Flagship

Russia bans EU media ahead of reporter trial

Russia banned 81 media outlets from 25 European Union countries on Tuesday, retaliating against the EU blocking four Russian outlets in May. Moscow said its injunction — which includes France’s AFP, Ireland’s RTE broadcaster, and Politico — might be lifted if the EU removes its own ban on what Brussels called “Kremlin-linked propaganda networks.” Some experts, though, said advisories alerting Europeans to Russian misinformation may be more effective than the slippery slope of tit-for-tat bans. The Russian crackdown came as the espionage trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was set to begin in secret on Wednesday. “This bogus accusation of espionage will inevitably lead to a bogus conviction for an innocent man,” the newspaper’s editor wrote.

China says its goods ‘enrich global supply’

China’s premier pushed back on the West’s protectionist trade policies Tuesday at a World Economic Forum meeting in Dalian. Li Qiang said China’s electric vehicles and batteries “enrich global supply,” and that it has a competitive advantage because it decided to embrace green tech earlier. That head start is a reason why US and European trade barriers on Chinese goods need an expiration date to ensure Western industries don’t fall behind their international competitors, Mexico’s former ambassador to China argued. Latin America’s mid-20th century protectionist policies offer a cautionary tale, Jorge Guajardo wrote in Foreign Policy: Its trade restrictions had no clear exit plan, and when they were lifted, “these domestic economies were unprepared and unevolved, and they floundered.”

Tariffs impede climate progress: Bill Gates

Bill Gates has “no doubt” that tariffs on Chinese green tech imports like solar panels create “somewhat of an impediment to climate progress.” Arguably the world’s top individual investor in climate tech, Gates told Semafor’s Tim McDonnell that, eventually, the costs of solar project development should come down and offset the price of panels. “The politicians are making a choice, and you can often slow down your climate progress by prioritizing industrial goals,” Gates said. He also said that few consumers or businesses are willing to pay a “green premium” for climate-friendly technologies, and called on AI and data center companies to cut global costs for clean energy and tech by leveraging their huge purchasing power.

Protesters storm Kenyan parliament

At least five people were killed after protesters stormed Kenya’s parliament in Nairobi as lawmakers voted to pass an unpopular finance bill. A section of the parliament building was set on fire and some protesters managed to get inside, while police struggled to gain control. Kenyan President WIlliam Ruto described the protests as “treasonous,” and vowed a “full response” to the violence. Images of Kenyan police tussling with unarmed protesters have caused particular unease in Haiti, where human rights groups are concerned that a contingent of Kenyan police that arrived in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday might use similar tactics there.

Gun violence declared US health crisis

The US surgeon general declared gun violence a public health crisis on Tuesday, the first such message from the nation’s top doctor on firearm-related deaths. Deaths caused by guns rose to a three-decade high in 2021, driven largely by increases in murders and suicides. The declaration draws more attention to the issue, and the surgeon general called on Congress to pass new gun control laws. But the recommendations have no teeth, so it’s unclear if the announcement will move the needle on social attitudes or legislation. Gun rights has long been a political minefield in the US, but President Joe Biden’s campaign has promoted his gun control accomplishments in a bid to sway voters in battleground states ahead of the November presidential election.

Weight-loss drug gets Chinese approval

Novo Nordisk’s wildly popular weight-loss injection Wegovy was approved for sale in China, creating a huge new market for the Danish company. A 2020 study predicted that 540 million Chinese adults will be overweight and 150 million will be obese by 2030, and the weight-loss drug market is expected to double to more than $23 billion. Wegovy is the first treatment of its kind approved in China for long-term weight management, but the monopoly won’t last: The company’s patent on the drug’s active ingredient, semaglutide, will expire in China in 2026, and a host of Chinese competitors are working on their own cheaper versions.

Minister ends strike over India water crisis

Delhi’s water minister was hospitalized and ended a days-long hunger strike to call for more drinking water for India’s capital. The mononymous official, Atishi, said millions of people in the city are “aching for just a drop of water.” Indians face water shortages every summer as demand rises at farms and offices, but this year’s heat wave has aggravated the problem, especially in Delhi and Bengaluru. It’s yet another sign of how climate change threatens India’s economic ambitions: The water shortage could hurt the country’s sovereign credit strength, Moody’s Ratings said Tuesday. Disruptions to agricultural production and industrial development can result in “inflation in food prices and declines in income for affected businesses and communities, while sparking social unrest,” the agency said.

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One last petrostate for the road

Guyana could become one of the world’s last petrostates, as oil giant Exxon moves to exploit its huge offshore reserves even as the globe transitions from fossil fuels. The tiny South American country’s economy grew 33% last year and could do so again in 2024 in the industry scramble to access billions of barrels’ worth of oil locked in the Stabroek Block reserve. Critics worry Exxon has pushed Georgetown to ignore environmental laws, and that money made in the bonanza will bypass the public and instead enrich an ultra-wealthy elite — inflicting the same “resource curse” other oil-rich states have experienced. Others have more immediate fears: Venezuela has upped its military presence on Guyana’s border, The Financial Times noted.

South Asian art is hot property

The market for South Asian modern and contemporary art is hot, with some works more than doubling in price in the last year, top auction houses reported. Sotheby’s raked in $19.8 million during a South Asian art sale in New York in March, up from $7 million made during the same sale in 2023. “Indian art, Bangladeshi art, and Pakistani art has been severely undervalued,” one art adviser and dealer told ARTnews. The growth is partly to do with the buyers: Indians are increasingly purchasing such works as the artists’ profiles rise internationally, he added. Another expert pointed out that India’s diaspora is also buying — and has the money to spend.

Drug treats genetic heart disease

A new treatment for a severe form of genetic heart disease reduced deaths by more than a third. T​​ransthyretin-mediated amyloidosis cardiomyopathy affects about 500,000 people worldwide and is caused by a mutation that creates a faulty protein that damages the heart. Most people with the condition die within five years of diagnosis if untreated. The new medication, vutrisiran, is an “RNA interference” drug which blocks the mutated gene’s expression, preventing it from producing the protein. People who got vutrisiran in a trial were 36% less likely to die of any cause compared to those who received an existing treatment. The results could smooth the way for vutrisiran approval in the US, analysts said.

June 26:

• French President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
• The International Criminal Court will deliver a verdict on a Malian Islamist accused of war crimes.
• Sri Lanka’s president announces a long-delayed debt restructuring plan.

British band The Who’s rock opera and concept album Quadrophenia is being made into a ballet, more than 50 years after its release. Quadrophenia was previously turned into a 1979 movie starring Sting, a musical, and an orchestral composition. The ballet is slated to debut at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London next year. The album reflects 1960s mod culture, and follows a wandering man who becomes a garbageman, “attempts to propagate communism,” and takes “a lot of drugs,” The Guardian wrote. The themes are still salient, guitarist Pete Townshend said: “What we have now is the same boring old shit that was going on in 1964; politicians that don’t seem to understand their own people.”

• Bill Gates on the climate tipping point that really matters.
• UNICEF chief warns four million children face malnutrition in Sudan.
• Jamaal Bowman hopes to stave off a devastating loss for the American left.