New York City, Alabama, NFL Network: Your Tuesday Briefing

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Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

A bull’s-eye on New York City.

• The attempted suicide bombing Monday morning was the second attack in the city in two months, and the third since September 2016.

“The choice of New York is always for a reason, because we are a beacon to the world,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said afterward. “And we actually show that a society of many faiths and many backgrounds can work.”

Here’s our main article on the explosion, the result of a crudely made pipe bomb being detonated in a subway corridor near Times Square.

A map shows the area, and surveillance video captured the moment of the blast, which seriously injured the assailant.

• The suspect is a 27-year-old from Bangladesh who went to live in Brooklyn through a visa program available to relatives of American citizens. He told investigators that he was retaliating for U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State. Here’s what else we know about him.

Nail-biter in Alabama nears its end.

• Today’s special Senate election, which has prompted one of the strangest and ugliest campaigns ever held in the state, has implications for Republicans in Congress as well as President Trump. Here are four things to watch.

On Monday, Roy Moore, the Republican candidate, who has been accused of sexual misconduct, rallied rural conservatives. His opponent, Doug Jones, addressed a diverse crowd in Birmingham.

• The widely-agreed-on bottom line, according to our reporters in Alabama: “If Mr. Jones can attract the votes of young people and African-Americans, and peel away a chunk of Republican-leaning whites — particularly women — who recoil from Mr. Moore, then he has a chance to win. Otherwise, the state’s conservative DNA is all but certain to kick in and rescue Mr. Moore from tribulations of his own making.”

Sexual harassment accusations pile up.

• The NFL Network has suspended three analysts — all former players, including the Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk — after allegations by a former stylist.

Also on Monday, several women who had spoken out during the presidential campaign publicly renewed their accusations of sexual misconduct against Donald Trump. Today, President Trump blamed Democrats for the “fabricated stories.”

• And we look at the inner workings of the office of Representative Blake Farenthold of Texas, who was sued by a former aide for sexual harassment. Legal documents reveal a hostile work environment that prompted one lawmaker to call Congress “the worst” place for women to work.

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Mexico’s Nafta surprise: Obesity.

• Among the transformations that the North American Free Trade Agreement brought to the country: a diet more like that of its northern neighbor, complete with junk food, soda, meat — and an epidemic of diet-related illnesses.

“The only way that Mexico became a ‘first world’ country was in terms of diet,” one trade expert said.

• The phenomenon is not limited to Mexico. Free trade is a major contributor to the spread of low-nutrient, highly processed foods from the West to developing countries worldwide.

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“The Daily”: Roy Moore’s early battles.

Listen on a computer, an iOS device or an Android device.

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Business

• The Treasury Department released a one-page analysis of the Senate tax bill that suggested the $1.5 trillion plan would more than pay for itself. The only hitch? The economy must grow much faster than any independent analysis of the bill has projected.

• President Trump has escalated his attacks on the news media, seizing on several recent mistaken reports to bolster his case that he is being persecuted.

• Artificial intelligence may make half of today’s jobs obsolete in 20 years. What will be left?

“The robot plumber is a long, long way away,” one management theorist assured us.

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

Smarter Living

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

• Stressed about holiday messes? Here’s how to clean up.

• Even in touch-averse cultures, men need platonic physical contact.

• Recipe of the day: Hot sauce livens up noodle kugel.

Noteworthy

• Climb a $150 million stairway to nowhere.

In today’s 360 video, watch the construction of “Vessel,” a 15-story interactive sculpture that is the centerpiece of five acres of public space at the Hudson Yards development in Manhattan.

• Partisan writing you shouldn’t miss.

Writers from across the political spectrum discuss Roy Moore and the Alabama race.

• Hang out with the popular crowd.

Read the 100 most-read stories from The Times this year.

• Best of late-night TV.

Stephen Colbert addressed the suspect in Monday’s subway attack: “Nice try. New York commuters don’t even flinch when the subway break dancers kick two inches away from their face.”

• Quotation of the day.

“We cannot stop living. There was the event on the bike path last month. I tell you, I’m more concerned by the derailment on this line last summer.”

— Louis Bernier, a passenger on an A train in New York after the would-be suicide attack.

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Back Story

Long before there were meatless Mondays, there were meatless Tuesdays, wheatless Wednesdays and pork-free Saturdays.

One hundred years ago, during World War I, the U.S. government appealed for the country to sacrifice more to help its allies in Europe avoid starvation.

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Americans were already encouraged to give up meat (red meat, preserved meat and lard) on Tuesdays, and wheat on Wednesdays. The new instructions also excluded pork on Saturday and recommended one meal without meat or wheat each day.

“In this emergency, only the simplest of living is patriotic,” said the future president Herbert Hoover, then a food administrator.

In the winter of 1917, he said, “lies the period when there will be tested in this great free country of ours the question as to whether or not our people are capable of voluntary individual self-sacrifice to save the world.”

The guidelines were later tightened again, and declared a success.

A similar plea came after World War II. President Harry Truman, in the first televised address from the White House, asked Americans to give up meat on Tuesdays and poultry and eggs on Thursdays to help those struggling in Europe.

“We must not fail them,” he said.

Sarah Anderson contributed reporting.

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