Russia Loses Warship, Says It Will Ramp Up Strikes on Kyiv |
Russia’s defense ministry said it will increase missile attacks (AP) on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv after accusing Ukraine of striking residential buildings across the Russian border. Moscow also announced that the lead warship in its Black Sea fleet, Moskva, sank. It rejected Ukraine’s claims that it was due to a Ukrainian missile attack.
As the war in Ukraine reached its fiftieth day, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged (NYT) to government officials and business executives that international sanctions are disrupting Russian energy exports. Russia has pressed Brazil for support at organizations including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and Group of Twenty (G20) to help it counter sanctions, Reuters reported.
|
|
|
| | |
“Whether [the Moskva sank] as the victim of Ukrainian missiles, Russian incompetence, bad luck or a combination of all three is unclear. What is certain, though, is that the biggest wartime loss of a naval ship in 40 years will raise troubling questions not only for Moscow, but for military planners around the world,” CNN’s Brad Lendon writes.
“Russia’s recent willingness to publicly admit the human & economic costs of the Ukraine invasion suggests Putin [is] now preparing for a protracted conflict that will require future sacrifices, ‘justified’ by an internal narrative that this is a war of necessity not choice for Russia,” CFR President Richard Haass tweets.
CFR provides comprehensive coverage of the war in Ukraine. |
| | |
|
|
South Korea to Ease COVID-19 Prevention Measures |
The government will lift (Yonhap) all social-distancing rules next week but maintain a mask mandate. Starting in late May, people who test positive for COVID-19 will no longer be required to quarantine for seven days.
Singapore: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Finance Minister Lawrence Wong will lead (Nikkei) the ruling party’s “fourth generation” team, signaling that Wong could become Singapore’s next prime minister. |
|
|
Pakistani Army Rejects Khan’s Charge of Foreign Conspiracy |
The media wing of Pakistan’s military rejected (PTI) former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s claim that the army participated in a foreign conspiracy to oust him.
For Foreign Affairs, Aqil Shah discusses Khan’s chaotic departure.
India: Government data from the western city of Ahmedabad shows that deaths in April and May of 2021 were three times higher (Reuters) than the average for the same period in the previous two years. The data suggests a dramatic undercount of COVID-19 deaths. |
|
|
Middle East and North Africa |
Over 150 People Wounded in Clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound |
Medics said at least 152 Palestianians were wounded (AP) after clashes with Israeli police at the Jerusalem compound, and the police said three officers were wounded. Clashes at the site last year preceded an eleven-day war between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group the rules the Gaza Strip. U.S./Syria: A U.S. jury sentenced (FT) El Shafee Elsheikh, a fighter in the self-proclaimed Islamic State, to life in prison for abducting hostages between 2012 and 2015. Some of the hostages were executed. |
|
|
Death Toll From South Africa Flooding Rises to 341 |
|
|
United Kingdom Says It Could Send Asylum Seekers to Rwanda Within Weeks |
Human rights organizations have condemned (BBC) the British government’s decision to send migrants to Rwanda to seek asylum there. |
|
|
Chile’s Constitutional Assembly Plans to Replace Senate |
Under the draft constitution, the upper legislative house would be replaced (Infobae, EFE) by a “chamber of regions” with powers that have yet to be defined.
Mexico: On Sunday, the lower house of Congress will vote (Bloomberg) on President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s flagship proposal to overhaul the country’s electricity sector. Opposition parties accused Lopez Obrador of trying to discourage voting by moving the vote to Easter.
CFR’s Shannon K. O’Neil writes that Mexico’s electricity reform would make its energy grid dirtier. |
|
|
Omicron Subvariant Behind Rise of COVID-19 Cases in Northeast |
As overall COVID-19 cases ticked up this week in comparison to last, doctors are monitoring (Guardian) whether the BA.2 subvariant will lead to a rise in hospitalizations.
This In Brief discusses what it would mean for COVID-19 to become endemic. |
|
|
| | |
Politico’s investigation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reveals how Americans suffer because the agency chronically deprioritizes food regulation. |
| | |
|
|
Council on Foreign Relations
|
58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065 |
1777 F Street, NW — Washington, DC 20006 |
|
|
|
