Your Wednesday Evening Briefing |
Good evening. Here’s the latest. |
 | | Brandon Bell/Getty Images |
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1. A grand jury indicted a former Louisville police officer in the Breonna Taylor case after 100 nights of protests and a monthslong investigation. But no one was charged for causing her death. |
Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency room technician, was killed during a botched drug raid at her home in March, thrusting her name and image into a national movement demanding social justice. |
Because the officers did not shoot first — it was the young woman’s boyfriend who opened fire; he has said he mistook the police for intruders — many legal experts had thought it unlikely the officers would be indicted. |
 | | Doug Mills/The New York Times |
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2. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was honored as a pioneer of women’s rights who brought the nation closer to its vision of equal justice. |
Justice Ginsburg, who died on Friday at 87, made a final trip to the Supreme Court where she will lie in repose for the public to pay their respects over the next two days. Former law clerks — spread out for social distance — served as honorary pallbearers. |
“Her voice in court and in our conference room was soft, but when she spoke, people listened,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said during a modest ceremony. On Friday, Justice Ginsburg will lie in state on Capitol Hill, the first woman to receive the honor. |
 | | Cheryl Gerber/Johnson & Johnson, via Associated Press |
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3. Johnson & Johnson is in the final stage of clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine that could have a big advantage over its competitors: It would require just one shot instead of two. |
The trials, which began on Monday, will be the largest in the U.S., with plans to enroll 60,000 participants from around the world. Another plus: The vaccine does not need to be frozen. The freezing requirement could make distribution difficult, especially to places without advanced medical facilities. |
 | | Carlo Allegri/Reuters |
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4. The White House intervened in the review process for John Bolton’s book to keep it from becoming public, a new court filing said. |
In an 18-page document, a lawyer for a career official implied that the Justice Department may have told a court that the book contained classified information based on false pretenses. She also accused the White House of trying to coerce her to join their efforts, and suggested that they retaliated when she refused. |
 | | Victor Llorente for The New York Times |
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5. The Metropolitan Opera will remain closed another year in a chilling signal for Broadway theaters, concert halls and comedy clubs. |
The Met, the nation’s largest performing arts organization, has lost more than $150 million in revenue since the outbreak shuttered the New York opera house in March. The decision is likely to send ripples of concern throughout theaters and other live arts institutions grappling with the question of when it will be safe again to perform indoors. |
Roughly six months into the pandemic, New Yorkers are finding resolve. It is not a tale of triumph. Fear persists about what lies ahead. But small transformations have unfolded that reveal the grit and gifts of the city’s people. |
 | | Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times |
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6. No part of the world has been as devastated by the pandemic as Latin America, where countries have several of the highest deaths per capita. |
In Mexico City, the Iztapalapa neighborhood, home to the largest produce market in the Western Hemisphere, became the epicenter of the epicenter, registering more deaths from the coronavirus than any other part of the capital, which is itself the center of the national crisis. |
Our reporters visited Iztapalapa, where poverty, a dense population and bustling commerce combined with devastating effect. The workers in the area were left with little choice. By May, officials estimated that one of every 10 people put on a ventilator in Mexico City had been in the market. |
On the other side of the world in Helsinki, coronavirus-sniffing dogs began work at the airport as part of a Finnish pilot program to detect infections. |
 | | The New York Times |
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7. China’s new idea to rev up growth: better elevators. |
In the past, Beijing has responded to economic slowdowns by greenlighting multibillion-dollar construction projects to quickly pump money into the economy. The latest idea is much less grandiose than a superhighway or a high-speed rail line. |
 | | Dana Scruggs for The New York Times |
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8. “The life of a rock star is in equal measure a beautiful blessing and perilous burden.” |
In a new memoir, Lenny Kravitz breaks down the first 25 years of his life — when he found his sound, his voice and his commitment to love and nonviolence. We talked with Kravitz, 56, from his home in the Bahamas about his childhood, his relationship with his daughter, Zoë Kravitz, and the state of rock ’n’ roll. |
 | | Sandy Huffaker for The New York Times |
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In some cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, finding vantage points to sneak a free look has been possible for decades, with nearby rooftops or hillsides providing unobstructed views of the diamond. Elsewhere, fans are cramming onto the tops of parking garages or apartment patios like the one pictured in San Diego (bullhorns are optional). |
Empty stadiums may change: The M.L.B. postseason begins Sept. 29, and baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told USA Today the league is “pressing ahead to have fans in Texas,” where the World Series will be held. |
 | | Danielle Waples/Duke University |
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10. And finally, don’t try holding your breath this long. |
Cuvier’s beaked whales are remarkable divers, clocking the longest and deepest dives of any marine mammal. Scientists recently recorded the whales’ most impressive descent to date: 3 hours and 42 minutes. For context, one free (human) diver made the Guinness Book of World Records for going more than 24 minutes without coming up for air. |
Scientists still don’t know how the beaked whales — which can grow up to around 5,000 pounds and 20 feet in length — go so long without air. Their unique physiology, possibly, allows them to regulate oxygen levels. “They’re not supposed to be able to do this,” one researcher said, “but they do.” |
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. |
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