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Biden Supports and Isolates China

U.S. President Joe Biden is working to strike a balance between enabling China and isolating it.

In an address at George Washington University, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S.’s relationship with China is the “most serious, longterm challenge” to the global balance.

He added, “China is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and increasingly, the economic diplomatic military and technological power to do it. Beijing’s vision would move us away from the universal values that have sustained so much of the world’s progress over the past 75 years.

“Put simply, the United States and China have to deal with each other for the foreseeable future. That’s why this is one of the most complex and consequential relationships of any that we have in the world today.”

But, Blinken added, “Competition need not lead to conflict. We do not seek it. We will work to avoid it. But we will defend our interests against any threat.”

Though Blinken acknowledged that China had grown in the past 50 years, he said that “under President Xi, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad.” He also noted human rights violations, violations of trade rules, and its control in Hong Kong, asserting, “Beijing insists that these are somehow internal matters, that others have no right to raise. That is wrong.”

Regarding trade, Blinken said that Beijing seeks “to make China less dependent on the world and the world more dependent on China.

“For our part, we want trade and investment as long as they’re fair, and don’t jeopardize our national security.”

Biden, he said, “believes this decade will be decisive. The Biden administration strategy can be summed up in three words: invest, align, compete.

“Beijing is determined to lead, but given America’s advantages, the competition is ours to lose – not only in terms of developing new technologies, but also in shaping how they’re used around the world, so that they’re rooted in democratic values, not authoritarian ones.”

Russia Seizes Army Radio Station

Pro-Russian troops have captured the telecommunications tower of the Ukrainian Army FM radio station in Svetlodarsk, Ukraine. After the capture, the Russian army shut down the radio station’s broadcasts.

According to the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the radio station was seized after they “liberated” the city, which is located in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast region.

On May 26, the militia announced, “Infocenter of Svetlodarsk is under the control of the allied forces.”

“After the liberation of Svetlodarsk, the soldiers of the joint forces, specialists of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the People’s Militia of the DPR and the Donetsk RTPC stopped broadcasting the Ukrainian radio channel ‘Army FM’ and two analog TV channels.

“At the same time, the base stations of Ukrainian mobile operators in the area of hostilities were promptly disabled.

“Svetlodarsk was liberated by the joint grouping of troops of the Russian Federation, LPR and DPR. The defense line of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was broken in the vicinity of Svetlodarsk. The city was liberated from Ukrainian occupation. Fighting continues in the Novoluhanske area.”

According to Ukrainian officials, Russian forces have attacked more than 40 towns in the eastern Donbas region.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to make it easier for Ukrainians in occupied areas to become citizens of Russia.

Louvre Director Accused of Art Trafficking

The former head of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, has been charged in connection with an art trafficking case.

A wide-ranging inquiry into the trafficking of ancient objects from the Middle East led French investigators to allege that Jean-Luc Martinez facilitated the objects’ transfer to the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

According to the report, the objects included a granite stele inscribed with the seal of Tutankhamun, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.

A French judicial source on Thursday told BBC that Martinez had been charged with “complicity in fraud” and “concealing the origin of criminally obtained works by false endorsement.” Investigators opened the case in 2018.

Martinez was taken for questioning along with two French specialists in Egyptian art, who were not charged.

Martinez, meanwhile, denies the charges and claims he acted in good faith.

Attorneys for Martinez, who headed the museum from 2013 until summer 2021, said that he disputed his role in the case “with the greatest firmness” and that Martinez has “no doubt that his good faith will be established.”

Ironically, Martinez now serves as the French Foreign Ministry’s ambassador in charge of international cooperation on cultural heritage, a role that includes working to prevent art trafficking.

Canada Takes Aim at Guns

On Monday, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a move to halt the sale and transfer of handguns in his country. The plan is among a package of gun control proposals heralded by some as the country’s “most significant action on gun violence in a generation.”

“These are actions that doctors, experts and chiefs of police have been calling for for years, and we’re acting on their advice,” Trudeau said.

