Here\u2019s what you need to know about the week\u2019s top stories.<\/b>
\nHere are the week\u2019s top stories, and a look ahead. 1. Israel stands on the cusp of a watershed moment. Lawmakers will hold a vote today that would remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power, replacing the country\u2019s longest-serving leader with the head of a fragile alliance formed from eight ideologically diffuse parties. The coalition is united in one goal: ousting Netanyahu. If it wins the vote of confidence in the Knesset, Naftali Bennett, a right-wing former leader of a settler movement, will be Israel\u2019s next prime minister. We\u2019ll have live updates here. In a compromise, Yair Lapid, a leading centrist politician who would become foreign minister in Bennett\u2019s government, will take over as prime minister in 2023. While Bennett would take the stage first, he wouldn\u2019t be leading without Lapid, who coaxed the unlikely alliance into existence. 2. Leaders of the Group of 7 are wrapping up a summit today, having taken on the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and China. President Biden, pictured with President Emmanuel Macron of France, pushed for a more unified approach to combating the pandemic. The leaders are expected to sign a declaration on global health intended to ensure that the pandemic\u2019s toll is never repeated. To counter China\u2019s influence, Biden urged European nations and Japan to offer hundreds of billions in loans to developing nations. While the countries agree that China\u2019s influence is worrisome, how they\u2019ll come together on the next steps is unclear. Biden will head to Brussels for a NATO meeting tomorrow before sitting down with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Geneva on Wednesday. But the two leaders will not hold a joint news conference \u2014 a move designed to deny the Russian leader an international platform. 3. While the U.S. and other wealthy nations are reporting fewer Covid cases and deaths, many other countries are facing worrisome new surges in infections. Russian officials are scrambling to slow the spread of a new wave of the coronavirus, ordering workers in Moscow to take next week off and pleading with residents to make use of widely available vaccines. Above, the Krylatskoye Ice Palace in Moscow was converted to a Covid hospital. The Delta variant is spreading in southeastern China, and doctors say that the infected are getting sicker, and faster. Separately, the F.D.A. said a Baltimore factory that rendered 75 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine useless failed for weeks to seal off a preparation area for vaccine ingredients. 4. Private equity firms have conquered the American tax system. The $4.5 trillion industry has avoided paying billions in taxes and has managed to derail efforts to increase its tax burden, thanks to lobbyists and campaign contributions. Firms are rarely audited despite whistle-blowers\u2019 claims of tax dodges. Private equity\u2019s ability to vanquish the I.R.S. and Congress goes a long way toward explaining the deep inequities in the U.S. tax system. Meanwhile, a comprehensive survey of the 200 highest-paid chief executives at publicly traded companies revealed some of the biggest pay packages on record. 5. Recent disclosures about the Trump administration\u2019s seizure of data from House Democrats and reporters have left more questions than answers. The reports prompted an immediate backlash from the top: President Biden ordered prosecutors to stop seizing reporters\u2019 phone and email data, and the Justice Department watchdog opened an investigation into the matter. Apple said it had unknowingly turned over the data under a subpoena request that merely listed email addresses and phone numbers. But Biden\u2019s sweeping vow to ban a practice he called \u201csimply, simply wrong\u201d left crucial questions unanswered. Among them: How broad are the new protections? And could they be changed by future administrations? The unresolved details are expected to be a focus of a meeting tomorrow between Attorney General Merrick Garland and leaders of The Times, The Post and CNN. 6. A Times investigation shows the serious construction flaws that led to the collapse of a Mexico City metro viaduct in May, killing 26 people. We took thousands of photographs of the crash site and shared the evidence with several leading engineers, who reached the same conclusion: The steel studs that were vital to the strength of the overpass appeared to have failed because of bad welds. Thousands of pages of internal government and corporate documents showed more than a decade of warnings and concerns about safety before the fatal crash. The disaster has spiraled into a political crisis for two of Mexico\u2019s most prominent figures: the president\u2019s foreign secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, who was mayor of Mexico City when the new metro line was built; and Carlos Slim, one of the world\u2019s wealthiest businessmen, whose construction company built the portion of the line that collapsed. 7. \u201cVietnam Archive: Pentagon Study Traces 3 Decades of Growing U.S. Involvement\u201d Fifty years ago today, that headline ran on the front page of The Times as the newspaper published a bombshell scoop that exposed the lies behind the Vietnam War: the Pentagon Papers. The Times knew the government would sue, but as the newspaper\u2019s general counsel at the time said, \u201cthe fate of journalism\u201d was on the line. The Supreme Court ruling in New York Times Company v. United States defined the balance of power between the news media and the government. We spoke to some of the reporters, editors, researchers and lawyers who made the call. Read all of our anniversary coverage, and look for a special print section in today\u2019s paper. The Times won the Pulitzer Prize for public service when it published the Pentagon Papers. The newspaper won that prize again on Friday for its coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Here\u2019s the full list of winners. 8. A busy weekend of competition, and not just for humans. The unseeded Barbora Krejcikova defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her first Grand Slam final appearance, winning the French Open women\u2019s singles title. Novak Djokovic will try to win his 19th Grand Slam title today, facing Stefanos Tsitsipas. The match begins at 9 a.m. Eastern. In soccer, the UEFA European Championship is underway in 11 countries. Fans witnessed a frightening moment when Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed during a match, but he was later said to be OK. Today\u2019s games include England vs. Croatia and Netherlands vs. Ukraine. And today is the final day of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Four new breeds join the party this year: the barbet, the Belgian Laekenois, the Biewer terrier and the dogo Argentino. Best in Show is at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Here\u2019s what to watch for and a first glimpse at some of the contestants. 9. A year ago, oyster growers in New York and New Jersey were fighting for survival. This summer is a very different story. As coronavirus restrictions lift and restaurant orders are back, oyster farmers in the region are ready for a \u201cbonkers\u201d summer, as one put it. The turnaround stems in part from two conservation buyback programs (millions of oysters, which are great natural filters, were purchased and placed on coastal reefs) as farmers were hustling to find new places to sell their shellfish. That same demand has exacerbated a New England seafood tradition in a different way: Up and down the coast of New England, the price of lobster is at historic highs. Would you pay $34 for a lobster roll? 10. And finally, at your leisure. An immersive Vincent van Gogh experience. Protection Island, Wash., population one. The return of prom. All these and more await in The Weekender. Our editors also suggest these 12 new books, new seasons of \u201cLupin\u201d and \u201cTuca & Bertie,\u201d and 10 new songs, including one from Lorde. Did you follow the news this week? Test your knowledge. And here\u2019s the front page of our Sunday paper, the Sunday Review from Opinion and today\u2019s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. If you\u2019re in the mood to play more, find all our games here. Have a refreshing week. Your Weekend Briefing is published Sundays at 6:30 a.m. Eastern. Did a friend forward you the briefing? You can sign up here. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com. Browse our full range of Times newsletters here.<\/p>\n