The New York Times - Your Monday Briefing

Monday, May 18, 2020 | View in browser
Good morning.
We’re covering a new lockdown in China, a power-sharing deal in Afghanistan and the fate of Cirque du Soleil.
By Carole Landry
Chinese police officers in front of a closed entrance to a train station in Jilin.  Reuters

A Chinese city locks down over new virus clusters

The authorities reintroduced lockdown measures in northeastern China, even as restrictions are relaxing in other parts of the country.
A new virus cluster in Jilin, the second-largest city in Jilin Province, and another in Shulan prompted health officials to place at least 8,000 people in quarantine. Residents of Jilin have been mostly barred from leaving the city.
But in Beijing, health authorities said it was no longer necessary to wear masks outdoors. The capital has reported no new infections for 30 days.
In other developments:
■ India extended a nationwide lockdown until the end of the month, keeping in place many but not all of the strict rules, which have been credited with helping prevent a bigger outbreak.
■ Former President Barack Obama has criticized President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, saying in a virtual commencement address that “this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing.”
■ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her fiancé were turned away from a cafe in Wellington because there were no seats available, even though New Zealanders are allowed once again to eat in restaurants. The couple were eventually allowed to dine at the Olive cafe.
■ The coronavirus has been slower to take hold in Africa than on other continents, but blazing hot spots are beginning to emerge, most notably in the city of Kano in Nigeria.
The Times is providing free access to much of our coronavirus coverage, and our Coronavirus Briefing newsletter — like all of our newsletters — is free. Please consider supporting our journalism with a subscription.
A photograph released by the Afghan government shows President Ashraf Ghani, right, and his rival Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul on Sunday, just before they signed a power-sharing agreement.  Agence France-Presse, via Office of Chief Executive of Afghanistan

Afghan rivals sign power-sharing deal

A dispute over presidential elections held eight months ago was finally settled on Sunday when President Ashraf Ghani gave his chief rival, Abdullah Abdullah, the leading role in the peace process with the Taliban and a 50 percent share in the cabinet.
The political row had cast a shadow over efforts to end the war with the Taliban. The Trump administration has agreed with the Taliban to end America’s longest war.
But U.S. officials are scrambling to keep the peace process from falling apart, blaming the Islamic State for attacks that have recently killed dozens of people and inflamed tensions between the Taliban and the government in Kabul.
Of note: The power-sharing deal also promotes Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, a controversial former vice president to Mr. Ghani and backer of Mr. Abdullah, to the highest military rank, marshal.
Israeli police at the Chinese ambassador’s residence, north of Tel Aviv, on Sunday.   Abir Sultan/EPA, via Shutterstock

New Chinese ambassador to Israel found dead

On Sunday, an embassy employee found the body of Ambassador Du Wei in his bed at his home in a suburb north of Tel Aviv.
The Chinese government attributed his death to unspecified health problems. The Israeli police said they found no reason to suspect foul play.
Context: In February, Mr. Du arrived in Israel, where he found himself in the middle of an increasingly tense dynamic that is creating friction between Israel and the U.S.
China has been investing heavily in Israel, taking stakes in hundreds of technological start-ups and acquiring a controlling interest in the dairy food-processing company Tnuva. But some investments have antagonized Washington, like the 25-year lease given to a company majority-owned by the Chinese government to run Israel’s commercial seaport in Haifa, a frequent port of call for the U.S. Navy, beginning in 2021.

