World News at a Glance

Taliban Say Haqqani Founder Is Dead

For the first time, the Taliban have confirmed the death of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a U.S. ally from the Cold War who later turned his weapons against the United States as the founder of the feared Haqqani militant network, behind some of the deadliest attacks of the 17-year Afghan war. In their announcement Tuesday, the Taliban gave no details on the timing of Haqqani’s death. Throughout his 70s, he remained ill even as his followers continued in his name to stage huge bombings and suicide commando attacks in Afghan cities. Afghan officials have maintained that Haqqani has been dead for at least four years.

A Top Chinese Official (Not Xi Jinping) Will Visit North Korea

President Xi Jinping of China will send a top official to North Korea this weekend to attend major national celebrations there, state-controlled media in both countries reported Tuesday. Li Zhanshu, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and the head of China’s rubber-stamp parliament, will lead a delegation to Pyongyang, the capital, as Xi’s special envoy, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said. North Korea plans to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of its government on Sunday with large celebrations. Xi might have been put in an embarrassing position if the military parade had shown off nuclear-capable weaponry while he and Kim looked on.

Pakistan’s Military Has Quietly Reached Out to India for Talks

Concerned about Pakistan’s international isolation and faltering economy, the country’s powerful military has quietly reached out to its archrival India about resuming peace talks, but the response was tepid, according to Western diplomats and a senior Pakistani official. Pakistan offered to resume on-and-off talks with India over the border dispute in the Kashmir region. A key objective for Pakistan in reaching out to India is to open barriers to trade between the countries, which would give Pakistan more access to regional markets.

Japan Hit by Jebi, Strongest Typhoon in 25 Years; 2 Million Urged to Flee

Close to 3,000 people were trapped at a major airport in southern Japan after a powerful storm made landfall Tuesday, bringing widespread flooding and winds of up to 130 mph. Nine people were dead, according to local news reports. The storm, Typhoon Jebi, prompted government evacuation orders for about 49,000 people across southern Japan, with an additional 2 million people advised to flee, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. The storm traversed Japan’s main island of Honshu before traveling up its western coast. An oil tanker unmoored by the storm crashed into the only bridge that connects Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay to the mainland.

The Kremlin Wants Information. To Get It, Agents Show Up With Flowers.

Russia’s vast security apparatus often displays its power through brutal actions: burly police officers in riot gear pummeling protesters or mysterious thugs assaulting and occasionally assassinating opposition politicians and journalists. A gentler, more insidious face of the system, however, belongs to the courteous, smiling man who, carrying a bouquet of flowers, showed up early last month at the apartment of Nataliya Gryaznevich. The man told Gryaznevich, an employee of a pro-democracy group called Open Russia, he would like to have a friendly chat. Although initially mystified, she recognized what was going on when he asked about her trips abroad and her foreign contacts. He was trying to recruit her as an informer.

U.K.'s Labour: Snatching Defeat From Victory’s Jaws

As Prime Minister Theresa May’s government tears itself apart over plans to quit the European Union, there could scarcely be a better time for the opposition Labour Party to exploit the disarray and press its case to govern Britain. Instead, Labour’s left-wing leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is embroiled in a crisis largely of his own making over anti-Semitism — one that has crystallized internal divisions and stirred speculation about a breakaway by centrist lawmakers. And hanging over that squabble are two other divisive issues with the potential to break Corbyn’s Labour Party apart: its position on Brexit and possible changes in party rules that centrists fear could be used to purge them.

What Was Lost in the Brazil National Museum Fire

David Reich, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, said he had struggled to think of an appropriate way to understand the destruction of Brazil’s National Museum by fire. “It’s as if the Metropolitan Museum of Art burned down,” he said. He was responding to a question about Luzia, the name given to one of the oldest examples of human remains in the Americas. It may have been lost in the fire on Sunday night. But his reaction was to the extent of the loss. As valuable as that specimen was, it was almost trivial in comparison to the vast scope of the museum, which was a cultural and scientific treasure.

Britain Urged to Tax Rich and Lift Wages in Report

Britain needs sweeping changes to redress its economic failings, rising inequality and the corrosive legacy of the financial crisis, according to a report from a committee. The group outlined a 10-year plan for the sort of transformation experienced twice in Britain in the last century: once after World War II and then in the 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher unleashed the free market to jolt the economy. Commissioned by the Institute for Public Policy Research, the report, “Prosperity & Justice: A Plan for the New Economy,” landed just as Britain is grappling with its looming exit from the European Union, a move that has already slowed investment and dampened economic growth.