Climate Bill, Albuquerque, Spiders: Your Monday Evening Briefing

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Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.

1. The Senate passed climate, health and tax legislation on Sunday.

The $369 billion act, elements of which appeared dead just weeks ago amid Democratic divisions, would make the most significant federal investment in history to counter climate change. It would also, for the first time, allow Medicare to negotiate with drugmakers on the price of prescription medicines. Here’s what’s in the package.

Analysis: Peter Baker wonders if the development marks a turning point for President Biden. White House aides argue that his accomplishments now compare favorably to the two-year legislative record of most any other modern president, despite the president’s notable unpopularity.

2. The Pentagon said it will send $1 billion in aid to Ukraine.

The additional ammunition will include rockets for the launchers that have been credited with destroying Russian command posts and ammunition depots, and will come from the Pentagon’s own stockpiles. The shipments will bring the total amount of U.S. military aid to more than $9 billion.

3. Four Muslim men were recently killed in Albuquerque, leaving the community in fear.

Three of the men were killed in the past two weeks. Officials say those killings might be connected to a fourth in November 2021.

“My kids won’t let me go outside of my apartment,” said Muhammad Imtiaz Hussain, whose younger brother was fatally shot a week ago just a few blocks away.

Authorities described a vehicle of interest, a dark-colored, four-door Volkswagen sedan, and said they are refraining from using the term “hate” in labeling the crimes until a motive could be established.

4. China’s military announced new exercises near Taiwan.

The announcement came a day after its military wrapped up 72 hours of drills in the waters encircling the island, its largest-ever exercises in the area. It’s a sign that China may keep up military pressure on Taiwan in retaliation for Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit last week.

Beijing might be seeking to normalize its military’s presence around Taiwan, allowing Chinese forces to practice imposing a slow squeeze on the island by cutting off much of the access to its airspace and waters. Here’s what to know about the rising tensions.

The Taiwanese democracy activist Li Ming-che was recently freed from a Chinese prison. He and his wife, who met with Pelosi in Taiwan last week, are urging resistance to Beijing.

5. Four states will use disputed maps in House races this fall.

In Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Ohio, judges have found that Republican legislators illegally drew congressional maps along racial or partisan lines. In years past, the judges would have ordered new maps.

But a shift in a Supreme Court doctrine, combined with the Republicans’ willingness to play redistricting hardball, means that all four states are using the rejected maps, and questions about their legality for future elections will be hashed out in court later.

In Wisconsin, ahead of Tuesday’s primary, dozens of Republican voters and activists interviewed across the state said they wanted lawmakers to decertify the state’s 2020 election results and claw back its electoral votes.

In Washington, an excerpt from a forthcoming book revealed that Donald Trump said he wished he had “totally loyal” generals like the ones who had reported to Adolf Hitler.

6. Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza reached a cease-fire.

The conflict began on Friday afternoon when Israel launched airstrikes to foil what it said was an imminent attack from Gaza. The fighting killed 44 Palestinians, including militant leaders as well as children, and left scores of homes damaged or destroyed.

But Hamas, the de facto civilian government in Gaza, remained on the sidelines. A smaller Islamist group, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, took the lead in firing more than 1,000 rockets and bore the brunt of the Israeli airstrikes.

Hamas’s decision confirmed the complex and shifting role that the movement has assumed since seizing control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. It also showcased the frictions among Palestinian Islamist militants over how best to fight Israel and highlighted the influence of Iran — which backs Hamas and Islamic Jihad — and the limits of that support.

7. Axios agreed to a $525 million sale.

The digital media company — which offers bulletin-style scoops on the realms of politics, business and technology — quickly gained traction after its founding in 2017 as readers devoured coverage of President Trump and his administration.

Cox Enterprise will buy Axios in a deal that is set to close this month. It’s structured so that the company’s three founders — Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz — have financial incentives to stay. The deal offers a rare flicker of hope for the digital publishing sector, which has been fraught with difficulty for investors and operators.

8. Inflation has hit New York City.

It’s become even more expensive to eat and drink in the city. In May, food prices in the area rose at their fastest annual pace since 1981, and the number of children visiting food pantries was 55 percent higher earlier this year than it was before the pandemic.

The Times followed five New Yorkers during their weekly eating routines to document where they were seeing the effects of inflation: A retiree discovered that a pint of berries was now at least $8; a woman paid the “ridiculous” price of $15 for French fries in Times Square.

Across the country, Americans with low incomes are pulling back from buying as high-income households keep spending, creating a bifurcated economy with potentially big consequences.

9. Mexican pizza is more than a Taco Bell menu item.

The owners of Rosario’s, a Mexican restaurant in South Philadelphia, first began serving a cheese pizza to allure the neighborhood’s older, non-Latino residents. But then they experimented with blending ingredients, which led to their first three Mexican pizzas: al pastor, carnitas and the Mexicana.

The pies — built on dough, but swapping tomato sauce for a base of black bean purée or tomatillo, guajillo pepper or mole sauces — feel like a tribute to the convergence of the city’s deeply rooted Italian population and, since the 1990s, a thriving Mexican community.

Rosario’s now carries 14 Mexican-style pies and more than a dozen classic pizzas, making the restaurant part of a new generation of Latino-owned pizzerias in the U.S. that are creating a style of their own.

10. And finally, some spiders may spin dreams.

By day, jumping spiders hunt their prey, stalking and pouncing like cats. But researchers found that, at night, these spiders exhibit signs of rapid eye movement, or R.E.M. sleep, when most human dreaming occurs.

“There’s no reason to think that they don’t dream, depending on how you define dreaming,” one entomologist said. “I could imagine a replay of memories that allow them to work out possible problems.”

Jumping spiders have complex brains for their size and have been shown to plan their routes and perform elaborate courtship dances.

The discovery suggests that R.E.M. sleep may be more common across animals and may help untangle its purpose and evolution.

Have an imaginative evening.

Brent Lewis compiled photos for this briefing.

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