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Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday .
1. Oil and gas prices are spiking.
AAA says that gas prices are expected to increase another 10 cents to 20 cents through the end of August. The average price of a gallon of regular in the U.S. has risen to $3.13, according to the auto club, up from $3.05 a month ago. A year ago, as the pandemic kept people home, a gallon of gas cost just $2.18 on average.
The rise comes amid a breakdown in talks among OPEC and its allies over whether to expand oil production as travel resumes and global demand recovers. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil-price benchmark, rose as high as $76.98 a barrel on Tuesday, its highest level in six years.
2. The search for survivors in the building collapse in South Florida is increasingly hopeless.
The demolition of the unstable remainder of the building over the weekend allowed rescuers to access new parts of the structure. They found eight more bodies on Monday and Tuesday morning, bringing the confirmed death toll to 36. More than 100 residents remain missing in the wake of the collapse of Champlain Towers South on June 24.
The approach of Tropical Storm Elsa forced crews to pause their efforts periodically because of lightning strikes near the site. The wind also hampered the cranes removing heavy debris.
3. President Biden renewed his push to reach tens of millions of Americans who remain unvaccinated against the coronavirus.
The president called for employers to set up clinics at work and to offer paid time off for workers. By the end of the week, nearly half the population will be fully vaccinated. But with the worrisome Delta variant spreading, Biden said that would not be enough to fully prevent new outbreaks in areas with lower vaccination rates.
In England, the government will lift most remaining restrictions on July 19. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said mask-wearing would be voluntary on trains and in crowded indoor spaces, an idea critics dismissed as “absolutely ridiculous.”
4. Aware of its harsh rule, the Taliban is trying to rebrand itself as capable as the U.S. finishes its withdrawal from Afghanistan. But the evidence is to the contrary.
The insurgents are pressing a ruthless, land-grabbing offensive across the country; an assassination campaign against government and security workers continues; there is little effort at peace talks; and women are being forced out of public-facing roles, and girls out of schools. There is fear that worse is on the horizon.
Back in the U.S., an unlikely coalition of veterans, many of whom have clashed bitterly over the years, supports President Biden’s decision to withdraw.
Elsewhere in the region, Lebanon is suffering through one of the world’s worst financial crises since the mid-1800s. Its currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value since the fall of 2019, and unemployment has skyrocketed.
5. We’re waiting on absentee ballot results that may determine the next mayor of New York City.
After an initial count showed Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, with a narrow lead over Kathryn Garcia and Maya Wiley, the updated tally should include most of the roughly 125,000 Democratic absentee ballots that were not included in the first count of the primary vote. It should give a better sense of who is likely to win, though final results are not expected until next week. The count last week showed Garcia, the city’s former sanitation commissioner, trailing Adams by a margin of around 2 percentage points. Check here for updates.
The city’s Board of Elections plans to certify the vote by July 14, but noted that 3,699 defective ballots could be cured.
6. “The authorities who are supposed to protect us from predators — turns out, they’re the ones assaulting us.”
The Times spoke to a group of Egyptian women who were either arrested for speaking out or had gone to the authorities to report a crime. In each case, they said, they were sexually abused by officials. In interviews, they said they felt they had no path for justice, fearing arrest and expressing worry about stigmatizing their families.
One police officer said that the abuse was rampant. The goal, he said, was not to gather evidence but to “humiliate your humanity.”
7. Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, will join Howard University’s faculty, capping weeks of dispute.
Hannah-Jones will be a tenured faculty member in a newly created position and will found the Center for Journalism and Democracy, which will train and support aspiring reporters. Hannah-Jones, a correspondent for The Times Magazine, had been set to teach at the University of North Carolina, but her appointment drew a backlash from conservatives over her involvement in The 1619 Project, which re-examined slavery in the U.S.
In other media news, Rupert Murdoch is preparing the debut of Fox Weather, a potentially powerful new player in a sphere long dominated by the Weather Channel.
8. The N.B.A. finals start tonight. The championship could come down to a buzzer-beating shot.
Both the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks are equipped to make climactic shots at the end of close games with players like Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton. Here’s how others made high-stakes plays.
On the court, Malika Andrews will replace Rachel Nichols as a sideline reporter, ESPN said. The decision comes after a Times report about comments Nichols made about a Black colleague, Maria Taylor.
On the pitch, Italy defeated Spain to advance to the Euro 2020 finals. They’ll face either England or Denmark, which play tomorrow. The final is Sunday.
And looking ahead to the Olympics, the sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, who recently failed a drug test for marijuana, will miss the Games after not being chosen for a relay team.
9. “U Remind Me” by Usher. “Encore” by Cheryl Lynn. “Nasty” by Janet Jackson.
If you’ve ever heard these songs, then you’ve heard Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, a writing and production duo who have shaped pop for 40 years. After decades behind the scenes, Jam and Lewis are putting out their first album under their own names. They wrote, performed on and produced 10 songs — but left the singing to professionals like Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Mary J. Blige and Babyface.
Jam describes the tracks as “newstalgia”: “It’s that feeling that you get when you hear something that’s new, that’s exciting, but it takes you back to a place that’s very comfortable and very reassuring.”
10. And finally, an ink to the past.
Western archaeologists have largely ignored tattooing. But as inked bodies become more mainstream, scientists have begun to examine preserved tattoos and artifacts like tattoo needles for insights. Now, the scientific study of tattooed mummies is inspiring Indigenous tattooists around the world to resurrect lost traditions.
For many, using tattoo designs of the past isn’t just a way to revive a lost art form nearly silenced by colonialism. It also has the power to heal old wounds and strengthen Indigenous communities. “I take great pride in tattooing a woman,” one tattoo artist said. “When she meets her foremothers in the next world, it will be like looking in a mirror.”
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