After last week’s school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children and two teachers were killed in school by a gunman using an AR-15 style rifle, Trudeau said that “Canadians are mourning with you, and are here for you.”

The new proposal comes in response to the shocking murders.

In addition to “capping the market for handguns,” Trudeau said that his administration also introduced proposals that would increase criminal penalties to combat gun smuggling and trafficking, revoke the gun licenses of those involved in acts of domestic violence or harassment, and criminalize the modification of magazines “so they can never hold more than five rounds.”

Canada already has stringent gun control rules, including background checks and bans on 1,500 types of military-style firearms. But unlike the U.S., its northern neighbor does not have a right to gun ownership enshrined in its Constitution.

“One Canadian killed by gun violence is one too many,” Trudeau tweeted, telling reporters on Monday, “We need only look south of the border to know that if we do not take action firmly and rapidly, it gets worse and worse and more difficult to counter.”

Price Hikes in Bhutan

Global grain shortages and rising fuel costs have caused domestic prices in Bhutan to spike.

The price jump represents a risk of food scarcity for Bhutan’s population, especially those who live in rural areas, Economic Affairs Minister Loknath Sharma related.

“Scarcity of food commodities could fuel inflation higher,” Sharma said, adding that the country has enough foreign exchange reserves for about 12 months of imports.

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Sangay Dorji, secretary-general of Bhutan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, noted, “We are deeply concerned about food supplies... After fuel inflation, this will worsen the situation.”

Bhutan has a population of less than 800,000 and depends on imports to meet food demand.

According to a World Bank report last month, “About 29% of households are still worried about running out of food. Of these, almost half curtailed food consumption as a precautionary measure,” and those in rural areas are more likely to skip meals.

Bhutan is located between China and India. Its capital city is Thimphu, and its main religion is Buddhism.

Russian Filtration Camps in Ukraine

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been processed through a series of Russian “filtration camps” in eastern Ukraine.

According to four sources familiar with the latest Western intelligence, those processed were sent into Russia as part

According to CNN, although some Ukrainians volunteered for the filtration camps in order to escape the fighting, others were taken against their will at checkpoints and at bomb shelters. Each person spends about three weeks in the camps before being sent across the border and provided with state documentation.

The more fortunate Ukrainians are provided with housing in residential areas, a small amount of money, and sometimes a Russian SIM card, sources told CNN. But others are dropped off with nothing and expected to survive, while yet others are left in the filtration camps with no way to leave.

Top U.S. diplomats have condemned these camps, which intelligence officials believe are used to process all Ukrainians entering Russia.

Tanya Lokshina, Europe and Central Asia associate director for Human Rights Watch, said, “Ukrainians do not necessarily have to be thrown on a back of a truck, but many are put in a situation where they don’t have a choice: You get on the bus and go to filtration and then to Russia or you die in the shelling. These are forced transfers forbidden under the laws of war.”

Covid Chaos in Beijing

A man in Beijing landed thousands of his neighbors in quarantine after he violated the state’s stay-at-home orders and tested positive for COVID-19, CBS News reported.

Over the past five weeks, Beijing has ordered hundreds of thousands of residents to stay home, so as to stem the current outbreak of COVID-19.

According to officials, the man, who is in his 40s and surnamed Sun, failed to follow the isolation requirements after visiting a shopping center considered to be “high risk.”

Beijing public security official Pan Xuhong explained, “During the home isolation period he ... went out many times and walked in the neighborhood.”

Both Sun and his wife later tested positive, and 5,000 of their neighbors were ordered to lock down at home, with another 250 sent to a government quarantine center.

China Woos Pacific Nations

China on Monday failed to gain the support of 10 Pacific nations for a new agreement which would have covered everything from fisheries to security. Still, despite the setback, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi continued his tour of the region.

Documents show that Wang had hoped to earn the support of the 10 nations but was unable to gain the consensus.

In Fiji, Wang co-hosted a meeting with his counterparts from the 10 nations. In a news conference following the meeting, Wang and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama spoke for around half an hour before reporters could ask questions.

