Charlottesville, North Korea, Trump: Your Weekend Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/briefing/charlottesville-north-korea-trump.html

Version 1 of 7.

Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead.

1. The United States faced new levels of crisis both domestically and internationally.

Brinkmanship between President Trump and North Korea raised alarms about the threat of nuclear warfare, prompting foreign leaders to urge both sides to dial back the apocalyptic language.

On Friday, Mr. Trump, who is at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., for a working vacation, said the United States military was “locked and loaded” should the North act “unwisely.”

Earlier, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, threatened to create “an enveloping strike” around Guam, an American territory in the Western Pacific. Above, an intercontinental ballistic missile in North Korea.

Here’s a look at where North Korea could reach with its missiles, but The Times’s Interpreter columnists say there are five reasons to believe the threat is overstated.

____

2. And the bitter ideological divisions splitting the United States exploded into violence on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., where white nationalists had gathered to protest the city’s plan to remove a statue memorializing the Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

An Ohio man was charged with murder after a car was driven into a crowd of counterdemonstrators, killing at least one person and injuring at least 19 others. About 35 were injured over all in Saturday’s violence.

Terry McAuliffe, Virginia’s governor, declared a state of emergency.

Adding to the turmoil, a Virginia State Police helicopter crashed southwest of Charlottesville, killing two troopers. The cause was not known, but the authorities said the helicopter had been monitoring the protests.

Many of the demonstrators wore helmets and carried shields, waved Confederate flags and chanted neo-Nazi slogans.

In comments from New Jersey, President Trump condemned the bloodshed in what critics in both parties saw as muted, equivocal terms, blaming “many sides.”

____

3. In Washington, the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election marches on. The special counsel, Robert Mueller, above, is said to be in talks about interviewing current and former senior White House officials.

As part of the investigation, the F.B.I. executed a search warrant at the home of Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman — a sign that the inquiry has broadened.

The U.S.-Russia relationship took a baffling turn when Mr. Trump thanked President Vladimir Putin for ordering the United States Embassy to slash personnel, a move made in retaliation for sanctions imposed because of Russia’s election meddling.

“I’m very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll,” Mr. Trump said.

____

4. President Trump has, however, amplified his public criticism of Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, for failing to pass a health care repeal bill.

The rift with Mr. McConnell underscores the growing distance and distrust between Mr. Trump and his supposed allies in Washington. But it’s Mr. McConnell whom the president may need most as Republicans turn their attention to a complex set of obstacles — like keeping the government open.

On the other side of the aisle, a bitter leadership fight in California has emerged as a cautionary tale for Democrats debating how to rebuild and seize back power.

____

5. Tensions between the United States and North Korea prompted a global sell-off of stocks on Friday and motivated investors to seek havens for their money.

What has long been considered an indomitable haven — the American dollar — may no longer be a sure thing. Since the beginning of the year, the dollar has surrendered nearly 8 percent against major currencies.

And West Virginia hopes to buoy its economy by making high school more like the workplace. Educators say they want more help from Washington to implement one of President Trump’s promises: reviving vocational education.

____

6. Looking toward the environment, critics of Scott Pruitt, who heads the E.P.A., say he is deploying extraordinary secrecy as he rolls back regulations, closes offices and eliminates staff in his push to dismantle the agency’s environmental mission. Above, a coal-fired power plant in Georgia.

And the impending release of a congressionally mandated report on climate change could force President Trump to choose between science and members of his base, many of whom don’t think humans play a role in a warming planet.

Some scientists involved in the report fear that the administration could change or suppress their findings. Here are nine takeaways from the draft.

____

7. President Trump said he was preparing to declare the worsening opioid epidemic a national emergency. But his top health care official, Tom Price, played down the likelihood of an official declaration.

In other health news, geneticists have created piglets cleansed of viruses, above, that might cause disease in humans, an important step toward creating a new supply of organs for transplant patients.

____

8. The secretary of the interior, Ryan Zinke, is reviewing 27 national monument designations. Some designations by previous administrations may be scaled back or eliminated, the first time such a move would be made.

The five to watch include two in Utah, including the Grand Staircase-Escalante, above, one in New Mexico, one in Maine and one in Hawaii.

____

9. Silicon Valley is under a microscope after Google fired a software engineer, James Damore, who wrote a memo claiming that the gender gap in the tech industry was in part a result of biological differences, not discrimination.

Readers from both sides responded to our coverage in droves. “With his firing, this opportunity to open his eyes is lost,” one woman said.

For the alt-right, Google’s response to the memo was low-hanging fruit for mockery.

Mr. Damore addressed his firing in an essay for The Wall Street Journal.

____

10. Our magazine explored the death of Michael Deng, above, who as a freshman joined an Asian-American fraternity looking for a sense of belonging and identity. He died in a hazing ritual two months later — an event that reveals how fraught the search for an Asian-American identity can be.

“Discrimination is what really binds Asian-Americans together,” the reporter writes.

____

11. Let’s take a trip back in time — way back. When dinosaurs ruled Earth, a team of paleontologists now believe, mammals were learning to fly.

Stunning fossils were discovered at a site in northeastern China, most dating back about 160 million years. Researchers were able to examine entire skeletons, some still bearing impressions of skin and hair.

The findings show that prehistoric “squirrels” glided through forests long before previously thought.

____

12. Finally, it’s jam season. With fruit at its peak, it’s natural to want to make it last as long as possible. That’s where preserving comes in. In this guide, our food team walks you through making and canning jams — using berries, stone fruit, apples, pears or even tomatoes.

Have a great week.

____

If photographs appear out of order, please download the updated New York Times app from iTunes. You can also view this version.

Your Weekend Briefing is published Sundays at 6 a.m. Eastern.

And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern, and Your Evening Briefing, weeknights at 6 p.m. Eastern.

Want to look back? You can browse past Morning and Evening Briefings.

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