World

Your Monday Briefing

Protesters clashing outside the Supreme Court yesterday.Credit…Shuran Huang for The New York Times

U.S. abortion fight shifts to new battlegrounds

A Supreme Court ruling on Friday that overturned the constitutional right to abortion has unleashed a frenzy of activity. Anti-abortion forces plan to push for near-total bans in every state in the U.S., while abortion rights groups have vowed to fight back in the courts and push the Biden administration to do more to protect abortion rights.

The court said its ruling on Friday was needed because of what it called a half-century of bitter national controversy sparked by Roe v. Wade, but its decision set off more immediate and widespread rancor and mobilizing than the original ruling — and guaranteed pitched battles and extraordinary division ahead.

Demand for medical abortion is rising, as abortion pills, already used in more than half of recent abortions in the U.S., are becoming even more sought-after in the aftermath of the ruling. They will most likely be at the center of the legal battles that are expected to unfold as about half the states ban abortion and others take steps to increase access.

Background: The decision isthe culmination of a generational conservative campaign. Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion, had laid out a methodical strategy decades ago to overturn the landmark ruling.

Outcomes: The ruling will very likely reduce abortion access most for lower-income women and Black and Hispanic women who lack resources to travel to obtain one.


Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany delivering remarks at the G7 summit yesterday.Credit…Kenny Holston for The New York Times

G7 leaders discuss more sanctions for Russia

Meeting in Germany this weekend, leaders of G7 nations said they would stop buying gold from Moscow and discussed a new American proposal to undercut its oil revenues. U.S. officials see the measures as ways to shrink key sources of revenue for Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine and further isolate it from the international financial system. Follow the latest updates from the war.

The session came as Russian forces rained missiles on Kyiv for the first time in weeks, hitting an apartment building and killing at least one person. The top three floors of the nine-story building were reported destroyed. Russia also escalated its use of cruise missiles across the country over the weekend, launching dozens of strikes. Track where the strikes were reported.

Speaking last night, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, made a plea to the people of Belarus, whose military forces are conducting military drills near the Ukrainian border. “A lot now depends on the ordinary people of Belarus,” he said. “And I know that you can refuse to participate in this war. Your lives belong only to you, not to someone in the Kremlin.”

Gold: The metal is Russia’s second-most valuable export after energy products. Most of those exports go to G7 countries, particularly Britain, through the gold trading hub of London. Russia did nearly $19 billion in gold exports in 2020, almost all of it going to Britain.

Related: The war has hampered the fight against climate change as countries focus on finding fossil fuels — even coal — to make up for lost Russian oil.


Marine Le Pen, center front, alongside newly elected lawmakers from her party.Credit…Benoit Tessier/Reuters

France’s far right surges in parliamentary elections

A far-right party, the National Rally, triumphed in last week’s parliamentary elections in France, with a record 89 lawmakers elected. It came after Marine Le Pen, the party’s leader, was defeated in a second-round runoff in the presidential race by Emmanuel Macron, the incumbent.

Fueled by anger against Macron and enabled by the collapse of the traditional mainstream right, the results came as a shock even within the National Rally’s own ranks. “I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t surprised,” said Philippe Olivier, a special adviser to Le Pen, who described the results as “a tidal wave.”

For years, Le Pen has tried to sanitize her party’s image, project competence and put a softer face on her resolutely nationalist and anti-immigrant platform. The results now make it the second largest party in Parliament behind Macron’s party, which does not have an absolute majority.

Effects: For the first time since the 1980s, Le Pen’s party has enough seats to form a parliamentary group — the only way to get leverage in the lower house. National Rally lawmakers can now bring a no-confidence vote and use their speaking time and amending power to affect the legislative process, among a host of other new capabilities.

THE LATEST NEWS

Other Big Stories

Credit…China Daily/Via Reuters
  • A deep dive into China’s surveillance state reveals the country’s technological road map to ensure the longevity of its authoritarian rule. Here are four takeaways from the investigation.

  • Faced with a rising number of school shootings, schools and colleges in the U.S. are spending billions on high-tech security systems. There are questions about whether they work.

  • With the economy in ruins and aid in short supply, survivors of a devastating earthquake in Afghanistan are despairing about an uncertain future.

Around the World

  • At least 23 migrants died attempting to cross into the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in North Africa. Rights organizations called for an investigation into the deaths.

  • In a tragedy that remains a mystery, 21 teenagers were found dead early yesterday in a tavern in East London, South Africa.

  • A gunman opened fire near a gay club in Oslo on Saturday, killing two people and seriously wounding at least 10.

What Else Is Happening

Credit…Josh Edelson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
  • The judges were unanimous: Mr. Happy Face, a 17-year-old Chihuahua mix, is the world’s ugliest dog.

  • NASA plans to send astronauts back to the moon. It starts with a 55-pound cube set to launch this week.

  • Wimbledon’s famous grass courts start off lush, but by the second week, a lack of moisture can alter the game, forcing players to adjust. The first matches begin today.

  • Researchers have found that tortoises and turtles don’t just live for a long time — they also barely age while they live.

A Morning Read

Credit…Laura Boushnak for The New York Times

Mansaf, the Jordanian national dish, is a milky mountain of mutton and rice traditionally eaten by hand from a large communal platter. A restaurant in Amman that sells servings to go a paper cup is now facing imitators — and critique from traditionalists.

“Destruction begins with small details,” warned one foreboding newspaper column, which accused the restaurant of debasing the national dish and eroding the cultural foundations of the nation itself.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Credit…HBO

Anatomy of a product placement

Perrier sparkling water, boxes of Cheerios, Apple laptops: Product placement has long been a feature of Hollywood, writes the critic Sophie Haigney for The Times. Now, amid the rise of streaming — and as customers skip ads — brands are aiming to be everywhere all at once. Product placement is now a $23 billion industry, up an estimated 14 percent since 2020.

In 1896, the Lumière brothers, often credited as the earliest filmmakers, agreed to feature soap in their film “Washing Day in Switzerland.” These days, product placement must walk a thin line between showing off the product and fading seamlessly into the background.

Agencies now connect brands with scriptwriters, producers, set decorators and prop-masters, who might in turn work them into story lines. A Montblanc pen might communicate a character’s wealth or status; a female whiskey drinker often has a “badass” edge, said Erin Schmidt, who works at the agency BEN, where the product helps further the narrative.

Read more about the secret world of product placement.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook

Credit…Dane Tashima for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

This luxurious bean dish is inspired by iconic chicken Marbella.

What to Listen to

The first song from Beyoncé’s forthcoming album has a clubby house beat and an attitude that matches self-determination with salvation.

What to Read

“Dollars for Life” argues that, over decades, the U.S. anti-abortion movement laid the groundwork for an insurgent candidate like Donald Trump.

Now Time to Play

Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Like a stomach-turning horror movie (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. Megha Rajagopalan and Justin Scheck are joining The Times’s international investigations team in London.

The latest episode of “The Daily” is on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion.

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

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