Extra, Extra
Ato-mic Drop: “Biden’s blunt assessment caught several senior US officials by surprise, largely due to that lack of any new intelligence to drive them and the grim language Biden deployed.” You don’t need any access to intelligence to know that a cornered megalomaniac with a lot of nukes is a serious concern. But an American president mentioning nuclear Armageddon is definitely something. Meanwhile, Putin faces new challenge as Kremlin allies turn on Russia’s military leaders. (Those Kremlin allies made it pretty hard on their military leaders by stealing all the country’s defense money and spending it villas and yachts.)
+ Iced Chips: “The raft of measures could amount to the biggest shift in U.S. policy toward shipping technology to China since the 1990s. If effective, they could set China’s chip manufacturing industry back years.” U.S. aims to hobble China’s chip industry with sweeping new export rules. The new cold war is here and computer chips are on the front lines.
+ Belarus to Judgement: As is often the case, the Nobel peace prize committee used the award to send a message. “A jailed Belarus activist and two groups from Ukraine and Russia have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for championing human rights and democracy.”
+ Salvador Stopper “President Nayib Bukele requested Congress grant him extraordinary powers after gangs were blamed for 62 killings on March 26, and that decree has been renewed every month since then. It suspends some Constitutional rights and gives police more powers to arrest and hold suspects.” In El Salvador, army surrounds town to root out gang.
+ Wembanyamarama: “LeBron James called him an alien. Everyone else is already calling him next year’s no. 1 pick. Just how good can the silky 7-foot-4 star be? ‘He’s not a franchise-altering talent,” said one NBA executive, ‘he’s a league-altering talent.'” Is the NBA Ready for Victor Wembanyama?
+ Just Happy to See You! A New York City man faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly attempting to smuggle three large snakes across the US-Canada border – in his pants.