Your Thursday Briefing: A U.S.-South Korea nuclear agreement

By Amelia Nierenberg

Writer, Briefings

Good morning. We’re covering nuclear diplomacy between the U.S. and South Korea. Also, China’s outreach to Ukraine.

South Korea’s nuclear deal

The U.S. has agreed to give South Korea a central role in the strategic planning for the use of nuclear weapons in any conflict with North Korea. In return, South Korea agreed to not pursue its own nuclear arsenal.

The deal, announced during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to Washington, is meant to assure South Korea that the U.S. will use its nuclear arsenal, if needed, to dissuade or respond to a nuclear attack from the North — even if that risks a strike on an American city. The concept is called “extended deterrence.”

The accord is an admission that disarming North Korea is no longer plausible. In the past four years, the North’s arsenal has grown so fast that U.S. and South Korean officials have stopped trying to keep a precise count.

Xi speaks with Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, had long requested a conversation with China’s leader, Xi Jinping. Yesterday, the two spoke by phone — their first known contact since Russia’s invasion.

Both framed the call carefully. China’s official account notably omitted the words “Russia” and “war,” and referred instead to the need for a “political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.” Zelensky said the discussion was “long and meaningful.”

Despite Xi’s conversation with Zelensky, China and Russia remain closely aligned: Last month, Xi met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and the two also spoke little of the war, though China has floated a potential peace plan.

Xi has also been trying to burnish his image as a global statesman by helping to restore ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and by welcoming President Emmanuel Macron of France to China.

In Asia: As China threatens Taiwan, the Philippines is growing more assertive, holding its largest joint military drill ever with the U.S. yesterday.

More power to Catholic women

Pope Francis will let women vote at a meeting of bishops for the first time, an important step toward giving them more say in the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church.

The meeting, of an advisory committee called the Synod of Bishops, periodically takes place at the Vatican to discuss issues like divorce. In 2021, the pope amended church laws to let women be Bible readers at Mass, serve at the altar and distribute communion — practices that were already common in many places.

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THE LATEST NEWS

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• Aleksei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader, said he faced a new charge that could lead to life imprisonment.

• Russia nationalized the local subsidiaries of two European energy companies, escalating an economic standoff with the West.
• Russia pounded Zaporizhzhia, in southern Ukraine, ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

• British antitrust regulators blocked Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover bid for the video game giant Activision Blizzard. U.S. regulators also oppose the deal, and the E.U. is expected to weigh in next month.
• Two Anheuser-Busch executives were placed on leave after a Bud Light marketing campaign with a transgender influencer set off right-wing outrage.
• The Bank of England’s top economist said Britons needed “to accept that they’re worse off” as inflation continued to outstrip wages.

• Disney sued Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, claiming “a targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company has criticized a controversial state law.
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• Parts of China and Australia are among the places that are most at risk from a heat wave, a new study shows.

Humans love the dizziness that comes from spinning in circles. Apparently, so do other primates, like the gorilla in a now-viral video. “They seem to do it for the same reason that children do — because it’s fun and exhilarating,” said an author of a new study that looked at why apes spin.

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ARTS AND IDEAS

Indian girls’ cricket dreams

This spring, a new professional cricket league for women in India held its inaugural season — a $500 million bet on female talent in the country’s most popular sport.

The Women’s Premier League is already creating new opportunities for female athletes, as seen in one village in Punjab, where a team of girls ranging in age from 9 to 14 dream of becoming professional cricketers.

Their coach takes them to see games far away. He pours his salary into their team and brings recruiters to watch them play. He builds their confidence, encouraging them to see cricket as an escape from the confines of Indian village life, where women perform most of the domestic labor.

“This is what it looks like to chip away at India’s rigid gender divide,” writes Mujib Mashal, our South Asia bureau chief.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

These meatballs, inspired by traditional Korean barbecue, bring the savory-sweet flavors of caramelized meat without the need for a grill.

Readers of The Amplifier newsletter suggest 12 motivating workout songs.

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Most melatonin gummy products are mislabeled.

Play the Mini Crossword, and a clue: Up to this point (five letters).

Here are the Wordle and the Spelling Bee.

You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Amelia

P.S. Two Times photographers were recognized by the World Press Photo awards for coverage of the Golden Gays, a community of gay Filipino men, and Cambodian surrogate mothers.

“The Daily” is on President Biden’s re-election chances.

We’d like your feedback! Please write to us at briefing@nytimes.com.

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