Ukraine, Syracuse University, Fred Rogers
Your Tuesday Evening Briefing |
Good evening. Here’s the latest. |
 | | Erin Schaff/The New York Times |
|
1. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.” |
The top Ukraine expert at the White House, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, said that the phone call, in which Mr. Trump asked Ukraine’s president for investigations of former Vice President Joe Biden, was “inappropriate” and “a partisan play.” |
Both he and Jennifer Williams, an adviser to the vice president, said it was clear to the Ukrainians that the U.S. was withholding aid. |
In response, the White House and Republicans on the committee moved quickly to attack Colonel Vindman’s loyalty and professionalism. |
Next up: Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the E.U., will testify tomorrow. |
 | | Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times |
|
Some students escaped by rappelling from a nearby bridge to be whisked away by waiting motorbikes, but most failed to flee without facing arrest. Dozens went to the hospital for hypothermia after an unsuccessful sewer getaway. |
 | | Haruka Sakaguchi for The New York Times |
|
3. Two federal workers were charged with failing to check on Jeffrey Epstein regularly the night he killed himself in a Manhattan jail, above, and then lying about it on official forms. |
The charges are the first in a criminal investigation into the death of Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who hanged himself while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. |
The accusations against Mr. Epstein have had global ripples even after his death: Britain’s Prince Andrew is facing pressure to testify before the F.B.I. about his friendship with Mr. Epstein. |
 | | Justin Tallis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
|
“The evidence is not strong enough to form the basis of an indictment,” a Swedish official said of the allegations, some of which date to 2010. |
Mr. Assange, above in 2017, is still in a British prison awaiting a hearing over possible extradition to the U.S., where he would face allegations that he attempted to assist in a breach of classified data. The conclusion of the Swedish investigation could clear the way for the extradition process to move forward. |
 | | Maranie Rae Staab for The New York Times |
|
5. Law enforcement officials are investigating the electronic distribution of a white supremacist manifesto at Syracuse University. It’s the latest in a series of racist and anti-Semitic incidents that have roiled the upstate New York school. |
The manifesto, an anti-Muslim screed written by the suspected gunman in the New Zealand massacre, was posted on a Greek life forum and sent to several students’ phones. |
 | | Yarek Waszul |
|
6. Big tech is girding for renewed government focus on end-to-end encryption. |
The fight over the technology, which scrambles digital messages, has been going on for years: As law enforcement has sought access to encrypted messages to aid in investigations, privacy advocates and tech leaders have resisted. |
Now, a Justice Department official hinted that the issue could become part of a larger investigation into big tech companies. Here’s what’s at stake. |
 | | Mary Altaffer/Associated Press |
|
He is expected to make his debut tonight in New Orleans. The Blazers, who made the Western Conference last year, have had a disappointing 5-9 season so far. |
Anthony, above in 2018, hasn’t played in the N.B.A. since last November, when he was on the Rockets. They used Anthony in only 10 games before parting ways with him. |
 | | Amy Lombard for The New York Times |
|
8. The cult of Bravo now has its very own meeting place. |
The network hosted its first conference last weekend, bringing together the network’s stars (“Bravolebrities”) and its superfans. Bravo has worked hard to promote a cultish attitude toward its programming and stars, in part by appearing to laugh at itself along with the audience. |
“What’s cool is everyone here speaks the same language and they’re fluent,” said Andy Cohen, an executive producer and host at Bravo. |
 | | Jim Judkis |
|
9. We’ve been talking a lot about Fred Rogers lately. And there’s more. |
He wasn’t just an educator and a moral example, a longtime friend writes in the Times Magazine; he was an artist, too. Over the 33 years of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” he wrote or co-wrote all of the scripts, plus the melodies and lyrics. And then he worked the puppets. |
With the show, Mr. Rogers was trying to create “an atmosphere that allows people to be comfortable enough to be who they are,” he once told his friend. “A lot of this — all of this — is just tending soil.” |
 | | Chris Roh |
|
10. And finally, the surfing skills of honeybees. |
Worker bees, in addition to pollinating flowers, are sent in search of water to cool the hives. But they can’t fly if their wings get wet, so what happens if they fall into a pond? |
The researchers hope the movements could help them develop an amphibious craft that moves in water and in the air. |
Hope you have a smooth ride tonight. |
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. |
And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing. Sign up here to get it by email in the Australian, Asian, European, African or American morning. |
