Scenes from the Russian Embassy in Washington
Every few weeks, a light show featuring the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag — and occasionally a Ukrainian-language profanity about the Russian president, Vladimir Putin — is beamed onto the white facade of the Russian Embassy in Washington. Russia has fought back with a big spotlight, umbrellas to obstruct the projections and illuminations of its own, such as two giant white Z’s, a nationalist Russian symbol of the war effort.
This is the strange new normal around Russia’s main diplomatic outpost in the U.S., a scene of protests, spy games and general weirdness amid the most hostile relations between the U.S. and Russia in decades. The Russian ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, has called the embassy compound, where in recent years as many as 1,2000 Russians have worked, “a besieged fortress.”
The embassy’s personnel may be among Washington’s least welcome residents, but Biden administration officials are glad they are there to maintain diplomatic ties, they say. Kicking out the Russians entirely would mean an end to America’s diplomatic presence in Moscow, which, among other things, works to assist U.S. citizens imprisoned in Russia.
In Russia: The country is incubating a new cottage industry of digital surveillance tools to track its citizens and suppress domestic opposition to the war in Ukraine. Some of the companies are trying to expand operations overseas, raising the risk that the technologies do not remain inside Russia.
In Ukraine: People who live near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have grown largely complacent about its dangers, despite warnings that the complex has a bull’s-eye on it.
Israel strikes a West Bank refugee camp
Israel launched its most intense airstrikes on the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades early yesterday and sent hundreds of ground troops into the crowded Jenin refugee camp, saying it was trying to root out armed militants. At least eight Palestinians were killed, according to the Palestinian authorities, and local media reported that hundreds or thousands of people had fled the camp.
Israeli military officials said a drone attack struck a joint operations center used by militants of a group known as the Jenin Brigade in the refugee camp, and that Israeli forces also targeted a weapons production site and a storage place for explosive devices. The military said it located and confiscated weapons, explosives and an improvised rocket launcher.
Gunfire echoed through the camp as Israeli troops and armored vehicles went in. Residents had feared a large-scale incursion by the Israeli military but had not expected something so violent, said Muhammad Sbaghi, a member of the committee that helps administer the camp. “The occupation army is vindictively targeting us,” he said. “People are terrified,” he added.
Context: The current Israeli government is the most right-wing in the country’s history, with ultranationalist ministers who oppose any talks with Palestinian leaders, and it has promised a tougher response to Palestinian violence. The Palestinian Authority has all but abandoned any effort to police militancy in the northern West Bank, leaving helpless residents caught in the middle.
Unrest eases in France
Protests in France have eased after nearly a week of violence that began after the fatal police shooting of Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old French citizen of North African descent, during a traffic stop last Tuesday. In response to the unrest, the authorities deployed 45,000 police officers and gendarmes for several nights in a row in an effort to bring the situation under control.
Yesterday morning, the Interior Ministry said that nearly 160 people had been arrested and three law enforcement officers were injured overnight. It represented an easing of the tensions from the previous days, when as many as 1,300 people were taken into custody.
Still, French mayors organized peaceful gatherings across the country to protest violent attacks on elected officials. And the issues underlying the explosion of anger appeared far from resolved. The officer who fired the shot that killed the teenager has not been publicly identified, but he is under formal investigation on charges of voluntary homicide and has been detained.
THE LATEST NEWS
Around the World
A conservative student at the University of Chicago objected to a class, “The Problem of Whiteness,” and tweeted the lecturer’s photo and email address. Hate mail poured in.
Spooked, the lecturer, Rebecca Journey, above, postponed her class. Then she filed complaints with the university, accusing the student of doxxing and harassing her. He denied it — and university officials dismissed her claims, citing the school’s much-hailed commitment to mostly unrestricted speech. The schoool’s response has prompted a debate over free speech and cyberbullying.
Lives Lived
Peter Brötzmann, one of Europe’s most influential free-jazz musicians, died last month at 82.
SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC
Premier League players who need a transfer: Some want to move up the league. Others are surplus to requirements and want to play as much soccer as possible.
Time for Spa circuit change: The tragic passing of Dilano van ’t Hoff at the track on Saturday has once again placed safety concerns in the spotlight.
From The Times: England’s cricket fans are irate about what they say was an unsportsmanlike play from an Australian athlete in the Ashes series.
Wimbledon: On the first day, Venus Williams was eliminated, and Novak Djokovic, the No. 2 seed but the favorite, made strides toward his fifth consecutive title at the All English Club.
ARTS AND IDEAS
The power of BookTok
BookTok — TikTok’s book-loving community — has changed the way that readers discover new reads. Shops that once steered readers’ tastes now struggle to fill requests for writers who have gone viral on the app. “To say it’s hugely important is an understatement at this point,” one publishing executive said.
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, recently started its own publishing arm, Elizabeth Harris and Alexandra Alter reported for The Times. It has been offering deals to self-published authors in genres that are popular on the app, such as fantasy, romance and mystery.
For more: How Colleen Hoover’s books — an addictive combination of sex, drama and outrageous plot twists — became a TikTok sensation.
