Good morning. A gas crisis looms over Europe, anger grows in Shanghai and Singapore executes an intellectually disabled man.
Infrastructure: Ukrainians are blowing up their own bridges and dams in an effort to stop Russia’s advance. In Demydiv, a village north of Kyiv that Ukrainians flooded intentionally, residents couldn’t be happier. “We saved Kyiv,” one said.
State of the war:
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About 15,000 Russian troops have been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Britain said.
Rising public anger in Shanghai
Now in their fourth week of Covid lockdown, many Shanghai residents are finding creative ways to circumvent government censors to document the tragedy they see unfolding in the city.
They have banded together to repost deleted content, for a time overwhelming censors’ ability to keep up, and compiled footage showing rotting food or shouting matches with local officials, rebutting the authorities’ story of a tidy, cheery outbreak response.
The outpouring of grief, rage and frustration poses the biggest challenge to the Communist Party’s leadership in years. It is a direct challenge to Xi Jinping, China’s leader, who has staked his legitimacy on a commitment to “zero Covid.”
Details: Vast numbers of people shared a video, “Voices of April,” chronicling residents’ complaints; in one post, to avoid censors, the video played on a cartoon computer watched by SpongeBob SquarePants.
Cases: Shanghai’s outbreak may be ebbing. On Wednesday, the city announced its lowest total for new cases in weeks: 12,309. Only 171 of those were detected among people who were not already in isolation.
Beijing: About 139,000 workers are engaged in a vast testing effort. The capital has just 138 known cases, three dozen of which have been linked to a single school.
Here are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.
Other updates:
Singapore’s controversial execution
Singapore, which has some of the world’s harshest narcotics laws, executed a Malaysian man convicted of smuggling 1.5 ounces of heroin into the island. Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, 34, was executed by hanging, according to his attorney.
The case drew international scrutiny and appeals from business leaders to stay the execution. His lawyers and rights groups said he should be spared because he suffered from an intellectual disability. Nagaenthran, who had an I.Q. of 69, was not fully capable of understanding his actions and was coerced into carrying the drugs, his defenders said.
Background: Singapore contends that the death penalty is a deterrent to drug smuggling. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that it was “deeply concerned” by an increase in executions there. “The use of the death penalty for drug-related offenses is incompatible with international human rights law,” it said.
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Asia
Once, Jews hid Torah scrolls in golf bags to bring them into Dubai. But now that the United Arab Emirates has normalized diplomatic relations with Israel, Dubai’s Jewish community is more open — there are numerous weekly services, kosher restaurants and even challah-baking parties.
Lives lived: Kane Tanaka, the oldest person in the world, survived two world wars, the 1918 flu pandemic and cancer. She died in Japan at 119.
Fast food of the future
Drive-through restaurants, an American innovation that went mainstream in the 1970s, are often associated with burgers and fries. But now, some Vietnamese chefs are aiming for that same fast-food success, Priya Krishna writes.
In Houston, which has a large Vietnamese population, several drive-through Vietnamese restaurants have opened in recent years. Others are popping up across the country. Americans’ increasing familiarity with the cuisine also helps the trend, one owner said.
Cassie Ghaffar, an owner of Saigon Hustle in Houston, said that she hoped to mimic the success of Panda Express. Saigon Hustle serves banh mi (sandwiches), bun (vermicelli bowls) and com (rice bowls).
“The drive-through is less intimidating,” Ghaffar said. “It is giving more people an opportunity to try Vietnamese cuisine.”
PLAY, WATCH, EAT
What to Cook
There are infinite ways to roast a chicken. Try this well-seasoned option, coated in a sweet-sticky maple glaze, cut with paprika and vinegar.
