We start today with ongoing efforts in Sri Lanka to round up bombing suspects, the swift boom and bust of China’s bike-sharing start-ups and a South Korean school teaching grandmothers to read and write.
A week after Easter bombings, Sri Lanka struggles to move forward
Security forces continued to round up suspects involved in the bombings that killed more than 250 people last week while people in the capital, Colombo, held vigils outside one of the churches that was attacked.
The curfew in Colombo has been lifted even as military surveillance aircraft kept an eye on the country’s main airports and naval units patrolled the waters around the island nation.
Over the weekend: The Islamic State said its fighters were among those killed in a raid of a house in eastern Sri Lanka that left 15 people dead and that wounded the wife and child of Zaharan Hashim, alleged to be the mastermind of the bombings.
Go deeper: The town of Kattankudy is one of the few predominantly Muslim towns in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka. It’s also Mr. Hashim’s hometown and where he preached his divisive ideology.
Political fallout: Repeated failures in preventing and investigating the attacks have exposed rifts in Sri Lanka’s government, raising questions about the country’s ability to deter future threats.
How China’s bicycle ‘unicorns’ shook up a small town
As bike-sharing swept through Chinese cities about three years ago, the small town of Wangqingtuo — home to many bicycle factories — prospered.
But then the start-ups hit financial troubles, hollowing out parts of Wangqingtuo, leaving factories shuttered and unwanted bicycles piled up on empty streets.
Takeaway: The boom and bust of China’s bike-sharing companies reflect the country’s dizzying start-up scene, with new unicorns (companies worth more than $1 billion) cropping up every four days last year, according to a research firm in Shanghai.
While the fast-paced technology industry has created new industries, the companies that quickly collapse often end up wiping out jobs and small investors.
Can a water pump undermine ISIS in the Philippines?
It took two months, an American Special Operations civil affairs team, three nonprofit organizations and a Philippine Army platoon to bring a gray, oblong $58,000 water pump to Padas, a village in the southern Philippines.
The pump is part of a U.S. counterterrorism plan that aims to help establish trust in the government and, in turn, undercut the influence of Islamic State-affiliated militants in the region.
The campaign has been focused on and around the city of Marawi, which the Islamic State seized in 2017. A monthslong military effort to take back the city left an estimated 1,200 people dead and displaced many others. But the ISIS affiliate simply started to rebuild and recruit in nearby villages, like Padas.
Background: In November, the U.S. estimated that around 500 Islamic State fighters were living in the Philippines, a majority Christian country with a small Muslim population in the south.
A school in South Korea enrolls illiterate grandmothers
As South Korea’s birth rate plunges, schools across the country have been emptying out. So one school, desperate to fill its classrooms, came up with an innovative solution: enroll older villagers who had never learned to read and write.
“My mother has become a much happier person since she began going to school,” said the son of a 70-year-old student. “Smiles hardly seem to leave her face.”
By the numbers: The country’s birth rate fell to less than one child per woman last year — one of the lowest in the world.
If you’re following the Indian elections…
Dubious candidates left, right and center
Pragya Singh Thakur, wearing garlands and the saffron robes of a Hindu ascetic, is a candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party. That she faces terrorism charges, in connection with a bomb blast that killed seven people in 2008 has not deterred her or the party.
Ms. Thakur’s situation, however, is not uncommon.
When the Association for Democratic Reforms, an independent think tank, looked through the criminal records of almost all 5,478 candidates in the first half of the general election, the findings were staggering.
About a third of the candidates had some sort of pending criminal case against them. And 13 percent faced serious charges, including allegations of corruption, assault, murder and rape.
Neither of the two main national parties, the governing B.J.P. or the opposition Congress party, fared very well in the reports.
Candidates with criminal backgrounds usually end up winning, said Anil Verma, a retired Army officer who leads the Association for Democratic Reforms.
Many of them have more campaign money and deliver results at a local level, Mr. Verma said. They also earn goodwill with small acts, he said, like “donating money for somebody’s daughter’s wedding.”
“It’s a travesty but that’s how it is in our country.”
Send us your feedback or questions on this series here.
Here’s what else is happening
U.S.: A gunman opened fire in a synagogue near San Diego on the last day of Passover, killing one person and wounding three others. The shooting, the latest in a series of deadly attacks at houses of worship, is being treated as a hate crime.
