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John Kelly, Puerto Rico, Catalonia: Your Evening Briefing

Charles McDermid and

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

Good evening. Here’s the latest.

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Credit...Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

1. The feud between a Florida representative, Frederica Wilson, and John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, escalated with more verbal barbs.

Video of a 2015 speech by Ms. Wilson revealed that Mr. Kelly misrepresented her remarks when he accused her of bragging about securing $20 million for a South Florida F.B.I. building and twisting President Barack Obama’s arm.

Ms. Wilson, in an interview today, called Mr. Kelly, above, a liar and hinted strongly that the altercation, prompted by a call from President Trump to the widow of a fallen black soldier, was racially charged.

“The White House itself is full of white supremacists,” she said. Here’s what writers from across the political spectrum think of the imbroglio.

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Credit...Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency

2. Republicans could be on track to approve a tax package by early 2018, with the Senate passing a budget blueprint that would protect a $1.5 trillion tax cut from a Democratic filibuster.

Here’s a breakdown of where the legislative process goes from here.

One of our congressional reporters, Thomas Kaplan, says the Senate plan “calls for trillions of dollars in spending cuts over the coming decade. But the cuts exist only on paper, without legislation to achieve them.”

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Credit...Tom Brenner/The New York Times

3. A fight over trade is playing out in the White House as top advisers spar over how far the U.S. should go in putting in place the America First trade policies that President Trump promised.

Above, Mr. Trump meeting the U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, today in the Oval Office.

In today’s edition of “The Daily,” our audio news report, we discuss the State Department under Rex Tillerson, who has fired or driven out many experienced diplomats.

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Credit...Jim Wilson/The New York Times

4. In Northern California, investigators are digging through the debris of the devastating fires that roared through wine country to find out what started them.

Determining the causes of the fires could have huge financial implications: who ultimately pays for the extensive damage, and whether insurance companies can recover some of the estimated $1 billion they will pay out.

“It’s a crime scene for us until we determine otherwise,” one investigator said.

And four weeks after Hurricane Maria, a “perfect storm" of logistical nightmares has left 80 percent of Puerto Rico without electricity.

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Credit...Ivan Alvarado/Reuters

5. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain holds an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday to decide how to use Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution — a forceful tool that could allow him to take full administrative control of independence-minded Catalonia.

Barcelona, a global city and a magnet for 10 million visitors a year, has been caught in the middle of the separatist storm. Above, a demonstrator holds an Estelada, a Catalan flag, in Barcelona on Thursday.

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Credit...Josh Haner/The New York Times

6. Vikings cut down the forests in Iceland more than 1,000 years ago, taking their axes to the birch woodland that covered a quarter of the countryside. By most accounts, the island was largely deforested within three centuries.

“Simply everything was stripped away,” one soil researcher said.

Icelanders would like to get those forests back, to improve the country’s harsh soils, help agriculture and fight climate change. But it’s a slow and seemingly endless task.

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Credit...Oli Scarff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

7. The Orionids meteor shower peaks on Sunday. Here are a few facts.

A meteor shower is actually leftovers of icy comets crashing into Earth’s atmosphere. And comets are sort of like dirty snowballs, leaving a trail of rocks and ice that lingers in space.

When Earth passes through this comet waste, the bits of debris pierce the sky at such speeds that they burst, creating a celestial fireworks display.

Learn more about the major meteor showers and how to watch them here.

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Credit...Gene Page/AMC

8. “The Walking Dead,” the zombie apocalypse drama, is back.

This season there are even more factions to deal with, and more than enough shifting allegiances, devious double agents and bitter blood feuds. Here’s a quick refresher before you watch the Season 8 premiere on Sunday.

It’s also the show’s 100th episode, a notable TV milestone for such a physically intense, tightly serialized narrative. Our critics look at how long the series might last, and how it might need to change to survive.

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Credit...Ben Solomon for The New York Times

9. The Astros forced a Game 7 by beating the Yankees, 7-1, in the American League Championship Series. Saturday’s decisive game, in Houston at 8 p.m., will determine who faces the Dodgers in the World Series.

If it is the Yankees, it will be the 12th installment of a Series rivalry that overshadows all others. The last time the two clubs met in October was in 1981, when the Dodgers beat the Yankees in six games. Here’s a look at the Dodgers’ ace, Clayton Kershaw.

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Credit...Comedy Central

10. Late-night talk show hosts chimed in on President Trump’s phone call to the widow of a fallen soldier. Trevor Noah of “The Daily Show” said he wasn’t shocked in the slightest.

“I don’t think we should be surprised that Trump offended this family,” Mr. Noah said. “We’ve all heard him speak: We’re offended every day.”

Have a great weekend.

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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.

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

If photographs appear out of order, please download the updated New York Times app from iTunes or Google Play.

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

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