Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.
R.F.K. Jr. firing of C.D.C director causes chaosThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention descended further into chaos today as a standoff continued between its director, Susan Monarez, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Guards escorted from the agency’s headquarters three top officials who quit in protest of her firing. The White House said late Wednesday that Monarez, an infectious disease researcher who took over the agency less than a month ago, had been dismissed over a dispute regarding vaccine policy. But her lawyers insisted that only the president can fire her. Kennedy, who reconstituted an expert advisory panel with people who question the safety of vaccines, demanded in meetings this week that Monarez accept the panel’s demands and fire several top officials. On Thursday, he called the C.D.C. “very troubled” and said changing it would “require getting rid of some people over the long term.” He said he had confidence that the “political staff” at the agency would make that happen. The officials who quit today were the chief medical officer, the head of the agency’s center overseeing respiratory illnesses and vaccine recommendations, and the head of the center that oversees emerging diseases and vaccine safety. Yesterday, the leader of the office of public health data also resigned. Related:
Russia bombards Kyiv, killing 18An hourslong barrage of Russian missiles and drones killed at least 18 people in Ukraine’s capital, including four children, early today. The Ukrainian authorities said that at least 45 people were injured. Officials said that Russia launched 598 drones and 31 missiles in the overnight assault on Kyiv and other cities. The attack came less than two weeks after Trump’s summit in Alaska with Vladimir Putin and a follow-up meeting at the White House with Volodymyr Zelensky and his European allies. During that time, the Kremlin has made no significant concessions that could lead to resolution of the war.
Officials search for motive in school shootingInvestigators pored over writings and videos made by the woman who killed two children and injured more than a dozen people at a Minneapolis Catholic school, trying to make sense of her tangled litany of online grievances and violent obsessions. Here’s the latest. In videos, the woman fixated on guns, violence and school shooters. She displayed weapons scrawled with antisemitic and racist language and threats against Trump. She died of a self-inflicted gun wound at the scene Wednesday. Officials added that the suspect had no criminal record or history of state-ordered mental health treatment. At a news conference today, an acting U.S. attorney said that she had left behind hundreds of pages of writing, adding, “more than anything, the shooter wanted to kill children.”
The gun linked to Emmett Till’s murderExactly seven decades after Emmett Till was killed in a Mississippi barn, the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson announced that it had acquired the Ithaca .45 caliber pistol believed to have been used in his murder. The gun is going on display less than a week after the federal government released thousands of pages of documents related to the case. Experts say the gun belonged to J.W. Milam, one of the two white men who lynched the 14-year-old Till, and was used to both whip and shoot him. Museum officials said it had until now been in the care of a Mississippi family not directly connected to the Till case. They told surviving members of the Till family about the gun before putting it on display. This newsletter is just a sample of what you can get every day from The New York Times. Each Evening, we try to pick what you’ll find most interesting. But reading the whole report all day for my job, I know that there are infinite combinations you could put together for your own daily read. And until Friday, you can get all of it for a dollar a week for your first year. Subscribe now. More top news
Visual investigation
In June, eight people drowned when a sudden storm caused huge waves on Lake Tahoe. The Times reconstructed how it happened.
The Boss’s first biopicBruce Springsteen’s 1982 album “Nebraska” was, as one musician put it, “one of the greatest left turns in the history of popular music.” Back then, Springsteen was an arena-rock titan but also struggling with depression and memories of his heavy-drinking father. The album, composed of tape-recorded demos, came two years after “The River,” his first album to make it to No. 1. The left turn of “Nebraska” is the subject of a new film, “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” slated for release Oct. 24. Ben Sisario talked to the stars, Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong, and the writer-director Scott Cooper about the making of the making-of. “I wasn’t chasing the Boss,” Cooper said. “I’m chasing the man in a bedroom in Colts Neck with a four-track recorder, trying to make sense of his life.”
A K-pop movie made fans out of fansThe animated musical “KPop Demon Hunters,” about a trio of stars who grapple with a diabolical boy band, is Netflix’s most-watched movie ever. One reason why? Its understanding of fandom, our critic Maya Phillips writes. The film carefully engages niche fan groups, like those for anime and K-pop. And those fan groups helped the film’s catchy songs climb the charts. Fandom is also a key driver of the film’s narrative, with concert scenes featuring shots of adoring fans. Read more from Maya. Dinner table topics
Cook: This no-bake lime and speculoos cake gets a spiced flavor from Biscoff cookies. Watch: Nicholas Colia’s feature debut, “Griffin in Summer,” is a sensitive, sweet ode to queer youth. Listen: Here’s a playlist of (end of) summer songs. Relax: Planning a wedding? Consider scheduling some alone time during the special day. Travel: Spend a good 36 hours in Portland, Ore. Hunt: Which Brooklyn apartment would you choose for $300,000? Play: Today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. For more, find all our games here. |
