World roundup: June 17 2022

Stories from China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Russia, and more

Given the confluence this weekend of (in no particular order) 1) Father’s Day, 2) the Juneteenth holiday, and 3) my wife’s birthday, I am expecting to take Sunday off and send out a three-day mega-roundup (unlocked, of course) on Monday. Those plans may change though, so if you get one of these on Sunday please just roll with it. I’m sending a preview of tonight’s subscriber-only post to those of you who are on the free list primarily to deliver this message, though if it motivates any of you to become paid subscribers that would be nice too. Either way, thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

INTERNATIONAL

In today’s global news:

• Worldometer is tracking COVID-19 cases and fatalities.

• The New York Times is tracking global vaccine distribution.

MIDDLE EAST

YEMEN

Having raised only around $60 million of the $80 million it needs to prevent the stranded tanker FSO Safer from spilling some 1.1 million barrels of oil into the Red Sea—the United States (annual defense budget approaching $800 billion per year) and Saudi Arabia (annual oil revenue approaching $250 billion per year) could only manage to scrape together $10 million each—the United Nations is keeping up with the times by starting a GoFundMe. Well, not exactly, but it is planning to “crowdfund” the problem. The UN is hoping its public appeal will raise $5 million by the end of June, which would apparently allow the operation to transfer the Safer’s cargo to a more seaworthy vessel to begin next month.