Ethiopian Airlines, Budget, Beat Generation: Your Monday Evening Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/11/briefing/ethiopian-airlines-budget-beat-generation.html

Version 0 of 1.

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

Good evening. Here’s the latest.

1. Investigators don’t know what caused the deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airlines flight on Sunday, and probably won’t for at least a few weeks or months. The Boeing 737 Max 8’s “black box” data recorders have been found, but they can take a while to analyze.

Here’s what we do know. The plane plunged six minutes after its takeoff from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, after the pilot sent a distress call. Above, rescuers work at the scene of the crash.

The same model of plane crashed off Indonesia in October. Nearly two dozen airlines have now grounded their Boeing 737 Max 8 planes while another dozen are keeping them in operation.

The victims in Sunday’s crash were from 35 countries, and included eight Americans, 18 Canadians and 32 Kenyans. More than 20 were employees of U.N.-affiliated agencies.

_____

2. What air travelers need to know.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was monitoring developments but did not order any groundings. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are among the airlines still flying the 737 Max 8, pictured above.

Ask our reporters about the 737 Max 8 here.

Most travelers are probably out of luck if they want to switch a flight simply because of the airplane model, but Southwest, which has 34 of the planes in operation, does not charge change fees. Read our guide for passengers.

Boeing shares dropped 13 percent on Monday, but rebounded, ending the day just 5 percent down.

_____

3. The record $4.75 trillion budget request that President Trump sent to lawmakers has no chance of passage.

Congress, which controls spending, has not embraced Mr. Trump’s budgets even when Republicans controlled both houses.

Instead, our Washington reporters write, the proposal serves as a declaration of Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign priorities: $8.6 billion for the construction of a border wall and increased military spending, and cuts to education, environmental protection, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

_____

4. Tough times for the National Rifle Association.

The powerful gun-rights group is engulfed in challenges. A series of mass shootings created a new generation of gun-control activists. Falling membership dues put the organization under further strain. The group’s possible ties to Russia and its tax-exempt status are under scrutiny.

Now, it’s facing an internal debate over its streaming service, NRATV.

Produced by an ad firm, Ackerman McQueen, NRATV sends out apocalyptic, hard-right messages; warnings of race wars; and, in September, a diatribe against diversity that featured the talking trains on the popular children’s show “Thomas & Friends” in Ku Klux Klan hoods. Above, pictures of the group’s leading figures at its annual meeting and exhibit last year.

_____

5. In today’s 2020 news:

Beto O’Rourke is probably going to join the Democratic presidential field, according to interviews with people who have spoken to him and other top Democrats.

Mr. O’Rourke, a former Texas congressman, is making his potential opponents nervous even though he hasn’t demonstrated the kind of intensive preparation — like building national political infrastructure — typical of top-flight presidential campaigns. Above, Mr. O’Rourke carries his son at a border wall protest last month.

And Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who is running for president, is under scrutiny after revelations that her office may have mishandled a sexual harassment complaint.

_____

6. The blackout that plunged Venezuela into darkness is unlikely to end anytime soon.

Looting and protests have been seen in parts of the country. And the government declared that today, the fifth day of the outage, would be a public holiday.

Electrical workers say a fire caused the blackout. Experts point to years of underinvestment and mismanagement; the government blames saboteurs. Above, Caracas in the dark.

And speaking of blame, The Times analyzed previously unpublished footage that contradicted a widely circulated U.S. claim that President Nicolás Maduro’s forces burned an aid convoy, showing instead that a protester appeared to have set the cargo on fire accidentally.

_____

7. On the eve of a critical Brexit vote, Prime Minister Theresa May flew to Strasbourg, France, to attempt to rescue her unpopular withdrawal plan.

It’s unclear what kind of concessions she can win in the 11th-hour meeting that would prevent Parliament from voting the plan down. The vote comes less than three weeks before the deadline for Britain to leave the E.U. Above, the E.U.’s chief Brexit negotiator kisses Mrs. May’s hand in Strasbourg.

If she loses, Mrs. May has promised to offer a vote on whether Britain should leave the bloc without a deal — a scenario that could brutally upend the country’s economy and one that most lawmakers oppose.

_____

8. Raheem Sterling, the English soccer star, has become part of the global conversation about racial equality led by figures like Colin Kaepernick and LeBron James. Pictured above, Mr. Sterling controls the ball during a match last month.

After a fan screamed a racial obscenity at him at a Premier League match in December, he made a pointed Instagram post. In an interview with our reporter, he expanded on themes of racial abuse and racist tropes the British media uses to describe him.

“It is a stereotype of black people: chains and jewelry, bling and money,” he said.

_____

9. A strike in the world of classical music.

Musicians with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are not playing as they press their demand to keep their pension plans, among other things. The orchestra’s management says the growing expense of the plan is unsustainable.

And our classical music critic, Anthony Tommasini, went to Carnegie Hall, above, for nine concerts over seven days. He confirmed it offers a sprawl of the classical field better than almost anywhere else.

_____

10. Finally, the Beat goes on.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the poet, publisher, painter, social activist and co-founder of San Francisco’s famed City Lights bookstore, above, is turning 100, and the city is celebrating his legacy.

We took a walking tour through old-school San Francisco, with special emphasis on the Beat Generation. For figures like Jack Kerouac, City Lights was a nerve center.

Can you dig it?

_____

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

And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing. Sign up here to get it by email in the Australian, Asian, European or American morning.

Want to catch up on past briefings? You can browse them here.

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