Texas, Republicans, Cuba: Your Friday Evening Briefing

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Good evening. Here’s the latest.

1. “I was thinking it was going to happen eventually, it’s been happening everywhere.”

That was Paige Curry, a student at Santa Fe High School in Texas, after a fellow student killed 10 people with a shotgun and a .38 revolver.

Gov. Greg Abbott said the gunman, identified as Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, appeared to have obtained the weapons from his father, who legally owned them.

Investigators are still trying to determine a motive, but the social media trail Mr. Pagourtzis left shows a young man obsessed with violence. Explosive devices were also found on the campus and nearby. Here’s the latest.

3. And during a meeting on prison reform, President Trump made a surprise announcement about the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He said he would nominate Robert Wilkie, above, the acting secretary of veterans affairs, to take over the sprawling agency. Upon hearing the news, Mr. Wilkie, who was sitting in the front row at the event, stood up and shook Mr. Trump’s hand, as others in the room applauded.

Mr. Trump’s previous choice for the position, Dr. Ronny Jackson, who was the White House physician, withdrew from consideration after disparaging reports about him circulated among lawmakers.

4. The House rejected a Republican farm bill that would have imposed new work requirements on people who receive food aid — while continuing farm subsidies popular with rural voters.

The measure — which was already destined to be set aside by the Senate — had become a bargaining chip in the intraparty battle over immigration. Some conservatives voted against it after the House speaker, Paul Ryan, refused to schedule a vote on an immigration bill.

The episode raised questions about whether Mr. Ryan, who recently announced his intention to retire next year, can run the fractious Republican conference as a lame duck.

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5. A Cuban commercial airliner crashed shortly after takeoff near Havana, killing all but three of the more than 100 people aboard.

The airliner was a Boeing 737 leased by Cubana de Aviación and headed to Holguín, on the eastern part of the island, state TV said.

The state newspaper, Granma, reported that at least five children were aboard.

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6. The World Health Organization said that an Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo was worrisome — but that the authorities have it under control.

The organization’s emergency committee met in Geneva a day after news that the virus had spread from the rural northwest of the D.R.C. to Mbandaka, a city of over a million people.

7. The former Russian spy whose poisoning in England touched off a diplomatic storm between Russia and the West was released from the hospital.

Sergei Skripal, seen above in 2006, and his daughter Yulia were hospitalized in critical condition in March after the poisoning, with a nerve agent known as novichok. Yulia left the hospital last month.

Novichok was developed by Soviet scientists for battlefield use against Western troops, and Britain has accused Russia of being behind the poisoning. President Vladimir Putin again denied the charges in a statement after Mr. Skripal’s release.

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8. California is the nation’s most Democratic state, and younger leaders are ready to steer the party even farther left.

Kevin de León, the State Senate leader, above, is leading the charge. He’s mounting a challenge to Senator Dianne Feinstein, arguing that she’s too willing to work with President Trump and out of touch with working-class voters.

But it turns out that at 84, she’s a California institution — and difficult to topple. “It’s a tough race,” he admitted over an açaí bowl at a diner in San Diego.

9. A friendly reminder: It’s not all bad news out there.

Here’s our weekly roundup of The Week in Good News, starring James Harrison, above, an Australian who helped save more than two million babies from a potentially fatal disease.

His blood contains a rare antibody necessary for a pioneering medication. So he donated blood every few weeks, for 60 years. Last Friday, he made his final donation in Sydney. Medical officials decided that it was time for Mr. Harrison to protect his own health.

10. Finally, set your alarm clock: The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle takes place on Saturday at 7 a.m. Eastern. We’ll have live video on our site, but don’t let us stop you from seeing how the competition handles it: Here’s a guide to all your watching options. Above, Ms. Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland.

“A lot of celebrities are going to be at the royal wedding this weekend, like Serena Williams, the Spice Girls,” Jimmy Fallon noted on “The Tonight Show.”

“But Yanni had to RSVP no. He said, ‘I think I got the invitation by mistake. This envelope was addressed to Laurel.’”

Have a great weekend.

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Source : Nytimes