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Firefighters near Redding, Calif., on Wednesday. A wildfire in the area that is just 35 percent contained is already one of the most destructive fires in California's history. Jim Wilson/The New York Times
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| Good morning. |
| Here's what you need to know: |
| Foreign lobbying and big paydays |
| • Robert Mueller's investigation of the millions of dollars that are flowing into Washington from abroad could be as much a part of his legacy as special counsel as anything he might unearth about Russian election interference. |
| The case of Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign manager who is facing fraud charges, is one of several that have spotlighted foreign influence operations embedded in Washington, and the culture of lobbyists who get rich helping foreign clients affect policies and laws. |
| At Mr. Manafort's trial on Wednesday, Mr. Mueller's team detailed Mr. Manafort's lavish spending, including more than $900,000 in five years at a men's wear boutique in Manhattan. The judge, however, told prosecutors to focus on the alleged financial machinations that they claim made such a lifestyle possible. |
| • President Trump pressed Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday to end the special counsel's Russia investigation, which the president, again, called a "rigged witch hunt." Mr. Trump has also pushed his lawyers in recent days to try to organize an interview with Mr. Mueller. |
| Putting Facebook to the test |
| • The social media giant disclosed this week a campaign to influence public opinion before the midterm elections, revealing that the people behind it are evolving their tactics to better cloak their identities. |
| One of our tech columnist writes: "As the forces behind the accounts become harder to detect, the company is left to separate the ordinary rants and raves of legitimate users from coordinated, possibly state-backed attempts to sway public opinion." |
| • We also spoke to a political activist whose experience shows how real people can get entangled with fake accounts and pages on Facebook — and the sometimes significant consequences. |
| A diocese's anti-abuse purge |
| • A coming report by a grand jury in Pennsylvania is expected to expose decades of mishandled sexual abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church. |
| Before its release, Bishop Ronald Gainer of Harrisburg ordered on Wednesday that the names of former bishops dating from the 1940s be removed from church buildings. |
| "I strongly believe that leaders of the diocese must hold themselves to a higher standard and must yield honorary symbols in the interest of healing," the bishop said in a news conference. |
| • The move comes as Catholics in the U.S. have been confronted by a new wave of accusations that brought down a cardinal and exposed possible cover-ups at the church's highest levels. |
| Peaceful election turns violent |
| • At least three people were reported dead in Zimbabwe on Wednesday during protests about the country's voting this week. |
| The election — the first since the longtime president, Robert Mugabe, was ousted — had been largely peaceful, but opposition supporters gathered in the capital, Harare, as early results suggested a victory for the governing party. Police officers fired live ammunition to disperse them. |
| • The unrest on Wednesday was far lower than the level reached in the country's 2008 elections. |
A supporter of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Wednesday.
Luis Tato/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
| "The Daily": The strange case of QAnon |
| • A fringe online movement makes a big appearance at a rally for President Trump. |
| Listen on a computer, an iOS device or an Android device. |
| We answered some common questions about the group, which is devoted to a sprawling web of conspiracy theories. |
| Business |
| • As trade talks between Washington and Beijing remain at a standstill, the Trump administration is considering increasing proposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent, from 10 percent. |
| • Google withdrew from China in 2010 to protest the country's censorship. Now the internet giant is said to be working on a search engine that complies with Beijing's rules. |
| • Condé Nast plans to sell three of its 14 magazines after losing more than $120 million last year. (Its marquee titles, including Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, are safe.) |
| • U.S. stocks were mixed on Wednesday. Here's a snapshot of global markets today. |
| Smarter Living |
| Tips for a more fulfilling life. |
| • There's a better way to think about financial decisions. |
| • That buyout offer sounds tempting. But there are risks. |
| • Recipe of the day: Chicken salad can get boring, so add miso and sesame. |
There's always room for another chicken salad recipe.
Karsten Moran for The New York Times |
| Noteworthy |
| • Duty before grief |
| Firefighters in Redding, Calif., have been working 24- and 36-hour shifts since a wildfire first ripped through the city last week. |
| Their dedication has left little time to mourn their two colleagues, who are among the six people killed. |
| • Ohio State sidelines coach |
| Urban Meyer, one of the most successful football coaches of the past 20 years, was put on paid leave after accusations that he knew of domestic abuse claims against a former assistant. |
| • The decline of Civil War re-enactments |
| The 155th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg last month was a chance for hobbyists to fire at one other with antique rifles and rekindle friendships over campfire-cooked meals. It was also a snapshot of a pastime in decline. |
This year's re-enactment included about 6,000 participants, down from the tens of thousands who turned out in the 1980s and '90s.
Daniel Arnold for The New York Times |
| Here's more from this week's Style section. |
| • In bookstores not so far away … |
| Two of the Star Wars saga's biggest villains team up in Timothy Zahn's "Thrawn: Alliances," which makes its debut on our hardcover fiction best-seller list at No. 1. You can find all of our best-seller lists here. |
| • Best of late-night TV |
| Samantha Bee addressed concerns that plastic guns made by a 3-D printer could pass through security undetected, even on Capitol Hill: "Sneaking guns into Congress? Jesus, isn't it bad enough that Ted Cruz manages to sneak in every single day?" |
| • Quotation of the day |
| "We don't convict people because they have a lot of money and throw it around. The government is not going to prosecute people for wearing nice clothes." |
| — Judge T.S. Ellis III, who is presiding over the tax and bank fraud trial of Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, limiting prosecutors' descriptions of Mr. Manafort's lavish tastes. |
| • 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 reading |
| Jennifer Jett, an editor based in Hong Kong, recommends this article in GQ: "Otto Warmbier, the American college student imprisoned in North Korea who died after his return home, was physically tortured while in custody, according to his parents and President Trump. But was he? This detailed investigation of Warmbier's experience asks what really happened and what political purpose his story served." |
| Back Story |
| President Trump has so far made two Supreme Court nominations, which is about average. But some presidents didn't get to name anyone to the court. |
| No vacancies came up while Jimmy Carter was president from 1977 to 1981 (although he reportedly pressured Justice Thurgood Marshall to resign after losing the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan). Critics of the Supreme Court have pointed to Mr. Carter's lack of nominees as a reason to impose term limits on the nine justices. |
Jimmy Carter was one of four presidents who made no Supreme Court nominations.
Dennis Cook/Associated Press |
| But Mr. Carter put his own stamp on the federal bench, appointing more minority (57) and female (41) judges than all presidents before him combined. |
| Mr. Carter also holds the record for most federal judges appointed in a single term (262). |
| The three other presidents with no Supreme Court appointments did not serve full terms. They were William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia in 1841, a month after giving a two-hour inaugural address without a coat; Zachary Taylor, who died under disputed circumstances in 1850 after 16 months in office; and Andrew Johnson, who became president in 1865 after Abraham Lincoln's assassination. |
| Johnson was so thoroughly disliked by members of Congress that they passed a bill reducing the size of the Supreme Court rather than confirm his sole nominee. |
| Jennifer Jett wrote today's Back Story. |
| _____ |
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