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Europe Edition

Jamal Khashoggi, North Korea, Stan Lee: Your Tuesday Briefing

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Good morning. Evidence tying the Saudi crown prince to a killing, a second try for Italy’s budget and the death of a comic book giant.

Here’s the latest:

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Credit...Chris McGrath/Getty Images

• Who’s the “boss”?

Shortly after the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed last month at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, a member of the kill team instructed a superior over the phone to “tell your boss” that the operatives had carried out their mission, our reporters learned.

U.S. officials believe the “boss” was Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.

The conversation, recorded by Turkish intelligence, is some of the tightest evidence linking Prince Mohammed to the killing of Mr. Khashoggi, depicted above at a memorial in Istanbul.

“A phone call like that is about as close to a smoking gun as you are going to get,” a former C.I.A. officer said.

The kingdom has denied that Prince Mohammed, its de facto ruler and a close ally of President Trump, ordered the attack. But the new evidence could increase pressure on the White House to curtail that relationship.

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Credit...Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times

• The Italian budget, take two.

Italy is expected to resubmit its budget to the E.U. today. The last version was rejected as illegally spendthrift, but the new budget is largely unchanged and likely to be rejected as well.

That would put into motion the rare process of levying billions of euros in penalties on a founding-member nation.

The country’s populist government argues that austerity has worsened Italy’s malaise, though even some supporters of its approach wonder whether the budget is more pandering than plan.

Comparing the budget to the American New Deal program of the 1930s, the government promises a flat tax for small businesses and average earners and a “citizens’ income” for the unemployed.

Above, a market in Naples.

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Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Signs of North Korean subterfuge.

President Trump has said that the North Korean nuclear threat is over. But new satellite images suggest that the North has been engaged in a great deception, continuing arms work at 16 hidden missile bases.

The revelation of the bases comes as Mr. Trump’s signature piece of diplomacy, based on his meeting in June with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, appears in peril. Sanctions against Pyongyang are crumbling as the country resumes trade with Russia and China, and North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator canceled a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week.

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Credit...Reed Saxon/Associated Press

• The superhero of Marvel Comics.

Stan Lee, a creator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man and many other superheroes, has died at 95.

Mr. Lee, the chief writer and editor for Marvel Comics, revolutionized the comic book world by humanizing its characters, giving them flaws and insecurities shared by mere mortals.

In the 1980s, he moved to Los Angeles to bring his superheroes to the big screen and ended up often making cameo appearances in the films.

In a tribute comic, a Marvel artist reflects on how Mr. Lee inspired him.

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Credit...Charly Triballeau/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

• When Europe’s trade commissioner meets with her U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, oysters, above, will be on the agenda. The U.S. and Europe have long banned the importing of each other’s shellfish, but a deal to change that could serve as a kind of aphrodisiac for the easing of trade tensions.

• In combative tweets, however, President Trump reiterated his view that European and NATO countries are ripping off the U.S.

• Facebook made little effort to monitor device makers after giving them access to information on tens of millions of people, according to newly revealed documents.

• Amazon is attracted to cities like New York and Washington, where it is expected to announce today that it will split its second headquarters, because they have invested in assets like culture, parks and transit. The question for city residents, our critic writes, is what Amazon will give back.

• “Nanoinfluencers” are the next frontier in corporate branding. They’ve got relatively lean followings — but will typically say whatever companies want in exchange for free products or (small) commissions.

Here’s a snapshot of global markets.

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Credit...Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times

• The rural Afghan district of Jaghori was famous for being an oasis of peace. No more. The Taliban attacked last week, and our journalists found an overwhelmed government force. Above, the bodies of commandos. [The New York Times]

• Republicans claim the election recount in Florida is rife with fraud. But what’s really driving them, our reporters write, is their narrow majority in the Senate. They suffered another setback on Monday with Kyrsten Sinema’s victory for the Democrats in a tight Senate race in Arizona. [The New York Times]

• At least 44 people have died since three devastating wildfires broke out in California late last week, but countless others have just barely escaped with their lives. [The New York Times]

• Palestinian militants in Gaza launched intense rocket attacks into Israel in retaliation for an apparently botched covert Israeli operation that killed seven Palestinian fighters. [The New York Times]

• Horst Seehofer, a critic of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s migrant policy, is stepping down as head of the Christian Social Union, a key part of Ms. Merkel’s governing coalition, though he will remain as interior minister. [The New York Times]

• Jerome Corsi, a right-wing conspiracy theorist, said he expected to be charged with lying by the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. [The New York Times]

• In a rare concession to environmental groups, China said that it would temporarily reinstate a ban on the use of rhinoceros horns and tiger bones in medicine. [The New York Times]

• A couple in Britain who named their baby after Adolf Hitler have been convicted of belonging to a banned neo-Nazi terrorist group. [BBC]

Tips for a more fulfilling life.

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Credit...Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

• Know your squash, both how they look and how they cook.

• Get better TV sound without a load of wires.

• Recipe of the day: You’ll need fresh paprika to make chicken paprikash (it’s worth it).

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Credit...James Hill for The New York Times

“A time capsule for organisms”: A Russian zoological museum filled with age-old specimens, including a baby mammoth, is helping to unlock genetic information and precious clues to aiding species’ survival. Above, students drawing exotic birds there.

• As the director of a Dutch museum in Rotterdam during World War II, Dirk Hannema collaborated with the Nazis, snapping up paintings of questionable provenance. The details are being revisited as part of a sweeping review by Dutch museums of their war-era record.

• Michelle Obama’s memoir, “Becoming,” is on sale today around the world. She writes about suffering a miscarriage, the challenges of being the first African-American first lady and how President Trump’s “birther” conspiracy threatened her family’s safety. “For this I’d never forgive him,” she writes. Read our critic’s review.

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Credit...Dick Marquette

In 2016, The Times debuted its secure, multichannel tip line.

Within 24 hours, the line proved its worth. We received the audio of a closed-door speech in which Hillary Clinton asserted that Vladimir Putin’s “personal beef” with her explained some Russian hacking. News of the F.B.I. raid of Michael Cohen’s office came via a tip.

By now, we’ve received thousands of communications on everything from corporate fraud to sexual harassment.

But sometimes, the focus is different.

Dick Marquette, 91, recently sent photographs he’d taken as a G.I. in the Philippines during World War II, including the one above. “The fellow was my best friend Abbie Cohen,” he wrote, to whom he’d promised to send copies. But life got in the way.

“I have no way to find if he is still alive,” Mr. Marquette wrote, “but I hope he is and perhaps the pictures could be put in the paper and boy, wouldn’t his kids be surprised.”

Grace Ashford, a researcher for investigations, wrote today’s Back Story.

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