“The Biden administration is scrambling to avert a diplomatic crisis over Israeli settlement activity this week at the United Nations that threatens to overshadow and perhaps derail what the U.S. hopes will be a solid five days of focus on condemning Russia’s war with Ukraine,” the AP reports.
Blinken Has Tense Meeting With Chinese Official
“Secretary of State Antony Blinken held what American officials described as a confrontational meeting with his Chinese counterpart on Saturday night in Munich, warning him that the flight of a Chinese surveillance balloon across the United States ‘must never happen again,’” the New York Times reports.
“He also cautioned Beijing against providing ‘material support’ to Russia’s war in Ukraine, a prospect he later suggested China was now ‘strongly’ considering.”
“The U.S. description of the meeting, which resumed diplomatic contact between Washington and Beijing after it broke down over the balloon episode, said nothing about how the Chinese official, Wang Yi, responded. But a brief summary on official Chinese state media described an equally sharp exchange.”
U.S. Accuses Russia of Crimes Against Humanity
“The United States has determined that Russia is committing crimes against humanity in Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris announced Saturday, the latest salvo in the West’s effort to hold Moscow accountable for its wartime atrocities,” Politico reports.
“In a marquee address at the Munich Security Conference, Harris detailed that Russia is responsible for a ‘widespread and systematic attack’ against Ukraine’s civilian population, citing evidence of execution-style killings, rape, torture and forceful deportations — sometimes perpetrated against children. As a result, Russia has not only committed war crimes, as the administration formally concluded in March, but also illegal acts against non-combatants.”
North Korea Fires Missile as U.S.-South Korea Plan Drills
“South Korea’s military said North Korea on Saturday fired one suspected long-range missile from its capital toward the sea, a day after it threatened to take strong measures against South Korea and the U.S. over their joint military exercises,” the AP reports.
U.S. Planned Secret Talks with Taiwan
“The White House will next week hold secret talks with Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu and national security adviser Wellington Koo as part of a special diplomatic dialogue intended to remain private to avoid sparking an angry reaction from China,” the Financial Times reports.
Russians Abandon Wartime Russia in Historic Exodus
“As Russian troops stormed into Ukraine last February, sending millions of Ukrainians fleeing for their lives, thousands of Russians also raced to pack their bags and leave home, fearing the Kremlin would shut the borders and impose martial law,” the Washington Post reports.
“Some had long opposed rising authoritarianism, and the invasion was a last straw. Others were driven by economic interest, to preserve livelihoods or escape the bite of sanctions. Then, last autumn, a military mobilization spurred hundreds of thousands of men to run.”
Russia’s Death Toll From Ukraine War Is as High as 60,000
“Russia’s death toll from the war in Ukraine has reached as high as 60,000, the U.K. said, an estimate that draws attention to Moscow’s strategy of sending poorly protected soldiers on near-suicidal missions to break through Ukrainian lines,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“In its daily intelligence briefing Friday, the U.K.’s Defense Ministry said the Russian armed forces and private military contractors fighting alongside them as paramilitary forces had lost 40,000 to 60,000 troops and suffered up to 200,000 casualties, which includes troops killed or wounded in action.”
Zelensky Pleads for More Western Aid
Associated Press: “In his plea for more Western weapons, Zelensky compared Ukraine’s struggle against the Russian invasion to the biblical fight between David and Goliath, saying his country had David’s courage but needed help in getting the sling.”
Taliban Bans Contraception as ‘Western Conspiracy’
“Taliban fighters have stopped the sale of contraceptives in two of Afghanistan’s main cities, claiming their use by women is a western conspiracy to control the Muslim population,” The Guardian reports.
“The Guardian has learned that the Taliban has been going door to door, threatening midwives and ordering pharmacies to clear their shelves of all birth control medicines and devices.”
Top Putin Official Plunges 160-Feet to Her Death
Marina Yankina, a high-ranking Russian defense official in the war against Ukraine, was found dead Wednesday after falling from a high-rise window in an apartment building, the New York Post reports.
