Your Thursday Briefing – The New York Times

Developments on Trump’s legal cases

A federal appeals court has ruled that an attorney representing Donald Trump in an investigation into his handling of classified documents must answer questions from a grand jury and give prosecutors a treasure trove of documents related to his legal work for Trump. The decision came after Trump sought an order preventing the attorney, Evan Corcoran, from turning over documents to investigators.

A separate legal proceeding involving Trump — the Manhattan District Attorney’s review of whether to seek an impeachment of the former president on charges related to a silent payment to a porn actress — remained unresolved. The grand jury did not meet yesterday, which means any indictments would come today at the earliest.

The classified documents litigation centers on whether prosecutors can force Corcoran to provide who-knows-what information about the continued presence of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the former residence of the president and club. private in Florida, after the government asked for his return last spring.

Details: The case involves a balance between solicitor-client privilege, which generally prevents lawyers from disclosing communications with their clients to the government, and a special provision allowing prosecutors to breach solicitor-client privilege when they believe that legal advice or legal services were used to further a crime.

Volodymyr Zelensky’s Moral Journey to Bakhmut

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a rare trip close to the front line, personally thanking the soldiers who fought in the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut. The trip came as air and sea drones attacked the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula and a Russian missile penetrated an apartment complex in Zaporizhzhia, killing at least one person.

Zelensky and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, are looking to solidify alliances and gain help for the fight ahead. Both sides should mount offensives. China will continue to cushion Western sanctions on Russia, and Ukraine’s allies have pledged more aid, including a $15.6 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

In Crimea, Russian-appointed governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said after the attack that three drones were destroyed and Russian ships were not damaged. It was the second day in a row that drones had targeted the peninsula. It was unclear who was behind the drones. Ukraine rarely takes responsibility for attacks on territory claimed by Russia.

Boris Johnson denies lying to lawmakers

Boris Johnson, Britain’s former prime minister, yesterday denied lying to parliament but struggled to justify some statements he made about lockdown-breaking parties held in Downing Street. The scandal is one of many that contributed to his downfall as prime minister last year.

During a three-hour hearing, Johnson went from defiance – stressing that he had reason to believe what he said was true at the time – to exasperation, as members of the House of Commons Privileges Committee pressed him with pointed questions. Towards the end of the session, Johnson said that the committee to conclude that he had deliberately lied would be both unfair and wrong.

His appearance was a vivid reminder of the drama that engulfed and ultimately helped destroy his leadership during a time of extraordinary turmoil in British politics. Johnson was followed as prime minister by Liz Truss, who lasted just six weeks before stepping down last fall. She was replaced by Rishi Sunak, the current prime minister.

Branches: Lying in Parliament is a serious offense and carries the possibility of suspension or worse. If Johnson is suspended for 10 days or more, there could be a vote in his constituency, Uxbridge, on whether to keep him as a representative. Losing such a vote and his seat in parliament would end Johnson’s prospects of a political comeback anytime soon.

UK policy: Lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly in favor of a key part of a long-awaited deal on Northern Ireland’s trade rules, a win for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as he tries to resolve a of the most vexing legacies of Britain’s exit from the EU.

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Around the world

For The Times Magazine, writer Jon Mooallem entered the fray. The fruit fight was at times bloodthirsty and vicious, he writes, but the fighters displayed “a seemingly deranged but euphoric sense of abandonment and belonging – a freedom easy to envy but hard to comprehend”.

SPORTS NEWS FROM ATHLETIC

A fierce derby: De Klassieker is a rivalry that has become so violent that fans of the visiting team are banned from attending.

The race to buy United: Manchester United bidders are running out of time to make an offer. Among their considerations is the club’s large debt, which stands at over $800 million.

How an F1 safety car shaped the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: The choice to send in a safety car effectively neutralized the race and accelerated Max Verstappen’s rise through the field.

As southeast Africa begins to recover from Cyclone Freddy, scientists are examining whether the storm could be a sign of things to come on a warming planet.

Cyclone Freddy hit three countries, hitting Madagascar and Mozambique twice. As the storm moved inland last week, heavy rains and mudslides devastated Malawi, killing 438 people.

The storm was notable for several reasons. One is longevity. The cyclone lasted 36 days, a measure, and suffered rapid intensification cycles at least seven times, decreasing rapidly then intensifying. Freddy is now the longest-lasting tropical cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere, and experts are scrambling to determine if it is also the longest storm in recorded history.

Freddy was also notable for his reach. The storm traveled more than 4,000 miles from the northern coast of Australia to the southeast coast of Africa.

Understanding the links between climate change and individual storms requires complex research, but scientists generally know that global warming leads to larger and wetter storms.

“A warmer atmosphere contains more moisture,” said Anne-Claire Fontan, who studies tropical cyclones at the World Meteorological Organization. “We expect tropical cyclones to bring more intense rainfall.” — Lynsey Chutel, Writer of Briefings in Johannesburg

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