Your Friday Evening Briefing

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SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

Your Friday Evening Briefing

By remy tumin and marcus payadue

Good evening. Here's the latest.

Angela Ponce for The New York Times

1. "You had a future and so should we."

Chants like that echoed around the world as hundreds of thousands of students took to the streets to demand action on climate change. More than 100,000 protested in Melbourne, in what organizers said was the largest climate action in Australia's history. In New York City, where the 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg spoke, the mayor's office estimated the crowd swelled to at least 60,000.

We spoke to eight local leaders. Above, students in La Paz, Bolivia.

There was some action: Germany unveiled a $60 billion package of climate policies, and California and 23 other states sued the Trump administration in a fight over setting stricter rules on climate-warming tailpipe emissions.

In an Op-Ed, former Vice President Al Gore argues we have the right tools for this life-or-death struggle.

Doug Mills/The New York Times

2. President Trump's desire for Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his family is said to be part of the secret whistle-blower complaint.

Mr. Trump repeatedly pushed Ukraine's leader to talk with his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who had been urging the government in Kiev to investigate the Biden family, according to people familiar with their conversation.

The new revelations have raised questions about whether Mr. Trump's push for an inquiry into the Bidens was behind a weekslong White House hold on military aid for Ukraine. Above, Mr. Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, on Friday.

Mary F. Calvert/Reuters

3. The F.B.I. has used secret subpoenas to obtain personal data from scores of banks, cellphone carriers and universities.

The previously undisclosed practice, which the bureau says is vital to counterterrorism efforts, does not require a judge's approval, and can scoop up user names, locations, IP addresses and purchase records.

Separately, Facebook suspended tens of thousands of apps as part of an investigation into how developers use its members' data. The scale of suspensions from the inquiry, which began in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, was far larger than the social network had originally revealed.

Travis Dove for The New York Times

4. Bill de Blasio is heading back to his day job as the mayor of New York City.

He ended his presidential campaign Friday after failing to gain any real traction in the Democratic primary. With more than two years left in office, he has his hands full with a host of thorny issues.

Even some top-tier candidates are struggling: On college campuses, there are signs Bernie Sanders is ceding ground to Elizabeth Warren, while many young African-American voters are pleading with their parents not to back Joe Biden.

Eva Hambach/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

5. Walmart will stop selling e-cigarettes at its U.S. locations, amid growing medical concerns around vaping.

The nation's largest retailer had already stopped selling fruit- and dessert-flavored e-cigarettes, which are popular with younger users. On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of vaping-related lung illnesses had risen to 530 probable cases and eight deaths.

If you're an e-cigarette user wondering whether it's time to quit, here are some things to consider.

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

6. A rare moment of bipartisan agreement: The Trump administration and Democrats in Congress are working together to stem the tide of veteran suicides. More than 6,000 veterans took their own lives each year between 2008 and 2017.

A new program identifies veterans who have the kinds of struggles that often lead to suicide and connects them with services like therapy, health care or even a pet sitter to take care of their animals as the veterans seek treatment. Above, a memorial in Zelienople, Pa.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

7. When India's Chandrayaan-2 moon lander tumbled to the lunar surface earlier this month, it was the latest in a 60-year series of crashes, belly flops and dicey approaches.

We looked at the history of hard landings — some intentional, others unplanned — since a Soviet probe first crashed into the moon on Sept. 13, 1959. It turns out the solar system is littered with the remains of crushed spacecraft.

Back on terra firma, hundreds of people seeking aliens — or just a good time — have descended on a desolate section of Nevada that's home to Area 51, above, a secret military site long rumored to house extraterrestrial life. They come in peace ... for now.

Isabel Infantes/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

8. Lord and Lady Grantham are ready to greet you at "Downton Abbey."

A new movie, out this weekend, picks up a year after the original series left off and finds the Crawley household frantically preparing for a visit from King George and Queen Mary. Here's how the show's creator and producer navigated the challenge of translating a TV hit to the big screen. Above, the castle that served as the show's set.

Less prim, and more crass, Funny or Die is reorienting itself for the streaming era. The former comedy website debuted its first feature-length film, "Between Two Ferns: The Movie," on Netflix on Friday.

Todd St. John

9. Silicon Valley is finally admitting it has a problem.

Bummed out by the state of the world (and their role in creating it), tech workers are going to therapy the way they know best: with metrics, data and online tools that work like dating apps to match therapists with clients.

Meanwhile, on an actual dating app, Tinder has created a choose-your-own-adventure show to help guide swipers from awkward opening lines to more substantive conversation.

Walter Thompson-Hernández/The New York Times

10. And finally, life on the all-black professional rodeo circuit.

By day, they're pharmacy technicians, UPS workers and agriculture inspectors. But in their free time, rodeo is a way of life. We followed three friends as they prepared for the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo in Atlanta, the largest black professional rodeo in the U.S.

"I love the adrenaline rush and riding and the scene that we have. I love the thrill of competing in rodeo," one rider said. "We are all just chasing the dream. Everyone is just trying to make it."

Happy trails.

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