Saudi Arabia, Paul Allen, N.B.A.: Your Tuesday Briefing

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Almead Stutts, right, the owner of Stutts House of Barbeque, in Tulsa, Okla., on a slow Sunday afternoon. Her story is one of many that Times reporters found when they set out to capture 24 hours in America.CreditCreditJoseph Rushmore for The New York Times

By Chris Stanford

Oct. 16, 2018

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Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

A shifting story from Saudi Arabia

The country is preparing an alternative explanation for what happened to the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying he died at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago during a botched interrogation, according to a person familiar with the kingdom’s plans.

Saudi officials have repeatedly denied knowing what happened to Mr. Khashoggi. President Trump suggested on Monday that Mr. Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, may have been the victim of “rogue killers.”

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President Trump said that during his conversation with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, the king denied any knowledge about the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.Published OnOct. 15, 2018CreditCreditImage by Tom Brenner for The New York Times

The Saudis’ new explanation seems intended to ease a political crisis for Saudi Arabia and could defuse some criticism of the Trump administration, which has refused to back down from billions of dollars in weapons sales to the kingdom.

• Q. and A.: Here’s what we know and don’t know about Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.

• Executive decision: Several top Wall Street executives have pulled out of a lavish investment conference next week in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, is still planning to attend.

Trump, a hurricane veteran

President Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, toured the Florida Panhandle on Monday to survey the damage from Michael, the latest major storm to hit the U.S. during his administration.

• Fact-check: Scientists have said hurricanes and other extreme weather events are worsening because of climate change. Mr. Trump backed off his long-held claim that global warming is a hoax in an interview on Sunday. We assessed some of his claims.

• Waiting for help: With much of the area struck by Michael without power or running water, residents are adjusting to a new feature of daily life: long lines.

Fund-raising surge for Democrats

Democrats raised more money than their Republican opponents in 32 of the closest 45 House races, $154 million to $108 million since November 2016, according to an analysis of reports filed on Monday with the Federal Election Commission.

The filing deadline was midnight. Here’s a look at the latest totals.

• Elizabeth Warren: The Democratic senator from Massachusetts, who is weighing a 2020 presidential run, released the results of a DNA test on Monday that she said proved her Native American ancestry. President Trump has repeatedly questioned her claims.

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Remembering a computing revolutionary

Paul Allen, who founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975 and helped usher in the personal computer era, died on Monday at 65. The cause was complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his family said. Read our obituary.

Mr. Allen left Microsoft in the early 1980s, when the cancer first appeared. He then used his wealth to transform his hometown, Seattle, donating to cultural institutions and buying the city’s N.F.L. franchise, the Seahawks.

• From the archives: The Times interviewed Mr. Allen in 2015 before the Seahawks played in the Super Bowl.

Genocide incited on Facebook

In its campaign against Muslim Rohingyas, Myanmar’s military used the social network for years as a tool for ethnic cleansing, according to former military officials, researchers and civilian officials.

The previously unreported actions are among the first examples of an authoritarian government using the social network against its own people.

• Facebook’s response: The company confirmed many of the details about the campaign and on Monday, after questions from The Times, said it had taken down accounts that were supposedly focused on entertainment but were tied to the military. Those accounts had 1.3 million followers.

Stormy Daniels’s lawsuit is dismissed

A federal judge on Monday threw out a defamation lawsuit that the pornographic film actress had filed against President Trump, ruling that the president had not defamed her on Twitter. The judge ordered her to pay his legal fees.

Business

• The federal budget deficit jumped nearly 17 percent in the 2018 fiscal year, the Treasury Department said. The increase appears to come in large part from a sharp decline in corporate tax revenues as a result of the tax overhaul.

• Utilities in California are cutting power to areas threatened by wildfires, citing safety concerns. Consumer advocates see a strong-arm strategy to change liability law.

• Super-long-haul travel is making a comeback. Some airlines are trying to make the journeys a little more bearable.

• U.S. stocks were down on Monday. Here’s a snapshot of global markets today.

Smarter Living

Tips for a more fulfilling life.

• Bathroom improvements can be inexpensive and worthwhile, even if you rent.

• Five cheap(ish) things for a long commute.

• Recipe of the day: Comforting beef barley soup.

A soup that is a little lighter than most of its kind.CreditAndrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Noteworthy

• 24 hours in America

From a peanut farm in Georgia to a stage set in California, reporters for The Times set out to document life in 24 states, training a lens on the lives of people who are rarely in the headlines.

• Reflections of a #MeToo leader

Tarana Burke started the original Me Too movement more than a decade ago on MySpace. She spoke to us about the movement’s future, the #HimToo backlash and advice for survivors.

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Tarana Burke has been working to ensure that the movement she started doesn’t lose sight of its mission: to connect survivors of sexual assault to the resources they need in order to heal.CreditHeather Sten for The New York Times

Separately, the chef April Bloomfield broke months of silence to talk about her role at the Spotted Pig restaurant in Manhattan, where Ken Friedman, her business partner, is accused of sexually harassing employees.

• Rescuing sea turtles in Kenya

A group is working to persuade people to help return trapped reptiles to the ocean, rather than to sell their meat and shells.

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A green sea turtle trapped in a net. Scientists estimate the global green turtle population has declined 50 to 70 percent since 1900.

CreditJeff Rotman/Science Source

• Milwaukee takes the lead in N.L.C.S.

The Brewers shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0, to gain the edge in the National League Championship Series, two games to one.

Game 4 is tonight, as is Game 3 of the American League series between the Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros.

• Best of late-night TV

Stephen Colbert discussed Senator Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test: “This test accurately reveals, with high confidence, that Elizabeth Warren is running for president.”

• Quotation of the day

“I feel like I’m on a high-speed ride with no way to steer.”

— John Olson, who helped create the genealogy site GEDmatch, which has been credited with providing essential clues leading to suspects in more than a dozen murder or sexual assault cases.

• 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

Michael Roston, a science editor, recommends this piece from Vox: “If you printed today’s Briefing and taped the pages together, it probably wouldn’t be as long as the average CVS receipt. How did those things get to be so long? This fun article explains.”

Back Story

The N.B.A. season opens tonight with a matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics, a storied rivalry.

But it’s far from the league’s fiercest beef. That honor could belong to Robin Lopez and … mascots.

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Robin Lopez of the Chicago Bulls dancing with Pierre, the mascot for the New Orleans Pelicans.CreditCarlos Osorio/Associated Press

Lopez, a 7-foot center for the Chicago Bulls, has playfully quarreled with the furry cheerleaders for years. The confrontations tend to follow a pattern: The home team’s mascot will insult Lopez or bait him into making a fool of himself. He then retaliates, often by pushing the mascot to the ground or beating it with its own props.

It’s all in good fun. Lopez avoids earnest talk about the joke, though he told Live Wire Radio in 2014 that he liked to goof off before games to ease his nerves. In an interview, he had another explanation.

“I feel like my earliest encounters with mascots, they were never too receptive of me,” Lopez told Bleacher Report in 2015. “I was a taller child. I always looked a little older than I was. I don’t think I ever got proper attention from those mascots.”

The Bulls start their season on Thursday in Philadelphia, where Franklin the dog has frequently trolled Lopez.

Here’s our team-by-team preview of the Eastern and Western Conferences.

Daniel Victor wrote today’s Back Story.

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