Your Tuesday Evening Briefing

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Here's what you need to know at the end of the day.

By Matthew Cullen

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Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Tuesday.

1. The federal government proposed evenly cutting water allotments from the Colorado River.

After months of fruitless negotiations between the states that depend on the shrinking Colorado River, the Biden administration released a plan today that would equally reduce the amount of water delivered to California, Arizona and Nevada by as much as one-quarter.

The proposal comes after decades of overuse and drought made worse by climate change. Without an agreement, the river — which supplies drinking water to 40 million Americans and irrigates millions of agricultural acres — could essentially run dry. The size of the reductions and the prospect of the federal government unilaterally imposing them on states have never occurred in American history.

The Biden administration weighed whether to make reductions based on the legal water rights of the states or to evenly distribute them. The deputy secretary for the Interior Department, which manages the river, defended the government's willingness to depart from longstanding seniority rules about water rights, arguing that the shocks of climate change couldn't have been predicted when those rights were agreed to many years ago.

In other climate news, new federal emissions rules designed to speed the transition to electric vehicles have been embraced by carmakers, but they will be challenging to carry out.

2. The Manhattan district attorney sued a Republican lawmaker, accusing him of interference in the Trump case.

Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor overseeing the criminal case against Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit accusing Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio of a "brazen and unconstitutional attack" on the prosecution of the former president. The suit was an extraordinary step intended to keep congressional Republicans from interfering in the office's prosecution and investigation.

Lawyers for Bragg are seeking to bar Jordan and his allies from enforcing a subpoena sent to Mark Pomerantz, who was once a leader of the district attorney's investigation of Trump.

In other politics news, Chicago will host the Democratic National Convention in 2024, elevating a large liberal city in the heart of the Midwest, a key battleground region.

3. The leaked Pentagon documents are straining U.S.-South Korean relations.

Opposition lawmakers in Seoul accused the U.S. of violating its sovereignty after highly classified leaked documents suggested that the Americans ​had been spying on South Korea's top national security officials. The angry reaction, which South Korea's president sought to minimize, is perhaps the strongest so far as the Biden administration scrambles to contain the fallout.

In Egypt, officials denied the existence of a plan — described in a leaked document — to secretly produce weapons for Russia.

For more: A look at the online meme group at the center of the leaks.

4. The I.M.F. warned of increasing risks to the global economy.

In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the I.M.F. said that the risk of a painful slowdown, which could include a recession, had become greater. The organization expects growth to hover around 3 percent for the next five years, its weakest medium-term growth forecast since 1990.

The I.M.F. suggested today that a financial crisis could be averted, but warned that a so-called hard landing, when economies around the world could tip into recession, had grown increasingly plausible.

In related news, California's economy is on edge as troubles in the tech and entertainment sectors have hurt tax revenues, turning the state's $100 billion surplus into a deficit.

5. The Louisville gunman legally purchased the rifle he used to kill his co-workers.

The 25-year-old man who killed five people at the downtown bank where he worked had legally bought the AR-15-style rifle he used from a local dealership last week, officials said. The gunman also told at least one person that he was suicidal before the rampage.

Four victims remained hospitalized as of this afternoon, officials said. Two of those — including Nickolas Wilt, a 26-year-old officer who recently graduated from the police academy and was working just his fourth shift on the job — were in critical condition.

For more: Here's a partial list of the U.S. mass shootings so far this year.

6. If the abortion pill mifepristone is restricted, a second drug could enter the spotlight.

When a federal judge in Texas issued a ruling invalidating the approval of a widely used abortion pill, its common partner in the typical two-medication abortion regimen — misoprostol — was left largely untouched. Though it would add a few complications, it could be used alone for medication abortions if the current process is restricted.

In related news, the decades-long conservative push for restrictions on abortion has saddled many Republicans with an unpopular position and little room to maneuver heading into 2024.

In other health news, automated defibrillators save lives. But experts are divided over whether more people should have them at home.

7. An online Catholic school is seeking to become the country's first religious charter school.

Officials in Oklahoma are weighting whether to authorize the use of public funds for the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which plans to serve students in mainly rural areas across the state. St. Isidore's application has the support of Oklahoma's Republican governor, who has argued that excluding religious charter schools is a violation of the First Amendment's prohibition on religious discrimination.

If approved, experts expect a high-profile national legal battle over whether taxpayer money can be used to directly fund religious schools. With conservative justices dominating the Supreme Court — and signaling support for religion's role in public life — the school could be just the first of many religious institutions that seek public funding.

8. A new opera at the Met explores the tragic career of the gay boxer Emile Griffith.

In the 1960s, Griffith lived a two-track life: During the day, he was a star boxer known for his speed and punching power in regular bouts at Madison Square Garden. At night, he frequented gay bars, eventually becoming a pioneer in the gay rights movement.

But Griffith, who died in 2013, is perhaps most famous for a deadly event that haunted him for the rest of his life. In a title fight at the Garden, he unleashed a fatal barrage of punches against an opponent who had taunted him with a homophobic slur. That decisive moment — and the man behind it — is now the subject of "Champion," a new Metropolitan Opera production written by the composer Terence Blanchard.

For more: Read our critic's review of the production.

In other arts news, an auctioneer admitted he helped create fake artworks that were exhibited as works by Jean-Michel Basquiat at an Orlando museum.

9. What to do tonight:

Cook: These sweet and spicy stir-fried brussels spouts take just 10 minutes to make.

Watch: "Crystal Swan," set in Belarus, is one of our top international films to stream right now.

Read: A new history of 17th-century England tells the stories of plagues, beheadings and bloody coups.

Recycle: The TV host Jamila Norman talks about how she avoids buying new stuff.

Heal: Here's how to tell whether you have a cold, allergies or both.

Play: Today's Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. For more, find all our games here.

10. And finally, can intelligence be separated from the body?

Chatbots like GPT-4 and Bard have minds, in some sense: When primed in the right way, they can speak of introspection and doubt, self-confidence and regret. But some researchers suggest that computers will never reach true intelligence without a body.

They argue that a mind needs a body to interact with and learn from the physical world in order to reach true understanding of the world. But that doesn't mean that true A.I. intelligence is impossible: Moxie, the bot pictured above, is one lab's attempt to pair superhuman knowledge with a humanoid body.

Have a brainy night.

Brent Lewis compiled photos for this briefing.

Want to catch up on past briefings? You can browse them here.

Have any feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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