Your Wednesday Briefing

Donald Trump, Whitey Bulger, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, October 31, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By CHRIS STANFORD [President Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, placed stones from the White House on Tuesday outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, in commemoration of the victims of a mass shooting.]( President Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, placed stones from the White House on Tuesday outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, in commemoration of the victims of a mass shooting. Doug Mills/The New York Times Good morning. Here’s what you need to know: United in grief, divided by Trump Funeral services for the 11 people who were killed at a synagogue in Pittsburgh began on Tuesday, the same day President Trump visited the city. He was [welcomed by some but was vigorously opposed by]( who say his rhetoric has contributed to a national atmosphere of anger. Mr. Trump and the first lady paid their respects at the Tree of Life synagogue, where a gunman screaming “all Jews must die” attacked on Saturday. The president also met with officers who were wounded in the shooting, as well as the widow of one of the victims. Thousands of protesters, holding signs that read “Words matter” and “President Hate is not welcome in our state,” held a solemn march. “While our community is still processing this violence from a few days ago, we recognize that it did not happen in a vacuum,” one protest organizer said. [People in Pittsburgh showed their support for the Jewish community and protested President Trump’s visit.]People in Pittsburgh showed their support for the Jewish community and protested President Trump’s visit. Hilary Swift for The New York Times • Trusted advisers: Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter, and her husband, Jared Kushner, accompanied Mr. Trump to Pittsburgh. The couple, who are Jewish, [helped shape the president’s response]( to the massacre, one of the deadliest anti-Semitic acts in U.S. history. • The guns: The suspect, Robert Bowers, [legally purchased the guns used in the attack]( the federal authorities say. The four weapons, an AR-15 assault rifle and three Glock .357 handguns, were among 10 he owned. As elections near, president is full of ideas A tax cut for the middle class. Sending troops to the southern border. Ending birthright citizenship. In the last days before Election Day, President Trump has proposed or acted on contentious issues in an effort to energize the Republican base, [our chief White House correspondent explains](. • Birthright citizenship: In an interview published on Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he would issue an executive order to end the 14th Amendment’s guarantee that children born in the U.S. automatically become citizens. There’s little doubt it would face a legal challenge, [our Supreme Court reporter writes](. • The Tip Sheet: In [today’s analysis of the midterm elections]( Mr. Trump’s throw-everything-at-the-wall strategy is creating headaches for some Republicans. • At the border: We looked at [some of the costs associated with deploying the military]( in an effort to deter the caravan of migrants in Mexico. Mobster’s death may have been a hit James (Whitey) Bulger, the Boston mob boss who was found beaten to death in a West Virginia prison on Tuesday, [may have been killed by inmates with ties to organized crime]( a prison worker said. Mr. Bulger had been transferred to the penitentiary the day before. In his long criminal history, he trumpeted a code that included never squealing to the authorities. But in reality he was a longtime informant for the F.B.I. • Obituary: [Mr. Bulger led a reign of terror]( in the Irish-American enclave of South Boston before spending 16 years on the run. He was finally arrested in 2011 and was serving two life sentences for 11 murders. He was 89. [James (Whitey) Bulger in a 1953 police booking photo.]James (Whitey) Bulger in a 1953 police booking photo. The Boston Globe, via Associated Press After player’s death, coach keeps his job The death of a University of Maryland football player in May led to two investigations, an ESPN report that revealed a “toxic culture” of bullying players, and a decision to put the head coach and members of his staff on leave. On Tuesday, the university allowed the coach, D. J. Durkin, and the athletic director, Damon Evans, to keep their jobs, [while accepting the unexpected retirement of the school’s president]( Wallace Loh. • Behind the decision: The announcement raised the question of whether the university was putting its quest to succeed in big-time football ahead of accountability for its players’ well-being. “The Daily”: The business of internet outrage We look at the rise and fall of a right-wing website and the imprint it made on U.S. politics. Listen on [a computer]( an [iOS device]( or an [Android device](. Business • Parts of the U.S. are still struggling economically, but the [most competitive districts in the race for control of the House are disproportionately prosperous](. • Facebook, which reported slowing growth on Tuesday, [plans to reduce its dependence on News Feed]( the stream of content that’s central to the platform. The social network said it would focus more on mediums like messaging