The New York Times: Η προσπάθεια της Ουκρανίας να ενισχύσει τον στρατό της και η απεργία στους εργαζομένους στον τομέα της ανθρωπιστικής βοήθειας στη Γάζα – Η Ουκρανία μείωσε την ηλικία των στρατευμάτων στα 25 – Τι συνέβη με τη συνοδεία βοήθειας που χτυπήθηκε στη Γάζα – Εννέα νεκροί στον σεισμό στην Ταϊβάν – #MeToo, στη Γαλλία

Ukrainian soldiers training in the Donetsk region this week. Nicole Tung for The New York Times

Ukraine lowered its draft age to 25

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law lowering Ukraine’s draft age from 27 to 25, an attempt to replenish the ranks of a battered army that could create a political backlash. He also signed laws to eliminate some medical exemptions and create a database to crack down on draft dodgers.

Parliament passed the draft law last May, but Zelensky had delayed signing it in the hope that it would not be needed. But casualty rates are high, most men who want to volunteer have already done so, and many soldiers have been in combat continuously for two years.

Russia has been on the offensive, and Ukraine’s generals have warned of a broader attack in the spring or the summer. Even with an influx of new soldiers and much-needed weaponry from the U.S., Ukraine is expected this year to hold the existing front lines — at best.

Concerns: Lowering the draft age will mobilize thousands of healthy and rested soldiers, but it poses long-term risks for Ukraine’s population, given the country’s demographics.

NATO: The alliance’s top diplomat said that it was poised to take more control over military support for Ukraine from the U.S. amid worries about the reliability of American aid, especially if Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Ambulances carrying the bodies of the World Central Kitchen workers, at the Rafah crossing into Egypt. Said Khatib/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

What happened to the aid convoy hit in Gaza

The seven workers killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes were returning to Rafah at night after transporting tons of food from a World Central Kitchen ship to a warehouse near Dier al Balah. The charity said that the Israeli military had been informed of the aid workers’ movements before their convoy was attacked.

“It was a mistake that followed a misidentification, at night during the war in a very complex condition,” the Israeli military’s chief of staff said in a video. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

Videos and photos verified by The New York Times suggested that the convoy had been hit several times. Weapons experts said that the three vehicles had each been struck by small, precise munitions, most likely fired from a drone.

Hunger: World Central Kitchen said it was suspending operations in the Gaza Strip and sent three ships with hundreds of tons of desperately needed food back to Cyprus. Other aid groups are weighing their options.

Biden’s response: The president said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the killings, but the White House has been silent on whether the tragedy would lead to conditions on the weapons the U.S. sends to Israel.

The magnitude-7.4 quake was followed by more than 200 aftershocks on Wednesday. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Nine killed in Taiwan earthquake

Nine people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured in Taiwan’s most powerful earthquake in 25 years. Ninety-three people were stranded in Hualien County, near the epicenter, including dozens of cement factory workers in two rock quarries, officials said this morning.

The magnitude-7.4 quake lasted more than a minute, knocking down some buildings and leaving others teetering. More than 200 aftershocks, many over magnitude 5, roiled the island for the rest of the day.

Officials said more aftershocks were likely in the next four days, and the forecast called for rain, which could make travel conditions on damaged roads more treacherous.

See photos of the earthquake’s aftermath.

Context: Taiwan’s model earthquake response system has evolved over the past few decades after some of the island’s largest and most destructive quakes, like a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in 1999 that killed nearly 2,500 people.

Isaac Kasamani/EPA, via Shutterstock

Business and Politics

A Morning Read

George Wood/Getty Images

Muslim professional soccer players used to struggle to keep their fasts during Ramadan. But in a shift that recognizes the prevalence and value of Muslim soccer stars, some of the world’s richest leagues and teams have fully embraced Ramadan fasts.

Not every country is on board, though. The French soccer federation has faced criticism for guidelines directing teams and officials not to stop matches so players can break their fasts.

Conversation Starters

Victory babies: Do big wins increase birthrates among fans?

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: Beyoncé, N.F.L. games and boxing help make it a cash machine.

Racing for equality: Susie Wolff’s life in motor sports.

Andrea Mantovani for The New York Times

#MeToo, in France

The actress Judith Godrèche has been on a campaign to expose the abuse of children and women that she believes is stitched into the fabric of French cinema, which has not undergone a reckoning akin to the #MeToo movement in Hollywood.

In response, many other women and men have publicly spoken to say that they, like Godrèche, were victimized in the country’s revered movie industry, where some directors have long been celebrated for transgressing social and moral norms in the name of their art.

But there has been fierce resistance, too, from those who dismiss the #MeToo movement as an encroachment of puritanical American mores on an essential part of France’s intellectual and cultural identity.

Linda Xiao for The New York Times

Cook: A pan sauce featuring garlicky butter makes this shrimp scampi universally appealing.