Your Monday Briefing

Putin’s Russia, one year into the war

As the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, Russia’s military has suffered setback after setback, falling far short of its goal of taking control of Ukraine. But at home, the grievances and imperialist mind-set that drove Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine have seeped deep into Russian life, leaving the Russian leader more dominant than ever.

Putin has turned “traditional values” into a rallying cry — signing a new anti-gay law, for instance — while styling himself as another Peter the Great retaking lost Russian lands. Activist groups and rights organizations that had sprung up in the first 30 years of post-Soviet Russia have met an abrupt end, while nationalist groups once seen as fringe have taken center stage.

Before the war, Putin styled himself as a peace-loving president who would never attack another country. He has characterized the war in Ukraine as a fight against “Nazis” who are backed by the West. He has also cast the invasion as a near holy war for Russia’s very identity, declaring that the country was fighting to prevent liberal gender norms and acceptance of homosexuality from being forced upon it by an aggressive West.

Analysis: “A new system of values has been built,” Aleksandr Daniel, an expert on Soviet dissidents, said. “Brutal and archaic public values.”

International relations: Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said that it believed that China was considering giving weapons and other lethal aid to Russia. He warned China that doing so “would cause a serious problem” for its already strained relations with the U.S.

Turkey’s earthquake reconstruction bill

As Turkish authorities grapple with a death toll that now exceeds 40,000 people from the deadliest earthquake in a century, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president, is confronting the parallel crisis of a staggering blow to an economy already in urgent need of repair. In May, Turkish voters will head to the polls as Erdogan seeks a third four-year term as leader.

Before the devastation, which has left millions homeless, Turkey was already grappling from economic strife, amid a collapsing currency, runaway inflation and the effects of Erdogan’s own unorthodox financial policies. Those vulnerabilities have punched holes in the nation’s balance sheet and generated a cost-of-living crisis.

Reconstruction is expected to cost $10 billion to $50 billion, although the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation has put the total closer to $85 billion. Over 8,000 buildings were flattened and the supply chain infrastructure was damaged when the quake rocked southern Turkey, a manufacturing hub.

On the ground: The situation in Turkey remains dire, with emergency crews still extracting the dead from the ruins of apartment buildings and homeless survivors sheltering in cars and making bonfires from wreckage to stay warm. Food, fuel and medical supplies are in short supply.

A possible deal on Northern Ireland

Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, met on Friday with leaders in Northern Ireland’s capital, Belfast, to enlist their support for an agreement with the E.U. on post-Brexit trade arrangements in the territory. He hopes to present a deal to the British Parliament as early as this week.

If the prime minister is able to secure a deal, it could open the door to restoring the power-sharing government in Belfast, in turn quieting the voices of those calling for Northern Ireland to break away from Britain and to unite with the Irish Republic.

But there are significant headwinds. Some lawmakers in Northern Ireland have demanded that Britain effectively scrap the protocol, which gives the North hybrid trade status as a part of the U.K. that has an open border with the Irish Republic, a member of the E.U. And others in the pro-Brexit wing of the Conservative Party have threatened to oppose any agreement that would leave the European Court of Justice with jurisdiction over Northern Ireland.

Scotland: The movement for Scottish independence has been left with loose ends, without a clear path to another vote, after the surprise resignation of the country’s leader, Nicola Sturgeon. The Scottish National Party, which controls Parliament, will choose her successor in the coming weeks.

THE LATEST NEWS

Around the World

• Revelations about the personal life of Nicola Bulley, who went missing three weeks ago, by the police in Britain have drawn condemnation from lawmakers and the public.

• The influencer Andrew Tate’s misogynist views are popular with some British students. Educators are trying to fight back.

• North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile after warning of strong countermeasures against joint military drills by the U.S. and South Korea.

• A woman touched a $42,000 blue porcelain dog by Jeff Koons at an art fair in Miami. The sculpture fell off its pedestal and shattered.

Other Big Stories

• President Biden’s re-election campaign strategy will once again frame the race as a contest between a seasoned leader and a conspiracy-minded opposition, while batting away concerns about his age.

• Meta will begin charging for “verified” profiles on Facebook and Instagram.

• Jimmy Carter, who at 98 is the longest living president in U.S. history, will enter hospice care at his home in Georgia.

• At the BAFTAs, the German-language antiwar movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” won seven awards. Read our film review.

• A mysterious triangle doodled on Page 143 of The Codex Arundel notebook seems to show Leonardo da Vinci deconstructing gravity, long before Galileo and Newton.

From Opinion

• Paul Krugman ponders what may be behind the extraordinary rise in right-wing hostility to higher education.

• None of Donald Trump’s three appointments to the Supreme Court are either as conservative or as unified as they might initially appear, David Lat and Zachary B. Shemtob write.

• Orli, Sarah Wildman’s 14-year-old daughter, has liver cancer. “I have not abandoned hope,” Sarah writes, “even though I am in a place defined by unknowing.”

• Magdalene Taylor has one request: Have more sex, please.

A Morning Read

Milan’s cathedral unquestionably reigns as the most beloved landmark in Italy’s fashion and financial capital. But the Duomo, as it’s known, has also been a high-maintenance icon for six centuries, demanding constant care essentially since construction began in 1386.

Lives Lived

Richard Belzer, who became one of American television’s most enduring police detectives as John Munch on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” died yesterday at 78.

SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC

What Jim Ratcliffe’s bid for Manchester United means: How much of United will he buy, what about the club’s debt and what about Nice? Let us explain.

What does Generation Z think of soccer? Are games too long? Is the Super League a good idea? Do young fans support teams, and not players? We asked Gen Z about soccer, and the answers are worth a fresh discussion.

ARTS AND IDEAS

The BBC Shipping Forecast

Four times a day, at 5:20 a.m., 12:01 p.m., 5:54 p.m. and 12:48 a.m. G.M.T., BBC Radio 4 airs a weather report that narrates the gales and tides around the British Isles. Each briefing begins with the same words: “And now the Shipping Forecast, issued by the Met Office.”

To those who are not — or have never been — immersed in maritime culture, Grace Linden writes for The Times Magazine in this Letter of Recommendation, “the language of the Shipping Forecast can be indecipherable.” “Backing winds,” for instance, move counterclockwise, while “veering winds” go in the other direction. And the difference between “soon” and “imminent” might be greater than you expect.

These days, with satellites and the internet providing more precise data, fishermen and sailors no longer need four daily forecasts to tell them which way to hoist their sails. But many people, including both Grace and Dame Judi Dench, tune in nonetheless to be captivated or lulled to sleep, like the ancient mariners before them, by the sea’s infinite wonder and possibility.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook

This one-pan meal combines chicken with lentils, squash and spicy, tangy seasonings.

What to Watch

In “Return to Seoul,” a Parisian adoptee born in South Korea visits her biological family.

What to Listen to

Hear tracks by Lana Del Rey, Pink, Janelle Monáe and others on our weekly playlist.

Now Time to Play

Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Where Humpty Dumpty sat (four letters).

And here are today’s Wordle and the Spelling Bee.

You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. Have a great Monday. — Natasha

P.S. Today is Presidents’ Day in the U.S. Here’s how a day that “began as a snub” to King George III of England came to be.

Catch up on Friday’s episode of “The Daily,” which is on the A.I. chatbot of Microsoft’s search engine Bing, or go deeper on A.I. with “Hard Fork.”

You can reach Natasha and the team at [email protected].