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| The climate lawsuit against Switzerland was brought by a group of women, all 64 or older. Christian Hartmann/Reuters |
A European court made a significant climate ruling
Europe’s top human-rights court said the Swiss government had violated its citizens’ rights by failing to meet its climate targets. Experts said it was the first instance in which an international court had used human rights law to determine that governments were legally obligated to meet their climate goals.
A group of women, all 64 or older, argued that their health was at risk during heat waves related to global warming, and that by not doing enough to mitigate warming, Switzerland’s government had violated their rights.
“This is a landmark ruling, and it could trigger a wave of similar lawsuits in European countries,” David Gelles, the managing correspondent of our Climate Forward newsletter, told us.
Implications: The women’s lawsuit was the latest in a series of attempts to force governments in court to act against global warming.
“The European ruling isn’t likely to affect rulings in the U.S.,” David said. “But there are several big cases making their way through the U.S. court system, including one that could appear before the Supreme Court later this year.”
More climate news:
U.S.: Replacing existing power lines with state-of-the-art cables could roughly double the electrical grid’s capacity in much of the country.
Promises: A new study from the European Central Bank disputes the effectiveness of climate pledges made by bankers and investors.
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| The aftermath of the strike on an Iranian Embassy building in Damascus, Syria, this month. Louai Beshara/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
Iran smuggles arms into West Bank, officials said
Iran is operating a clandestine smuggling route across the Middle East to deliver weapons to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to officials from the U.S., Israel and Iran.
The goal, as described by three Iranian officials, is to foment unrest against Israel by flooding the enclave with as many weapons as possible, without singling out a specific group for the largess. Analysts said most of the weapons were small arms, but Israeli officials said Iran was also smuggling antitank missiles and rocket-propelled grenades.
The covert operation is heightening concerns that Tehran wants to make the West Bank the next flashpoint in its shadow war with Israel. That conflict took on new urgency this month, with Iran having vowed to retaliate for an Israeli strike on an embassy compound that killed seven Iranian military commanders.
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| A girl watched her mother vote in Seoul on Wednesday. Ahn Young-Joon/Associated Press |
A divided South Korea headed to the polls
President Yoon Suk Yeol isn’t on the ballot in South Korea’s parliamentary elections today, but the vote could still decide his political fate.
The contest is largely between Yoon’s conservative People Power Party and the main opposition camp, the liberal Democratic Party, led by Lee Jae-myung, whom Yoon narrowly beat to win the presidency in 2022.
If his party suffers a major loss, Yoon could essentially become a lame duck for the rest of his single, five-year term, and could even face impeachment. Lee, who has faced bribery and other criminal charges in court, is equally desperate to score an electoral victory.
Political polarization runs so deep in South Korea that many voters either want Yoon impeached or Lee imprisoned.
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| N., a 17-year-old transgender boy in England, has been on a youth gender clinic’s waiting list for five years. Tori Ferenc for The New York Times |
England restricted gender care for children
The National Health Service in England started restricting gender treatments for children, making it the fifth European country to limit the use of medication in such cases.
England’s move is part of a broader shift in northern Europe, where health officials have been concerned by soaring demand for adolescent gender treatments in recent years. Several transgender advocacy groups in Europe have condemned the changes, saying that they infringe on civil rights and exacerbate the problems of overstretched health systems.Continue reading the main story
| MORE TOP NEWS |
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| Mandel Ngan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
| Britain: David Cameron, the British foreign secretary, visited Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago to discuss military aid for Ukraine.The Hague: Germany defended itself before the International Court of Justice against accusations that its arms sales to Israel were abetting genocide in Gaza.Abortion: Arizona’s highest court upheld an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions.Diplomacy: Xi Jinping met with Russia’s foreign minister in Beijing to reaffirm ties and prepare for President Vladimir Putin’s expected visit to China.Ireland: At 37, Simon Harris became the country’s youngest-ever prime minister. |
| Ukraine: A photograph of a mother and son killed in a drone attack in Odesa has become a symbol of the toll exacted on civilians by Russia’s war.Champions League: Officials said they would tighten security for matches in Europe’s marquee soccer competition after ISIS-related groups called for violent attacks on the events.U.S.: The parents of a Michigan teenager who killed four students were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. |
Business
| Bureaucracy: “Too much red tape” has become a major impediment to reviving Germany’s economy, the International Monetary Fund said in a report. |
| Chips: TSMC, Taiwan’s semiconductor giant, is turning a small Japanese farm town into a key node in Asia’s chip supply chain. |
| MORNING READ |
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| Erinn Springer for The New York Times |
Are you ready for the Jane Goodall Experience? “Dr. Jane’s Dream,” an immersive spectacle created by former Walt Disney Imagineers and African artisans to celebrate the groundbreaking English primatologist and environmental activist, is taking form in a cultural complex in Tanzania.
“What we’re trying to do,” said Joe Rohde, a designer who worked on the project, “is sort of take all the feelings and emotions that made Jane Goodall Jane Goodall and transfer that into a series of objects and encounters.”
Lives lived: Peter Higgs discovered the Higgs boson, also known as the “God particle,” which helps explain how other particles acquire mass. He died at 94.
| CONVERSATION STARTERS |
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| Giuseppe Di Stefano/Associated Press |
| Puff: The Italian volcano Mount Etna has been blowing perfect smoke rings.I.R.L.: The eclipse pulled people away from their computers, with internet traffic down 40 percent in states in the totality’s path. |
Continue reading the main story
| SPORTS NEWS |
Two-point deduction: Explaining Everton’s second breach of profit and sustainability rules.
Premier League vs. Bundesliga: The coefficient battle for an extra Champions League spot.
The biggest stage: Joaquin Niemann’s fight to get to the Masters.
| ARTS AND IDEAS |
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The International Booker Prize shortlist
Six titles were nominated for this year’s International Booker Prize, the prestigious award for fiction translated into English. (The author and the translator split the prize money.)
The best-known nominee is Jenny Erpenbeck, a German novelist often mentioned as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Other authors include Itamar Vieira Junior, Selva Almada and Hwang Sok-yong.
Here’s more on the list.
| RECOMMENDATIONS |
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| Christopher Testani for The New York Times |
Cook: Drumsticks are tucked in among basmati rice, herbs and spices in this chicken biryani.
