Your Tuesday Evening Briefing

Paul Manafort, Immigration, Stephen Hillenburg | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Tuesday, November 27, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Tuesday Evening Briefing]( By JEAN RUTTER AND HIROKO MASUIKE Good evening. Here’s the latest. Mandel Ngan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 1. President Trump [lobbed familiar accusations about Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation]( the day after prosecutors asserted that Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, had violated his plea agreement by repeatedly lying to them. In a court filing, prosecutors said that [Mr. Manafort’s “crimes and lies”]( had nullified the promises made to him in the deal. Defense lawyers denied that Mr. Manafort had broken the agreement. Mr. Manafort, above, was convicted in August of eight counts of financial fraud stemming from his work as a political consultant in Ukraine. [The Times examined his rise and fall](. _____ Todd Heisler/The New York Times 2. The number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. [has dropped significantl]( — even as the national debate around immigration has become much more divisive. A new study, published by the Pew Research Center, put the number of undocumented immigrants at 10.7 million in 2016, down from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007. And it noted a sharp decrease in “recent arrivals.” Above, at the border near Laredo, Tex. Separately, our reporters looked at deaths at the U.S.-Mexico frontier. Here’s the story of a woman who [was injured trying to scale a border wall]( last week, and the tragic history of a boy [shot at the border]( by a Marine two decades ago. _____ Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 3. China’s richest man and the founder of the country’s biggest e-commerce company, Alibaba, was listed as [a member of the Chinese Communist Party]( in its official newspaper. It might seem paradoxical that an entrepreneur who amassed wealth in the private sector belongs to an organization that propagates the ideals of Karl Marx. But Jack Ma’s membership didn’t surprise many in China — and it “reveals a party that is eager to prove its legitimacy by affiliating itself with capitalist success stories,” our Asia tech columnist writes. Separately, in the second part of our China Rules special series, we look at how the country [unleashed upward economic mobility]( and embraced free enterprise while [still maintaining state control](. _____ Joshua Bright for The New York Times 4. Juul Labs, the leading manufacturer of e-cigarettes in the U.S., is looking to duplicate that success [in markets overseas](. The company, which has come under scrutiny for producing flavored vaping products [popular with children and teenagers]( is creating a potent e-cigarette pod that it hopes will appeal to adult smokers and sidestep stricter nicotine regulations in Europe. The new pods contain less nicotine than their U.S. counterparts, but they create an intense vapor, potentially making them even more addictive, experts told us. One researcher said the approach could amount to a workaround, saying, “It’s more like cheating the test.” _____ Pool photo by Rogelio V. Solis 5. The final Senate race of the year is almost over. Mississippi voters are deciding between Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican, and her Democratic challenger, Mike Espy, in a runoff election. Ms. Hyde-Smith is white, Mr. Espy is black, and the campaign has seen policy debates mixed with tense racial politics. Above, in Jackson, Miss. Republicans are believed to have an edge today, but Mr. Espy has mounted one of the strongest Democratic campaigns in Mississippi in recent decades. Polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern and we’ll have an update. [Here’s what to watch for tonight](. _____ Junko Kimura/Getty Images AsiaPac 6. The creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, Stephen Hillenburg, [died Monday at his home in California](. He was 57. Inspiration for the cartoon show’s main character grew from Mr. Hillenburg’s background as a marine biology teacher, sort of. At first he drew blob-like sea sponges. “Then I drew a square sponge, and it looked so funny,” he said in a 2001 interview. “He seemed to fit the character type I was looking for — a somewhat nerdy, squeaky-clean oddball.” The television cartoon spawned two movies and a Broadway musical that was nominated for nine Tony Awards (and won one, for scenic design). Mr. Hillenburg announced last year that he had Lou Gehrig’s disease. _____ Fauzy Chaniago/Associated Press 7. A fatal tug-of-war. The two pilots on the doomed Lion Air flight that nose-dived into the Java Sea off Indonesia last month struggled with the Boeing 737 almost from takeoff, [our reporters learned](. The flight data recorder, above, shows the plane plunged dangerously downward more than two dozen times during the 11-minute flight, consistent with investigators’ theory that a new computerized system malfunctioned. The pilots repeatedly pulled the nose back up but finally lost control, investigators said, leaving the plane to crash, killing all 189 people on board. And our journalists, who [interviewed dozens of employees, officials and aviation analysts]( found that Lion Air was cutting corners long before the crash. _____ Zakeria Hashimi/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 8. Three U.S. soldiers were killed in Afghanistan. Witnesses said a roadside bomb detonated as an American convoy passed near Ghazni City, in the southeast. It was [the worst loss of life for U.S. troops]( in the country this year. The Taliban, which now controls more territory than at any time since the start of the war, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has been pressing the fight for Ghazni City, pictured above, since August. Meanwhile, the military is investigating whether an Afghan soldier who killed a Czech soldier last month in the western province of Herat was beaten or tortured to death while in custody. The U.S. Green Beret unit at the scene has been sent home, officials said. _____ Peter Garritano for The New York Times 9. Roz Chast’s jittery cartoons capture the essence of the anxiously obsessive New Yorker. [A retrospective of her work]( now on display at a [Manhattan gallery]( includes drawings, childhood sketchbooks, hand-decorated Ukrainian-style eggs and a life-size “M.R.I. of Love,” based on one of her cartoons. She talked with our reporter about getting started as a cartoonist, why she loves crafts and the one thing she hates to draw. (Hint: You won’t find it in the city.) _____ Bruce Kluckhohn/Associated Press 10. Finally, a reason to celebrate. The N.F.L. last year relaxed its strict rules about on-field jubilation after big plays. Before long, high fives evolved into elaborate routines: drum lines, a phone call, famous moments in other sports, even a pantomime birth with a football baby. Above, Vikings move to a limbo beat. Our sports reporter has assembled a video sampler of [this year’s best celebrations]( most of which would have once drawn a flag. Have a winning 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](. 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