Good morning. We’re protecting Russia’s bombardment of Kyiv and China’s effort to comprise its largest coronavirus outbreak since Wuhan.

Russia bombards Kyiv

Russia launched a flurry of artillery strikes on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, as its invasion headed into a 3rd week. The assaults adopted days of preventing within the suburbs of town, and the Kremlin has insisted that “all plans” for the invasion will probably be fulfilled. Observe our reside updates.

In Kyiv, a missile strike hit a nine-story house constructing on Monday, severely damaging the construction and killing least two folks. “We shouldn’t have a navy goal close to us,” Yuriy Yurchik, a 30-year-old resident, instructed The Instances. “We didn’t suppose we ourselves can be a goal.”

Army consultants warn that the battle for Kyiv may very well be drawn out and decisive. Some estimate it may take two weeks for Russian forces to encircle the Ukrainian capital and a minimum of a month of bloody, damaging preventing for them to take town.

Russian and Ukrainian officers concluded a gathering with little signal of progress. Negotiations had been to renew at present.

Covid surges in China

China is grappling with its largest surge of infections because the coronavirus first emerged there greater than two years in the past. The federal government is racing to impose strict containment measures, however sustained outbreaks in two-thirds of the nation’s provinces are the hardest take a look at but of its “Covid zero” insurance policies.

World commerce might quickly take a success. A number of of China’s largest manufacturing unit cities have ordered lockdowns or imposed new restrictions, halting manufacturing of Toyota automobiles and Apple telephones.

Shenzen, the hub of China’s tech sector and one of many world’s largest ports, imposed a weeklong lockdown, limiting all however probably the most important motion. Final spring, an outbreak there held up port operations and precipitated a steep enhance in world transport charges that helped drive up costs for imported items.

Context: The Omicron variant is fueling the outbreak. China has a really excessive vaccination fee, besides among the many aged, and little greater than half of contaminated folks shouldn’t have signs. China has comparatively far fewer intensive care hospital beds than most industrialized international locations, and rural hospitals particularly may shortly turn into overwhelmed.

Lockdowns: Officers seal the entrances to a retailer, workplace constructing and even conference middle in response to a single case, trapping everybody inside for as much as a number of days till they’re examined and, if their outcomes are optimistic, despatched into isolation.

Hong Kong: Significantly in southern China, many have reacted by blaming close by Hong Kong, the place an epidemic has overwhelmed hospitals and morgues. Town has mentioned it doesn’t have the testing capability to hold out the mainland’s strict technique.

Listed below are the newest updates and maps of the pandemic.

In different developments:

• A research estimates that there have been 720,000 fewer dengue instances globally within the first yr of the pandemic due to restrictions on motion.

• Moderna is anticipated to ship U.S. officers preliminary knowledge this week on how nicely its vaccine works in younger youngsters.

• Barack Obama examined optimistic for the coronavirus however mentioned he’s “feeling advantageous.”

Tragedy on the U.S.-Canada border

In January, a household of 4 froze to demise as they tried to cross into the U.S. from Canada. They had been nearly 15 meters from the border.

Jagdish Patel, 39, and his spouse, Vaishali, 37, had been lecturers within the Indian state of Gujarat till Covid-19 shuttered colleges there. With few choices, they traveled to Canada on a visa and paid to be smuggled into the U.S. with their 11-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son.

The smugglers dropped a bunch of migrants, together with the household, about 5 miles (eight kilometers) from the border, regardless of a blizzard warning. Because the group trudged by way of knee- to waist-deep snow for 11 hours in whiteout circumstances, the temperature neared -20 levels Fahrenheit (-29 Celsius), and the Patels bought separated from the group.

Context: Because the U.S. tightens controls on its southern border, tons of of migrants a yr try their luck from Canada, the place the boundary is much less fortified.

Background: In Gujarat, which has an extended historical past of immigration to the U.S., smuggling enterprises masquerade as journey businesses.

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Cambodia has been open to overseas vacationers for months, however the pandemic continues to depress tourism. Till crowds return, the sprawling temple advanced of Angkor Wat is sort of empty throughout what is generally peak vacationer season. “You’ll be able to’t assist however really feel a bit particular when you’ve one of many world’s wonders to your self,” one customer mentioned.

Does planting timber assist the planet?

Reforestation is a pretty alternative for manufacturers seeking to enhance their local weather credibility and bolster their sustainability information. A tree planted for each T-shirt bought. For each bottle of wine bought. For each swipe of a bank card.

Timber can sluggish local weather change by locking away planet-warming carbon dioxide. However firms and international locations usually plant industrial, nonnative species of their reforestation tasks, which may as an alternative worsen the issues they had been meant to resolve.

These timber will maintain carbon — all timber do — however they supply little assist to the webs of life that after thrived in these areas. That may cut back biodiversity and threaten water provides, rushing extinctions and making ecosystems far much less resilient. “You’re creating principally a sterile panorama,” one conservationist mentioned.

The very best efforts attempt to tackle a spread of wants, based on restoration consultants, however it may be onerous to reconcile competing pursuits. There are numerous gamers concerned. Some advocate huge tree farms for carbon storage and timber. Others name for offering fruit timber to small-scale farmers. And a few say it’s finest to permit native species to regenerate.