Biden’s shock journey to Ukraine

President Biden made a sudden look yesterday in Kyiv’s presidential palace. The go to was meant to be a morale booster for shellshocked Ukrainians and a direct problem to Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, whose troops invaded Ukraine a 12 months in the past this week. “One 12 months later, Kyiv stands,” Biden mentioned. “And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands.”

The warfare in Ukraine is about energy and the precept of territorial sovereignty, and about whether or not the Western-designed international order that Individuals thought would prevail for many years will survive new challenges from Moscow and Beijing. However it’s more and more a contest between Putin and Biden, who’ve been circling one another for years.

Immediately, the lads are set to ship separate speeches, every vowing to stay with the warfare. Putin will most definitely make the case anew that he’s not solely saving Ukraine from “Nazism” however saving Russia from being overrun by NATO. And Biden is anticipated to border the warfare as an extended battle between democracy and autocracy, wherein the previous has emerged the winner of the primary 12 months.

Again story: How Biden made a surreal and secretive journey right into a warfare zone.

Associated: Beijing has bristled in opposition to the U.S. declare that it was poised to offer Russia “deadly help.” Such a step could be a serious shift for China and would rework the warfare into a battle between three superpowers, my colleague Edward Wong writes in an evaluation.

One other earthquake rocks Turkey

Two weeks after a devastating quake hit southern Turkey and northwestern Syria, one other highly effective temblor struck the identical area simply after 8 p.m. yesterday, as soon as once more collapsing buildings and claiming lives. The newest quake had a magnitude of 6.4 and was centered in one of many areas hardest hit by the Feb. 6 quake and its aftershocks.

No less than three folks have been killed and 213 injured, in line with the authorities in Turkey, however native officers say extra are trapped within the rubble. Within the opposition-held space of northwestern Syria, no less than 150 have been injured, a lot of them trampled in a panicked rush to security, however there have been no confirmed deaths, in line with the White Helmets, a civil protection group there.

Because the Feb. 6 quake, many individuals throughout the area whose properties have been nonetheless standing have been sleeping in tents, transport containers and different makeshift shelters for worry that their buildings have been unsafe — a reality which will have saved lives yesterday as extra buildings tumbled.

First particular person: “Suddenly, I felt just like the earth had been pulled out underneath my toes,” mentioned one particular person within the space. “Such a robust quake, I don’t have phrases to explain it. I couldn’t even stroll straight to the door only one meter away.”

U.S. response: Hours earlier than the catastrophe yesterday, Antony Blinken, making his first go to to Turkey as U.S. secretary of state, declared that the U.S. would additional help Turkey in its earthquake restoration. The U.S. had already despatched search-and-rescue groups, heavy gear and greater than $160 million in humanitarian help and personal donations, and Blinken introduced a further $100 million in help.

Extra protests in Israel

Tens of hundreds of protesters once more gathered in Jerusalem as Israel’s far-right authorities pushed forward with its plan aimed toward curbing judicial oversight and giving politicians extra affect. Critics say the overhaul will weaken and politicize the nation’s courts and undermine Israel’s democratic foundations.

After hours of stormy debate, each payments handed a primary, nonbinding studying after midnight with a majority of 63 within the 120-seat Parliament. Forty-seven members voted in opposition to it. Ten members have been absent. As members of the governing coalition celebrated, opponents of the judicial overhaul mentioned the day could be marked as a darkish one within the annals of the nation.

One invoice would change the make-up of a nine-member committee that selects judges to scale back the affect of authorized professionals. The change would successfully enable the federal government of the day to decide on judges. The opposite would strip the Supreme Courtroom of its energy to strike down fundamental legal guidelines handed by Parliament. Opponents are alarmed by the pace at which the plan is transferring ahead.

Response: “Members of the coalition — historical past will choose you for this night time,” Yair Lapid, the chief of the opposition and a centrist, mentioned on Twitter. “For the harm to democracy, for the harm to the economic system, for the harm to safety, for the truth that you’re tearing the folks of Israel aside and also you merely don’t care.”

THE LATEST NEWS

Across the World

The U.S. army is able to many issues, however discovering the remnants of an alien craft scattered throughout an expanse of Arctic ice in minus-30-degree climate just isn’t considered one of them. (Canadian forces did no higher.)

The unsuccessful mission felt like an incomplete finish to the riveting saga of aerial assaults on mysterious objects. And plenty of questions have been left unanswered: Have been aliens concerned? Surveillance gadgets of mysterious provenance? Interest balloons? Or one thing else fully?

SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC

Remembering Christian Atsu at his previous church: The soccer participant’s loss of life within the earthquake that has devastated Turkey and Syria has shocked these in Newcastle, England, who knew him as a pal.

Ought to Chelsea fear about relegation? Chelsea has gained two of its final 14 video games within the Premier League. No group has gained fewer in that very same span. We must always not underestimate how unhealthy Chelsea’s play has been.

Barcelona’s night time of rejuvenation: Ferran Torres was participant of the match as Barcelona maintained its eight-point lead in La Liga. His efficiency marks a metamorphosis.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Rewriting Roald Dahl

The British youngsters’s writer Roald Dahl, who died in 1990, was overtly antisemitic. He initially wrote the Oompa Loompa staff in Willy Wonka’s chocolate manufacturing unit as African pygmies. And his works have lengthy been described as delinquent, brutish and anti-feminist.

To accommodate the norms and sensibilities of 2023, new editions of his works, together with “Charlie and the Chocolate Manufacturing unit,” “Matilda” and “James and the Large Peach,” have been rewritten. Characters are now not described as “fats,” and references to “moms” and “fathers” have been up to date to “mother and father” or “household.”

The adjustments have prompted widespread criticism from distinguished literary figures and others, together with Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, and the writer Salman Rushdie, who described them as “absurd censorship.”

“When publishing new print runs of books written years in the past, it’s common to evaluation the language,” a spokesman for the Roald Dahl Story firm mentioned. “Our tenet all through has been to take care of the story strains, characters, and the irreverence and sharp-edged spirit of the unique textual content.”

For extra: “Teller of the Sudden,” a biography of Dahl launched this 12 months, sidesteps controversy whereas capturing his grandiose, tragedy-specked life.

That’s it for at this time’s briefing. See you tomorrow. — Natasha

P.S. The Instances gained three George Polk Awards, two for its protection of the warfare in Ukraine.

There isn’t a new episode of The Each day. On “First Individual,” a mom grapples with easy methods to assist her mentally sick son.

Ship suggestions, ideas and anything to Natasha and the group at briefing@nytimes.com.