A deadly earthquake shakes Indonesia
A powerful earthquake struck near the city of Cianjur on Indonesia’s main island, Java, yesterday, killing at least 162 people and injuring hundreds more. Many people were believed to be still trapped beneath the rubble, leading to fears that the death toll would rise. As far as 60 miles away, in the capital, Jakarta, the quake shook furniture and tall buildings. See photos from the disaster.
Emergency workers and others scrambled overnight to find trapped people, dealing with blocked roads, landslides and hundreds of collapsed buildings. Rescue efforts were hampered because the main hospital had been damaged and had lost electrical power, an official said. Many people, unable to reach medical care, were being treated wherever they had been injured, he added.
The quake was very shallow, occurring at a depth of only six miles, according to official records. Shallow quakes can often be more destructive than deeper ones because the seismic waves travel a shorter distance to the surface, losing less energy along the way.
Context: The vast Indonesian archipelago lies on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines around the Pacific Basin. Large and small earthquakes occur virtually every day.
Damage: According to early reports, the earthquake destroyed 343 buildings and damaged many others, including government offices, schools and religious sites.
Famine pushes Somalia to the brink
In Somalia, where more than a million people have been displaced by drought, the country is hurtling toward a devastating humanitarian disaster. Five seasons of insufficient rains have affected 7.8 million Somalis, 300,000 of whom are experiencing severe starvation, as well as people in Kenya and Ethiopia. At the same time, the militants of Al Shabab are preventing aid groups from reaching the hardest-hit areas.
Somalis are waiting to see if aid experts will formally declare a famine in the coming weeks. Many already fear that history is repeating: Somalia’s last two great famines, in 1992 and 2011, killed half a million people between them. They, too, were the product of drought supercharged by war.
Somalia’s government declared the drought a national emergency a year ago, but aid workers say the crisis is now critical. Every minute, on average, a severely malnourished child is admitted to a health facility for treatment. Hospital wards are filling with starving children suffering from measles, pneumonia and other diseases.
By the numbers: At least 1.1 million people have abandoned their homes for crowded, dirty camps. The U.N. says it needs an additional $1 billion for emergency food, water and shelter. Without urgent action, at least 500,000 children will be at risk of death by mid-2023.
On the front line with Ukrainian fighters
From the beginning of a conflict defined by heavy aerial and artillery bombardment and grinding trench warfare, the Bratstvo battalion, a group of volunteer Ukrainian special forces fighters, has undertaken some of the conflict’s most difficult missions, in situations including early battles around the cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv.
The group gave access to reporters from The Times to report on two recent riverine operations, which took place before the recapture of Kherson. One mission had to be aborted. The other was a partial success.
For months, the fighters have conducted secret raids and other special operations as part of the Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian occupying forces. On a recent night, their mission was to slip onto the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, which Russia still holds, and lay mines on a road used by Russian soldiers.
Quotable: “All the work along the southern front increases the stress on the Russians and increases their understanding that they will have to lose some resources on this front line,” said one battalion commander. “So our actions are also some tiny input in this overall result that Russians need to accept some compromises here.”
THE LATEST NEWS
Around the World
Elon Musk’s antics at Twitter — firing people, talking of bankruptcy, telling workers to be “hard core” — are the same tactics he has previously used at many of his companies.
Musk, a serial entrepreneur and the recent buyer of the social media company, “clearly thrives in existential circumstances,” one former employee said. He added: “He quasi creates them to light the fire under everybody.”
SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC
England wins easily against Iran: Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham were exceptional in England’s decisive 6-2 World Cup opening win as Gareth Southgate’s 4-3-3 system proved successful. England is well positioned to advance from the group stage.
Cody Gakpo steals the show for the Netherlands: The PSV Eindhoven forward, who was heavily linked with a summer move to Manchester United, netted to help the Netherlands defeat Senegal.
Wales manages a late draw with U.S.: Wales managed a draw with a late penalty strike from its star, Gareth Bale, in a disappointing outcome for the U.S. team after it had controlled the match early on. Both are looking up at England in the group.
From The Times: Many believe that the single greatest flaw in for the U.S. team in this World Cup is that it is not in possession of a cutting edge, Rory Smith writes. Goals do not come easy.
ARTS AND IDEAS
Keeping the RealReal real
Online marketplaces that let shoppers buy and sell used clothing and accessories are thriving, especially at the luxury end. It has never been easier to shop another woman’s closet. But how can you be sure that her Comme des Garçons shoes or her Maison Margiela handbag are the real deal?
At the RealReal, a high-end resale marketplace that went public in 2019, an army of authenticators sift through piles of Helmut Lang and Jean Paul Gaultier to determine whether the luxury labels are legitimate — and how much they might sell for.
Dominik Halás, 29, is one of the RealReal’s master authenticators. He specializes in vintage clothing, including items that are older than he is. As a teenager, he started a fashion club, worked at a vintage boutique in Montclair, N.J., and began buying and reselling secondhand clothes online. Along the way, Halás has amassed his own fashion archive of 500 pieces.
At least once a day, he comes across pieces that cannot be authenticated. Sometimes, he’ll look at the typeface on a given tag or even the brand of a zipper to identify whether it is what it says it is, and when it dates from. But sometimes it simply comes down to expertise.
“The quality of the material is throwing me off,” he said while handling a light blue nylon jacket with a Prada logo on it. “I feel authentic Prada ready-to-wear every day, and the best way I can say it is this doesn’t feel expensive enough.”