Your Monday Summary – The New York Times

Ukrainian forces repel Russia’s advance

Russian forces launched a heavy artillery bombardment of the strategic southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv early this morning, a day after the Ukrainian military pushed back the faltering Russian army from its city limits. city. Residents are facing The condition is getting more and more serious in another port city, Mariupol, where food, heat and electricity were cut off for several days. Follow the latest updates here.

Russian forces have faced logistical problems, difficult tactical decisions and low morale, making it impossible for them to quickly capture Mykolaiv and other cities, as Russian President Vladimir Putin, it seems, was intended. Their biggest obstacle, however, was a surprisingly capable defense from Ukrainian forces, although they were considerably outnumbered.

Fierce efforts to rescue civilians from worsening violence in Ukraine were directly attacked by Russian forces yesterday when at least three people were killed in shelling outside the capital. Kyiv. The Ukrainian military says it is successfully defending its position in the fierce fighting north of Kyiv and holding back the Russians from the east.

These are the latest maps of the Russian invasion.

Refugees: The UN says that 1.5 million people have left Ukraine in the 10 days since the Russian invasion began, making the refugee crisis the fastest-growing in Europe since World War Two. Some Ukrainian families have the painful feeling of parting.

In other news from the war:

• Police said more than 3,000 people have been arrested At anti-war rallies across Russia, the nationwide total of protests was the highest of any protest day in recent memory. An activist group that tracks arrests, OVD-Info, reported detentions in 49 different Russian cities.

• The Biden administration is studying how supply Russian-made Polish fighter aircraft US officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is asking for more military aid, especially Russian-made planes that Ukrainian pilots know how to fly. Russia threatens countries that allow Ukraine’s military to use their airports.

• Zelensky repeat his calls asked NATO to enforce a no-fly zone over its country’s territory to deter Russia’s air attack, saying, “It’s easy when you have the will.” NATO is reluctant to take such a step, for fear of provoking a wider war with Russia.

• Many Ukrainians are facing an embarrassing and disappointing backlash from relatives in Russia who have bought into official message of the Kremlin: that there is no war in Ukraine.

Dose of life-saving Covid drug is not used

Evusheld, a new treatment developed by AstraZeneca, can prevent Covid-19 in people who cannot produce antibodies after being vaccinated or not being vaccinated at all. Used in two consecutive injections, it appears to provide up to six months of protection in immunocompromised individuals, offering significant appeal for those who must continue to stay at home even if they are ill. The United States reopens.

But there is so much confusion about medications among health care providers that about 80% of the doses of drugs currently available in the US are not being used – even with great effort by patients, oftentimes. failed, just got them. In some cases, patients and doctors don’t know that Evesheld exists or how to obtain it. Government guidance on who should be treated is scant.

Hesitation is also a problem. Some providers do not know how to use Evosheld and therefore do not like to prescribe it. The fact that it is an antibody treatment can be confusing, because most such treatments are used after someone has Covid rather than preventive care. And in some medical centers, supplies are reserved only for the highest-risk patients, such as recent organ transplant recipients and cancer patients.

By the numbers: The Biden administration has purchased 1.7 million doses — enough to completely treat 850,000 people — and has nearly 650,000 doses ready for distribution as of last week, according to the federal health official. But only about 370,000 doses have been ordered by the states, and less than a quarter of those have been used.

This is the latest updates and map of the pandemic.

In other virus news:

German companies feel pain when Russia goes to war

German companies do more business in Russia than in any other EU country, exporting goods worth more than 26 billion euros ($28.4 billion) by 2021 and investing an additional 25 billion euros in operations in there. But since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Some companies have chosen to cut ties with Russia. Others are trying to move on, despite the setbacks of sanctions and the collapse of the ruble.

Leading German automakers – BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck – announced last week that they are stopping exports and production in Russia. Family-owned companies, including ZF Group, a car parts maker, and Haniel, which manages several independent businesses in Russia, are doing the same.

In addition to the impact on companies that have invested in Russia, analysts predict that the German economy as a whole will be affected by the rise in energy and food prices as a result of the war. Since the invasion, politicians have rallied the public to view their sacrifices through a broader lens. “We are prepared to shoulder that burden,” the German ambassador to the US said. “Freedom is priceless.”

Can quote: What remains for many businesses is a feeling of deep sadness, coupled with disillusionment. “These are not just business relationships, but real friendships,” said Peter Fenkl, chief executive officer of a German industrial fan manufacturer with close ties to Russia. “We’ve been sitting next to each other in meetings, drinking beer together.”

Written in 1938, W. H. Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” is a short, humorous poem about heartbreak related to “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus,” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. This is one of the more famous examples of ekphrasis, or poems inspired by works of art, there with “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by Keats and “Archaic Torso of Apollo” by Rilke. “

Step into Auden’s poem and the painting that inspired it.

ARTS AND IDEAS

A plant-based world

This is a great time to be lactose intolerant. Grocery stores now sell soy, almond, coconut, oat and even potato milk, and trending won’t slow down soonVictoria Petersen writes in The Times.

Milk thistle has been around for a very long time. Coconut milk has been used for centuries in South Asia, South America and the Caribbean, and almond milk has been a staple in North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East for nearly 1,000 years. But the growing popularity of vegetarian and vegan diets has made such milks a booming business: By 2020, plant-based milk will account for 15% of all retail dairy sales.

“Living in an urban center like London, I don’t need to drink the milk of cows, goats or any other animal,” says Sarah Bentley, who runs a plant-based cooking school. Her favorites: hemp milk for its low impact on the environment and oat milk fortified with vitamins B and D for her son.