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Good evening. Here’s the latest.
1. A delayed vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Senate Republicans will hold off on the confirmation vote by as much as a week, bowing to a last-minute demand from Senator Jeff Flake to allow time for an F.B.I. investigation into accusations of sexual assault.
“We ought to do what we can to make sure we do all due diligence with a nomination this important,” he said.
With that stipulation, the Judiciary Committee then voted along party lines to advance the nomination to the full Senate.
Mr. Flake had been confronted by two women, both sexual assault survivors, earlier in the day. His is one of the few votes for Judge Kavanaugh still in play, giving him considerable sway over how the chamber proceeds.
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2. Thursday’s hearings had particular resonance for women across the country.
Our correspondent watched Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh testify with a group of women in Maine. The women are represented by Senator Susan Collins, who has been viewed as a key swing vote on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination.
And in this week’s Gender Letter, our writer considers a common narrative: that sexual assault accusations tear down the reputations of prominent, well-respected men. The life-altering toll on the women involved, she writes, often seems like an afterthought.
3. An attack on Facebook’s network exposed the data of nearly 50 million users, the company said.
It discovered the breach and notified the authorities earlier this week, it said. The attackers exploited a feature in Facebook’s code that allowed them to take over user accounts.
“I’m glad we found this,” said Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive. “But it definitely is an issue that this happened in the first place.”
Wondering how to protect your data? Here are tips to secure your Facebook account.
4. Tesla shares dropped more than 12 percent in early trading Friday, after news that the S.E.C. had sued the company’s chief executive, Elon Musk.
The suit centers on Mr. Musk’s tweets last month that he intended to take the company private, and seeks to bar him from heading up a publicly traded company. In a statement, Mr. Musk said, “This unjustified action by the S.E.C. leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed.”
Mr. Musk isn’t the only executive to face this kind of punishment, but he certainly may be the highest profile. Here are others who have been hit with this penalty, and why.
6. Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, agreed to meet with House Republicans over revelations that he discussed secretly taping President Trump and possibly removing him from office.
“There are many questions we have for Mr. Rosenstein, including questions about allegations made against him in a recent news article,” said Robert Goodlatte, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
They plan to schedule a meeting in the coming weeks. Democrats said they would push to attend.
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7. Meet the woman in charge of building the best-selling truck in America.
Debbie Manzano oversees production of the Ford F-150 at a plant with 4,300 employees.
She’s the rare woman running a major American production facility. She faces the skepticism of employees who have never had a female boss and the high expectations of those who have always wanted one.
At the same time, Ford’s culture is under scrutiny: The Times investigated sexual harassment at its factories in Chicago last year.
“My background, my skill set, my experience has allowed me to get this job,” she said, “not because I’m female or not female.”
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8. Rough landing: A plane headed for a tiny Micronesian island ended up in a lagoon instead.
As water began pouring in, a flotilla of local boats came to the rescue and evacuated all 47 people on board. Everyone made it off alive.
As one passenger put it: “I thought we landed hard until I looked over and saw a hole in the side of the plane and water was coming in, and I thought, well, this is not, like, the way it’s supposed to happen.”
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9. “The Simpsons” begins its 30th season on Sunday.
Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie haven’t aged a day since 1989. But they have evolved, as the culture has with them.
We broke down the history of “The Simpsons” into six distinct eras, based on the ways its humor has changed over the years.
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10. Finally, this is your periodic reminder that it’s not all bad news out there.
A wrongly convicted man was freed — thanks to college students and Golf Digest magazine; a tiny device marked a “huge advance” for the treatment of severe heart failure; and Robyn is back: We have these stories and more in the Week in Good News.
Have a wonderful weekend.
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Source : Nytimes