If you have 20 minutes, this is worth it

U.S.-made bombs are killing civilians in Yemen

A funeral hall in Sanaa destroyed by a Saudi-led airstrike in 2016.    Hani Mohammed/Associated Press
President Trump’s embrace of arms sales to Saudi Arabia has helped prolong a war that has killed more than 100,000 people in the Arab world’s poorest nation. U.S.-made bombs have fallen on wedding tents, funeral halls, fishing boats and a school bus in Yemen, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Our investigative reporters reviewed thousands of pages of records and interviewed more than 50 people with knowledge of the policy or who took part in decisions, across two administrations, to sell U.S. weaponry to Saudi Arabia.
“People make miscalculations all the time,” a former senior State Department official said. “But it was striking to me as I reflected on my time in the Obama administration that it wasn’t just that we embarked on this escapade — it’s that we didn’t pull ourselves out of it.”
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Here’s what else is happening

New Israeli government: Ending a 510-day political crisis that three elections had failed to resolve, Israel has sworn in a new government, extending Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s record-setting tenure just a week before his corruption trial was set to begin.
Rwanda genocide arrest: One of the most-wanted fugitives of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Félicien Kabuga, was arrested Saturday in a rented home just outside Paris. The capture of Mr. Kabuga, 84, who was living under a false identity, was the culmination of a decades-long international hunt across many countries on at least two continents.
Fired by Trump: Democrats in Congress have opened an investigation into President Trump’s firing of the State Department’s inspector general, who was replaced with an ambassador with close ties to Vice President Mike Pence.
Nasuna Stuart-Ulin for The New York Times
Snapshot: Above, Olivier Sylvestre, a performer from Cirque du Soleil training in a Montreal park for the first time in months. The pandemic has forced the famed circus to shut down dozens of shows and ground its army of circus artists.
What we’re reading: This Vulture essay. “A seemingly anodyne explanation of why the author, an art critic, and his wife, an even more famous art critic, have been drinking bad deli coffee and eating nothing but chicken paillard during the pandemic goes into an autobiographical narrative so off the rails I have no words,” writes our reporter Jennifer Steinhauer. “Please read every word.”
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Now, a break from the news

Melissa Clark/The New York Times
Cook: Melissa Clark’s no-bake chocolate peanut butter bars have a fudgy-salty-sweet vibe, with a layer of caramelized flavor from letting the butter turn golden brown after it melts.
Watch: Go behind the series “Snowpiercer,” based on the film by Bong Joon Ho. (Also, 23 filmmakers share memories of the Cannes Film Festival.)
Read: These debut novels have arrived at a tough time, but they deserve your attention. Classic murder mysteries are simply “damn good books,” writes one of our reviewers.
Do: Consider camping in your own backyard this summer. Here are some tips on how to freeze kale, collards and other leafy greens to maintain their bright flavor and texture.
Some lockdowns are easing, but if you’re staying safe at home, we have a lot more ideas about what to read, cook, do and watch.

And now for the Back Story on …

Close-ups of the pandemic

Philip Montgomery has spent two months on assignment for The Times Magazine, documenting the coronavirus outbreak in New York City. He photographed health care workers inside hospitals and families at a funeral home in the Bronx.
Here are excerpts from what he told Times Insider about covering what he called “the story of our time.”
Going into the hospitals for the first time was a mixed bag. The whole experience was traumatizing, and it was terrifying to see the sheer volume of patients suffering there. We saw a system that had been transformed, and we saw health care workers working tirelessly to treat all New Yorkers.
The immediate read was fear and trauma, but on the other side of the coin there was hope and calm because the doctors and nurses conveyed a capability, that in their hands we would be OK. It was a roller coaster of emotions.
Philip Montgomery for The New York Times
We would be hit by the reality of what was happening, and then be in the presence of these doctors who were so focused and clear and unwavering, and it was beautiful.
Over the course of these shoots, I learned about the reality behind the numbers. It’s one thing to follow the news and the statistics, but it’s another to witness the underlying tragedy up close.
I really hope this work promotes empathy for fellow Americans. We all have a role to play in this, and I hope these pictures show that we are all trying our best. I also hope it serves as a record in our collective history.
How has it affected me? I’m not really sure. I’m still processing it. I have no idea because I’m still moving through it.
That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.
— Carole
Thank you
To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.
P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is an interview with a restaurant owner in Louisiana who is debating whether to reopen.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Becomes bubbly (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Tom Bodkin, the creative director and chief creative officer of The New York Times, explained to Fast Company how he designed striking front pages during the pandemic.
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