Wednesday: Troubling data for Boeing

Paul Manafort, insect apocalypse, Germany's Greens View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, November 28, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By PENN BULLOCK Good morning. Data from the Lion Air crash, an unusual arrangement for President Trump’s lawyers and the rise of Germany’s Greens. Here’s the latest: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images • Data indicates Boeing problems. Indonesian investigators released a preliminary report with information from the so-called black box of the Lion Air jet that crashed in Indonesia last month, killing all 189 people aboard. Above, Indonesian Navy personnel recovering a wheel from the plane this month. The data [is consistent with investigators’ theory of a fatal tug-of-war]( between the pilots and the Boeing 737’s new automatic anti-stall system, which appears to have engaged after the plane’s computer processed faulty sensor data. The plane’s nose was forced down more than two dozen times while the pilots fought to lift it, finally losing control. Pilots have said since the crash that Boeing hadn’t fully informed them of the new system and how to respond to it. Our interactive [shows what the pilots may have needed to do]( to avoid a crash. _____ Al Drago for The New York Times • A highly unusual arrangement. Our journalists learned that a lawyer for Paul Manafort, above, the onetime campaign chairman for President Trump, [gave Mr. Trump’s lawyers insight]( into the investigation of the special counsel, Robert Mueller. The lawyer, Kevin M. Downing, repeatedly briefed them on his client’s discussions with federal investigators even after Mr. Manafort agreed to cooperate with the inquiry. The arrangement helped destroy Mr. Manafort’s relationship with Mr. Mueller, whose team has now [accused Mr. Manafort of lying to investigators]( and has voided his plea agreement. Some experts said maintaining communication was a sign that Mr. Manafort was angling for a pardon from Mr. Trump. Mr. Manafort, 69, is set to be sentenced for various crimes that could send him to prison for at least 10 years. Mr. Trump’s lawyers are also alarmed by the special counsel’s dealings with Jerome Corsi, an associate of the former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone who says that Mr. Stone tried during the 2016 presidential campaign to [find out what damaging information WikiLeaks had about Hillary Clinton](. Mr. Trump took to Twitter again on Tuesday to attack the special counsel’s investigation, calling it a “[Phony Witch Hunt]( In Opinion: A former U.S. prosecutor [can find little explanation for Mr. Manafort’s behavior](. _____ Evgeniy Maloletka/Associated Press • Confusion over martial law. Ukrainians were left bewildered by a chaotic rollout of martial law, which Parliament imposed in regions of the country near Russian military deployments amid a standoff with Russia. Above, a government checkpoint in eastern Ukraine. Erroneous official information and the lack of any complete public version of the measures left people wondering what it all meant, and raised fears about civil liberties. [We tried to sort it out]( along with the tangled claims and counterclaims of Russia and Ukraine in their naval dispute. _____ Filip Singer/EPA, via Shutterstock • Germany’s Greens on the rise. Formed as a scruffy environmental protest movement in 1979, the Green Party is now the [second-most popular party in Germany]( complicating the narrative of a Europe trending to the far right. Above, voting during a party convention this month. Though unapologetically pro-refugee and left-wing, the Greens have moved to the center over the years, and the center has moved toward them. They’ve swallowed up disenchanted voters from the right and the left while standing as “the alternative to the Alternative,” as a Green Party politician put it, referring to the far-right Alternative for Germany party. The Green Party’s co-leader told us that it is “reclaiming the symbols of our country from the nationalists.” One conservative voter who switched to the Greens said that they were now the protectors of traditional German values. Business Gabriel Sainhas/House of Commons, via Associated Press • Mark Zuckerberg [did not attend a questioning session]( in London organized by a British committee investigating Facebook and the spread of misinformation, though there was a symbolic, empty chair for Mr. Zuckerberg, above. • President Trump has [signaled a new willingness]( to end a trade war and make a deal with China as the U.S. economy shows signs of cooling. He also [threatened G.M.]( over its plans to cut jobs and idle factories. • Apple shares have fallen 20 percent over the last month, bringing it close to [losing its position as the most valuable company]( to Microsoft. • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Ian Langsdon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • President Emmanuel Macron of France, above, gave a widely panned speech in which he tried to douse the fury of the Yellow Jackets, a movement that is promising more countrywide protests over the cost of living. [[The New York Times]( • Three U.S. soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, where the Taliban now control more territory than at any time since they were ousted from power in 2001. [[The New York Times]( • Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican, held on to her seat in a special runoff election. With all the midterm Senate races now decided, Republicans in the new Senate will have a majority of 53 to 47. [[The New York Times]( • An independent autopsy of a transgender asylum seeker from Honduras who died while in the custody of U.S. immigration officials found signs of abuse, raising questions about how she was treated. [[The New York Times]( • Cash-filled jets and a zoo: The spoils of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the Mexican crime lord known as El Chapo, were detailed at his trial in Brooklyn. [[The New York Times]( • In Belgium, three doctors are under investigation after they euthanized a woman with autism. [[The]( Press]( • A Syrian refugee who was stranded in an airport in Malaysia for more than seven months landed in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he has been granted asylum. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips for a more fulfilling life. John Kernick for The New York Times • Recipe of the day: Need a delicious midweek snack? Try [buffalo chicken dip](. • Keep yourself sane, snug and distracted [while on long-haul flights](. • Record and share your family history. [Take these five easy steps](. Noteworthy Photo illustrations by Matt Dorfman. Source photographs: Bridgeman Images • Insect apocalypse: The vital pollinators and recyclers of ecosystems and the base of food webs everywhere are dying out. [What does that mean for the rest of life on Earth?]( • The Quai Branly Museum in Paris will [return]( objects looted by French colonial forces]( to Benin, their country of origin. The move sets a tricky precedent for other European museums. • In memoriam: [Lady Trumpington]( 96, a British code breaker during World War II who later gained celebrity in her 90s as an irreverent politician; and [Stephen Hillenburg]( 57, who created the children’s show and cultural phenomenon “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Back Story Diane Bondareff/Tishman Speyer, via Associated Press Larry Smith, a Christmas tree farmer in rural North Carolina, worked his whole life to send a tree to the White House. Shirley Figueroa, a retired public servant from New York City, above left, grew up with “no trees on my block.” But when Ms. Figueroa’s 72-foot Norway spruce is lit at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan tonight, it will join Mr. Smith’s 19-foot Fraser fir, now adorning the Blue Room in the White House, as one of the nation’s celebrated evergreens. Mr. Smith spoke over the roar of his tractor. He said the tree that White House scouts chose from his farm was one he hadn’t bothered to trim in the last couple of years. (They liked the natural look.) Last year, Ms. Figueroa and her wife bought a home an hour and a half north of New York City. It came with a tree that the Rockefeller Center scouts already had an eye on. “I can’t take any credit” for the tree’s success, she said. Azi Paybarah, our New York Today columnist, wrote today’s Back Story. 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