Flagship

Russia, NKorea sign defense pact

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a mutual defense pact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after talks in Pyongyang Wednesday, with Kim saying it amounted to an “alliance.” The agreement underlines a major shift in Moscow’s stance toward Pyongyang, and will likely see the pair boost their military cooperation. It adds to “an impression of authoritarian states pulling together to challenge the democratic world in a way unseen for decades,” Bloomberg’s Anthony Halpin wrote, pointing to Russia’s closer ties with China and Iran. There are signs, however, that Chinese leader Xi Jinping “fears the optics” of being grouped with Putin and Kim, Time’s former China bureau chief wrote, and the Russia-North Korea partnership could backfire if it upsets Beijing, which is more important to Moscow.

US officials visit Dalai Lama despite warning

A group of US lawmakers including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the Dalai Lama in India on Wednesday, ignoring Beijing’s warnings about the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader’s “anti-China separatism nature.” The meeting followed a bill passed by Congress that aims to push Beijing to resume talks with Tibetan leaders that broke down in 2010. China, which annexed Tibet in the 1950s, has looked to assert more control over the region, referring to it by a different name and putting restrictions on Tibetan religion and education. Analysts say Tibet is emerging as another flashpoint in US-China relations, which are already strained over Taiwan.

US tech tightens security over spy threat

US tech companies, including startups and giants, are ramping up security screenings of staff and potential hires as concerns of Chinese espionage grow, the Financial Times reported. Google, OpenAI, and Sequoia Capital have all tightened their vetting, as they face warnings from Washington that China could obtain company secrets by targeting tech developers. Some new private companies have even emerged to offer guidance on Chinese espionage threats to Silicon Valley. “There’s a geopolitical battle going on, and industry is the frontline,” said the CEO of a company that provides a data tool to identify spying threats from foreign actors. But the moves have also sparked concerns over xenophobia at American tech companies.

Indian students irate over med school test

Allegations of cheating in a major India-wide medical school test has students in an uproar. Millions take the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test every year, and typically only one or two medical school hopefuls get a perfect score nationally. This year, though, 67 students got perfect marks, and the number who scored well enough to get into a top college tripled. Critics have accused the government of a conspiracy and called this year’s test a scam. It’s sparked protests and widened the debate around whether a standardized test as the sole criteria for admission should be imposed nationwide. “This centralized method of selecting future doctors discriminates against pupils whose parents are undereducated or can’t afford expensive tutoring,” Bloomberg’s Andy Mukherjee wrote.

Starliner astronauts’ return delayed

The two astronauts on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, who were supposed to return to Earth after around eight days, will now stay in space for at least 20. Boeing and NASA have attributed the delays to technical issues including helium leaks and thruster problems; the craft will remain docked to the International Space Station as they assess the situation, with a return date set for June 26. The ISS has at least four months of food reserves, The Wall Street Journal reported, and astronauts have stayed there for much longer. But it’s yet another setback for the much-delayed Starliner project, and comes as Boeing’s chief apologized before Congress for the quality issues plaguing its commercial planes.

US lawmakers push clean energy

The US Senate passed a bill to accelerate construction of new nuclear power stations. The bill will create incentives to develop advanced technologies and, crucially, speed up the permitting process, which can take years. Nuclear power has bipartisan support, Reuters reported, with Democrats seeing it as crucial to decarbonization and Republicans viewing it as a way to ensure reliable energy and jobs. The bill passed 88-2 and awaits President Joe Biden’s signature. Britain’s Labour Party, expected to form a new government next month, also plans to ease energy permitting within weeks of the election by lowering the planning barriers for building onshore wind farms. Onshore wind was effectively banned in England in 2015 by planning rules that allowed anyone to veto its development.

Heat makes us impulsive and dumb

Heat makes us stupid, aggressive, and unpleasant. That’s the finding of several pieces of recent research exploring the relationship between cognition and high temperatures, The New York Times reported. One 2016 study found that students living in Boston during the summer without air conditioning performed significantly worse on math and self-control tests compared to students staying in cushy, cooled dorms. And a 2019 experiment showed video game players were more spiteful to their competitors in a hot room compared to a cool one. As an oppressive heat wave hits much of the US, foggy San Francisco is capitalizing on people’s heat intolerance by marketing itself as a cooler refuge.

Japan wants to charge foreign visitors more

Japan is considering charging separate prices for foreign visitors and locals in restaurants and tourist attractions to cash in on — and curb — overtourism. A new restaurant in Tokyo charges residents around $38 for its all-you-can-eat seafood course with unlimited drinks, while tourists pay $44, Nikkei reported. And foreign tourists flocking to Himeji castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, may soon see their entrance fee upped from $7 to $30, the city’s mayor said, while locals will pay $5. The yen’s nosedive against the dollar played a role in these moves, with one restaurant owner saying, “Considering the cost of serving foreign visitors to Japan, we have no choice but to set the prices higher.”

Macau pivots from casinos to cuisine

Macau, the gambling capital of East Asia, is trying to reinvent itself as a food tourism destination. The UN listed it as a “City of Gastronomy” in 2017, and 16 of its restaurants got Michelin stars this year, but Macau remains best known as the only city in China to have legalized casinos. Macau’s government last year ordered casino owners to invest $12 billion in non-gambling attractions over the next 10 years, the South China Morning Post reported. The former Portuguese colony is also building arenas to house concerts, conventions, and sports, and is hosting several public food events including the ongoing International Cities of Gastronomy Fest, as it tries to diversify its economy away from gambling.

Mosquitoes could save birds from extinction

Conservationists are using mosquitoes to save Hawaii’s rare birds. Where Hawaii once had more than 50 species of honeycreepers, only 17 are left, NPR reported. This is mainly because of avian malaria, spread by mosquitoes introduced by humans in the 1800s. Scientists are now releasing millions of “modified mosquitoes” that are unable to reproduce in order to suppress the population; techniques include infecting the mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria and genetically modifying male mosquitoes to make their female offspring infertile. The method has been used successfully to lower cases of dengue fever in Colombia. The world is in a race against time to defeat mosquito-borne diseases, the Financial Times reported, as climate change expands their range.

June 20:

• French President Emmanuel Macron attends the Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation.
• India faces Afghanistan in the men’s T20 international cricket tournament.
• The Northern Hemisphere observes the summer solstice.

Amazon’s biggest film to date in Latin America is a critically acclaimed true-crime drama, leading the company to lean into the genre. Argentina, 1985, which followed a real-life prosecutor in the Trial of the Juntas, was nominated for an Oscar in 2023, and its commercial popularity shows how much Latin American viewers love true crime, The Hollywood Reporter wrote. Amazon is currently making a film that dramatizes the real-life saga of a Brazilian serial killer who attacked women in the 1990s. But the region’s cultural and linguistic differences complicate mass storytelling. “What we’re still struggling with in Latin America is the accents,” said Amazon’s head of originals for the area. “I’m from Chile. Everyone hates the way we speak in Spanish.”

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• Sierra Leone bets on $150 million digital hub strategy.