Quote of the Day
“I’m gonna try to help explain to the American people that defeating the Russians in Ukraine is the single most important event going on in the world right now… there should be a bipartisan support for this.”
— Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), on Fox News.
One Year Into the Ukraine War
Anne Applebaum: “I think what has happened is that the Ukrainians have shown, first of all, that their army and their military were far better prepared, psychologically, and in terms of planning, than anybody had guessed. The country didn’t produce lots of ammunition in advance. They didn’t reinforce their cities in advance. There were things in retrospect that could have been done, and if you go around Ukraine, you hear people say that. And it would have been nice to have wider, broader social preparation, but the army was prepared.”
“And the army has also shown itself to be very creative. It uses what equipment it has, whether it’s drones you can buy on the internet, and they call it MacGyvering. Fixing them up to be able to do other things they weren’t supposed to be able to do. They’re extremely creative. They use their weapons well. There is no hint, by the way, of any corruption to do with the army.”
“And the other thing that has been, again, not surprising if you knew Ukraine, but really, by comparison to other societies in other times and places, Ukrainian society, the way in which spontaneous volunteer groups have organized themselves, whether to help the army, or to help refugees, or to run cities: people really rising to the challenge in extraordinary ways.”
Putin Losing His Gas War with Europe
“There’s more bad news for Vladimir Putin. Europe is on course to get through winter with its vital gas storage facilities more than half full,“ Politico reports.
“That means despite the Russian leader’s efforts to make Europe freeze by cutting its gas supply, EU economies will survive the coldest months without serious harm — and they look set to start next winter in a strong position to do the same.”
World Bank President Will Step Down Early
David Malpass, a Trump appointee “under fire for months by critics who accused him of climate denialism, said he would resign in June, a year before his term ends,” the New York Times reports.
“The departure of Mr. Malpass is likely to add new urgency to sweeping changes that were already underway at the World Bank. It will also give President Biden, who came to office with an ambitious climate agenda, the opportunity to install a leader whose term will stretch until 2028.”
Questions Over a Spy Balloon Fed a Diplomatic Crisis
“Senior American officials increasingly believe the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina in early February was originally supposed to conduct surveillance over U.S. military bases in Guam and Hawaii, but winds carried it off course to Alaska, Canada and finally the continental United States,” the New York Times reports.
“The evolution of Washington’s understanding of the Chinese military’s original goals and new details that reveal misreadings of the U.S. reaction by Chinese officials in private meetings reflect how difficult it is for the United States and China to discern each other’s intentions — a gap that American officials fear could lead to greater mistrust in an already fraught relationship or even to armed conflict.”
How Deadly Was China’s Covid Wave?
New York Times: “Two months after China ended ‘zero Covid,’ rough estimates suggest that between 1 and 1.5 million people died — far more than the official count.”
Berlesconi Aquitted in Trial Over ‘Bunga Bunga’ Parties
Italian former Premier Silvio Berlusconi was found not guilty Wednesday of witness tampering, in a trial related to the sexually charged “bunga bunga” parties he held at his villa near Milan while he was in office, the AP reports.
Italy’s Hard-Right Leader Vexes Europe by Playing Nice
“In the weeks before Italy elected the hard-right leader Giorgia Meloni, the left sounded ‘the alarm for Italian democracy.’ The European Union braced for Italy to join ranks with members like Hungary and Poland who have challenged the bloc’s core values. International investors worried about spooked markets,” the New York Times reports.
“But more than 100 days into her tenure, Ms. Meloni has proved to be less predictable. She has shown flashes of nationalist anger, prompting fears at home and abroad that an authoritarian turn remains just around the corner. But until now, she has also governed in a far less vitriolic and ideological and more practical way.”
“The unexpected ordinariness of her early days has vexed the European establishment and her Italian critics, prompting relief but also raising a quandary as to what extent the toned-down firebrand should be embraced or still cautiously held at arm’s length.”
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