Your Tuesday Briefing

A special master will review Mar-a-Lago files

A federal judge yesterday ordered the appointment of an independent arbiter, known as a special master, to review a trove of materials seized by the F.B.I. last month from Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s residence in Florida. Justice Department officials have not yet said whether they will appeal the ruling.

The judge, Aileen Cannon, also barred the Justice Department from using the seized materials for any “investigative purpose” until the review was completed, preventing federal prosecutors from using key pieces of evidence as they investigate whether the former president illegally retained national defense documents at Mar-a-Lago or obstructed the government’s repeated efforts to get them back.

While the order may ultimately only delay the criminal inquiry, the judge’s language and the reasoning in the ruling seemed to carve out a special exception to the normal legal process for the former president and reject the Justice Department’s implicit argument that Trump be treated like any other investigative subject. Read the ruling here.

Quotable: Judge Cannon said she had made her decisions “to ensure at least the appearance of fairness and integrity under the extraordinary circumstances.”

Liz Truss to lead Britain

Liz Truss defeated Rishi Sunak, a former chancellor of the Exchequer, to replace Boris Johnson as the prime minister of Britain. Truss, a Conservative Party stalwart, hawkish diplomat and free-market champion, must now lead a country facing its gravest economic crisis in a generation.

Her victory was widely expected, but the margin was less resounding than polls had forecast, suggesting that she may face problems pulling together a party shaken by Johnson’s turbulent three-year tenure and a country rattled by an energy crisis and the aftershocks of Brexit. She will formally assume the title today.

By her own admission, Truss has little of Johnson’s charisma. But she has nevertheless scaled the party’s ranks with what colleagues describe as nerve, drive and an appetite for disruptive politics. Elevated to foreign secretary in 2021, she has outflanked even Johnson in her hard line against Russia.

Forebears: Though Truss has modeled herself on Margaret Thatcher, posing on a tank like her heroine once did in West Germany and wearing silk pussy-bow blouses, her politics more closely resemble those of another hero of the right, Ronald Reagan: lower taxes and smaller government, coupled with a celebration of post-Brexit Britain as an “aspiration nation.”

A mass stabbing reverberates across Canada

Ten people were killed and 18 wounded — some apparently chosen at random — in a stabbing spree on a rural Indigenous reserve in the western Canadian province of Saskatchewan that has shaken the country.

One of the two suspects in the mass killings, Damien Sanderson, was found dead yesterday near a house being investigated as part of the attacks, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. They said his injuries did not appear to be self-inflicted. A manhunt for his brother, Myles Sanderson, is still underway. Details about the men and their motive remained murky.

In a country that prides itself on its civility, the knife attacks at the James Smith Cree Nation and a sleepy nearby village of 160 people called Weldon were one of the worst mass killings in recent memory, and they reverberated across Canada. Some residents said they hid in their homes after learning of the attack and locked their doors for the first time.

Context: The attack had particular resonance in Indigenous communities in a country that has been grappling with violence and systemic discrimination against Indigenous people. Last year, graves of children were discovered at a former residential school in British Columbia.

THE LATEST NEWS

War in Ukraine

• The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid after renewed shelling. It is now using one of its own reactors to power critical cooling systems.

• OPEC Plus will cut production by 100,000 barrels a day, rolling back the increase it approved a month ago.

• Ireland accepted 50,000 Ukrainian refugees, many of whom are making their homes in rural villages.

Other Big Stories

• Some 60 million people in China are facing more Covid lockdowns, from Chengdu to Shenzhen to Daqing.

• A high-profile terrorism trial opened in Paris, with eight defendants facing charges in a 2016 attack in Nice that left more than 80 people dead.

• Famine is at the door in Somalia, the U.N. has warned. Nearly half the country’s population faces severe hunger.

• The Israeli Army concluded that Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American broadcaster, was probably killed by an Israeli soldier.

• Kenya’s Supreme Court upheld the results of the presidential election, confirming William Ruto as the country’s president.

What Else Is Happening

• More than 40 people died after an 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern China, state media reported.

• Nick Kyrgios beat Daniil Medvedev, the defending champion, at the U.S. Open.

• In France, a sizzling argument has ensued after a Green politician told men to get over meat and masculinity for the sake of the planet.

A Morning Read

Hailstones larger than a honeydew melon are falling left and right, and hailstorm damage is growing. But there is surprisingly little research to explain why.

Even some of the most basic features of large hail remain shrouded in mystery; survey procedures are inconsistent, and funding is scarce. How fast do these hailstones fall? What gives a hailstone its shape? How large can a hailstone get?

SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC

The backward tactics Manchester United used to beat Arsenal: Arsenal fans jeered, but Manchester United showed why passing backward to go forward is so valuable. Here’s why sending the ball back to the goalkeeper is becoming such an increasingly important trend in soccer.

How Christian Eriksen is giving clarity to Manchester United: Manager Erikten Hag’s United is climbing up the Premier League table and playing with a clarity of vision. Eriksen’s “free eight” role is proving vital to how it all works.

Tactical guide to this season’s Champions League contenders: Judging by the bookmakers’ odds, there are eight sides who stand a decent chance of winning this season’s European Cup. If you haven’t watched any of the favorites since last season, here’s the lowdown on their approaches for 2022-23.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Celebrating African contemporary art

After a three-year hiatus, Art Joburg returned to an in-person art fair last weekend. It was a chance to reignite the optimism in African contemporary art, and an opportunity for 113 artists from 34 galleries to remind the art world of their presence.

The center of attention was a large bottle-cap tapestry by the record-breaking Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui, and an interactive installation by the South African artist William Kentridge. To stand out at the convention center in Sandton, one of wealthiest blocks of real estate in Africa, some booths opted for neon signs. Others went for shock, like a disturbingly accurate forearm emerging from a wall with a rude gesture.

Over 15 years, Art Joburg has been an important platform for emerging artists. Returning to the fair, said Georgina Maxim, a founder of Zimbabwe’s Village Unhu collective, was about reminding collectors that artists hadn’t disappeared during lockdown. “You then end up being forgotten,” she said.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook

For a taste of New York City, start your day with a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich.

What to Read

Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel, “The Marriage Portrait,” is the fictionalized story of a 16th-century Italian noblewoman.

What to Watch

In “Ticket to Paradise,” Julia Roberts and George Clooney play exes who take shots at each other.

Now Time to Play

Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Opposite of nays (four letters).

And here’s today’s Wordle and the Spelling Bee.

You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. Thanks for joining me. — Natasha

P.S. To report a story about seabed mining, the Times reporter Eric Lipton boarded a small fishing boat, held rocks from the ocean floor and hunted down sources at a Jamaican jerk chicken spot.

There is no new episode of “The Daily.”

Lynsey Chutel wrote today’s Arts and Ideas. You can reach Natasha and the team at [email protected].