(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)
Good evening. Here’s the latest.
1. Why Britain? Why now? Saturday’s terrorist attack in London was the third in three months in a country with widespread surveillance, raising questions over how else it can heighten security.
Prime Minister Theresa May, facing crucial parliamentary elections on Thursday, finds her counterterrorism record under scrutiny. But the authorities have disrupted 18 terrorist schemes since 2013.
Two of the three suspects in the London attack were identified. One, nicknamed Abs, above left, had appeared in a TV documentary about jihadis in Britain.
_____
2. In the United States, drug overdose deaths have skyrocketed, becoming the No. 1 killer of Americans under 50.
(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)
Good evening. Here’s the latest.
1. Why Britain? Why now? Saturday’s terrorist attack in London was the third in three months in a country with widespread surveillance, raising questions over how else it can heighten security.
Prime Minister Theresa May, facing crucial parliamentary elections on Thursday, finds her counterterrorism record under scrutiny. But the authorities have disrupted 18 terrorist schemes since 2013.
Two of the three suspects in the London attack were identified. One, nicknamed Abs, above left, had appeared in a TV documentary about jihadis in Britain.
_____
2. In the United States, drug overdose deaths have skyrocketed, becoming the No. 1 killer of Americans under 50.
Illicitly manufactured fentanyl and similar drugs have compounded the enduring dangers of heroin and other opioids.
“Heroin is the devil’s drug, man,” said a 24-year-old in Akron, Ohio, who is struggling to stay clean.
_____
3. Five Arab states, including Egypt, suddenly suspended diplomatic relations with Qatar.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen have also cut off land, air and sea travel to and from Qatar and ordered their citizens to leave.
We’re trying to pin down why, but the disruption complicates American efforts to confront ISIS and Iran. Qatar, a close ally of Washington, hosts a major American military base.
Above, the skyline of Doha, the capital.
_____
4. President Trump rebelled against his advisers, criticizing their “watered down” version of his travel ban on citizens from some Muslim-majority nations.
The Supreme Court has been asked to review the revised ban, which was rejected by lower courts.
Separately, White House officials said Mr. Trump would not invoke executive privilege to block James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director he fired, above, from testifying before Congress on Thursday.
_____
5. How conservative is conservative enough in Texas?
Greg Abbott is looking for the answer as the first new governor of the state in 14 years. He’s also the first to use a wheelchair. (A tree crushed him in 1984, while he was out for a jog.)
As he navigates battling factions of fellow Republicans, he takes their criticism in context: “When you have your life broken in half and realize that you’re going to be able to piece your life back together and overcome that, everything else in life is pretty easy to deal with.”
_____
6. Apple kicked off its annual developer conference today.
The company gave a sneak peek of HomePod, above, a speaker to rival Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home.
It also unveiled new iPads, iMacs and MacBooks, updates to its iOS operating system, and what an executive called “the most powerful Mac we’ve ever made.”
_____
7. In memoriam: Jean Sammet, 89, an early software engineer and a designer of COBOL, a programming language that brought computing into the mainstream.
She was unimpressed when, as a graduate student in mathematics in 1949, she had a first encounter: “I thought of a computer as some obscene piece of hardware that I wanted nothing to do with.”
_____
8. Bill Cosby, center, appeared relaxed — even jovial — on the first day of his sexual assault trial, near Philadelphia.
The comedian and actor, who has been accused by many women, was charged over a single encounter in his Pennsylvania home 13 years ago.
The trial is expected to last about two weeks. Here’s what to expect.
_____
9. Asia’s efforts to contain the endangered animal trade have been hindered by farms throughout Southeast Asia.
Conservationists say the operators capture tigers, bears, snakes and countless other species, passing them off as captive-bred or breeding them on site, and illegally selling them.
Our reporter visited a casino resort in Laos, where bear paw, sautéed tiger meat and tiger wine were among the expensive offerings.
_____
10. “Wonder Woman,” the first major superhero movie led by a woman, broke a Hollywood glass ceiling with a giant opening weekend.
Our media columnist saluted welcome changes in the industry, where progress has been slow, and our reviewer welcomed the film’s “touches of screwball comedy, espionage caper and romantic adventure,” and “what might be the most credible superhero screen kiss since upside-down Tobey Maguire planted one on Kirsten Dunst way back in ‘Spider-Man.’ ”
_____
Photographs may appear out of order for some readers. Viewing this version of the briefing should help.
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern.
And don’t miss Your Morning Briefing, posted weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern, and Your Weekend Briefing, posted at 6 a.m. Sundays.
Want to look back? Here’s Friday night’s briefing.
What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.
We’re interested in your feedback on this page. Tell us what you think.
