Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up .)
Good evening. Here’s the latest.
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.
_____
2. The number of undocumented immigrants in the U. S. has dropped significantl y — 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.
_____
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 .
_____
4. Juul Labs, the leading manufacturer of e-cigarettes in the U. S., is looking to duplicate that success in markets overseas .
