Davan Maharaj, editor of the Los Angeles Times

Time ran out on the National Security Agency’s authority to collect massive amounts of Americans’ telephone calling data Sunday night. The Senate appears poised to pass a House bill this week to reform the NSA’s domestic surveillance practices, but debate among Republicans especially has become a major element in the 2016 presidential campaign.

A Soccer Tournament in Jeopardy
The federal corruption investigation of FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, may jeopardize the much ballyhooed 2016 Copa America tournament in the United States. The alleged bribery connected with the tournament was one of the major examples in the 161-page indictment handed down last week. The tournament has never been held here and its coming was taken as a validation of the sport’s growing prominence in this country. Now, it’s uncertain if the tournament will take place in the U.S. after all.

Squiggling L.A.
The Sixth Street Viaduct has been one of the most revered — and dilapidated — icons in the city. Due to a fatal flaw in its concrete, the bridge will soon be replaced with a new span designed not just as a utilitarian crossing between Boyle Heights and downtown, but as a squiggling connector, destination, urban artwork and playground. Demolition begins this summer. The $428-million project is scheduled to open in 2019.

Sheriff’s Deputies Admit Lying
Two sheriff’s deputies have broken ranks and changed their stories in a jail beating case. The deputies now say in a plea agreement that the victim, a visitor to the jail, was handcuffed while he was beaten. The two deputies have agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and testify against three other deputies who have been indicted on federal assault and civil rights charges.

Gastronomical Science
Do you eat your food or subject it to weights and measures? Chef-turned-food writer Christopher St. Cavish does both. In his quest to find the perfect Shanghai soup dumpling known as xiao long bao, he set off across the city of 24 million to rate dumplings. Inspired by the ones he enjoys at Din Tai Fung, the Taiwanese restaurant that has expanded to the United States, St. Cavish studied how thin the dough was, how much soup was served with the dumpling and the weight of the filling inside. Then he published his findings. Restaurateurs weren’t impressed, but he was satisfied. In more ways than one.