Spain: The country held its third national elections since 2015 on Sunday, amid growing political polarization, an ongoing territorial conflict over Catalonia and the emergence of a new far-right party, Vox.
Apple: Since it launched its own screen-time tracker, Apple has clamped down on competitors’ offerings, according to an investigation by The Times. In some cases Apple forced companies to remove parental control features and in other cases, it simply pulled apps from its store.
Uber: As the ride-hailing company meets with investors ahead of its I.P.O. next month, it plans to pitch itself as the next Amazon, a concept that hints at its ambition to expand into new businesses and industries.
Gender inequality: American women are the most educated ever, yet they face some of the biggest pay gaps. One reason is the changing nature of work, which has led to longer, inflexible hours.
Penguins: The Antarctic’s second-largest colony of emperor penguins has all but disappeared since 2016 when more than 10,000 chicks were lost because of a strong El Niño, according to a new study.
Snapshot: Above, “Night #19,” 2005, by Michael Wolf. The photographer who gained fame capturing Hong Kong’s dense skyscrapers and the minutiae of its daily life died on Thursday at age 65.
What we’re reading: This article in The Colorado Sun. Gina Lamb, a Special Sections editor, writes: “As a longtime typewriter owner (and former Colorado resident), I was delighted by this piece about Darwin Raymond, who has cared for all kinds of typewriters on the state’s Western Slope for decades — including a 60-pounder with a three-foot-long carriage, a purse-size portable and an IBM Selectric that Hunter S. Thompson blew apart with a shotgun.”
Now, a break from the news
Cook: Tonight might be the night for kale-sauce pasta. Not a kale fan? Try arugula, spinach or even collard greens. (Our Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter has more recommendations.)
Watch: “Avengers: Endgame” is finally out, breaking box office records. Black Widow, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man and other stars settle scores and take a long victory lap in the final chapter of this cycle.
Read: Four memoirs and one near-memoir are among 11 new books we recommend.
Go: (Or maybe don’t.) “Beetlejuice,” a musical adaptation of the 1988 Tim Burton film, has opened on Broadway. It’s “absolutely exhausting,” our theater critic writes.
Smarter Living:If buying a used car makes you want to pull your hair out, you’re not alone. There are a few key things to remember. Know which kind of car you need, not the kind you want. Review whether leasing or financing the car makes the most sense for you. Lastly, know the difference between a certified pre-owned and a lemon.
And if you find a lost phone, be sure to return it the right way.
And now for the Back Story on …
Dance history
If you’re feeling footloose today, there may be a reason: April 29 is International Dance Day, so proclaimed by the performing arts partner of Unesco 37 years ago.
Why this date? It’s the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), a choreographer and dance theorist who invented the “ballet d’action,” a forerunner of that staple of dance companies: the evening-length story ballet. (Think “Swan Lake” and “Giselle.”)
Before Noverre, ballets had amounted to spectacular entertainments. He revolutionized the art by introducing pantomime and the idea that a dance could tell stories.
Early in his career, Noverre also had the distinction of serving as the young Archduchess Marie Antoinette’s dancing instructor in Vienna, before her departure for France.
According Antonia Fraser, whose biography of Marie Antoinette became the basis of Sofia Coppola’s 2006 biopic, the future queen was an apt pupil, admired for her graceful port de bras and elegant bearing.
Their friendship helped his career, until the French Revolution. He managed to escape the guillotine and lived until 1810 in the Paris suburb of St. Germain en Laye.
A correction: Thursday’s Morning Briefing misstated how the Russian chemist Dmitiri Mendeleev arranged the first recognizable periodic table. It was by atomic weight, not by atomic number.
That’s it for this briefing. Have a foot-tappin’, hip-swingin’ day.
— Alisha
Thank you To Mark Josephson, Eleanor Stanford and Kenneth R. Rosen for the break from the news. Marina Harss, who writes about dance for The Times, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at [email protected].
P.S. • We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is on the measles outbreak in the U.S. • Here’s our mini crossword puzzle, and a clue: move like a ghost (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • Both Arthur O. Sulzberger, the chairman of the board and former publisher of The New York Times, and A.G. Sulzberger, the current publisher, worked as reporters and editors at The Times earlier in their careers.
