Your Wednesday Briefing: Trump pleads not guilty

Good morning. We’re covering Donald Trump’s court appearance and a deadly strike on Ukrainian civilians.

Trump pleads not guilty

During a court appearance in Miami, Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to charges that he illegally kept classified documents and obstructed efforts to retrieve them after he left office. He became the first former U.S. president to be charged with federal crimes.

In an indictment unsealed on Friday and laying out 37 charges against Trump, the former president was described as showing off sensitive information to visitors, haphazardly storing boxes of secret papers around his Florida estate and lying to federal investigators.

Trump was booked but was not handcuffed, and he did not have to submit to a mug shot. Small groups of pro-Trump protesters gathered outside the courthouse in Miami for the arraignment, the second time that Trump surrendered to authorities this year.

In April, he pleaded not guilty to a case brought by Manhattan prosecutors in which he is accused of orchestrating a hush-money scheme in advance of the 2016 election. Those charges are not as serious as the ones stemming from the latest indictment.

The 2024 race: The charges do not bar Trump from running for president. He currently leads an increasingly crowded Republican field.

A trial could be months away, our Washington correspondent, Charlie Savage, said. However, he added, “we think the Justice Department is going to try to get this over with as quickly as possible, hopefully before the Republican presidential primary” that formally kicks off next year.

Trump may try to delay the trial until after the U.S. elections in November of next year. “It is possible that he will be president again, or that another Republican nominee will be president,” Charlie said. Once a new president takes office, Charlie said, that person could end the case against Trump.

Precedent: There have been about a dozen cases involving the mishandling of classified information in recent years. Many of them ended in prison sentences.

Russia hits Zelensky’s hometown

At least 11 people were killed in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih yesterday when Russian forces struck a warehouse and an apartment building. The city, which is the hometown of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was already grappling with the aftermath of the Kakhovka dam disaster.

After a week of giving ground in the opening phase of Kyiv’s counteroffensive, Russian forces struck back in an area where Ukraine had earlier announced it had retaken several villages.

In Washington, the Biden administration was expected to announce a $325 million military aid package that would include Bradley and Stryker armored fighting vehicles, as well as more rockets for the HIMARS mobile system and more air-defense missiles. At least eight Bradleys were abandoned by Ukrainian troops or destroyed in the early days of the counteroffensive, based on videos and photographs verified by The Times.

President Biden met with the NATO secretary general to discuss long-term strategy in Ukraine and oversight of the alliance moving forward.

Other developments in the war:

• U.S. lawmakers asked the White House to punish South Africa, which is accused of helping supply Russia with weapons, a charge the country denies.
• New Zealand’s public radio broadcaster has found that nearly two dozen articles it republished on its website had been edited inappropriately, some given a pro-Russian slant, a spokesman said.

India’s abandoned brides

Tens of thousands of Indian women have been left behind by husbands working abroad, according to officials and activists. Many of them have been subjected to outright deceit.

Our correspondent spoke to 12 women who described a troubling pattern. The situation, they said, often plays out like this: Parents arrange to marry their daughter off to an Indian returning from a job overseas. They pay a dowry and cover the cost of a lavish wedding followed by a honeymoon.

The husband then flies out of the country, and the wife waits for a visa while living with her in-laws. The in-laws demand money to secure the visa, but it never arrives. The wife, who is often illiterate, is kept under constant surveillance.

A widespread problem: A former judge who headed a commission looking into the issue in Punjab said there were 30,000 such cases in that state alone. While there are few legal remedies available in these situations, eight women have filed a petition with the Supreme Court to press India to enact policies that address their plight.

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THE LATEST NEWS

• U.S. inflation continued to cool last month, raising expectations that the Federal Reserve might decide this week to pause its interest rate increases.
• Britain braced for high interest rates after new data showed wages increasing at a faster rate than expected.
• Saudi Arabia flaunted its strengthening ties with Beijing at a lavish Arab-China business conference the kingdom hosted this week.

• A report by an international human rights agency found that Cuba’s government was responsible for the death in 2012 of Oswaldo Payá, a political activist.
• Temperatures around the world this month have been at their highest levels in decades for this time of year.
• The 22 U.S. soldiers injured in a helicopter accident in Syria on Sunday were part of the Army’s highly secretive Delta Force commando unit, military officials said.
• The police in Britain said they arrested a man on suspicion of killing three people in Nottingham, a city in central England.

• A public battle of words has erupted between the soccer club Paris St.-Germain and its French star, Kylian Mbappé, after news broke that he wouldn’t extend his contract.

• Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt’s president, is reluctantly reaching out to some political rivals — a possible sign that he’s feeling pressure from discontent over the economic crisis.
• A court in England sentenced a woman to prison for illegally ending her eight-month pregnancy with abortion pills, prompting heated debate over abortion laws.
• Paul McCartney said that A.I. helped make one last Beatles song, using a demo with John Lennon’s voice. It will be released later this year.

A 2,000-year-old collection of medical tools, which was recently unearthed in Hungary, offers insight into the practices of Roman doctors.

Medical remedies have improved since the first century, but surgical instruments are surprisingly similar. Scalpels, needles, tweezers, probes, hooks, chisels and drills are as much part of today’s standard medical kit as they were then.

Lives lived: Cormac McCarthy, a bard of the American West, wrote “All the Pretty Horses,” which won a National Book Award, and “The Road,” which won a Pulitzer Prize. He died at 89.

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ARTS AND IDEAS

A.I. or nuclear?

Many experts are warning about A.I. technology — just as others once did about the atomic bomb. But some argue that we should see A.I. as a tool, much as nuclear energy can be seen as an alternative to fossil fuels.

To take stock of comparisons, here’s a quiz: Are these statements about A.I. or nuclear technology?

1. “We are drifting toward a catastrophe beyond comparison.”

2. “The rise of _______ will be either the best or the worst thing ever to happen to humanity. We do not yet know which.”

3. “If any major military power pushes ahead with _______ development, a global arms race is virtually inevitable.”

Take a stab at all of the 12 quotes.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

These savory chilled noodles are inspired by oi naengguk, a cold cucumber soup from Korea.

In the French drama “Scarlet,” a father raises his daughter in the turmoil after World War I.

The Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea provides the backdrop for the stories in “8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster.”

A “walk and talk” can deepen a friendship.

Play the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Border (four letters).

Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Amelia and Justin

P.S. David Remnick, The New Yorker's editor, interviewed A.G. Sulzberger, our publisher.

“The Daily” is about a reckoning in the top U.S. food awards.

Help us improve this newsletter. Send your feedback at briefing@nytimes.com.

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