President Joe Biden announced that the United States will send eighty million COVID-19 vaccine doses (WSJ) abroad, responding to pressure from U.S. lawmakers and activists as well as to China’s and Russia’s vaccine diplomacy. 

The Biden administration previously announced that the United States would donate sixty million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not approved for use domestically. Now, an additional twenty million doses of the U.S.-approved Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be shipped by the end of June. Biden also tasked Jeff Zients, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, with developing a global inoculation strategy (NYT). Some experts criticized the move as insufficient. Though cases are declining in the United States, the recent surge in India and other parts of Asia—where less than 5 percent of people have received at least one vaccine dose, compared with nearly half of the U.S. population, according to the Washington Post—has led to concerns about the spread of virus variants that could be more dangerous.

Japan’s government withdrew a bill (Kyodo) that could have harmed asylum seekers after it faced opposition due to the death of a Sri Lankan woman detained at an immigration facility. Critics said her death exposed the flaws in Japan’s asylum process, and opposition lawmakers demanded an investigation of the incident.

Hong Kong: The government suspended operations (Reuters) at its representative office in Taiwan. Tensions have risen between the Beijing-backed Hong Kong government and Taiwan, which is governed separately from mainland China, since Beijing imposed a repressive national security law on Hong Kong in 2020. 

This Backgrounder looks at China’s crackdown on Hong Kong.

The United States imposed financial sanctions (AP) on sixteen people linked to Myanmar’s military junta and on the military-created State Administration Council over the junta’s brutal crackdown following its February coup. 

Pakistan: Saifullah Paracha, a seventy-three-year-old man who is the oldest prisoner at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, was approved for release (News International), his lawyer said. He has been held for more than sixteen years on suspicion of involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, though he was never charged with a crime.

President Biden for the first time signaled support for a cease-fire (NYT) between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza but did not call for an immediate end to the violence. Many Democratic lawmakers have demanded an immediate cease-fire, and international pressure for one is growing.

Iran: Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iran’s longest-serving oil minister, said he will step down (Bloomberg) when President Hassan Rouhani’s term ends this year. Zanganeh has served since 2013 and helped attract foreign companies to Iran.

A corruption trial for former South African President Jacob Zuma, slated to begin today, was delayed until next week (Al Jazeera) after Zuma’s defense raised concerns with the lead prosecutor. The trial, which has been repeatedly postponed, comes amid an anticorruption drive by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ruling African National Congress party that has caused internal rifts.

Ethiopia: World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the situation in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where fighting has continued for months, is “horrific” (AFP). Tedros, who is from Tigray, condemned “rampant” rapes and indiscriminate killings in the region and said five million people are in need of humanitarian aid.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed legislation giving law enforcement officers more latitude to shoot protesters (RFE/RL). Thousands of people in Belarus have been arrested during demonstrations against Lukashenko, who the opposition believes fraudulently won the August 2020 election.

Brussels: The European Union agreed to postpone a June 1 increase in its retaliatory tariffs (WSJ) on U.S. goods, including whiskey, motorcycles, and boats. The EU duties are in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum products, which the Donald Trump administration imposed. The United States and the EU will enter talks aimed at reducing the global overproduction of steel.

This Backgrounder explains tariffs.

Colombian President Ivan Duque ordered a mass deployment of police (MercoPress) and other security forces to clear roads as protests continue throughout the country. Duque said the demonstrators have a “criminal interest to sabotage the economy.”

Argentina: The government moved to ban meat exports (Buenos Aires Times) for thirty days in an effort to curb rising inflation in Argentina.