Your Wednesday Briefing – The New York Times

A former Supreme Court justice dies

John Paul Stevens, who gradually became the outspoken leader of the court’s liberal wing during his 35-year tenure, died on Tuesday at 99.

Before retiring in 2010, he became a central figure as the court took an active role in balancing individual liberty and national security, and in policing the constitutional separation of powers.

Justice Stevens wrote the majority opinion in 2004 that put the hundreds of prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, within the jurisdiction of the federal courts. He also wrote the 2002 decision declaring that the Constitution did not permit executing the mentally disabled.

Background: Named to the court in 1975 by President Gerald Ford, Justice Stevens “was chosen for his ability as a lawyer and not, as is common today, for how he was likely to vote,” our Supreme Court reporter writes.

No charge in Eric Garner’s death

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it would not bring federal charges against a New York City police officer, five years after Mr. Garner died when placed in a chokehold.

The decision by Attorney General William Barr followed a disagreement between the department’s civil rights division, which had pushed for an indictment, and Brooklyn prosecutors, who didn’t believe it could be proved that Officer Daniel Pantaleo had willfully used excessive force.

Mr. Garner’s death was one of several fatal encounters between black people and the police in recent years. His dying words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Background: Mr. Garner, who was 43, died on a Staten Island sidewalk after being accused of selling untaxed cigarettes. None of the officers involved have been charged with a crime or disciplined by the Police Department.

Response: “The D.O.J. has failed us,” Mr. Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, said on Tuesday.

The Daily: In today’s episode, a Times reporter discusses the case.

How Notre-Dame was saved

It has been three months since a fire ravaged the 850-year-old cathedral in Paris. The Times conducted scores of interviews and reviewed hundreds of documents to reconstruct how it was saved.

What became clear was how close the cathedral came to collapsing and how a small group of firefighters prevented it. Here are five takeaways from our investigation.

What’s next: Bitter finger-pointing continues over who was responsible for allowing the blaze to rage unchecked for so long. The questions are at the heart of a long investigation by the French authorities.

Under the country’s rapid economic transformation, women are living longer, earning more money and graduating from university in greater numbers. But China’s gains have disproportionately benefited men. Above, a couple taking wedding photographs in the southwestern city of Chongqing.

With the relaxing of the country’s “one child” birth restrictions, President Xi Jinping has led a resurgence in traditional gender roles that has increasingly pushed women back into the home.

Here’s what else is happening

Ouster at Planned Parenthood: The organization removed its president, Leana Wen, seeking a more aggressive political leader to fight recent efforts to roll back abortion access.

Opioid funding at risk: Billions of dollars in federal grants for treatment and prevention programs are set to end next year, but the Trump administration has not said whether they will be extended.

New leader in Europe: Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s former defense minister, was chosen to be the European Union’s top executive at a time when the bloc is divided over rising nationalism. She is the first woman selected for the post.

A Mercedes in Pyongyang: Using shipping data, corporate records, satellite imagery and interviews, a Times investigation tracked the circuitous routes that North Korea uses to import luxury cars and other high-end goods in defiance of international sanctions.

From The Times: The Privacy Project, an effort by our Opinion section to understand the benefits and costs of technology, has been underway for four months. Here’s what we’ve learned (so far).

Snapshot: Above, the singer Sarah Vaughan at the Birdland Jazz Club in New York in 1954. The photograph is part of the archive of Ebony and Jet magazines, a collection of more than four million prints and negatives that is to be offered at an auction today.

Emmy nominations: Our TV critics discuss the surprises and snubs. “Game of Thrones” led the pack with 32 nominations; here’s a full list.

52 Places traveler: In his latest dispatch, our columnist faces a travel nightmare but lands in the perfect place to recover: Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

Late-night comedy: “Just because you complain about your country, doesn’t mean you don’t love it,” Trevor Noah said. “If the Knicks kicked out every fan who yelled at them to play better, Madison Square Garden would be emptier than Mike Pence’s spice cabinet.”

What we’re reading: This collaboration from ProPublica and The New Yorker. Lauretta Charlton, our Race/Related editor, writes: “Black poverty in America is intimately related to the loss of land. Here, one black family fights to keep theirs.”

Now, a break from the news

Cook: Try this take on pasta puttanesca, with linguine, tuna and capers.

Listen: On the new version of Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” Justin Bieber is a Sinatra for the SoundCloud era, our critic writes.

Go: A glorious but tattered beauty, Naples is humming. Here’s a 36-hour itinerary for the Italian city.

Eat: Belle Harlem turns out big flavors from a tiny kitchen, our restaurant critic writes.

Smarter Living: Women are sometimes worried about being “everything” to everyone: family, friends and work colleagues. But it’s possible to do less and achieve more. Decide what matters most, then ask, “What should I be doing to focus on it?” Find more tips in our Working Woman’s Handbook.

We also have advice for building a wedding website.

And now for the Back Story on …

A swan census

This week, scarlet-clad teams are rowing the River Thames in southern England, counting swans.

Since the 12th century, British monarchs have asserted exclusive rights to most of the country’s mute swans. But two groups descended from London’s medieval craft guilds own swans on the Thames, and mark them to show as much.

It’s called “Swan Upping,” perhaps because the searchers “take up” the swans they find for examination and enumeration.

Swans were a medieval delicacy, prized at banquets. But these days, they are protected in Britain, and eating them is forbidden.

In 2005, the composer and conductor Peter Maxwell Davies made a terrine from a swan he said had died after flying into a power line. The police questioned him, and he pondered whether he might have to serve time “with a ball and chain in the Tower of London.”

He got off, maintaining that “making a delicious terrine” was within his rights.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Chris

Thank you
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Andrea Kannapell, the briefings editor, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at [email protected].

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is about the Eric Garner case.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Kind of journalism for Hunter S. Thompson (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The weekend editor of The Times’s Express Desk, which covers fast-breaking news, collected real-time newsroom communications during the New York City blackout last weekend.