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Good evening. Here’s the latest.
1. Some 7,000 Central American migrants have been making their way toward the U.S. border. Above, Honduran migrants in Mexico.
The Mexican government, under pressure from the U.S., tried to halt the asylum seekers’ progress as they crossed the border from Guatemala. But thousands defied orders to submit themselves to immigration processing and instead continued their journey north.
Caravans of this kind usually number in the hundreds and pass unnoticed. This group is by far the largest on record, and it has received heavy attention from the news media.
2. Election Day is just 15 days away.
Democrats need to capture 23 seats to flip the House. And right now, strategists in both parties tell us they expect them to gain 20 to 35.
In the Senate, Republican officials say they increasingly believe the party will net one seat.
To help you keep up with the flood of political news, we’re introducing the Tip Sheet, a daily catch-up on the most watched midterm races — based on interviews with Republican and Democratic insiders. Above, early voting in Las Vegas.
One race we’re following: the Montana Senate race, where the Democratic incumbent Jon Tester is fighting for his seat. Our reporter says the campaigns reveal a split, with Democrats focusing on local credibility and Republicans betting that, now, all politics is national.
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3. Security camera footage of Jamal Khashoggi’s last day was leaked to Turkish news media, ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s televised address to Parliament Tuesday. He has promised to reveal the true details of the dissident journalist’s death.
Mr. Khashoggi is seen, at one point, holding hands with his fiancée, leaving a marriage office. They are pictured above visiting the apartment building where they were planning to live. Then they took a taxi to the Saudi Consulate — where the journalist met his brutal fate.
Another new piece of evidence: After Mr. Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate, a member of the Saudi team left the building dressed in the journalist’s clothes, surveillance images showed.
Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, said the White House has its “eyes wide open” as the investigations continue. Mr. Kushner has a strong relationship with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who is suspected of playing a role in Mr. Khashoggi’s death and possibly ordering it.
Meanwhile, the consulting firm McKinsey & Company is facing intense scrutiny for playing a role in Saudi Arabia’s efforts to target its online critics.
4. Purple urchins are gobbling up California’s underwater kelp forests.
The sprawling tangles of brown seaweed, above, provide a vital habitat and food source for a wide range of species. They also absorb carbon emissions.
But climate change helped trigger a population explosion of purple urchins, and they have gone on a feeding frenzy devouring the kelp.
“It would be like one of those beautiful deciduous forests turned into a desert,” one scientist said. “But in the matter of five years.”
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5. President Trump’s decision to pull out of an arms control treaty with Russia was as much about Beijing as the Kremlin.
China was not a signatory to the 1987 I.N.F. treaty, which restricted intermediate-range nuclear missiles and helped ease Cold War tensions. So it has been free to build up its arsenal, now one of its primary tools to keep the U.S. at a distance in the Pacific.
Experts worry that the U.S. is now on the brink of a 1950s-style weapons race with both Russia and China, and that neither adversary has much incentive to come to the bargaining table. Above, President Xi Jinping of China and President Vladimir Putin of Russia at an economic forum.
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6. The first atomic bomb could have been built by the Nazis.
One reason it wasn’t: A daring commando raid by Norwegian saboteurs destroyed a secret German heavy-water plant in 1943.
Joachim Ronneberg, above, the leader and last surviving member of that raid, died on Sunday. He was 99.
Our obituary tells the story of how he and eight other resistance fighters destroyed the plant without firing a shot — and escaped the 2,800 soldiers sent after them.
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7. Pregnancy discrimination takes many forms.
It’s widespread in corporate America, where some employers deny expecting mothers promotions or pay raises, or fire them before they can take maternity leave.
But for women who work in physically demanding jobs, the stakes can be even higher. Chasisty Bee, above, collapsed at work. She later miscarried.
An investigation by The Times tells the stories of women in strenuous jobs who miscarried after their employers denied requests for light duty, even ignoring doctor’s notes.
The practice is often legal in the U.S. If companies “treat their nonpregnant employees terribly, they have every right to treat their pregnant employees terribly as well,” a New York congressman told us.
8. “We will not be erased.”
That has become a rallying cry against a Trump administration proposal that would limit the rights of transgender people.
The proposed policy, outlined in an unreleased government memo, would narrowly define gender as a fixed condition defined by a person’s genitalia at birth — unless “rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.” What might constitute such evidence is in dispute.
L.G.B.T. activists mobilized a fast and fierce response, including a rally outside the White House, above, attended by what appeared to be at least several hundred people. Speakers repeatedly referred to the coming midterm elections and encouraged people to vote.
“We have just three words for you: November is coming,” one advocate said.
9. But is it art?
A painting on the auction block at Christie’s was generated by an algorithm trained to imitate thousands of portraits created over seven centuries.
The French collective Obvious — which includes a student of machine learning and two business school graduates, none of whom have a background in art — created the software.
A Christie’s expert said he thought the work, above, would be a good way to ease potential buyers into images made with artificial intelligence.
It’s also a good way for an auction house to try to stay relevant.
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10. Finally, the World Series starts Tuesday night.
Not a Red Sox fan? Don’t follow the Dodgers? We’ve got you covered.
Our World Series cheat sheet will bring you up to speed on the teams, the players and the outlook. You’ll learn why everybody’s talking about Chris Sale, Boston’s top starting pitcher, and what to expect from Clayton Kershaw, the finest starter on the Los Angeles staff. Above, Fenway Park.
Batter up!
Have a fine evening.
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Source : Nytimes