Bainimarama said, “As always, we put consensus first among our countries throughout any discussion on new regional agreements.”

Speaking through an interpreter, Wang said, “After the meeting, China will release its own position paper on our own positions, propositions, and cooperation proposals with Pacific Island countries. And going forward, we will continue to have ongoing and in-depth discussions and consultations to shape more consensus.”

Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Qian Bo said there were “some concerns on specific issues” from some of the ten nations.

Qian added, “We never impose anything on other countries, let alone to our developing friends and small island countries.”

David Panuelo, president of the Federated States of Micronesia, said the plan was “the single most game-changing proposed agreement in the Pacific in any of our lifetimes” and “threatens to bring a new Cold War era at best, and a World War at worst.”

Despite the larger plan being tabled for now, Wang has signed smaller bilateral agreements during every day of his tour.

Iran Building Collapse

At least 33 people were killed in southwestern Iran last week when a building collapsed. Since the incident, protesters have been challenging the government’s response to the disaster and have been demonstrating over rising food prices and other economic woes.

It is unclear who has been leading the protests, as police responded with riot gear and tear gas. Still,

18 the unrest seems be unraveling. Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari AleKasir tried to address the mourners of those who lost The Jewish Home | JUNE 2, 2022 their lives in the collapse near the site of the 10-story Metropol Building, but hundreds gathered Sunday night booed and shouted at the leader. Surrounded by bodyguards, the ayatollah, in his 60s, tried to continue but couldn’t. “What’s happening?” the cleric asked a bodyguard, who then leaned in to tell him something. The cleric then tried to address the crowd again: “My dears, please keep calm, as a sign of respect to Abadan, its martyrs and the dear (victims) the whole Iranian nation is mourning tonight.” The crowd responded by shouting: “Shameless!” A live broadcast of the event on state television then cut out. Demonstrators later chanted: “I will kill; I will kill the one who killed my brother!”

In the past, Iran has disrupted internet and telephone communications to help clamp down on unrest. Reporters Without Borders describes the Islamic Republic as the third-worst country in the world to be a journalist – behind only North Korea and Eritrea.

Following the tower collapse in Abadan on May 23, authorities acknowledged the building’s owner and corrupt government officials had allowed construction to continue at the Metropol Building despite concerns over its shoddy workmanship. The city’s mayor is among 13 people arrested as part of a broad investigation into the disaster.

Rescue teams pulled four more bodies from the rubble on Monday, bringing the death toll to 33, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Authorities fear more people could be trapped.

The collapse has raised questions about the safety of similar buildings and underscored an ongoing crisis in Iranian construction projects.

Abadan, in Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province, is home to Iran’s Arab minority, who have long complained about being treated as second-class citizens in the Persian nation.

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Greece has announced its intention to extend the length of a wall along the country’s border with Turkey. It is seeking European Union financial support for the additional construction.

Notis Mitarachi, the migration affairs minister, said the steel wall would be extended from 40 to 120km, with construction work due to start later this year.

“It is a government decision to extend the border wall further and we have requested European funding,” Mitarachi said.

Greece has accused neighbor and fellow-NATO ally Turkey of “instrumentalizing” migration as a means of exerting pressure on EU countries. Ankara has rejected the claims, noting that it has shouldered a disproportionately heavy burden, hosting about four million refugees, most of whom fled the civil war in neighboring Syria.

Last year, 12 countries, including Greece, requested EU funding for border walls, which are currently financed by national budgets.

The EU Commission does not currently pay for wall construction at its external borders, arguing that it would drain funds from other migration-related activities, including financing the EU border protection agency, Frontex.

Greece and Turkey have strained relations over a slew of issues, including competing maritime boundary claims that affect energy exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean.

Tensions flared in 2020 over exploratory drilling rights in areas in the Mediterranean Sea where Greece and Cyprus claim their own exclusive economic zone, leading to a naval standoff.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would stop talking to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and canceled a key meeting between their two governments, accusing the Greek leader of antagonizing Turkey.

At least one hundred people lost their lives this week from torrential rains that swept through northeast Brazil. Landslides and torrents of mud proved fatal for scores of people.

