Hundreds of Hongkongers gathered yesterday near a park to light candles in defiance of a ban on marking the anniversary of the brutal 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing. The numbers were a far cry from the tens of thousands who usually turn out, after an organizer was detained earlier in the day. After the U.S. State Department issued a statement commemorating Tiananmen, Chinese authorities hit back, pointing to this week’s anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre. Meanwhile, the iconic photo of a 1989 protester standing in front of a tank was seemingly blocked by the Bing search engine Friday, but Microsoft said it was fixing the “human error.” 

Sources: SCMP, The Guardian, AP

2. Story of the Week: Bibi’s Long Shalom

He’s performed a miracle. One of Israel’s most polarizing leaders, Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu has united his country’s political factions like never before: Islamist Arabs and religious Jewish nationalists and centrists all smiling for the same camera, all in the service of ousting the country’s longest-serving prime minister. The drama is now scripted to put nationalist Naftali Bennett in the place of the premier for whom he once served as chief of staff. But the tenuous transition could drag out until June 14, with the tenacious political survivor, weighed down with a corruption trial, fighting every step of the way.

Sources: Jerusalem Post, CNN, NYT

3. Coming Up: G-7 Closing In on Global Corporate Tax

The danger is real. Sure, there’s COVID-19, but world leaders attending next weekend’s G-7 summit in England are mostly vaccinated. But U.S. President Joe Biden, in his first appearance at the confab of the world’s wealthiest nations, is ushering in tax fever. That is, he and his peers appear poised to impose a minimum corporate tax. With tech giants positioning key infrastructure in low-tax nations, governments are trying to claw a share of the world’s biggest revenue sources, and it’s thought that a minimum, like the 15% being proposed, could mitigate the current “race to the bottom” to attract business.

Sources: Reuters, CNN, 

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4. The ‘9/11’ Facing the U.S. Economy

Last month it shut down a major fuel pipeline. This week it paralyzed meat supplies. As a law enforcement challenge, a recent spate of ransomware attacks is akin to the 9/11 terror attacks, warned FBI Director Christopher Wray. His agency is probing 100 varieties of the virus that holds network data hostage as hackers extort difficult-to-trace cryptocurrency from victims. The alarming assessment didn’t faze investors, however, as a not-too-hot May employment report eased inflation fears, boosted confidence in America’s economic recovery and helped close Wall Street indexes near record highs.

Sources: WSJ (sub), CNBC, New Yorker

5. Also Important …

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday compared U.S. authorities’ treatment of Capitol rioters, who he said had only made “political requests,” to that of dissidents in his own country and Belarus. United Airlines says it’s planning to buy 15 faster-than-sound jets being developed by Boom Supersonic. And 81 Rohingya refugees have landed in Indonesia after their boat drifted for 100 days.

In the Week Ahead: Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather will face YouTuber Logan Paul in the ring Sunday night. On Monday, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will start her first foreign trip, visiting Guatemala and Mexico. And on Wednesday, Mongolia will hold presidential elections.

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It’s a Nordic paradise. Norwegian-run Svalbard, just 650 miles from the North Pole, has the openest borders known, allowing citizens from 46 nations visa-free employment. But now it’s also Earth’s fastest-warming place, with winter temperatures 7 degrees Celsius warmer than 50 years ago. That’s spawned deadly avalanches, which, with melting permafrost, have rendered many homes uninhabitable. Where once it snowed every month, it now rains in January. Where whaling and then coal mining were dominant industries, tourism is taking over this archipelago the size of West Virginia — giving visitors a final chance to experience the Arctic.

Source: Scientific American 

2. Facebook Extends Trump Ban for Two Years

The anger emojis will remain pent up. Facebook said yesterday it was imposing a two-year ban on former President Donald Trump, meaning he’d be allowed back on the platform by January 2023. That’s lengthy if you’re a Trumpist, or just in time for the presidential primaries. The 45th president called it an “insult” to those who voted for him in an election he falsely maintains was stolen — the sort of claim that incited Capitol rioters and got him blocked from the social network in January. The ban could inspire plans to launch Trump’s own platform, now that his unpopular blog’s been shuttered.

Sources: The Hill, Chicago Sun-Times

3. Canada Comes Face-to-Face With Genocide

It wasn’t that long ago. Even some middle-aged Indigenous Canadians remember the “Indian residential schools,” launched in 1831 to forcibly assimilate children separated from their parents. But last weekend, the bones of 215 children were unearthed at such a school in British Columbia, sparking new demands to investigate the schools, some of which remained open until 1996. What’s been called “cultural genocide ” is rekindling survivors’ memories of mental and sexual abuse at the hands of staff. The Canadian government allocated $28 million to look for children’s bodies. Now it — and a Catholic Church that ran many of the schools — may accelerate the digging.

Sources: Reuters, The Guardian, Axios

4. FBI Demands Newspaper Readers’ IP Addresses

Why are you reading this? Authorities might find out some day, depending on the outcome of a legal battle over media freedoms. USA Today is fighting an FBI subpoena to determine who clicked on an article about a February Florida shootout in which two of its agents were killed. That would require surrendering readers’ IP addresses, something the newspaper argues is a “clear violation of the First Amendment” protecting press freedoms. It also violates the Justice Department’s own guidelines seeking evidence from journalists in only “narrow circumstances,” the paper said, adding that it’s waiting for an explanation of why the data’s relevant.

Sources: Politico, USA Today

5. The NBA Semifinals: Nothing but Nets?

And they thought Golden State wasn’t fair. The newly built Brooklyn Nets, after dispatching the Boston Celtics in the NBA playoffs’ first round, are another evolutionary step. They’ve out-shot the legendary 2018 champion Warriors, boasting a power trio of former Dubs star Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, making them a safer bet than Amazon stock. That’s especially true after LeBron James’ first opening-round playoff elimination with the Lakers. Now the Nets will need to get past the Milwaukee Bucks, who, having upset the Miami Heat in the first round, will tonight attempt to pull off a fresh surprise against Brooklyn.

Sources: SI, CBS, NYT

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