Your Monday Evening Briefing: Taliban, Vietnam, Austria

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/23/nytnow/your-monday-evening-briefing-taliban-vietnam-austria.html

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Good evening. Here’s the latest.

1. Vietnam warmly welcomed President Obama at the start of his weeklong Asia trip. It’s his latest effort to have the U.S. “pivot” to the region and counter China’s might. Mr. Obama announced the end of an arms embargo that was one of the last remnants of the Vietnam War.

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2. “An important milestone”: The president also confirmed that the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, had been killed in a U.S. drone strike. The question now: whether the Taliban’s leadership crisis — its second in a year — will push the group into peace talks with the Afghan government.

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3. A judge in Baltimore exonerated Edward Nero, an arresting officer accused of lesser offenses in the case of Freddie Gray. Six officers were accused of wrongdoing after Mr. Gray died last year from a spinal cord injury suffered in police custody. The most serious charges, against the driver of the police wagon in which Mr. Gray was injured, have yet to reach trial.

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4. One way to understand the shape of the presidential race is to look at two of its more flamboyant kingmakers, long-ago allies who are now bitter opponents. David Brock, above left, supports Hillary Clinton, and Roger Stone, right, backs Donald Trump. Both operate outside the official campaigns. “The dynamic between the two of them is very interesting,” a Democratic strategist said. “This will be a battle about who’s tougher.”

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5. A far-right candidate lost Austria’s cliffhanger presidential election by the smallest of margins. Just 0.6 percent of the vote kept Norbert Hofer from becoming the first far-right European president since the end of the Nazi era. Right-wing parties are making gains across Europe, which is struggling with a migration crisis, slow economic growth and disillusionment with the European Union.

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6. Islamic State militants have been losing ground in Syria and Iraq, and Iraq opened operations to dislodge them from the long-held city of Falluja. But ISIS sought to show its strength, sending suicide bombers deep into Syrian government territory, above. And in Yemen, a local branch of ISIS carried out a deadly suicide bombing in the capital.

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7. A special Times report examined the 358 shootings last year in the U.S. that killed or injured four or more people. Most cases were outdoors in downtrodden neighborhoods and involved criminal or gang activity, or arguments. Most where race and age were clear involved black men age 30 or younger as both shooters and victims. The 39 domestic violence shootings, in contrast, mainly involved whites.

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8. Our best-read article today thinks through what rock and roll will mean to humans hundreds of years from now — and in history’s shorthand, which musician will come to represent the entire genre. The writer Chuck Klosterman’s considers considers the Beatles, Elvis and Dylan — and settles on Chuck Berry.

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9. Looking ahead: Partisan ill will on Capitol Hill. The House Judiciary Committee convenes Tuesday to consider impeaching the Internal Revenue Service commissioner. Republicans accuse John Koskinen of having lied under oath and defying a subpoena. No official below the president’s cabinet has ever been impeached. And if that’s not enough rancor, Congress will be struggling over competing bills on paying for the fight against the Zika virus.

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10. Finally, good news for all the breakfast-skippers out there. Those studies that were said to show that the first meal is the most important of the day? Maybe not. Failing to break your fast in the morning does not necessarily cause poor health, it is simply a parallel factor, or correlation, our analyst says. So “don’t feel bad if you’d rather skip it,” he writes, “and don’t listen to those who lecture you. Breakfast has no mystical powers.”

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

And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a.m. Sundays.

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