U.S. Backs IP Waiver for Covid

The Biden administration said it would back a proposal at the World Trade Organization to waive intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines to help speed up global production, as the NYT reports.

Colombia’s Deadly Protests

Eight days of protests have left 25 people dead, a major city cut off from food supplies and Colombia’s conservative government scrambling to assert control as it fights the country’s worst Covid-19 surge, as the WSJ reports.

Israeli Opposition Leader Given Chance to Form New Government

Yair Lapid, a former news anchor and leader of Israel's centrist opposition, was picked to negotiate a new governing coalition Wednesday, opening the possibility of Israel getting its first government not led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in more than a decade, as the Washington Post reports.

Executive Education

Expand your professional horizons with an Executive Master in International Relations from CSIS and the #1-ranked Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in as few as 18 months. Work alongside top policy experts at the leading international security think tank while developing the leadership skills, international perspective, and technical expertise needed to excel in today’s global landscape.

Video Shorts

Check out CSIS’s new series of video shorts: “Data Unpacked,” Testify,” “What's Happening,” “Preview,” and “High Resolution.” And don’t forget to subscribe to the CSIS YouTube Channel!

In That Number

1.5

Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could reduce sea level rise from melting ice sheets from about 10 inches to about five by 2100 according to a new study.

Source: NYT

Critical Quote

“The Board has upheld Facebook’s decision on January 7, 2021, to restrict then-President Donald Trump’s access to posting content on his Facebook page and Instagram account. However, it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension.”

— Facebook Oversight Board

iDeas Lab

U.S.-India security ties are off to a strong start in the first months of the Biden administration. However, the potential application of CAATSA sanctions against India for the continued purchases of Russian-made defense equipment looms ever larger on the horizon.

The Andreas C. Dracopoulos iDeas Lab at CSIS enhances our research with the latest in cutting-edge web technologies, design, and multimedia.

Optics

(Photo credit: Oren Ben Hakoon/AFP via Getty Images.) Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid (There Is a Future) party, arrives at the Israeli President's residence in Jerusalem on May 5, 2021.

This Town Tomorrow

Tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., join the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues for the second day of the annual Capstone Conference. The conference will feature two panels of experts from the U.S. military, internationally renowned universities, and the technology and weapons industries, as well as presentations on new and emerging weapons and AI technologies.

Earlier, at 9:30 a.m., the Wilson Center will convene with the Forum for Climate Engineering Assessment, and the Union of Concerned Scientists to examine recommendations for the development of a robust, equitable, and responsibly governed solar geoengineering research program.

Then, at 2:00 p.m., Inter-American Dialogue will host a discussion on the importance of investments in health to sustained economic recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Video

Earlier today, the CSIS Defending Democratic Institutions Project hosted a conversation with House Appropriation Committee Chair Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro on the intersection between civic education and national security. Watch the full video here.

Podcasts

This week on Babel, Jon Alterman talks with Khaled Dawoud—who was arrested amidst rising political tensions in Egypt in September 2019 and was released from prison two weeks ago—to examine the relationship between journalism, politics, and activism.

Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

Neo-blues artists, the Black Keys, have been one of my favorite bands since I got hip to their second record, 2003’s “Thickfreakness.” On May 14, the duo that comprise the band, guitarist/singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Pat Carney will release their new album “Delta Kream” and I’m craving it already. Why? Because the Keys deployed the promotional strategy du jour and teased a single and video in advance of the record release which I can’t stop listening to.

It’s a cover of the blues standard, “Crawling Kingsnake,” a track that has been recorded by everyone from John Lee Hooker to Jim Morrison and the Doors. The Keys’ cover is based on the late north Mississippi bluesman Junior Kimbrough’s otherworldly cover of the tune. When you watch this video, you might notice that the slide guitar player in the cowboy hat is blues master Kenny Brown who performed with the late R.L. Burnside for over twenty years and the bass player is Junior Kimbrough’s former bandmate Eric Deaton. Oh, and this video was shot in the historic Blue Front Café in Bentonia, Mississippi. It doesn’t get any deeper than this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVMa9TpRxk4.

I invite you to email me at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter @handrewschwartz

The Evening is my daily guide to key insights CSIS brings to the events of the day. It is composed with the External Relations team: Emma Colbran, Caleb Diamond, and Kendal Gee.