Good morning. We’re covering the resignation of Sri Lanka’s president, President Biden’s careful line on Iran in Israel and a political crisis in Italy. |
 | | Protesters celebrated after returning the prime minister's office, which they had been occupying, to the control of the army in Colombo, Sri Lanka.Atul Loke for The New York Times |
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Sri Lanka’s president resigns |
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka submitted his resignation by email from Singapore yesterday. He had fled his country early Wednesday after months of fervent protests. |
Celebrations erupted across Sri Lanka, where citizens blame the Rajapaksa dynasty for the country’s economic collapse and widespread hardship. Speeches and music blared from a main stage in Colombo, the capital, while protesters strategized in tents dotting the scenic seaside. |
But Rajapaksa’s resignation does not resolve the country’s uncertain future. He handed the reins to the deeply unpopular Ranil Wickremesinghe, who moved from his role as prime minister and had previously said he would resign. The political elite are fighting over the vacuum of power. And Sri Lanka still faces grave shortages of food, fuel, medicine and other critical supplies. |
Activists are working to keep things calm. Yesterday, in an effort to reduce tensions, protest organizers announced that they were pulling out of most government buildings that they had occupied, including the presidential mansion. |
Quotable: “We want to preserve these places, and we don’t want people to vandalize these places, nor do we want the state or other actors using vandalism as a reason to vilify us and the movement,” one protest leader said. |
Context: Over the three months of protest, activists have doggedly protected their reputation as members of a peaceful movement. Now, the loosely organized leaders are trying to ensure that a mass citizens’ movement does not help tip a country still grappling with the legacy of a decades-long civil war into anarchy. |
 | | President Biden attended the Maccabiah Games, which are Israel’s biggest sporting event and often referred to as the Jewish Olympics.Doug Mills/The New York Times |
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A U.S.-Israel split over Iran |
On his second day in Israel, President Biden again contended with a diplomatic disagreement over how to approach Iran and its nuclear ambitions. |
Israel’s caretaker prime minister, Yair Lapid, pushed Biden to go beyond his public commitment of stopping Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon. Lapid declared that all democratic nations must vow to act: “If they continue to develop their nuclear program, the free world will use force.” |
Biden did not repeat that commitment. Instead, he stuck to talking about blocking Iran from obtaining a weapon — not a program that might be intended to develop one. Here are live updates. |
What’s next: Biden will meet with Saudi Arabia’s leaders today. He once tried to isolate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over human rights abuses. Now, he needs Prince Mohammed’s help. |
 | | “Every day, Russia destroys the civilian population, kills Ukrainian children, directs rockets at civilian objects,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said. “What is this, if not an open act of terrorism?”Sergei Supinsky/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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At least 23 killed in Ukraine |
Emergency responders are frantically searching for survivors in the rubble, and dozens are missing. More than 70 people, including three children, were also hospitalized, Ukrainian officials said. Here are live updates. |
Officially, Russia has taken a “pause” in its drive to capture Ukrainian territory in order to regroup. But the midmorning attack on the city of Vinnytsia — which is hundreds of miles from the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine — is the latest to hit a civilian target without an apparent military aim. |
War crimes: The attack came as the Dutch government hosted a conference at The Hague intended to ensure that Russia is held accountable for violations of human rights in Ukraine. And Washington accused Russia of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian deportations. |
North Korea: Kyiv cut its diplomatic relations with Pyongyang after North Korea became the third country to recognize two Russian-backed separatist republics in Ukraine’s east, Al Jazeera reports. |
 | | China has confronted growing public unease about the lack of safeguards in its vast surveillance apparatus to protect personal data.Florence Lo/Reuters |
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- Last week, China’s Communist Party moved to censor news about what was probably the largest known breach of a Chinese government computer system. The party is keenly aware of how such lapses harm its credibility.
- The Asia-Pacific region is facing a coronavirus surge. Cases in Tokyo this week were at their highest since February, Reuters reports. New Zealand will make masks and rapid tests free as cases increase, The Guardian reports.
- Australia’s unemployment numbers fell to a 48-year-low last month, Reuters reports.
- A 66-year-old activist in Hong Kong known as “Grandma Wong” was jailed over her participation in the pro-democracy protests, The Guardian reports.
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- The I.M.F. said it reached a deal with Pakistan yesterday to resume the country’s loan program. The agreement, if approved, would pave the way for the release of $1.17 billion after a monthslong deadlock, as the country struggles with soaring inflation and political instability.
- Singapore, the Philippines, South Korea and New Zealand all took steps to tighten monetary policies this week, Al Jazeera reports.
- A group of Chinese buyers is refusing to make mortgage payments on unfinished units until construction resumes, The South China Morning Post reports.
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 | | Italy’s golden period of stability suddenly seemed on the familiar precipice of chaos yesterday.Angelo Carconi/EPA, via Shutterstock |
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- Italy faces political crisis. Mario Draghi offered to resign as prime minister after a coalition vote exposed fatal fractures in the unity government, but the president refused to accept his resignation.
- Rishi Sunak, who recently resigned in protest as chancellor of the Exchequer, is emerging as a possible favorite to replace Boris Johnson as Britain’s prime minister.
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 | | Felling and burning trees unleashes stores of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and cooking with wood and charcoal affects air quality.Ashley Gilbertson for The New York Times |
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In the Congo River Basin, people collect bundles of wood to make charcoal. The search for cooking materials plays a surprisingly large role in the deforestation of the carbon-absorbing forests, which are critical to slow global warming. |
Meryl Streep’s classic trick |
A few years ago, my colleague Amanda Hess was watching “The Post,” a movie about the Pentagon papers. Meryl Streep plays Katharine Graham, the publisher of The Washington Post. |
In the middle of the movie, Amanda turned to her viewing companion with an observation: Half of Meryl Streep’s acting is “glasses business.” Amanda has since spun out her observation into a delightful exploration of Streep’s relentless play with spectacles. |
“It’s stunning how often our most celebrated movie actress has built her performances on one of the form’s hackiest bits,” Amanda writes. “I now follow this trend not with incredulity but with reverence.” |
In movie after movie, Streep is constantly fidgeting with, fondling, removing or twirling her glasses. Just think of how she strategizes behind massive sunglasses as a magazine editor in the “The Devil Wears Prada” or ruthlessly lowers an angular pair of reading glasses to scrutinize an unpolished new hire. |
“I’ve come to see a pair of glasses on Streep’s face as a Chekhov’s gun,” Amanda. “At some point you know they’re coming off, and it’s going to be fabulous.” |
You’re not going to get the full experience unless you click on this link to enjoy Amanda’s GIF-filled close read. |
 | | Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Frances Boswell. |
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This chicken recipe draws inspiration from the michelada, a classic Mexican beverage. |
K-Ming Chang’s first short story collection, “Gods of Want,” explores emigration and queer love. |
A series of Japanese fantasy novels is the basis for “The Deer King,” a tenderly wrought and brilliantly animated adventure movie. |
That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Amelia |
The latest episode of “The Daily” is about Sri Lanka. |
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