Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Tuesday. |
 | | A discarded mask at a bar in Los Angeles, Calif., in June.Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times |
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1. People vaccinated against the coronavirus should resume wearing masks, the C.D.C. advised. |
The agency cited growing reports of breakthrough infections of the more contagious Delta variant among people who are fully immunized. Here's what we know about the new recommendations. |
C.D.C. officials also recommended universal masking for teachers, staff, students and visitors in schools, regardless of vaccination status and community transmission of the virus. The two leading teachers' unions strongly endorsed the move. |
 | | Simone Biles, with her back to the camera, hugs members of Russian team after they won the gold medal.Doug Mills/The New York Times |
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2. Two Olympic superstars crumple on the world stage. |
But Biles balked midway through her vault in the women's team final today, then suddenly exited the competition, saying later that she wasn't in the right place mentally. Biles's struggles created an opening for the Russian team, which ultimately won the gold, in the biggest U.S. upset in the Games. |
A few hours earlier, Osaka lost in the third round of the women's singles tennis tournament to a player with a far lower ranking. She, too, spoke of buckling under the pressure of the Olympics. "The scale of everything is a bit hard," she said. |
 | | U.S. Capitol Police officer Sgt. Aquilino Gonell as he testifies before Congress.Oliver Contreras for The New York Times |
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3. Four police officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot told Congress they suffered violence, racism and hostility as an angry mob beat, crushed and electrocuted them. |
House Republican leaders who have opposed efforts to investigate the assault boycotted the inquiry and dismissed it as a partisan ploy. |
Republicans are also blaming Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the violence, saying it had been up to Ms. Pelosi and her leadership team to protect the Capitol. |
We fact-checked their claims. Ms. Pelosi has considerable influence as the speaker, but she is not responsible for the security of Congress. She shares control of the Capitol with the Senate majority leader, who at the time was Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky. |
 | | The memorials at Young's Asian Massage in Acworth, Ga., in March.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times |
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4. The man accused of killing eight people at Atlanta-area spas pleaded guilty to four counts of murder. |
The man, Robert Aaron Long, 22, will serve four consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole for the crimes, which were committed in Cherokee County. But he still faces four other murder charges in nearby Fulton County, and the prosecutor in those cases is seeking the death penalty. |
The March 16 shooting spree set off a nationwide wave of concern over racially motivated attacks on Asian people at a time of broader anxiety over racism in the U.S. Six of the eight victims in the shootings that day were women of Asian descent. |
 | | A testing site in London on Monday.Andy Rain/EPA, via Shutterstock |
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5. New coronavirus cases have declined for six days in a row in Britain, baffling scientists. |
Many experts predicted a surge in cases after the government relaxed all but a handful of restrictions in England last week, and few are willing to draw definitive conclusions from the downward trend. It could reflect transient factors like the school summer break, the end of the European soccer championships or fewer people getting tested. |
On Monday, the government reported 24,950 new cases, down from a high of 54,647 on July 17. If sustained, the case numbers raise a tantalizing prospect that Prime Minister Boris Johnson bet correctly that the country could return to normalcy. |
 | | A health care worker takes a nasal swab to test for the coronavirus in Gauhati, India, last week.Anupam Nath/Associated Press |
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6. The gap between rich and poor countries is widening amid the pandemic, the International Monetary Fund warned. |
Low vaccination rates in emerging economies are leading to a lopsided global recovery, according to the fund's latest World Economic Outlook report. About 40 percent of the population in advanced economies is fully vaccinated, while it is 11 percent in emerging markets and low-income developing countries. |
The I.M.F. maintained its 2021 global growth forecast of 6 percent, largely as a result of advanced economies expanding faster than the global body previously forecast, including a 7 percent rate in the U.S. |
 | | Police officers stood guard as they waited for Tong Ying-kit to leave court in Hong Kong today.Vincent Yu/Associated Press |
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7. A Hong Kong protester was convicted in the first trial prosecuted under the tough security law imposed by China. |
The protester, Tong Ying-kit, 24, drove his motorcycle around a Hong Kong neighborhood last year with a protest banner, then collided with police officers who tried to stop him, injuring three people. |
In convicting Mr. Tong, the city's traditionally independent court showed the extent to which the new law would criminalize political speech. More than 60 other people are awaiting trial on charges brought under the law. |
 | | Bono, who helped create a fund focused on combating climate change, in Sydney in 2019.Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images |
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8. The singer Bono's climate-focused private equity fund is now the biggest of its kind in the world. |
The fund, TPG Rise Climate, announced that it had raised $5.4 billion, and it could get bigger by the time it closes in the fourth quarter. In January, Bono recruited former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as its executive chairman. |
Unusually, Rise Climate's investors aren't simply the big pension funds. Investors include Apple, General Motors, Nike, FedEx, Honeywell and roughly three dozen other large corporations. |
Corporations rarely invest in private equity funds, so their participation underscores the demand by both investors and companies to find climate solutions. |
 | | Some of the artists who joined the Artist Pension Trust, pictured in Los Angeles last month.Rozette Rago for The New York Times |
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9. "I just want my stuff back." |
That was Marc Swanson, one of hundreds of artists who entrusted thousands of their works to a company that promised to share the sale proceeds. Many of them say they haven't heard anything for years and don't know where their art is being held. |
The company, Artist Pension Trust, gathered more than 13,000 artworks from 2,000 artists in 75 countries, with an insured value of at least $70 million as of 2013. |
Artists say the company has all but disappeared. Some have hired lawyers. |
The owner says that the fund remains "active," but that he is looking for "a more cost-effective solution" or possibly for someone else to take over the collection. |
 | | Lincoln House, in the Mumbai enclave of Breach Candy, in July.Atul Loke for The New York Times |
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10. And finally, a different kind of vaccine story. |
For unknown reasons, the Indian government has blocked the sale of the property, called Lincoln House, for the past six years. High-level diplomatic correspondence reveals how much attention this single property has consumed. |
Indian officials won't talk about it. American officials are beyond annoyed. |
On his first trip to India today, Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, intends to bring up the mansion, which has become something of a diplomatic black hole. |
Have an agreeable evening. |
| Erin Kelly compiled photos for this briefing. |
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. |
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