Brazil reels from Sunday’s riots
At least 1,200 people have been detained after rioters stormed government offices on Sunday in Brazil’s capital, officials said yesterday.
The detentions came after one of the worst attacks on Brazil’s democracy in the 38 years since its military dictatorship ended. On Sunday, thousands of people broke into government offices, falsely claiming the October election was stolen from Jair Bolsonaro, the former president. Here are videos of the Sunday riots.
Yesterday, authorities also began dismantling the tent city where Bolsonaro supporters had been camping out since he lost the election. The dispersal was peaceful, despite fears that it could have fueled further tensions.
Brazil’s justice minister said that authorities had identified about 40 buses that brought rioters to Brasília and that the financial backers of the trips would be tracked down and held responsible. Voices on social media had offered free transportation and food to protesters.
Heavy fighting near Bakhmut
Fierce fighting raged yesterday around Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine that Russia has tried to capture since the summer. The fighting appeared to be focused on Soledar, a nearby town.
Russia claimed to have taken a village near Soledar. Ukraine said that it had repelled Russian attempts to storm Soledar, where the deputy defense minister said that “fierce battles” were raging. Ukraine usually avoids battles with the risk of high casualties. But in Bakhmut, without hesitation, it’s going toe-to-toe with Russia.
If Russian forces capture Soledar, it would mark their most significant advance in Ukraine in months. But fighting in the east is slow and relentless, and there is little sign that dug-in Ukrainian forces will relinquish the city anytime soon.
Bakhmut: The city has become a symbol of Ukraine’s defiance. Some worry that could cloud military judgment, but analysts say Ukraine’s aggressive strategy has paid off, weakening Russia.
The Wagner Group: The group’s Kremlin-aligned founder said that Soledar “is being taken solely by Wagner units,” which Western security officials and analysts say operate largely outside the Russian military’s chain of command.
The ozone layer is on the mend
A U.N.-backed report found that the ozone layer could be restored within a few decades, now that China has begun successfully cracking down on rogue emissions of a banned chemical.
That’s big news: In 2018, scientists revealed that global emissions of CFC-11, a chemical most likely used to make foam insulation, had increased since 2012. Investigations by The Times and others strongly suggested that small factories in Eastern China disregarding the global ban were the source.
In 2018, the head of the U.N. Environment Program said the rogue emissions, if they continued, could delay ozone recovery by a decade. But now, scientists said that ozone levels between the polar regions should reach pre-1980 levels by 2040. Ozone holes should also recover.
Ozone: The protective layer in the upper atmosphere blocks ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which can cause skin cancer.
Context: The Montreal Protocol, the treaty negotiated in the 1980s to phase out the use of such chemicals, is generally considered to be the most effective global environmental pact ever enacted.
THE LATEST NEWS
Asia Pacific
South Africa’s townships, born of racist apartheid-era social engineering, once kept nonwhite citizens segregated from economic opportunities and basic infrastructure.
Now, they’re home to a vibrant nightlife scene. Instead of Cape Town — with its traffic, expensive drinks and whiter population — Black professionals party in Khayelitsha, a nearby township that they say better suits their culture and tastes.
ARTS AND IDEAS
Noma is closing
My colleagues have a major scoop in the world of fine dining: Noma will close for regular service at the end of 2024. The Copenhagen restaurant, which repeatedly tops lists of the world’s best restaurants, will become a full-time food laboratory focused on its e-commerce operation. It will open to diners only for periodic pop-ups.
Noma has fundamentally changed gastronomy: Foodies often book flights to Denmark’s capital only after they clinch a reservation. And its creator, René Redzepi, has been hailed as his era’s most brilliant and influential chef.
But Redzepi said that the current model, which changed fine dining forever, was “unsustainable.” Staff at Noma work grueling hours. The workplace culture is intense, and the restaurant long relied on an army of unpaid interns. One alumnus compared the industry to ballet, another elite pursuit that has abuse built into its very model.
“We have to completely rethink the industry,” Redzepi told The Times. “This is simply too hard, and we have to work in a different way.”
