike?

As the indoor cycling company prepares to go public, it's facing questions about how long it can spin the faddish fitness industry.

Peloton, which made its offering prospectus public this week, is privately valued at $4 billion. The company is expanding into other fitness areas, hoping to ride larger trends as boutique spinning begins to wane, and cheaper competitors and copycats move in.

But its losses have more than quadrupled in the last year, and it's embroiled in legal fights over music and patents.

Daren Lin

8. Thirty Broadway shows in 10 weeks — on a student budget.

That's what one of our interns managed this summer. The binge reminded her of the power of great storytelling, and the value of learning the ins and outs of cheap tickets. Here's how she did it.

Feel like you've tried everything in New York? Consider Snug Harbor on Staten Island. Our Summer in the City writers say it's majestic in August — and worth return trips throughout the year.

Ben Curtis/Associated Press

9. Good news and bad news in the animal kingdom.

In Italy, scientists were able to fertilize eggs from these two northern white rhinos, the last left on earth. They used sperm collected from male rhinos, the last of which died last year. If the embryos flourish, southern white rhinos could be surrogate mothers.

In Australia, a rare and extreme reproductive strategy has been identified among small, mouselike marsupials called kalutas. For the males, sex is suicide: they die of exhaustion after a frenzied two-week breeding period that, scientists say, maximizes their chances of siring offspring from one of their various partners.

And California's beloved sea otters are battling a feline foe: the deadly Toxoplasma parasite carried by feral and domestic cats.

Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Colin King.

10. And finally, cheers to summer.

We may never be able to settle the debate over whether the Aperol spritz is worthy of consumption, but one thing is sure: Spritzes are springing free from the standard recipes. In London they're made with tequila; in Los Angeles, with strawberry beer.

Here are six new takes on the bubbly drink.

Pair one with this green dip, spiked with a full tin of anchovies and a pile of capers, and you have yourself a cocktail hour. "Cured very cold in the refrigerator," Sam Sifton writes, "it offers a singularly delicious taste of summer at summer's very end."

Have a delectable night.

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

And don't miss Your Morning Briefing. Sign up here to get it by email in the Australian, Asian, European or American morning.

Want to catch up on past briefings? You can browse them here.

What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.