Alisha Haridasani Gupta writes the Morning Briefing. @alisha__g
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Home » Analysis & Comment » Your Monday Briefing
Your Monday Briefing
Good morning,
We start today with ongoing efforts in Sri Lanka to round up bombing suspects, the swift boom and bust of China’s bike-sharing start-ups and a South Korean school teaching grandmothers to read and write.
A week after Easter bombings, Sri Lanka struggles to move forward
Security forces continued to round up suspects involved in the bombings that killed more than 250 people last week while people in the capital, Colombo, held vigils outside one of the churches that was attacked.
The curfew in Colombo has been lifted even as military surveillance aircraft kept an eye on the country’s main airports and naval units patrolled the waters around the island nation.
Over the weekend: The Islamic State said its fighters were among those killed in a raid of a house in eastern Sri Lanka that left 15 people dead and that wounded the wife and child of Zaharan Hashim, alleged to be the mastermind of the bombings.
Go deeper: The town of Kattankudy is one of the few predominantly Muslim towns in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka. It’s also Mr. Hashim’s hometown and where he preached his divisive ideology.
Political fallout: Repeated failures in preventing and investigating the attacks have exposed rifts in Sri Lanka’s government, raising questions about the country’s ability to deter future threats.
How China’s bicycle ‘unicorns’ shook up a small town
As bike-sharing swept through Chinese cities about three years ago, the small town of Wangqingtuo — home to many bicycle factories — prospered.
But then the start-ups hit financial troubles, hollowing out parts of Wangqingtuo, leaving factories shuttered and unwanted bicycles piled up on empty streets.
Takeaway: The boom and bust of China’s bike-sharing companies reflect the country’s dizzying start-up scene, with new unicorns (companies worth more than $1 billion) cropping up every four days last year, according to a research firm in Shanghai.
While the fast-paced technology industry has created new industries, the companies that quickly collapse often end up wiping out jobs and small investors.
Can a water pump undermine ISIS in the Philippines?
It took two months, an American Special Operations civil affairs team, three nonprofit organizations and a Philippine Army platoon to bring a gray, oblong $58,000 water pump to Padas, a village in the southern Philippines.
The pump is part of a U.S. counterterrorism plan that aims to help establish trust in the government and, in turn, undercut the influence of Islamic State-affiliated militants in the region.
The campaign has been focused on and around the city of Marawi, which the Islamic State seized in 2017. A monthslong military effort to take back the city left an estimated 1,200 people dead and displaced many others. But the ISIS affiliate simply started to rebuild and recruit in nearby villages, like Padas.
Background: In November, the U.S. estimated that around 500 Islamic State fighters were living in the Philippines, a majority Christian country with a small Muslim population in the south.
A school in South Korea enrolls illiterate grandmothers
As South Korea’s birth rate plunges, schools across the country have been emptying out. So one school, desperate to fill its classrooms, came up with an innovative solution: enroll older villagers who had never learned to read and write.
“My mother has become a much happier person since she began going to school,” said the son of a 70-year-old student. “Smiles hardly seem to leave her face.”
By the numbers: The country’s birth rate fell to less than one child per woman last year — one of the lowest in the world.
If you’re following the Indian elections…
Dubious candidates left, right and center
Pragya Singh Thakur, wearing garlands and the saffron robes of a Hindu ascetic, is a candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party. That she faces terrorism charges, in connection with a bomb blast that killed seven people in 2008 has not deterred her or the party.
Ms. Thakur’s situation, however, is not uncommon.
When the Association for Democratic Reforms, an independent think tank, looked through the criminal records of almost all 5,478 candidates in the first half of the general election, the findings were staggering.
About a third of the candidates had some sort of pending criminal case against them. And 13 percent faced serious charges, including allegations of corruption, assault, murder and rape.
Neither of the two main national parties, the governing B.J.P. or the opposition Congress party, fared very well in the reports.
Candidates with criminal backgrounds usually end up winning, said Anil Verma, a retired Army officer who leads the Association for Democratic Reforms.
Many of them have more campaign money and deliver results at a local level, Mr. Verma said. They also earn goodwill with small acts, he said, like “donating money for somebody’s daughter’s wedding.”
“It’s a travesty but that’s how it is in our country.”
Send us your feedback or questions on this series here.
Here’s what else is happening
U.S.: A gunman opened fire in a synagogue near San Diego on the last day of Passover, killing one person and wounding three others. The shooting, the latest in a series of deadly attacks at houses of worship, is being treated as a hate crime.
