Your Thursday Briefing: A Journalist Killed in the West Bank

Good morning. We’re covering the killing of an Al Jazeera journalist, China’s uncertain wheat harvest and rising religious violence in India.

Journalist killed in the West Bank

Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian American journalist for Al Jazeera, was fatally shot in the head while reporting in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Al Jazeera, citing Palestinian authorities, said Israeli forces shot her during a raid. The news network said it held the government and military accountable. Israel’s military said that it was not clear who shot her, and that it was investigating the possibility that blame could lie with Palestinian gunmen.

Another journalist there said that there had not been any confrontations between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli army when the shots were fired toward the journalists. She said she believed that they had been targeted.

Details: Abu Akleh was wearing a protective vest that identified her as a member of the news media, video showed. Another Al Jazeera journalist, also wearing a protective vest, was shot in the back.

Profile: Abu Akleh, 51, was a household name across the Middle East.

Context: In the wake of several attacks by Palestinians that have killed 19 Israelis and foreigners since late March, the Israeli military has been carrying out raids into Jenin. At least three of the suspected perpetrators of the recent attacks were from the area.

Politics: Israel gained a measure of political stability on Wednesday, after Raam, a small Arab party, said it would rejoin the fragile governing coalition.

War disturbs China’s wheat harvest

Ukraine’s wheat exports have been mostly halted since Russia’s invasion, while drought has damaged crops in India, East Africa and the U.S.

Now China’s harvest is uncertain. In March, the country’s agriculture minister said the wheat crop would be the worst on record because of torrential rains last fall.

Understand the Supply Chain Crisis

The Origins of the Crisis: The pandemic created worldwide economic turmoil. We broke down how it happened.Explaining the Shortages: Why is this happening? When will it end? Here are some answers to your questions.A New Normal?: The chaos at ports, warehouses and retailers will probably persist through 2022, and perhaps even longer.A Key Factor in Inflation: In the U.S., inflation is hitting its highest level in decades. Supply chain issues play a big role.

The country’s coronavirus lockdowns have interrupted farming and delayed fertilizer imports. High energy prices have reduced global fertilizer production, and many farmers around the world are using less, contributing to smaller harvests.

Background: Wheat prices are up nearly 80 percent since July. Regions that rely on Russian and Ukrainian crops are dealing with particularly high commodity prices, like Germany, where food costs are driving record inflation.

Stakes: China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of wheat, and its nervousness about its own stocks could ripple through the global supply chain. A poor harvest could further increase global food prices, compounding hunger and poverty.

State of the war:

Despite stumbles, the Russian military has seized much of eastern Ukraine. It could soon control the Donbas region. Here’s a dispatch from the front.

Russia signaled that it could annex Kherson, a strategically important region in South Ukraine.

Ukraine continues to make gains around Kharkiv, near the Russian border.

Diplomacy:

Once a close Kremlin ally, Bulgaria has imposed economic sanctions on Russia and expelled Russian diplomats.

E.U. ambassadors are struggling to persuade Hungary to join with the bloc and stop importing Russian oil. The war’s economic toll is testing the West’s solidarity.

Britain signed security pacts with both Finland and Sweden, which are edging closer to joining NATO.

Rising religious violence in India

Analysts, activists and former civil servants fear that widespread communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims will continue growing, pushing India into a cycle of violence and instability.

When conflicts have spilled into violence in recent months, the authorities enacted swift, one-sided punishments on Muslims. They sent bulldozers into their neighborhoods, demolishing shops and homes, circumventing legal processes and skipping full investigations.

“I fear that we are in the stage of perpetual violence,” said Asim Ali, a researcher who has studied the rise of Hindu nationalism.

Analysis: National right-wing groups have called for violence against Muslims, emboldened by the silence of the country’s top leaders. They are increasingly turning religious occasions into political events, promoting a Hindu-first vision of India that relegates minorities to second-class citizens.

History: In the past, such clashes, while often deadlier, were usually set off by a local issue and were contained to a single area. Now, thanks to social media, the right-wing provocations inspire local groups across the country.

Sedition: India’s top court paused the use of a colonial-era sedition law that has been used to quash dissent. Hundreds of people jailed under the law became eligible for bail.

THE LATEST NEWS

World News

The Hong Kong police arrested three prominent activists, including a retired bishop and a pop star, under the national security law.

New Zealand will fully reopen its borders at the end of July, two months ahead of schedule, in an effort to speed up economic recovery.

Canada’s trucker protests have spawned a vocal constituency courted by the country’s Conservative Party.

The E.U. will no longer recommend that masks be required for air travel, citing vaccination levels.

U.S. News

Consumer prices are still rising rapidly, though annual inflation moderated for the first time in months. Americans differ on whom to blame.

A shortage of baby formula has caused some parents to drive for hours in search of supplies.

Senate Republicans blocked a bill to safeguard abortion rights, thwarting Democrats’ effort to enshrine Roe v. Wade in federal law. Half of U.S. women risk losing abortion access.

Deaths from overdoses increased nearly 15 percent in 2021, according to preliminary C.D.C. data.

An initial investigation found burial sites at more than 50 former boarding schools for Indigenous children, accounting for over 500 deaths. The number is expected to grow.

What Else Is Happening

The Guggenheim Museum in New York and the National Gallery in London are removing the Sackler family name from their walls.

Spinal fluid from young mice sharpened the memories of older rodents, a finding that could lead to treatment in humans.

After 22 years, Apple is ending production of the iPod.

A Morning Read

Israeli soldiers had long denied killing prisoners after capturing an Arab seaside town in 1948, days after Israel’s creation. A new documentary provides fresh evidence, reopening a debate about the country’s foundational story.

How the Supply Chain Crisis Unfolded

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The pandemic sparked the problem. The highly intricate and interconnected global supply chain is in upheaval. Much of the crisis can be traced to the outbreak of Covid-19, which triggered an economic slowdown, mass layoffs and a halt to production. Here’s what happened next:

ARTS AND IDEAS

Eurovision 2022, by the numbers

The Eurovision Song Contest is the world’s largest live music event. It is also almost certainly the kitschiest. This year’s competition takes place this week in Turin, Italy, where nations are going head-to-head for the (non-monetary) glory of a win, as well as an official winner’s trophy shaped like a 1950s microphone. Here’s what you need to know.

66: Years since the contest started in 1956. (It was initially a friendly competition between public service television broadcasters.)

40: Countries participating in this year’s contest. In an unusually political move, the organizers have barred Russia from competing “in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine.”

1974: Year in which Abba won the competition, with the song “Waterloo.”

183 million: Total viewers of last year’s contest.

Three: Maximum length in minutes for each song, according to the contest’s rules.

33,938: Population of the smallest country competing — San Marino, a landlocked enclave within Italy.

2016: The last time Ukraine won, with the song “1944” by Jamala. The country, represented by the rap and folk band Kalush Orchestra, is this year’s favorite to win. —Natasha Frost