Your Thursday Briefing: West doubts Russia’s claims

February 17, 2022

By Melina Delkic

Writer, Briefings

Good morning. We're covering Western skepticism about Russia's troop pullback and Hong Kong's worst-ever Covid outbreak.

A Ukrainian soldier on the front lines near Katerynivka, in eastern Ukraine. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

West sees no sign of Russian pullback

After Russia seemed to step back from a military confrontation with Ukraine, the U.S. and NATO said on Wednesday that they were still looking for proof that President Vladimir Putin was open to a diplomatic resolution and was pulling back troops from Ukraine's borders.

Russia has deployed more than 150,000 troops that the U.S. says could invade Ukraine at any moment, but Putin said on Tuesday that he had ordered a withdrawal and was ready to continue negotiations on security in Eastern Europe.

"Unfortunately there's a difference between what Russia says and what it does," Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said. "And what we're seeing is no meaningful pullback. On the contrary, we continue to see forces — especially forces that would be in the vanguard of any renewed aggression against Ukraine — continuing to be at the border, to mass at the border."

The NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, echoed the U.S. assessment, saying that Russia remained capable "of a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine without any warning time." He added that the alliance was drawing up plans for new combat units in central and southeastern Europe.

Russia's Defense Ministry announced more troop withdrawals, releasing a video that showed a train loaded with armored vehicles crossing from Crimea into mainland Russia.

Closer look: A U.S. missile base in Poland is at the heart of an issue animating the Kremlin's calculations over whether to go to war against Ukraine.

Putin's table: The white oval behemoth, where the Russian president has met with leaders, has become the subject of analysis, countless memes and, now, a disagreement between two furniture makers who both say they built it.

Patients outside a hospital in Hong Kong on Tuesday.Peter Parks/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Hong Kong overwhelmed by Covid outbreak

Hong Kong is sinking under its worst wave yet of the coronavirus. Overwhelmed hospitals have left patients waiting on sidewalks. China's leader, Xi Jinping, has ordered the Hong Kong government to "take all necessary measures" to curb the outbreak.

For much of the past two years, Hong Kong boasted of having the coronavirus largely under control. But since the Omicron variant slipped into the city late last year, health officials have found the virus increasingly difficult to contain.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's chief executive, acknowledged Tuesday that the epidemic had "outgrown our capacity."

Context: The city's flailing response has exposed a crucial weakness in its ability to handle the coronavirus. Unlike other places, Hong Kong cannot choose to live with the virus; Beijing continues to demand local elimination.

The numbers: Researchers have warned that by summer, the latest wave could kill nearly 1,000 people — more than four times the number that have died of Covid in Hong Kong over the past two years.

Here are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.

In other developments:

A new study suggests that vaccination during pregnancy protects infants from being hospitalized for Covid.
Passengers angry at mask rules have turned a dream job — flight attendant — into a nightmare.

Tomoko Yoshino became the first female president of Rengo, Japan's largest union association, in October. Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times

A woman eyes a shake-up of Japan's unions

Labor unions in Japan have not been a welcoming place to women. Sexism, wage discrimination and sexual harassment at work have been ignored, leaving many to give up on the movement. A woman at the helm of Rengo, Japan's largest union association, is aiming to change that.

Tomoko Yoshino, who was appointed president of Rengo in October, hopes to prove that unions can be strong allies for Japanese women. Her first major test will come this spring as Japan's unions gear up for their annual salary negotiations.

"The fact that I want to make gender equality a part of all of Rengo's activities has gotten a lot of attention," Yoshino said, adding that it had put pressure on member organizations to "demonstrate real results."

Context: Japan has one of the world's worst records on gender equality, placing 120th out of 156 countries in a ranking by the World Economic Forum, even after years of government promises to help women "shine."

THE LATEST NEWS

Asia Pacific

Little Bay Beach, in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday. Randwick City Council/Instagram

A rare shark attack killed a swimmer off the coast of Sydney. Australian news outlets reported that it was the first fatal shark bite near the city in decades.
Twitter Spaces, a live audio chat feature, has become a go-to debate and conversation spot for Afghans since the Taliban takeover.