Spain: The country held its third national elections since 2015 on Sunday, amid growing political polarization, an ongoing territorial conflict over Catalonia and the emergence of a new far-right party, Vox.
Apple: Since it launched its own screen-time tracker, Apple has clamped down on competitors’ offerings, according to an investigation by The Times. In some cases Apple forced companies to remove parental control features and in other cases, it simply pulled apps from its store.
Uber: As the ride-hailing company meets with investors ahead of its I.P.O. next month, it plans to pitch itself as the next Amazon, a concept that hints at its ambition to expand into new businesses and industries.
Gender inequality: American women are the most educated ever, yet they face some of the biggest pay gaps. One reason is the changing nature of work, which has led to longer, inflexible hours.
Penguins: The Antarctic’s second-largest colony of emperor penguins has all but disappeared since 2016 when more than 10,000 chicks were lost because of a strong El Niño, according to a new study.
Snapshot: Above, “Night #19,” 2005, by Michael Wolf. The photographer who gained fame capturing Hong Kong’s dense skyscrapers and the minutiae of its daily life died on Thursday at age 65.
What we’re reading: This article in The Colorado Sun. Gina Lamb, a Special Sections editor, writes: “As a longtime typewriter owner (and former Colorado resident), I was delighted by this piece about Darwin Raymond, who has cared for all kinds of typewriters on the state’s Western Slope for decades — including a 60-pounder with a three-foot-long carriage, a purse-size portable and an IBM Selectric that Hunter S. Thompson blew apart with a shotgun.”
Now, a break from the news
Cook: Tonight might be the night for kale-sauce pasta. Not a kale fan? Try arugula, spinach or even collard greens. (Our Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter has more recommendations.)
Watch: “Avengers: Endgame” is finally out, breaking box office records. Black Widow, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man and other stars settle scores and take a long victory lap in the final chapter of this cycle.
Read: Four memoirs and one near-memoir are among 11 new books we recommend.
Go: (Or maybe don’t.) “Beetlejuice,” a musical adaptation of the 1988 Tim Burton film, has opened on Broadway. It’s “absolutely exhausting,” our theater critic writes.
Smarter Living:If buying a used car makes you want to pull your hair out, you’re not alone. There are a few key things to remember. Know which kind of car you need, not the kind you want. Review whether leasing or financing the car makes the most sense for you. Lastly, know the difference between a certified pre-owned and a lemon.
And if you find a lost phone, be sure to return it the right way.
And now for the Back Story on …
Dance history
If you’re feeling footloose today, there may be a reason: April 29 is International Dance Day, so proclaimed by the performing arts partner of Unesco 37 years ago.
Why this date? It’s the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), a choreographer and dance theorist who invented the “ballet d’action,” a forerunner of that staple of dance companies: the evening-length story ballet. (Think “Swan Lake” and “Giselle.”)
Before Noverre, ballets had amounted to spectacular entertainments. He revolutionized the art by introducing pantomime and the idea that a dance could tell stories.
Early in his career, Noverre also had the distinction of serving as the young Archduchess Marie Antoinette’s dancing instructor in Vienna, before her departure for France.
According Antonia Fraser, whose biography of Marie Antoinette became the basis of Sofia Coppola’s 2006 biopic, the future queen was an apt pupil, admired for her graceful port de bras and elegant bearing.
Their friendship helped his career, until the French Revolution. He managed to escape the guillotine and lived until 1810 in the Paris suburb of St. Germain en Laye.
A correction: Thursday’s Morning Briefing misstated how the Russian chemist Dmitiri Mendeleev arranged the first recognizable periodic table. It was by atomic weight, not by atomic number.
That’s it for this briefing. Have a foot-tappin’, hip-swingin’ day.
— Alisha
Thank you
To Mark Josephson, Eleanor Stanford and Kenneth R. Rosen for the break from the news. Marina Harss, who writes about dance for The Times, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at [email protected].
P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is on the measles outbreak in the U.S.
• Here’s our mini crossword puzzle, and a clue: move like a ghost (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• Both Arthur O. Sulzberger, the chairman of the board and former publisher of The New York Times, and A.G. Sulzberger, the current publisher, worked as reporters and editors at The Times earlier in their careers.
Alisha Haridasani Gupta writes the Morning Briefing. @alisha__g
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