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Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.
1. The Pentagon is preparing for an evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Sudan.
As fierce fighting between two warring generals has led to the swift deterioration of conditions in the nation’s capital, the U.S. decided to move troops to Djibouti to prepare for a possible evacuation of American diplomats. An estimated 19,000 American citizens are believed to be in the country.
Such an evacuation, U.S. officials said, would not be easy. Announced cease-fires in Sudan have failed to hold, and the international airport in the capital, Khartoum, has been the target of heavy shelling. Sudan’s air space is also closed.
2. The most powerful rocket ever built exploded soon after liftoff.
About four minutes after SpaceX launched its Starship rocket this morning, the spacecraft — which had no people aboard — tumbled and exploded before reaching orbit. The blast was a setback for the private spaceflight company and its founder, Elon Musk.
NASA is relying on SpaceX to build a version of Starship that will carry two astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the moon during its Artemis III mission, which optimistically calls for the first moon landing to occur in late 2025. It remains to be seen how today’s flight outcome will affect the schedule.
Despite the explosion, employees who worked on the rocket popped champagne anyway. The flight was designed as a trial of the rocket’s capabilities, with a high risk of complications, so engineers were grateful to gather more information for the next test.
3. A spate of shootings shows how tiny missteps can have deadly consequences in the U.S.
In New York, Texas and Missouri young adults or teenagers were shot this week after accidentally going to the wrong address or opening the wrong door. The tragedies were unrelated except for the fact that they all occurred in the U.S. — a country bristling with guns, anger and paranoia, and where most states have strengthened self-defense laws.
These kinds of shootings have happened too often in recent years, with many other cases attracting far less attention. Gun-control advocates argue that they are a stark illustration of how quickly Americans reach for guns — and how tragic the results can be.
4. China is hardening its stance on the U.S.
In recent weeks, as China’s top leader Xi Jinping has offered a glad hand to the leaders of nations like Brazil, France and Saudi Arabia, he has given the cold shoulder to the U.S. China has rebuffed attempts by the Biden administration to restart high-level talks, raising the risk of confrontation in contested areas like the Taiwan Strait. Instead, Xi’s government has intensified a campaign of ridicule and criticism of the U.S. and Western democracy.
With U.S.-China relations at their lowest point in decades, some analysts say that Xi sees engagement with the U.S. as fruitless, at least for now.
5. Preventing “tranq dope” overdoses is posing a challenge for the government.
The White House recently said that the drug — a life-threatening combination of an animal tranquilizer known as xylazine and fentanyl — is an “emerging drug threat” that requires an urgent intervention plan. But addressing the threat is proving to be a tricky balancing act.
The biggest challenge is walking a careful line in managing xylazine, a drug that is essential for veterinarians but is also fueling a public health crisis.
The outlet had become a beacon for up-and-coming political and investigative journalists since it launched about a decade ago, before falling prey to the punishing economics of digital publishing. The media industry writ large has pivoted to focus on streaming, while digital advertising dollars are increasingly directed to platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
In entertainment news, Alec Baldwin’s lawyers said that prosecutors were dropping the involuntary manslaughter charges he was facing in the 2021 shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of the film “Rust.”
7. Gucci’s offices in Italy were raided by law enforcement.
The unannounced inspection of the fashion company this week by European Union antitrust officials was the latest of a series of regulatory actions taken against fashion houses, as officials ratcheted up scrutiny of the fashion industry over possible anticompetitive practices.
The European Commission also said it was looking into the activities of multiple fashion companies based in several member states over “concerns that the companies concerned may have violated E.U. antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices.”
In other designer news, Tiffany & Company’s famous flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan is set to reopen with an updated look.
8. An A.I. song with a fake Drake and the Weeknd became an overnight hit.
The track, called “Heart on My Sleeve,” became a viral smash this week on social media before it was removed. It may have been just a minor nuisance for the world-famous musicians it mimicked, but for the music industry, it represented something more serious.
As A.I. technology progresses faster than the rules governing it, record labels and artists are just beginning to grapple with ways in which their business model could be upended. “The question is, as a society, do we care what Drake really feels, or is it enough to just hear a superficially intelligent rendering,” one musician asked.
For more listening, here are the 10 compositions that show how Tito Puente became known as the King of Latin music.
10. And finally, how would you like it if your office was on a train?
That’s what Lou Maxon, a creative director, was wondering — except instead of traveling from stop to stop, he wanted an office train in his backyard. So he had one built from steel and glass and set it on a 110-foot-long railroad track on his wooded property in Washington State.
The structure allows Maxon to detach his office from his home, where he struggled with distractions during work. It also allows him to take in inspiring views. “If you take it halfway, that’s where our fire pit is,” he said. “If you take it all the way out, you move from being open to being really in the woods.”
Have a transporting night.
Brent Lewis compiled photos for this briefing.
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