Good morning. We’re covering China’s Covid recovery and Russia’s resilient economy. |
| Villages across China are returning to normal.Alex Plavevski/EPA, via Shutterstock |
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China’s Covid tsunami recedes |
One possible reason: Covid appears to have jumped from cities to the countryside faster than expected. Some health officials think as many as 80 percent of China’s 1.4 billion people were infected in late 2022, though some are skeptical of that estimate. The worst may be already over. |
Now, the Communist Party has turned its attention to reviving the economy. Many ordinary Chinese seem eager to move on from the pandemic and focus on making a living again. Doctors who were mobilized across China to treat a rush of Covid patients said in phone interviews that the number of patients they were now seeing had fallen. |
But China is still vulnerable to fresh outbreaks, especially as immunity wanes. The Lunar New Year is ending, and normal life is resuming. That could send the virus to places that managed to avoid the recent surge. |
Numbers: Official statistics are often shrouded by censorship and poor data collection. Officially, China has reported nearly 79,000 Covid-related deaths that have occurred in hospitals since Dec. 8. That is likely a drastic undercount because it excludes deaths outside hospitals. |
| Shipments to Russia have rebounded.Vladimir Soldatkin/Reuters |
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Russia’s economic lifelines |
Recent data show surges in trade in neighboring countries, suggesting that Turkey, China, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and others are providing new lifelines that are keeping the Russian economy afloat. |
Analysts estimate that Russia’s imports may have already recovered to prewar levels, or will soon do so. The International Monetary Fund said it now expected the Russian economy to grow 0.3 percent this year, a sharp improvement from its previous estimate of a 2.3 percent contraction. |
Finance: Iran and Russia moved toward linking their banking systems, a step that would help both countries withstand sanctions. |
| Sri Lankans have become resigned to leaner meals and reduced horizons.Jonathan Browning for The New York Times |
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Sri Lanka’s rebound that wasn’t |
The government defaulted on its debt last spring and has yet to secure a way out. Inflation, which peaked at around 90 percent during the worst of the crisis, remains at a punishing 59 percent. And the political elite, who were largely responsible for the economic devastation, still call the shots. |
In the meantime, Sri Lankans have grown accustomed to diminished lives. Nearly 30 percent of the population is experiencing food insecurity, according to the U.N. People are leaving the country to seek jobs elsewhere. |
Sri Lanka is now in discussions with the I.M.F. to secure a $2.9 billion bailout package. But it owes a large share of its debt to China, and the I.M.F. requires that Sri Lanka get assurances from China on restructuring its outstanding debt. Those talks are moving slowly. |
| The mosque was nearly full when the attacker struck.Arshad Arbab/EPA, via Shutterstock |
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| Antony Blinken, left, met Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.Majdi Mohammed/Agence France-Presse |
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- In the latest bizarre episode at the Dallas Zoo, someone seems to have taken two monkeys.
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| One experimental project in Italy seeks to connect childhood education and elder care.Elisabetta Zavoli for The New York Times |
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Italy is the fastest-shrinking nation in the West: Its population is aging as its birthrate plummets. The demographic double whammy puts Italy at the forefront of a global trend that experts call the “silver tsunami.” |
The country recently passed laws to care for older Italians, which could be a test case for other Western countries. But without more young people to join the work force and pay into pension and welfare systems, the whole system is imperiled. |
The decline of Black New York |
In the past two decades, the Black population has declined by nearly 200,000 people, or about 9 percent. The number of Black children and teenagers fell disproportionately quickly, more than 19 percent, from 2010 to 2020. Even Harlem lost more than 5,000 Black people over a decade. Nearly 9,000 white people moved in. |
Wealth gaps are a driving factor. Black households have a median income of $53,000, compared with roughly $98,000 for white households. As they seek lower costs, some are just moving to nearby towns in places like New Jersey. But many are moving to the South, an inverse of the Great Migration. |
The exodus could have major implications for the city’s education system and job market. But that’s not all that could be lost. If Black people can’t afford to live in the city, the film director Spike Lee said, “you could seriously say New York City isn’t the greatest city in the world.” |
| Ryan Liebe for The New York Times |
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Ann-Helén Laestadius drew on her background as a member of the Sámi, an Indigenous Arctic culture, for her novel “Stolen.” |
Play the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Success for a fisherman or a wide receiver (five letters). |
That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Amelia and Dan |
“The Daily” is on the damage that drought has caused to the Colorado River. |
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