The protests against “zero Covid” were a rare rebuke of Xi Jinping’s rule, and Beijing apparently seeks to deter those who might have been emboldened by them.
Kyiv’s mayor ordered people to seek shelter and said that at least one person was dead. There were also reports of missile strikes in western Ukraine and outside Odesa.
A government notice made no mention of Covid-19, but state media said the authorities were taking measures in the capital to “cope with the daily-worsening world health crisis.”
As inflation hits the pockets of families who already had little to spare, food banks say they are getting much busier and seeing more people with jobs.
The war has raised the influence of Central and Eastern European countries with negative views of Russia, amplified calls to expand the E.U. and NATO, and dimmed the power of France and Germany.