Your Tuesday Evening Briefing

Trump Taxes, Midterms, Earthquake | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Tuesday, October 2, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Trump Taxes, Midterms, Earthquake: Your Tuesday Evening Briefing]( By JOUMANA KHATIB, JEAN RUTTER AND HIROKO MASUIKE Good evening. Here’s the latest. Jeffery A. Salter/The New York Times 1. President Trump has long marketed himself as a self-made billionaire. [A yearlong Times investigation]( found otherwise. A team of our top investigative reporters pored through a vast trove of confidential tax returns and financial records, and discovered Mr. Trump had received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate empire. Much of this money came to Mr. Trump through dubious tax schemes he participated in during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud. Above, Mr. Trump in 1999. A lawyer for Mr. Trump called the findings “100 percent false, and highly defamatory.” [Read his full statement.]( _____ Erik S Lesser/EPA, via Shutterstock 2. The Pentagon received several packages [suspected of containing ricin]( officials said. The substance can be lethal has no known antidote. The packages — addressed to the defense secretary, Jim Mattis, and the chief of naval operations, Adm. John Richardson — were found during screening on Monday and turned over to the F.B.I. on Tuesday, officials said. At the Pentagon, above, workers are now quarantining the mail. _____ Adam Dean for The New York Times 3. Help and heavy equipment were on the way to try to rescue those still trapped in the aftermath of the powerful earthquake and devastating tsunami that rocked part of Indonesia’s island of Sulawesi last Friday. But a spokesman for the country’s disaster management agency said [time was running out to find anyone alive](. Officials increased the death toll to at least 1,234. Many others, still uncounted, were caught in the rubble of ruined buildings or swept away by the tsunami. “I’m broken,” a woman cried as she buried her teenage son, who had been struck by falling debris near his school. We’ve gathered [a dozen suggestions]( for making effective donations to the rescue effort. _____ Erin Schaff for The New York Times 4. The F.B.I.’s investigation into [allegations of sexual assault]( against Judge Brett Kavanaugh is expected to end as early as Wednesday, and Republican leaders said that they expect to vote on the nomination sometime this week. In the hot seat: [five moderate, and as yet undecided, senators]( who will either send Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court or derail his nomination. _____ Rachel Mummey for The New York Times 5. Midterm elections update: Jason Kander, above, a war veteran who became a rising star in the Democratic Party, [abruptly dropped out of the Kansas City mayoral race](. In a strikingly candid Facebook post, he said he needed to focus on healing from post-traumatic stress disorder. Also of note: Campaigning Democrats and Republicans [seem loath to mention climate change](. Political scientists say that’s a reflection of its perpetual low ranking among voters’ priorities. Feeling overwhelmed by the midterms? We’ve got you covered, with a [guide to everything you need to know](. And we launched a new newsletter, [Abroad in America]( dedicated to helping international readers decipher what’s going on in the U.S. The writer, Sarah Lyall, was herself an expat for many years. So far, she’s gotten “what I can only describe as huge existential howls of pain from afar, along the lines of ‘What the (insert extreme word of choice) is going on over there?’” _____ Doug Strickland/Chattanooga Times Free Press, via Associated Press 6. Amazon will [raise the minimum wage]( to $15 for all its U.S. workers, effective Nov. 1. The move will affect more than 250,000 workers, including part-time and holiday hires, as well as employees of Whole Foods. Amazon said it would also push for a higher federal minimum wage, now $7.25. _____ Hanna Franzen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 7. The Nobel Prize in Physics went to [three scientists for their work on laser technology](. They are Arthur Ashkin of the U.S., Gérard Mourou of France and the third woman to ever win the prize, Dr. Donna Strickland of Canada, a self-described “laser jock.” Our physics expert writes that the three found ways to turn “one of the most ineffable aspects of nature, pure light, into a mighty microscopic force.” One invented “optical tweezers,” which use the pressure from a highly focused laser beam to manipulate microscopic objects. Two created the technology that allowed for Lasik eye surgery. _____ Tiziana Fabi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 8. Support for Pope Francis has declined sharply among Catholics in the United States, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. Just [three out of 10 American Catholics]( say the pope has done an “excellent” or “good” job handling the church’s sex abuse crisis. _____ Suzanne Plunkett for The New York Times 9. David Hockney, the British artist perhaps best known for his pictures of swimming pools and bright landscapes, once passed up an opportunity to paint a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. But his latest creation is [a stained-glass window for Westminster Abbey]( to commemorate the 65th anniversary of her reign. A rendering is visible over his shoulder, above: a thorny floral shrub in a lively profusion of reds, blues, greens and yellows. _____ Atul Loke for The New York Times 10. It’s a game from ancient India that [you’ve probably never heard of](. Kabaddi demands speed, strength, timing, skill at playing angles and all kinds of fancy footwork. The main objective is to score points by raiding your opponent’s side of the court and touching as many opponents as possible without getting caught — without taking a breath. Have a restful evening. 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](mailto:briefing@nytimes.com?subject=Evening%20Briefing%20Feedback). LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. ADVERTISEMENT Sponsor a Subscription Inspire the future generation of readers by contributing to The Times’s [sponsor-a-subscription program](. For questions, email sponsor@nytimes.com or call [1-844-698-2677](. 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