By Tuesday, rescue workers continued the search for people still missing after poor neighborhoods and shanty towns were swept away in the region.

Deadly flooding and landslides have killed hundreds of people in Brazil over the past year.

Experts link the bad weather to La Niña, a climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean that can affect weather worldwide.

Many factors contribute to flooding, but a warming atmosphere makes extreme rainfall more likely.

Illegal Drugs Soar in Asia

The number of methamphetamine tablets seized in Southeast and East Asia last year exceeded one billion for the first time. According to the United Nations (UN), the number highlights the scale of illegal drug production and trafficking in the region, as well as the challenges in fighting it.

The 1.008 billion tablets – which all told would weigh around 91 tons – were part of a larger regionwide haul of nearly 172 tons of various forms of methamphetamine. That is seven times higher than the amount seized a decade prior, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in a report.

At a news conference, Jeremy Douglas, Southeast Asia regional representative for the UN agency, said, “I think the

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He added, “So there’s going to have to be a radical policy shift by East Asia to address this problem or it’s just going to continue to grow.”

Douglas continued, “Production and trafficking of methamphetamine jumped yet again as supply became super concentrated in the Mekong (River region) and in particular Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.”

He explained, “There’s lots and lots of seizures being made and no impact being made on the business itself. Organized crime just keeps cranking out the volume, replacing seizures with more product.

“The chemical situation is highly complex and there’s no essential chemicals being seized, and they just continue to flow unabated, primarily through Laos into (Myanmar’s) Shan State. We also have huge money laundering operations at play in the region. We have no attempt fundamentally at the end of the day to address demand which is seemingly growing and can continue to grow because of the price point of the drug is so cheap.

“Every group denies involvement in drug production and trafficking and point at other groups as responsible, but the drug economy is arguably the largest part of the economy in most or many parts of Shan and border areas of Myanmar and there is plenty of intel connecting groups to labs and shipments.”

Colombia: TikTok King vs. Guerilla Fighter

Colombian voters have given ex-rebel Gustavo Petro a 12-percentage-point lead over the next candidate – but not enough to secure a win for the presidency outright.

The candidate with the second-highest number of votes is a 77-year-old businessman, Rodolfo Hernández, whose popularity is due in part to a savvy social media campaign.

Both candidates have promised change, and they will face off in the June 19 runoffs.

Hernández, a millionaire construction magnate, served as mayor in Bucaramanga from 2016 to 2019. An independent, his first social media videos were seen as amusing, and he was not believed to have a fighting chance against the other election candidates.

Hernández did not compete in party primaries, due to being an independent, and did not hold traditional rallies or participate in TV debates, instead preferring to communicate via TikTok, where he now has over half a million followers and his videos have garnered over four million “likes.”

Petro, on the other hand, has a long career as a democratic politician, despite the fact that in the past he was a member of the M-19 guerilla group, which has since dissolved.

Petro said, “Corruption isn’t fought with TikTok slogans, even if some very respectable people think so.”

He emphasized, “We’re not here to trap you with rhetoric, but to confront you with the facts and tell Colombian society clearly where we are headed.”

Meanwhile, the third-placed candidate, Fico Gutiérrez, has endorsed Hernández’s candidacy.

Sunday’s elections took place during a turbulent time in Colombia, as the country grapples the economic fallout of Covid and social unrest.

“We have one of the oldest democracies in this hemisphere. We have one of the most solid democracies and it becomes solid because every four years we make an orderly transition,” outgoing President Ivan Duque said on Sunday.

Duque’s own approval rating is currently at a low, with his tenure marred by his administration’s handling of police conduct, inequality, and clashes between organized criminal groups.

Turkey’s Currency Tumbles

The Turkish lira dropped 9% this month, with debt market danger estimated to be at levels last seen during the 2008 global crash.

The drop is now prompting concerns from investors that there may be a new crisis in Turkey: the lira has tumbled a total of 20% so far this year, and inflation is now at 70% and rising.

Last December, authorities avoid-