A blessed Memorial Day to those who paid the ultimate price to keep us free. As Thomas Jefferson said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots.” To those who served and to the families of those who served, you are some of the best of us.
🇺🇸 🇨🇳 President Biden announces intel community probe into the origins of COVID-19
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced asked the intelligence community to “redouble their efforts” to find out the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I have now asked the intelligence community to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion and to report back to me in ninety days,” the president said in a statement. “As part of that report, I have asked for areas of further inquiry that may be required, including specific questions for China.”
The announcement of a probe comes as the initially-dismissed (by some) theory that the virus might have originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology—as opposed to a wet market—has begun to gain traction. The Wall Street Journal also reported last week that three scientists who worked at the Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick are were hospitalized with a COVID-like virus in November 2019, before the first recorded COVID patient in December 2019.
“The US intelligence community does not know exactly where, when, or how the COVID-19 virus was transmitted initially but has coalesced around two likely scenarios: either it emerged naturally from human contact with infected animals or it was a laboratory accident,” a statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reads.
“The IC continues to examine all available evidence, consider different perspectives, and aggressively collect and analyze new information to identify the virus’s origins,” the statement concludes.
After the probe was announced, Zhao Lijian, the spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said it was “extremely unlikely” COVID-19 came from a lab, citing a WHO report done in March on the origins of the virus.
“The [US’s] one aim is to use the pandemic to pursue stigmatization and political manipulation to shift the blame,” Zhao said. “They are being disrespectful to science, irresponsible to people’s lives, and counterproductive to concerted global efforts to fight the virus.”
Invoking the 2003 Iraq invasion and the false intelligence that said Saddam Hussein had WMDs, Zhao said, “The notorious track record of the US Intelligence community has long been known around the world.”
Since December 2019, COVID-19 has infected over 170 million people and killed 3.5 million.
🇮🇱 Naftali Bennet has announced his intentions to form a government with Yair Lapid
Right-wing Yamina Party leader Naftali Bennet has announced his intention to form a coalition government with the left-wing Yesh Atid Party leader Yair Lapid, paving the way for the end of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s time in the Balfour House.
“At such a crucial moment, responsibility must be taken,” Bennet said on Sunday. “Therefore, I am announcing today that I intend to act with all mob strength to form a national unity government together with my friend Yair Lapid so that, God willing, together we will rescue the country from this tailspin, and we will get Israel back on track.”
Bennet’s announcement came less than twenty-four hours after Netanyahu offered New Hope Party leader Gideon Sa’ar a chance to go first in a rotating premiership, in what many saw as a last-ditch effort by Netanyahu to remain in power.
“In an effort to end personal considerations and take unprecedented, far-reaching steps to guarantee the security and the character of the State of Israel and prevent the formation of a left-wing government that would endanger the state, we the undersigned party heads are making this offer,” a letter sent by the Likud to New Hope said. Sa’ar declined.
Bennet and Lapid now have until Wednesday to officially alert President Reuven Rivlin of their intentions to attempt to form a government, after which they will have one week to form a full coalition.
Early reports indicated that Bennet would serve as prime minister from the beginning of the term until September 2023, after which Lapid would take over until the end of the term in November 2025.
“What will this do to Israeli deterrence?” Netanyahu said in a speech on Sunday night. “How will we look in the eyes of our enemies? What will they do in Iran or Gaza? What will they say in the corridors of the administration in Washington? This government stands against Iran? This government supports the dangerous nuclear deal.”
Netanyahu continued, “He said prior to the elections that he would not allow Lapid to become prime minister, even in a rotation model…he said he would never make Lapid prime minister because he is right-wing and it goes against his values.”
He concluded his speech by saying, “No one would have voted for you if they knew what you would do.” He also called Bennet’s move “the deception of the century.”
🇧🇾 Video shows Roman Protasevich, the journalist detained by Belarusian authorities, “confessing” to organizing mass riots
Video released by the Belarusian government on Monday shows journalist Roman Protasevich confessing to organizing mass anti-government protests. Protasevich was detained last week after his Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was forced down in Minsk by a MiG-29 fighter jet. The US and the EU have since placed harsh sanctions on the Belarusian government and the EU has instructed all flights to avoid Belarusian airspace.
“The attitude of the Ministry of Internal Affairs employees towards me has been as correct as possible and in compliance with the law,” Protasevich says in the video. “I continue to cooperate with the investigation and have confessed to organizing mass riots in the city of Minsk.”
Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen who was traveling with Protasevich and is thought to be his girlfriend is also seen on video confessing to crimes.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Roman’s parents who live in Poland, Dmitry and Natalia Protasevich, pleaded with the international community to stop Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s “evil” tactics and contended that their son’s confession was done under duress.
“My son Roman was clearly beaten up,” Natalia said. “I know my son. I’m not a doctor or surgeon to give big claims, but I can see that under all the makeup that was done to him, his nose was probably broken, he had a scar on his neck. His face looked like he was being tortured for some time.” She added, “Every single day of waiting counts. Please save my son and all the other people that are being tortured.”
On Wednesday, Lukashenko said that Roman Protasevich was leading a “bloody rebellion” and the West was waging a “hybrid war” against him.
Lukashenko and Putin met on Saturday to go on a yacht tour Saturday. Putin is the only world leader to defend Lukashenko over the arrest of Protasevich.
Other stories from around the globe:
🇺🇸🇷🇺 President Biden to meet with President Putin in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16 (Politico)
🇨🇴 Colombian President Ivan Duque has ordered the military into the city of Cali after weeks of deadly protests and riots (BBC)
🇨🇦 The remains of 215 children were found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that closed in 1978 (BBC)
🇼🇸 Samoa swears in first female leader in a tent after she’s locked out of parliament (CBS News)
🇬🇧 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson marries fiancee Carrie Symonds in secret ceremony (The Guardian)
Quote of the week:
The previous EU strategy of wait and see towards the Belarusian regime doesn’t work. The EU approach of gradually elevated pressure agaisnt the Lukashenko regime hasn’t managed to change its behavior and only lead to a growing sense of impunity and massive repression. Now I call on the European Parliament to make sure that the reaction of the international community is not limited to the Ryanair flight incident. The response must address the situation in Belarus in its entirety or we will all face such situations in the future as Lukashenko is turning my country into the North Korea of Europe: non-trasnparent, unpredictable, and dangerous.
~ Sviatalana Tsikhanouskaya, exiled Belarusian opposition leader in a speech to the EU’s foreign affairs committee
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