Olympics

"I just feel the best when I wear them," said Karen Chen of the dresses made by her mom.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

The American figure skater Karen Chen performs in glittering dresses designed and sewn by her mother, often bedecked with Swarovski crystals that are the best for catching the light.
American athletes of Chinese descent at the Games are often caught in the U.S.-China rivalry.
The Americans Alex Hall and Nick Goepper won gold and silver in men's slopestyle skiing. Jesper Tjader of Sweden won bronze.
The U.S. men's hockey team is out of the Olympics after losing to Slovakia.
Several skiers are representing countries with little snow at the Beijing Games, partly because of a diversity initiative that has generated controversy.

Around the World

A police officer walks between trucks to distribute a notice to protesters, in Ottawa on Wednesday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press

The police in Canada warned protesters in Ottawa to leave or face criminal charges, appearing to set the stage for a clampdown on the demonstrations, now in their third week.
London's Metropolitan Police Service is searching for a new leader at an awkward moment as it investigates government lockdown scandals and faces scrutiny for police misconduct.
The Great Resignation has reached the executive level, with leaders of companies quitting over burnout and work-life balance issues.
A top court ruled that the E.U. can block aid to Poland and Hungary over what the bloc sees as the decline of the rule of law.
A woman of mixed race appears to be the third person ever to be cured of H.I.V., using a new transplant method.

A Morning Read

Cast members in "Out of Time" (from left): Natsuko Ohama, Rita Wolf, Glenn Kubota, Page Leong and Mia Katigbak.Nina Westervelt for The New York Times

Older Asian American actors have often been limited to playing frail grandparents. The director Les Waters saw them as much more, and his showcase "Out of Time" features five performers delivering monologues on themes like memory, parenthood and identity — all written by Asian American playwrights.

"This is to say: 'Older people in the theater exist,'" Waters said. "We're here, we're underused and we have experience."

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ARTS AND IDEAS

A $100 million mystery

Last weekend, the Orlando Museum of Art in Florida unveiled 25 paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat. The works could be worth more than $100 million. But some experts believe they're fakes.

The museum says Basquiat created the artworks in 1982, painting on cardboard, and sold the collection for $5,000. Aaron De Groft, the museum's director, said he had "no doubt these are Basquiats," citing a handwriting expert, an art professor and a deceased member of a now-dissolved Basquiat authentication committee.

Works said to be by Jean-Michel Basquiat were installed at the Orlando Museum of Art.Melanie Metz for The New York Times

Basquiat made more than 2,000 works before he died in 1988. "Anybody with the right attitude and the right amount of money could purchase something from the painter, who was constantly in need of cash to support his various habits," Phoebe Hoban wrote in her biography of the artist.

But the art dealer Larry Gagosian, who lived above Basquiat's studio, said he found the museum's story "highly unlikely." Neither he nor Basquiat's studio assistant knew of these 25 paintings. There are other discrepancies: One of the works is painted on a box with a FedEx label that the company didn't use before 1994.

Take a look at some of the art.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook

Chicken soup with pastina.Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Use any tiny pasta for this Italian chicken soup.

What to Watch

"The Gilded Age," a period drama from the creators of "Downton Abbey," depicts an elite class of 19th-century Black New Yorkers.

Wellness

Look for these physical signs of burnout.

What to Read

Poetry is one of Chile's greatest exports, with Nobel winners like Pablo Neruda. The novel "Chilean Poet" is a playful study of the country's literary scene.

Now Time to Play

Here's today's Mini Crossword, and a clue: Figure skating jump (four letters).

And here is today's Spelling Bee.

You can find all our puzzles here.

That's it for today's briefing. Tell us what you think about this newsletter in this short survey. Thank you!

See you next time. — Melina

P.S. The Times published its first crossword eighty years ago this week — to distract readers from World War II news.

The latest episode of "The Daily " is about the protests in Canada.

Sanam Yar wrote the Arts and Ideas section. You can reach Melina and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

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