Tuesday Briefing: Putin lashes out over incursion
Good morning. We’re covering Vladimir Putin’s response to Ukraine’s incursion into Russia and climate tipping points. Plus, A.I. is helping piece together an ancient epic.
Putin blamed the West for Ukraine’s incursionPresident Vladimir Putin lashed out at the West yesterday over Ukraine’s weeklong incursion into Russian territory. His comments were a sign of how the surprise attack has unsettled the Kremlin. “The West is fighting us with the hands of the Ukrainians,” Putin said during a televised meeting with his top officials. “The enemy will certainly get the response he deserves, and all our goals, without doubt, will be accomplished.” Even as Moscow scrambled to respond to the incursion in the Kursk region, Russian forces continued to pummel Ukrainian positions in the east, Kyiv military officials said. The Kursk region’s acting governor was shown telling Putin by video link that 28 towns and villages were under Ukrainian control. He said Ukrainian troops had pushed nearly 12 kilometers into Russian territory. Separately, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces claimed control of more than twice as much territory, “about 1,000 square kilometers.” Background: Analysts said that Ukraine’s move had two main goals: to draw Russian forces from the front lines in eastern Ukraine and to seize territory that could serve as a bargaining chip in future peace negotiations. Putin insisted that the attack would not soften his negotiating position.
Irreversible climate changeScientists have been raising the alarm for two decades that global warming might be pushing great systems in the natural world toward collapse. These systems — like the Amazon rain forest, coral reefs or the colossal polar ice sheets — are so big that they can stay somewhat balanced, as human behavior causes hotter fires and wetter storms. But only to a point. Once we warm the planet beyond certain levels, this balance might be lost and a switch could flip. We explored how close we’ve come to some of these climate tipping points. Read more. Other climate news:
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