Good morning. We’re covering a major Russian attack on Kyiv. Also:
Plus, the secret to “KPop Demon Hunters.”
Russia’s biggest strike on Kyiv since the Trump talksAn hourslong barrage of missiles and drones aimed at Kyiv yesterday killed at least 18 people, including four children, officials said. The assault, the largest on the capital in the less than two weeks since President Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, showed that America’s recent flurry of diplomacy has not brought Russia and Ukraine any closer to peace. “Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table,” Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, wrote on social media. “It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war. And this means that Russia still does not fear the consequences.” Trump has voiced frustration with Putin’s assaults on Ukraine. But he has not followed through on threats to impose new sanctions against Russia. E.U. mission hit: Buildings belonging to the E.U. mission and the British Council in Kyiv suffered damage in the attack. Britain said it had summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the attack. Here is video of the damage. Next steps: Zelensky said that his chief of staff and the head of the country’s security council would meet with Trump’s team today in New York to discuss security guarantees to be included in any future peace agreement. Related: Russia and its allies are flying surveillance drones over routes the U.S. and its allies use to ship military supplies through Germany, Western officials said. Interested in providing feedback on this newsletter? Take our short survey here.
Israeli reservists drop out ahead of Gaza offensiveIsrael is preparing to call up thousands of reservists for its Gaza City offensive. But officials aren’t sure how many will return to the fight. Over the past few months, an increasing number of Israeli reserve soldiers have not been showing up for military service. Some are disillusioned by the war, and many more are exhausted after long deployments and battles on multiple fronts, in Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank. While Israel’s government has announced that the military is planning a full-scale assault on Gaza City, soldiers have not yet moved into a majority of the city. But they have been operating for weeks in Zeitoun, a neighborhood in Gaza City. New satellite images reviewed by The New York Times show how Zeitoun, which was largely intact just three weeks ago, has been flattened by Israeli bombardment.
European countries moved to reimpose Iran sanctionsBritain, France and Germany told the U.N. yesterday that Iran had violated the terms of a 2015 nuclear deal and that they planned to reinstate sanctions that were suspended under the agreement. The move toward “snapback sanctions,” outlined in a U.N. resolution, starts a 30-day window for negotiations before the penalties return. Iran called the move illegal and said it would undermine the “ongoing process of engagement” with the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog.
What’s inside a tree? A lot, it turns out. Scientists studying forests have found that a single tree can be home to over a trillion living things — hidden communities of bacteria and single-celled organisms that quietly help the tree thrive. The findings, published in the journal Nature, open up new avenues of research into microbial diversity. “This is sort of, hopefully, giving people a little bit of a map to dive into deeper questions,” an author of the study said. Lives lived: Angela Mortimer, a British tennis star who dealt with dysentery and partial deafness and won three Grand Slam championships, died at 93.
The secret ingredient in ‘KPop Demon Hunters’The animated musical “KPop Demon Hunters,” about a girl group facing off against a diabolical boy band, went from a slow-burn hit to an outright phenomenon. It’s Netflix’s most-watched movie ever. One reason for that success is the movie’s understanding of fandom, my colleague Maya Phillips writes. The film carefully engages niche communities, like anime and K-pop fan groups. Fandom helped the movie’s catchy songs climb the pop charts in real life, and it is a key driver of the plot, with concert scenes featuring shots of adoring fans. Read more from Maya, who has seen the movie at least six times. We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.
Zap: This microwave Nutella pudding cake is the ooey-gooey version of mud cake. Watch: “Motel Destino” is a sensuous thriller set in a roadside motel in Brazil. |
