Good morning. President Biden and Xi Jinping will meet today, ahead of the G20 summit in Indonesia. |
| Leaders will meet in Bali, Indonesia.Dita Alangkara/Associated Press |
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World leaders are gathering in Indonesia for the G20 summit, which begins tomorrow. |
The meeting will test whether the leaders can halt a downward spiral in relations. |
And Xi has signaled friendliness. He told the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations that he wanted to “find the right way to get along,” and a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said that “the U.S. and China should move toward each other, managing and controlling disagreements in a proper way and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation.” |
Analysis: “This is in a sense the first superpower summit of the Cold War Version 2.0,” said Evan Medeiros, who was Barack Obama’s top adviser on Asia-Pacific affairs. |
| President Biden met with Hun Sen, Cambodia’s prime minister, on Saturday.Doug Mills/The New York Times |
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Biden courts ASEAN nations |
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations met last week in Cambodia. |
President Biden appeared in person. He told leaders that the U.S. was committed to deepening “peace and prosperity throughout the region,” and he announced a series of initiatives in the region, including efforts to promote electric vehicle use, improve clean-water access and support female entrepreneurs. |
But Biden’s efforts to counter China’s rise and promote human rights may face challenges. Cambodia’s government is increasingly suppressing democracy, which officials said Biden discussed. And many members of ASEAN are embracing economic ties with Beijing, despite China’s slowing growth. |
At the summit, ASEAN leaders reiterated their strong ties with China while taking pains not to upset Biden. In a joint statement with China, Cambodia reiterated its support for the “One China Policy” — including opposition to independence for Taiwan. |
Context: Before the summit, ASEAN elevated its relationship with the U.S. to what is called a comprehensive strategic partnership, putting it on the same footing as China and Australia. |
| A Kherson resident greeted a Ukrainian soldier yesterday.Finbarr O'Reilly for The New York Times |
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The city of Kherson is back under Ukrainian control, after more than eight months of Russian occupation. |
Analysis: The victory is a bitter blow to Russia. Just a few weeks ago, President Vladimir Putin declared the Kherson region a part of Russia forever. His proxy administrators tried to stamp out Ukrainian culture and language, but residents said the Russification efforts “just didn’t work.” |
Art: Banksy unveiled a mural in Borodyanka, a town near Kyiv that was one of the first places hit by Russian airstrikes. |
| A photograph provided by North Korean state media showed Kim Jong-un inspecting a missile test this fall.Korean Central News Agency, via Associated Press |
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- North Korea is using missile tests to antagonize the U.S. and exploit U.S. tensions with China and Russia, an effort to stoke what its leader, Kim Jong-un, once described as a global “neo-Cold War.”
- Chinese brands made out well on Singles Day, an annual shopping extravaganza, as President Xi Jinping pushes for economic self-sufficiency.
- Chinese farmers are growing a new form of rice that is perennial and less labor-intensive and could have environmental benefits, NPR reports.
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| Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat of Nevada, won a second term this weekend.Mikayla Whitmore for The New York Times |
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| Workers picking corn at Yakama Farms, formerly known as Inaba Produce Farms, after the Japanese American family who owned it.Ruth Fremson/The New York Times |
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In the early 1900s, a Japanese man moved to Washington State in search of a better life — but soon afterward the state banned “aliens” from leasing land. That’s when a member of the Yakama Nation allowed the man’s family, the Inabas, to farm a portion of his own land. After the U.S. government interned the Japanese American family, another Yakama man carved out a parcel so the Inabas could rebuild their farm. |
Now, more than 100 years later, their bond remains strong, forged by farming and mutual aid through discrimination and hate. |
| The resurgence of forests has allowed endangered animals to thrive, which has led to an increase in human-animal conflict.Karan Deep Singh/The New York Times |
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More than 40 years ago, the government gave large swaths of national forest to local communities in a radical effort to protect the trees. Now, community-managed forests account for more than a third of Nepal’s forest cover, which has grown by about 22 percent since 1988. |
“When the forests were common property, people abused them,” an expert said. “Now, you’ve got the community saying, ‘No, you don’t go there!’ So, the trees are coming back.” |
The challenge now is to protect this fragile recovery from the timber mafia, poachers and nature itself. Locals have also adapted: Many have moved on from subsistence farming to alternatives like beekeeping and profitable crops like dragon fruit and strawberries. |
| Melina Hammer for The New York Times |
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Correction: In Friday’s newsletter, I misstated the number of employees recently laid off by Twitter and Meta. (Twitter laid off about 3,700 employees, and Meta laid off more than 11,000.) Thanks to all who flagged it for us! |
That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Amelia |
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