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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, on the day he is sworn in as secretary of Health and Human Service in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025.

REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Hard Numbers: RFK Jr. cleans house at the CDC, K-Pop’s Chinese comeback, and more

17: In an unprecedented move, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the vaccine advisory committee at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday. While Kennedy defended the “clean sweep” as necessary to restore public trust, experts warn that changes to the panel could threaten public confidence in government health agencies.

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US President Donald Trump speaks as he attends a “Summer Soiree” held on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., USA, on June 4, 2025.

REUTERS/Leah Millis

Hard Numbers: Trump issues sweeping travel ban, BoC holds rates steady, US funds “self-deportations,” and more...

12: US President Donald Trump has banned visitors to the US from 12 countries: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Another seven countries will face greater restrictions. The ban, which Trump based on national security grounds, takes effect on Monday.

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Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, flanked by his family, during an election night rally in Warsaw, Poland, on June 1, 2025.

Andrzej Iwanczuk/NurPhoto

What We’re Watching this week: Poland retains a right-wing president, UN Security Council to vote on new members, & More

A conservative comeback in Poland

In a major blow to Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s hopes of finally enacting his liberal and pro-Europe agenda, Law and Justice-backed candidate Karol Nawrocki defeated liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski in the final round of Poland’s presidential election. Nawrocki won 50.89% of the vote in the head-to-head runoff. His win means a conservative will retain the presidency – Andrzej Duda had served for the previous decade – so there will continue to be a cap on what Tusk can achieve, given the president’s veto power.

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Crowds at a rally for Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, the Law and Justice candidate, on May 29, 2025.

Photo by Dominika Zarzycka/Sipa USA

What We’re Watching: Polling day for Poland, China courts Pacific Islanders, Russia readies more troops

Poles go to the polls

On Sunday, conservative Karol Nawrocki and liberal candidate Rafal Trzaskowski will face off in the second round of Poland’s presidential election. There isn’t a clear favorite. A Trzaskowski win would give Prime Minister Donald Tusk a key ally for both his domestic reform plans and stable relations with the EU, while victory for Nawrocki would saddle Tusk with a determined political enemy who can block his legislative agenda.

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with military honors at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on May 28, 2025.

Christian Marquardt/NurPhoto

What We’re Watching: German boost for Ukraine, Musk jabs Trump bill, & More

Merz promises long-range weapons for Ukraine

On Wednesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Berlin will help Kyiv produce long-range missiles that can strike deep inside Russia. It’s another sign that Europe has lost patience with Vladimir Putin’s reluctance to talk peace and a recognition that whatever happens on the battlefield this summer will shape the outcome of eventual talks.

Musk jabs Trump’s signature bill

The House-passed “Big Beautiful Bill” has one unhappy customer: Elon Musk, who said he’s disappointed” by the tax-policy legislation. He argued that it “increases the budget deficit … and undermines the work that the [Department of Government Efficiency] team is doing.” It’s the heaviest criticism that Musk, who spent over $250 million to help US President Donald Trump win the 2024 presidential election, has directed toward the administration. We’re watching to see whether this is merely a blip in the Musk-Trump relationship, or whether the Tesla owner now splits with the Republican Party – and takes his dollars with him.

The world’s poorest owe China big money

In 2025, the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries will make record high debt repayments totaling $22 billion to China,” according to a report by the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank. That’s mainly thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative. which has loaned more than 150 countries a total of more than $1 trillion since 2013 for infrastructure projects. The initiative risks becoming an albatross for both China and its debtors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Kursk-II nuclear power plant under construction, in the Kursk region, Russia, on May 21, 2025.

Kremlin.ru/Handout via REUTERS

What We’re Watching: Putin celebrates in Kursk, “Death camp” discovery in Mexico, & DRC seeks US help against China

Putin takes a victory lap

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kursk on Tuesday for the first time since the Kremlin declared that it had ejected Ukrainian fighters from the Russian region. It’s another flex for a leader who signals no interest in halting the war in Ukraine. The next challenge for Moscow: Can its army secure major battlefield gains this summer to further boost its bargaining position?

Activists press Mexico’s government on cartel “death camp”

Pressure is growing on Mexico’s government to take action against drug cartels that have kidnapped, tortured, and killed tens of thousands of people over the last two decades, after relatives of some of the 120,000 disappeared persons learnt this week about a “death camp” in the western state of Colima. Authorities discovered mass graves there 18 months ago, but only just passed on the information to victims’ families. Taking on these gangs is a complex task for President Claudia Sheinbaum, as local authorities lack the manpower and firepower to quell them.

US vs China in the DRC

Felix Tshisekedi, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has picked a fight with China over its cobalt and wants US help. The sub-Saharan nation banned exports of the metal – an essential input for the battery, defense, and aerospace industries – in February, but China’s top cobalt producer, COMC, is now pushing the DRC to lift the ban. The DRC produces about three-quarters of the world’s cobalt, and is seeking to engage the Trump administration to find new investment partners in a bid to limit Chinese influence in its cobalt trade.

President Joe Biden at an event with Kamala Harris on lowering drug costs for America.

HARD NUMBERS: Biden diagnosed with cancer, Russian drones hammer Ukraine, Israeli forces enter Gaza, Pope Leo gets political, UK and EU are friends again, Austria wins Eurovision

9: Former US President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has metastasized to the bone. Biden’s cancer has a “Gleason score” of 9 out of 10, which means it is highly aggressive, but since it requires hormones to grow, may respond to treatment that deprives the tumors of hormones. Both US President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris expressed their sorrow on social media and wished the former president a successful recovery as he and his family review treatment options.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on May 15, 2025.

REUTERS

So far, no steps toward peace in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskykept a low-level Russian delegation waiting in Istanbul on Thursday while he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan in Ankara.

Why is Zelensky in Turkey at all? It was in fact Vladimir Putin who proposed peace talks there in response to a recent European call for a 30-day ceasefire, but the Russian president is not attending personally. Putin’s decision to send junior officials is seen as an indication that he is not really interested in ending his invasion of Ukraine.

European leaders have warned that if Putin does not agree to stop the invasion, they will intensify sanctions on Russia and increase military aid to Ukraine.

But Donald Trump, who also called for peace talks in a social media post, seemed to reduce the pressure on Putin when he told reporters in Qatar that he was not expecting much from the meeting.

“Look, nothing is going to happen until Putin and I get together,” he said.

And while there was some speculation that Trump and Putin could yet show up in Turkey on Friday — a development that would substantially increase chances of a breakthrough — there was no sign of that by Thursday afternoon.

If that holds, the negotiations are unlikely to yield much of substance, and the basic deadlock will remain: Putin, keen to play for time while his army slowly advances, is demanding impossible conditions from Zelensky, while Trump, who pledged a swift end to the war, has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin but so far seems unwilling to apply more pressure on him.

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