Sharaa at the White House. Ahmed al-Sharaa today will become the first Syrian president to visit the White House since 1946, eleven months after his rebel alliance ousted former leader Bashar al-Assad. The countries are expected to discuss joint efforts to counter the self-declared Islamic State. Sharaa has also called for the suspension of remaining U.S. sanctions on Syria.
Chinese export permission. China will allow the export of some chips made by Dutch-based, Chinese-owned company Nexperia after previously banning them, its commerce ministry said yesterday. The ban, imposed in response to the Dutch government’s bid to take over the company, had disrupted supply chains for automakers worldwide. In another sign of easing business tensions between China and the West, both China and the United States today implemented a previously agreed freeze on port fees.
UK troops to Belgium. The UK is sending personnel and equipment to Belgium after unidentified drones were sighted near Belgian airports and military bases last week, the head of the UK military said yesterday. European countries have accused Russia of being responsible for a series of drone incursions across the region in recent months.
Bolivia-U.S. ties. New center-right Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz has agreed to grant Starlink a license to operate in the country and take steps to encourage U.S. investment and tourism to Bolivia. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau attended Paz’s inauguration Saturday and has said the countries are entering a “new era” of cooperation after almost twenty years of left-wing rule in Bolivia.
U.S. talks on shutdown. The U.S. Senate advanced a measure to end the government shutdown late last night, with a handful of Democratic lawmakers supporting the proposal. It would fund most federal agencies through January. To end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, a vote is also required in the House of Representatives.
Super typhoon. At least six people died and more than a million were evacuated after Typhoon Fung-wong hit the Philippines yesterday. It made landfall as a super typhoon with winds of 115 miles per hour, and came in the wake of Typhoon Kalmaegi, which killed more than two hundred people in the country.
Japan’s leader talks Taiwan. Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae said Friday that an attack on Taiwan would be a “survival-threatening situation” that could trigger the use of Japanese force. Her public comments broke with a general pattern of previous Japanese leaders discussing such contingencies for Taiwan in private. China’s consul general in Japan wrote and then deleted a social media post threatening to “cut off that dirty neck that has been lunged at us,” prompting outcry from Tokyo. China’s foreign ministry disavowed the consul general’s language but noted that it also took issue with Takaichi’s comments.
BBC resignations. The chair of the BBC apologized in a letter to UK lawmakers for an “error of judgment” regarding the network’s editing of a Trump speech delivered ahead of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. The BBC’s top executive and head of news both quit after criticism over the editing, which removed a comment from Trump encouraging supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