and video. • An executive at Google’s parent company, Alphabet, [resigned on Tuesday]( after he was accused in [a Times article]( last week of sexually harassing a female job applicant. • Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, [announced $15 billion in profit in its latest quarter]( a new high. But the memory-chip boom that is driving profit probably won’t last. • U.S. stocks [were up]( on Tuesday. Here’s a snapshot of [global markets]( today. Smarter Living Tips for a more fulfilling life. • The introverted traveler’s [guide to sightseeing](. • Tips on making meaningful friendships, [from our newsletter]( for college students and recent graduates. • Recipe of the day: Salt, pepper and herbs make [a flavorful roast chicken](. (Sign up for [Five Weeknight Dishes]( for more recommendations.) [A recipe for roast chicken at its simplest and best.]Roast chicken at its simplest and best. Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times Noteworthy • The unappreciated beauty of spiders It’s Halloween, a time of year when the creepy crawlers are out in force. But one of our science writers [says that spiders are quite lovely]( in a deadly, leaping, cannibalistic way. [Boo!] Boo! Alexandros Avramidis/Reuters • A spacecraft, retired After nine and a half years in orbit, more than 530,000 stars observed and more than 2,600 planets found, the Kepler space telescope [will be left to drift around the sun]( NASA announced. • Evolution of a restaurant dish Adding a menu item requires trial, error and time. [We followed the California chef Jeremy Fox]( as he created, and recreated, an elaborate chicken dish. [Here’s more from this week’s Food section](. • Best of late-night TV [Trevor Noah explained the fear tactics]( used in the campaign rhetoric surrounding the migrant caravan: “It’s a little like Halloween, but a racist Halloween. Or as Megyn Kelly calls it, Halloween.” • Quotation of the day “People don’t come here to have a baby. People tend to come here, all the studies indicate, for a better life and economic progress. Babies are more or less a byproduct.” — [Michael Fix]( a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group. President Trump’s plan to abolish birthright citizenship targets babies born to undocumented parents. • The Times, in other words Here’s an image of [today’s front page]( and links to our [Opinion content]( and [crossword puzzles](. • What we’re listening to Jennifer Jett, an editor in Hong Kong, recommends [this recording from Scientific American]( “A Facebook friend shared the poem ‘Human Family’ by Maya Angelou, who died four years ago. It reminds us — repeatedly — that ‘We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.’ Listen to the poet herself say it.” Back Story India [unveiled the world’s tallest statue]( today, a bronze figure of [Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel]( who played an important role in the country’s independence from Britain in 1947. It’s also Patel’s birthday. At 597 feet (182 meters) tall, the statue is almost twice the height of the Statue of Liberty, including the pedestal. [A monument to a forefather of Indian independence.]A monument to a forefather of Indian independence. Ajit Solanki/Associated Press At the time of his death in 1950, Patel was [described by The Times]( as part of “India’s idolized triumvirate” alongside Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. After independence, he became India’s first deputy prime minister and faced the outsize task of weaving together India’s disparate parts. As sectarian violence exploded and [one of the greatest migrations in history]( unfolded at India’s borders, the fate of more than 500 princely states hung in the balance. Those states were never fully under British control, ruled instead by indigenous monarchs. Had they decided to remain autonomous, the newly independent country could have been divided further. Patel negotiated with the different rulers and, within [two years]( persuaded all but a few to join the Indian union. The states that initially resisted eventually gave in to pressure, although one, [Jammu and Kashmir]( is still disputed today. The statue dedicated to Patel is called the Statue of Unity. Alisha Haridasani Gupta wrote today’s Back Story. _____ Your Morning Briefing is published weekdays and [updated all morning](. Browse [past briefings here](. [Sign up here]( to get it by email in the Australian, Asian, European or American morning. To receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights, [sign up here](. Check out our full range of free newsletters [here](. What would you like to see here? Contact us at [briefing@nytimes.com](mailto:briefing@nytimes.com?subject=Morning%20Briefing%20Feedback). LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. ADVERTISEMENT Sponsor a Subscription Inspire a future generation of readers by contributing to The New York Times [sponsor-a-subscription program](. For every subscription granted through contributions to this program, The Times will provide a digital subscription to one additional student. FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Sign Up for the [Evening Briefing newsletter »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Morning Briefing newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2018 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018