EU Backs IP Waiver

The European Union today backed a U.S. proposal to discuss waiving patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines, but drugmakers and some other governments opposed the idea, saying it would not solve global inoculation shortages, as Reuters reports.

Dual Threats to Ukraine

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Ukraine’s president today that the United States strongly backed his country’s sovereignty against Russia’s military aggression but also warned that the embattled country was under threat from “internal forces,” including powerful oligarchs who thrive on corruption, as the NYT reports.

Warlike Police Raid in Rio

At least 25 people were killed in a police raid this morning in what police and researchers are calling one of the deadliest police shootings in the history of Rio de Janeiro, as the Washington Post reports.

Executive Education

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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

13,000

In 2021, more than 1.4 million Covid-19 deaths have been reported globally as the virus has torn through Latin America and swaths of Asia, according to official tallies compiled at the University of Oxford. With global recorded deaths rising by about 13,000 daily, the virus’s toll looks set within weeks to surpass the 1.8 million deaths recorded for the whole of 2020.

Source: WSJ

Critical Quote

“Russia has pulled back some forces, but significant forces remain on Ukraine’s border. And so Russia has the capacity on fairly short notice to take aggressive actions if it so chooses.”

— Secretary of State Antony Blinken

iDeas Lab

As of the first quarter of 2021, China possesses 10 of the top 100 ports in the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index, which scores countries and their respective container ports based on their level of integration into established liner shipping routes. That figure rises to 11 ports when including Hong Kong. Only the United States, with nine ports in the top 100, comes close to matching China.

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: Efrem Lukatsky/POOL/AFP via Getty Images.) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speak after their meeting today in Kiev.

This Town Tomorrow

Tomorrow, at 9:30 a.m., the CSIS Korea Chair holds a discussion on the U.S.-ROK alliance and its prospects for renewal and growth against mutual challenges in the Indo-Pacific.

And, at 10:00 a.m., the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security invites Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-IL) for a timely conversation about this new phase in the national Covid-19 response.

Later, at 1:00 p.m., CSIS and the U.S. Naval Institute host the latest Maritime Security Dialogue. Rear Admiral Douglas Small will discuss steps the Navy is taking to implement Project Overmatch, the Navy’s Joint All Domain Command and Control implementation program.

Video

The CSIS Defending Democratic Institutions Project, in partnership with the Yale University Women's Organization and the CSIS Smart Women, Smart Power Initiative, yesterday released a conversation with House Appropriations Committee chair Rosa DeLauro on the importance of civic education as a national security imperative. Watch the full conversation here.

Podcasts

On the latest episode of Pekingology, host Jude Blanchette speaks with Indiana University's Jason Wu to discuss his work mapping the substance and spectrum of ideology in China.

Listen on Spotify, Google Play, & Apple Podcasts.

Smiles

“I have had such an incredible and blessed journey as a musician, singer and human. The time has come for me to stop ripping and running on the road.”

Today, a bittersweet smile. Octogenarian Aaron Neville announced that he will retire from touring except for the odd benefit or special appearance so that he can “spend my remaining time on this earth being less hurried.”

I’ll never forget seeing Aaron perform, especially in New Orleans’ legendary music club Tipitinas. And I will never forget the first time (as a 19-year-old) that I bumped into him while throwing a football with my friends in our Uptown New Orleans neighborhood. Aaron was our friendly neighbor around the corner. That was a pretty cool thing, especially when magical moments would happen like a casual drive up the street would reveal Aaron and Van Morrison standing on Aaron’s porch watching the rain fall down.

And it was such an incredibly generous gift that Aaron allowed Bob Schieffer and me to use music from his 2016 album “Apache” for our podcast “About the News.”

Aaron, we wish you a happy, healthy and blessed retirement. Performances like this one have given so much to so many.

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.