Your Tuesday Briefing

Ukraine’s next moves

Ukraine said yesterday that it had reclaimed more ground in the war with Russia, and it redoubled its calls for Moscow to surrender in the south. Ukraine’s next steps could determine the near-term course of the war. A false move could squander the opportunities available, but waiting too long could allow the front lines to freeze as winter sets in. Here’s a map of Russian losses.

By expelling Russian troops from a large slice of strategic territory in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian forces are now positioned to make a move on the Donbas, nearly 90 percent of which is controlled by Russia. If Ukraine were to retake even a part of the region, it would be an embarrassing blow to the Kremlin.

Pushing beyond the Donbas could come with potentially significant pitfalls, straining supplies and leaving Ukrainian units vulnerable, though military experts said a Russian counterattack might not happen. Russian officials face hard questions over the retreat, especially with a growing backlash to their “special military operation” from pro-war voices at home.

More subpoenas in Jan. 6 inquiry

The Justice Department seized the phones of two associates of Donald Trump’s and issued about 40 subpoenas in a substantial escalation of the Jan. 6 investigation, which is examining the former president’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election, people familiar with the inquiry said yesterday.

Federal agents with court-authorized search warrants took phones last week from at least two people: Boris Epshteyn, an in-house counsel who helps coordinate Trump’s legal efforts, and Mike Roman, a campaign strategist who was the director of Election Day operations for the Trump campaign in 2020, people familiar with the investigation said.

The development came as the Senate Judiciary Committee announced plans to investigate allegations that the Justice Department under Trump sought to use the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan to support him politically and to pursue his critics. The allegations are in a new book by Geoffrey S. Berman, who was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2018 to June 2020.

Special master: The Justice Department said that it was open to accepting one of Trump’s proposed candidates for the job of an independent arbiter to review documents seized from his residence in Florida last month by the F.B.I. A separate court fight over how the potential special master should review the seized documents continues.

A dizzying first week for Liz Truss

A week ago today, Liz Truss was moving into 10 Downing Street and puzzling over how to help people pay their soaring gas bills. Two days later, the problems stemming from Britain’s economic emergency were all but eclipsed by the death of Queen Elizabeth II, an epochal event that handed the new prime minister an unexpected new job as the government’s chief mourner.

Politics, for now, is on pause. Parliament has been suspended until after the queen’s state funeral on Sept. 19, and lawmakers are scheduled to go into recess again on Sept. 22 for their parties’ conferences. But when the national mourning is over, Truss will face enormous challenges: double-digit inflation, a looming recession, labor unrest and deteriorating public finances.

Truss’s sweeping plan to freeze energy rates, at a probable cost of more than $100 billion in its first year, has barely garnered attention amid the round-the-clock coverage of the queen, prompting some experts to call for political debate on the package. “I do worry a bit that the government will get used to the lack of scrutiny of their proposals,” said Jonathan Portes, a professor at King’s College London.

Aid: The spending package has spurred investors’ fears, which are wearing on the bond market and the pound, which has recently plumbed its lowest levels against the dollar since 1985.

King Charles III: Britain’s new monarch addressed Parliament in London yesterday and then flew to Scotland for a service of thanksgiving for his mother.

THE LATEST NEWS

Around the World

• With limited electricity, residents of Lebanon have had to find coping strategies — including doing laundry and charging everything they can after midnight.

• Wealthy countries snapped up monkeypox vaccines and treatments, leaving few for the rest of the world.

• American investigators returned a rare Roman coin to Israel that they say was minted by Jews around A.D. 69 as a marker of independence during the Great Revolt against Roman oppression.

Stories From the U.S.

• Democratic candidates have been trying to distance themselves from President Biden — while still embracing his base and his policies.

• The U.S. labor market appears hot, but the share of people who are either working or actively looking for a job still hasn’t quite recovered from the coronavirus pandemic.

• Six months after one of the largest infant formula manufacturing plants in the United States issued a recall, parents and their families continue to scramble to locate the staple.

• Biden picked Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, a Boston biotech executive, to lead a new federal agency aimed at advancing cancer research.

A Morning Read

An innovation arms race is raging in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. It’s between humans and sulfur-crested cockatoos, and the battle is over the trash.

SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC

Picking England’s final pre-World Cup squad: Bring back Eric Dier, call up Ivan Toney and start Jude Bellingham? Manager Gareth Southgate is facing a lot of big decisions before the team heads to Qatar.

Lauren James and the benefits of patience: Last year, the Chelsea forward was at risk of being forgotten by the Women’s Super League and being left behind as a new wave of young English talent took center stage. But with her patience — and that of her manager — this season could be James’s biggest and best yet.

A peculiar World Cup comeback?: Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech was recalled to the Morocco national side for its upcoming friendlies against Chile and Paraguay, potentially ending a 15-month exile. Ziyech, 29, fell out with the ex-Morocco coach Vahid Halilhodzic, and in February announced his retirement from international duties. Welcome back.

ARTS AND IDEAS

A celebration of challah

In 2010, contestants on “The Great British Bake Off” were tasked with making a golden, enriched loaf that Paul Hollywood, one of the judges, described as a “plaited bread.” Jewish watchers of the show knew the bread by another name: challah.

Challah is served for the Jewish Sabbath and during the High Holy Days. It has braided cousins across Europe: fonott kalacs in Hungary, chałka in Poland, vanocka in the Czech Republic. Each is pillowy soft, with an exterior that seems almost to glow. And though it looks and tastes profoundly impressive, challah is mostly hands-off, with an easy-to-handle dough, as Claire Saffitz writes in The Times.

Over the years, The Times has published many challah recipes. (One from 1976 promises a loaf that “is airborne, light as a zephyr, delicate as eiderdown.”) But whether you prefer it scented with fennel and orange, braided into a circle for Rosh Hashana or studded with whole spices, a challah expert warned in 1971: “The right attitude is as important as the right ingredients.”

And so long as you’re only counting up to four, the braiding bit isn’t too hard to get your head around — though the possibilities are endless.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook

This crowd-pleasing tarte flambée can be on the table in under 45 minutes.

Fashion

The skinny jean is dead. What should you wear with your baggy pants?

What to Read

The Spanish novelist Javier Marías has died at 70. Here’s our guide to his work.

Now Time to Play

Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Earthy orange-yellow pigment (five 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. The word “comfortwear” — baggy clothing that proliferated during the pandemic — appeared for the first time in The Times yesterday.

The latest episode of “The Daily” is on Serena Williams.

You can reach Natasha and the team at [email protected].