Your Thursday Briefing: Russia sends mixed signals

Good morning. We’re covering the confusing aftermath of Russia-Ukraine peace talks, increased security in Israel and young soldiers in Myanmar.

Russia sends mixed signals

Pessimism is replacing optimism over Ukraine, as Russia sends mixed military and diplomatic signals. After seeming progress in Tuesday’s peace talks in Istanbul, Wednesday brought new attacks on the outskirts of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, areas where Russia claimed it would reduce combat operations.

The confusion stems not just from a mismatch between words and actions. On Wednesday, the Kremlin’s top spokesperson said there had been little progress. Hours later, its chief negotiator said Ukraine was on track for “building normal and, I hope, good neighborly relations with Russia.”

U.S. intelligence suggested that President Vladimir Putin of Russia was being misinformed about the invasion from aides fearful about his reaction, stoking tensions with his Ministry of Defense.

On the ground, the humanitarian situation is worsening. “It’s like living in a horror movie,” said a resident of Huliaipole, a town on the edge of the Donbas region. Four million people have fled Ukraine, two million of them children, the U.N. reported.

Energy: Analysts fear that the current oil crunch is likely to worsen, threatening European fuel supplies. On Wednesday, Germany moved toward rationing natural gas, while Britain reopened a debate over fracking.

In other news:

• In Serbia, where NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign turned many people against the West, Putin has strong support.
• The W.H.O. said dozens of medical workers and patients had died in attacks on Ukraine since the invasion began.
• American and Russian astronauts on Wednesday returned to Earth from the International Space Station, as NASA and Russia’s space agency continue cooperating.
• India has been reluctant to criticize Russia, but it is feeling new pressure amid China’s closeness to its important ally.

Israel increases security after attacks

The Army and the police scaled up their ground presence on Wednesday morning after a Palestinian gunman killed five people in an ultra-Orthodox community outside Tel Aviv late Tuesday night.

The attack in Bnei Brak, the fifth shooting in less than two weeks, brought the total death toll in recent days to 11. It made March one of the deadliest months in Israel, outside of a full-scale war, in several years. Most of the victims were Israeli Jews.

Analysts fear more intense violence over the next month, during the rare convergence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter. In Jerusalem, higher numbers of Jews and Muslims are expected to try to enter the Temple Mount or the Aqsa Mosque compound during the overlapping festivals.

Details: The attack came two days after another gun attack in northern Israel, alarming security officials because the use of firearms implied a level of planning usually absent from recent terrorist attacks in Israel, which have mostly been carried out with knives.

Myanmar’s young rebels

More than a year after Myanmar’s military junta brutally seized control, the army is still fighting to hold power.

Their unlikely opponents: A rag-tag, determined army of former city-dwellers: hotel workers, dentists, marketing managers, seminarians and others.

Two Times journalists visited a rainforest camp in eastern Myanmar, where some 3,000 Gen Z warriors live in bamboo or tarpaulin shelters and engage in almost daily combat. Outmatched and outgunned, the rebels have thrown off balance a military notorious for war crimes.

Quotable: “Peaceful protests don’t work if the enemy wants to kill us,” a social worker turned militia sergeant said.

Background: Aside from financial sanctions, the global community has done little to punish Myanmar’s junta and hasn’t recognized its civilian shadow government. The war in Ukraine could further distract world attention.

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THE LATEST NEWS

• Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan is facing mounting pressure to resign ahead of a no-confidence vote in Parliament. His opponents now have the votes they need to remove him from office.
• Two British judges resigned from Hong Kong’s highest court, citing the territory’s departure “from values of political freedom and freedom of expression.”
• Bangladesh sentenced four men to death for killing a secular blogger in 2015, one of a series of such attacks against writers that year.

• In Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi rebels announced cease-fires yesterday, possible progress toward an end to the country’s seven-year-long war.
• Gunmen killed at least eight people on a Nigerian commuter train on Monday, leaving the country with a growing feeling of insecurity.
• Arab leaders urged Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, to fulfill past promises and open American consulates in Jerusalem and the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

Here are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.

• President Biden pressured Congress to approve billions of dollars in emergency coronavirus relief aid.
• Amid a surge in deaths, Hong Kong is scrambling to import more coffins.
• In Jilin, an industrial Chinese province, some workers say they have been quarantined in the hospitals they were hired to build.
• Volkswagen will partially halt production at its Shanghai factory because of a parts shortage, a further sign that the Omicron variant is disrupting the Chinese economy.

• Senator Susan Collins of Maine says she’ll vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson, giving the Supreme Court nominee at least one Republican backer.
• New York City is planning for a tourism boom, with a glaring exception: Chinese tourists still can’t travel there.
• Biden signed the Emmett Till anti-lynching bill, ending more than a century of failed efforts to make the act a federal crime.

• We’re back to work — though not necessarily in the best psychological shape.
• Tennis racket smashing, long considered an entertaining side show, may be getting out of hand. Australian player Nick Kyrgios recently almost hit a ball boy in the face.
• After years of being relegated to small presses and back shelves, L.G.B.T.Q romance books are going mainstream.
• The K-Pop star Luna will soon debut on Broadway in the musical “KPOP.”

Anchorage is home to the northernmost mosque in the U.S. During Ramadan, the city’s diverse Muslim community will gather for nightly potlucks with foods from around the globe.

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ARTS AND IDEAS

Sold: A storied Indian mural

A magnificent mural created in the 1800s depicting an 18th-century Indian battlefield was auctioned at Sotheby’s in London on Wednesday. It sold for 630,000 pounds, or about $830,000. The buyer remains anonymous.

The mural shows the Muslim military commander Tipu Sultan at the Battle of Pollilur in 1780, triumphant over British forces. It was the first defeat of a European army in India.

“It’s arguably the greatest Indian picture of the defeat of colonialism that survives,” one scholar said. “It’s a unique and fantastic artwork.”

In his day, Sultan was called the “Tiger of Mysore,” after his home state, and was hated in Britain for his attacks on trading settlements. During the 20th-century Indian independence movement, he was lionized as an early nationalist freedom fighter. But in modern India, where the ruling party has increasingly embraced Hindu nationalist rhetoric, officials have long downplayed Sultan’s achievements, saying he was responsible for many Hindu deaths.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

The umami flavor of salami and olives makes this simple chicken dinner special.

Try one of these three documentaries, including a look at a Japanese World War II veteran and a dive into footage from Vladimir Putin’s first year as president of Russia.

Emily St. John Mandel’s new novel, “Sea of Tranquility,” her first since “Station Eleven,” is a “dazzling” work of speculative fiction, our critic says.

Play today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Unexpressed infatuation (five letters).

Here’s today’s Wordle and today’s Spelling Bee.

You can find all our puzzles here.

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

P.S. The Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism recognized Times reporting on the neglect of people with sickle cell disease and gaps in Medicare’s rating system for nursing homes.

The latest episode of “The Daily” is about Clarence and Ginni Thomas.

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You can reach Nancy, Amelia and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

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