Key Storylines
- AFRICA: Senegalese President Macky Sall will travel to Russia and Ukraine soon in his capacity as the current chairman of the African Union.
- AMERICAS: President Joe Biden said the US has enough vaccines to deal with a potential outbreak of monkeypox and “extra efforts” are not needed to prevent its spread.
- ASIA: New Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese was sworn into office before flying to Tokyo for a summit with US President Joe Biden.
- EUROPE: A Russian soldier was sentenced to life in prison for killing an unarmed civilian, in the first war crimes trial since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- MIDDLE EAST: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi vowed revenge over the killing of senior Revolutionary Guard member Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei who was gunned down in the heart of Tehran.
- TECH & COMMUNICATIONS: Clearview AI has been fined more than $9.4 million by the UK’s privacy watchdog for illegally creating a database filled with billions of images taken from social media and the internet.
Top Story
- Global: US President Joe Biden Said he Would be Willing to Use Force to Defend Taiwan.
- US President Joe Biden said he would be willing to use force to defend Taiwan, capping a series of critical comments about China while in Asia that an aide said represented no change in US policy toward the self-ruled island.
- Speaking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden said any effort by China to use force against Taiwan would “just not be appropriate.”
- Taiwan’s foreign ministry thanked Biden for reaffirming US support if Beijing invaded the island.
- China’s foreign ministry expressed “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to the remarks, before adding that Beijing has no room for compromise or concessions relating to matters of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
- Responding to President Biden’s comment, a White House official underscored the president’s assertion that American policy toward Taiwan had not changed.
- The US acknowledges China’s government considers Taiwan as part of “one China,” but it opposes any attempts to change the island’s self-governing, democratic status by force.
- Reuters, AP, CNBC, Bloomberg. WSJ, Axios,
Africa
- DR Congo: The United Nations force in the east condemned attacks against it by M23 rebels and urged them to “immediately cease hostilities.” (BBC)
- Kenya: The National Integrity Alliance (NIA) urged institutions vetting electoral candidates to disqualify 25 politicians from running for office over integrity concerns. (BBC)
- Senegal: President Macky Sall will travel to Russia and Ukraine soon in his capacity as the current chairman of the African Union. (BBC)
- South Africa: Hundreds of residents have been evacuated in KwaZulu-Natal province amid a high alert over renewed flooding. (BBC)
- Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni says his government will not intervene in the current economic situation amid a rising cost of living. (BBC)
Americas
- Canada: Authorities said the death toll from powerful storms that lashed the country’s east over the weekend has risen to eight. (AFP)
- Mexico: Activists demonstrated in the downtown area of Ciudad Juarez against militarization and the growing wave of femicides in the city. (EFE)
- Peru: President Pedro Castillo shuffled his Cabinet replacing the interior minister and the mining minister amid rising tensions over protests in the world’s second largest copper producing country. (Reuters)
- United States: President Joe Biden said the country has enough vaccines to deal with a potential outbreak of monkeypox and “extra efforts” are not needed to prevent its spread. (AFP)
- Venezuela: Iranian state firms have started preparations to revamp the Paraguana Refining Center following a contract to repair its smallest facility. (Reuters)
Asia
- Australia: New prime minister Anthony Albanese was sworn into office before flying to Tokyo for a summit with US President Joe Biden. (AP)
- China: Allegations of human rights abuses in the northwestern Xinjiang region will dominate a visit by the United Nations’ top rights official Michelle Bachelet. (AP)
- North Korea: A large number of people including leader Kim Jong Un attended a funeral for a top official despite outside worries about its COVID-19 outbreak. (AP)
- Philippines: A fire on a ferry in the northeast killed seven people and forced many others to jump into the water, where they were rescued by other vessels. (AP)
- Thailand: Bangkok residents elected independent politician Chadchart Sittipunt as the capital’s new governor representing opponents of the country’s military-backed government. (AP)
Europe
- Region: The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed in a Brussels meeting to “advance discussions” on a peace treaty over a troubled region that saw a war break out in 2020. (AFP)
- Germany: Economy Minister Robert Habeck has warned Hungary against blocking efforts to impose a European Union-wide embargo on Russian oil imports in response to the war in Ukraine. (Reuters)
- Poland: President Andrzej Duda underscored his nation’s support for Ukraine as Russian forces pursued a relentless bombardment of frontline cities in the east. (AFP)
- Russia: A soldier was sentenced to life in prison for killing an unarmed civilian, in the first war crimes trial since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. (CNBC)
- Spain: Ex-king Juan Carlos I visited his son and current monarch Felipe VI in Madrid during a controversial trip home after two years in self-imposed exile. (AFP)
Middle East
- Iran: President Ebrahim Raisi vowed revenge over the killing of senior Revolutionary Guard member Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei who was gunned down in the heart of Tehran. (AP)
- Iraq: Authorities closed public buildings and temporarily shut airports as another sandstorm hit the country. (AFP)
- Israel: Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s chief of staff resigned less than two weeks after another senior aide bolted in a double blow to a leader who has yet to complete his first year in power. (Reuters)
- Qatar: Prosecutors said a homicide investigation has been opened after a security guard at the country’s Embassy in Paris was killed and a suspect arrested. (AP)
- Yemen: The head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, said the group was not against extending a U.N.-brokered truce, despite describing it as “not encouraging enough.” (Reuters)
Tech & Communications
- Technology: Clearview AI has been fined more than $9.4 million by the UK’s privacy watchdog for illegally creating a database filled with billions of images taken from social media and the internet. (Forbes)
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 23MAY22)
- Confirmed cases: 525,618,514
- Deaths: 6,277,339
- Countries with confirmed cases: 192
- Sourcing: John Hopkins University
- COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease: Global (as of 23MAY22)
Tomorrow’s Outlook (24MAY22)
- Event: Atlantic Council conversation with Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
- Event: Discussion on 2022 Brazilian Election.
- Global: Orthodox St. Cyril and Methodius Day.
- Global: Amnesty publishes annual death penalty review.
- Global: 2022 Atlantic hurricane season forecast released.
- Albania: Presidential election (by the Parliament).
- Belgium: ECOFIN meeting of EU finance ministers.
- Eritrea: Independence Day.
- Germany: G7 Labor and Social Affairs Ministers Meeting.
- Japan: Quad Leaders’ Summit.
- Sri Lanka: IMF expects to conclude technical talks over a possible loan program.
- South Africa: Visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz.
- Switzerland: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. (to 26MAY)
- United States: Primary elections in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Texas run-offs.
END
