Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde will begin a seven-day visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the invitation of President Félix Tshisekedi.
- AMERICAS: US President Joe Biden said he would announce this week at the Summit of the Americas a new economic partnership, the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity.
- ASIA: Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has promoted his finance minister Lawrence Wong as his deputy as part of a succession plan.
- EUROPE: Swedish lawmakers are holding a vote of no confidence against justice minister Morgan Johansson.
- MIDDLE EAST: The Israeli government failed to pass a bill extending legal protections for settlers in the West Bank, a major setback for the fragile coalition.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Apple opened Monday its first in-person developers conference since the onset of the pandemic displaying new hardware and software features.
Top Story
- United States: Vice President Kamala Harris Touts $3.2 Billion Investment Aimed at Stemming Central American Migration to the United States.
- Vice President Kamala Harris marshaled $3.2 billion in corporate pledges to tackle the factors that drive some Central Americans to migrate to the United States.
- The commitments by businesses aim to “provide hope for people in the region to build safe and prosperous lives at home.”
- Some of the new initiatives being announced include a $700 million expansion of cellular networks in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador by Millicom, and a $270 million commitment by Visa to promote digital payments.
- Harris plans to announce a women’s empowerment program aimed at connecting 1.4 million women to the financial system and the digital economy and to train 500,000 women and girls in job skills.
- She will also announce a $50-million “Central American Service Corps” funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development to offer paid community service jobs to young people.
- The Biden administration’s $4 billion aid package for Central America has stalled in Congress with little apparent effort to revive it.
- Reuters, AFP, WH, LA Times, WH2, AP
Africa
- Chad: Six opposition leaders, including the coordinator for the main opposition coalition Wakit Tamma, have been handed one-year suspended sentences for disturbing public order. (BBC)
- DR Congo: Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde will begin a seven-day visit to the country at the invitation of President Félix Tshisekedi. (BBC)
- Kenya: The electoral body said four candidates are in the running to become the next president, including current deputy president William Ruto and veteran politician Raila Odinga. (AFP)
- Mali: The ruling junta adopted a 24-month plan to transition to democracy following negotiations with regional bloc ECOWAS. (Reuters)
- South Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa will appear below his party’s Integrity Commission in reference to his ongoing burglary scandal. (AFP)
Americas
- Argentina: The government proposed a tax on companies earning “extraordinary income” from the war in Ukraine, particularly in the grains industry. (Reuters)
- Bolivia: Prosecutors are seeking a 15-year sentence for ex-president Jeanine Anez, on trial for an alleged plot against her predecessor Evo Morales. (AFP)
- Brazil: British journalist Dom Phillips and an Indigenous affairs official are still missing in a remote part of the Amazon as authorities say they are expanding search efforts in the area. (AP)
- Colombia: Naval officials discovered two new historical shipwrecks near the San Jose galleon near Cartagena. (Reuters)
- United States: President Joe Biden said he would announce this week at the Summit of the Americas a new economic partnership, the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity. (Reuters)
Asia
- Region: South Korea and the United States staged a joint air power demonstration during a visit by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who said there would be a strong response if North Korea were to conduct a nuclear test. (Reuters)
- Hong Kong: The city’s largest national security case was sent to trial after 15 months in pre-trial procedures during which most of the 47 defendants were denied bail. (AFP)
- India: Muslim-majority countries lodged diplomatic complaints against the government after top officials in the ruling party made derogatory references to Islam. (AP)
- Singapore: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has promoted his finance minister Lawrence Wong as his deputy as part of a succession plan. (AP)
- Thailand: The navy said 59 ethnic Rohingya traveled from Bangladesh on a fishing boat and the ship’s captain left them on the island telling them it was Malaysia. (SCMP)
Europe
- Russia: The Kremlin announced retaliatory sanctions against 61 US officials and business leaders. (RFE/RL)
- Spain: The High Court called on the CEO of Israel’s software firm NSO Group to testify as a witness in a case opened on the spying of politicians with a software called Pegasus that was developed by the firm. (Reuters)
- Sweden: Lawmakers are holding a vote of no confidence against justice minister Morgan Johansson. (AFP)
- Ukraine: Russian occupiers have imposed a quarantine in Mariupol following an outbreak of cholera. (WaPo)
- United Kingdom: Prime Minister Boris Johnson tried to shore up his leadership by setting out new policies to ministers after he narrowly survived a confidence vote that revealed the scale of the threat to his position. (Reuters)
Middle East
- Afghanistan: The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) issued an interim report concluding that former president Ashraf Ghani did not steal millions of dollars as he fled Kabul. (AFP)
- Israel: The government failed to pass a bill extending legal protections for settlers in the West Bank, a major setback for the fragile coalition. (AP)
- Saudi Arabia: The White House defended plans for President Joe Biden to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite US intelligence determining that he ordered the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (AFP)
- Syria: The US Army Criminal Investigation division identified a US service member as a possible suspect in an explosion on the Green Village military base in Deir ez-Zor. (AP)
- United Arab Emirates: Dubai police arrested two brothers from the Gupta family wanted in connection with a corruption case involving former South African President Jacob Zuma. (AP)
Tech & Communications
- Technology: Apple opened Monday its first in-person developers conference since the onset of the pandemic displaying new hardware and software features. (AFP)
World
- Cyclones: Nothing to Report.
- Hurricanes: Nothing to Report.
- Earthquakes: Nothing to Report.
- Volcanoes: Nothing to Report.
- Global Disease Outbreaks:
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 07JUN22)
- Confirmed cases: 532,444,602
- Deaths: 6,300,269
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 07JUN22)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (08JUN22)
- Global: World Oceans Day.
- France: International Economic Forum on Latin America and the Caribbean in Paris.
- South Korea: Quarantine requirement for unvaccinated travelers to be lifted.
- Switzerland: International Labor Conference annual session in Geneva. (to 11JUN)
- Switzerland: Former soccer chiefs Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini begin corruption trial.
- Turkey: Visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
- United States: Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. (to 10JUN)
- United States: Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on US Syria policy.
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