Member states of the European Union should only allow tourists in from countries that can prove their coronavirus outbreaks are under control, the European Commission said in guidance released Wednesday.
The big picture: Countries reporting some of the highest coronavirus death tolls in Europe — the U.K., Italy and Spain — are taking different approaches in their phased efforts to reopen their economies, and will likely do the same with travel.
The bipartisan consensus on China may have fallen apart in Washington, but it's still going strong on American campuses.
What's happening: Dozens of leading members of both the College Republican National Committee and the College Democrats of America, representing universities in more than 45 states, have released a joint letter today that calls for the permanent closure of Chinese government-funded Confucius Institutes on all U.S. campuses, protections for students and campus groups that are vulnerable to Chinese government coercion, and condemnation of anti-Asian racism.
A growing number of experts are warning against what they call a "new Cold War" with China. But many Chinese Communist Party elites already view the rest of the world as a staging ground for competition between China and the United States.
The big picture: The current U.S. debate over China policy is essentially a response to the great power rivalry that China's leaders have already fully embraced.
Former senator Bob Dole has registered to lobby on behalf of Wanhua Chemical (America) Co., Ltd., a Texas-based firm whose Chinese parent company is caught up in the U.S.-China trade war.
Why it matters: Lobbying by former U.S. elected officials on behalf of the Chinese government or companies it controls has raised concerns that Beijing may be able to influence the U.S. domestic political process — especially given vague disclosure rules.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a joint alert on Wednesday warning that actors affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party are targeting U.S. institutions for data and intellectual property related to coronavirus research.
Why it matters: The FBI said it is investigating potential data breaches and warned that research theft may jeopardize "the delivery of secure, effective, and efficient treatment options" for the coronavirus.
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday challenged state governors vowing to defy his push to reopen businesses to file lawsuits against his government as the country reported a record 881 people had died from the novel coronavirus in 24 hours.
By the numbers: The country's total death toll rose past 12,600 on Wednesday — making it the sixth worst-hit country for COVID-19 deaths, per Johns Hopkins data. Brazil has confirmed more than 178,200 infections, surpassing Germany, which has over 171,100 cases.
France's dairy industry issued an open letter on Tuesday urging people to eat more cheese, as farmers face an overstock of 2,000 tons of the product. Coronavirus restrictions were relaxed following eight weeks of lockdown this week.
Why it matters: Lockdowns have caused a surplus of food in several countries. France has seen cheese sales plummet nearly 60% since the pandemic began. Belgians are being urged to eat the national dish of fries twice a week as the potato industry faces a possible loss of $135.5 million. Meanwhile, Canada has been hit by a surplus of cheese and fries, with some 200 million pounds of potatoes "stuck in storage" and demand for cheese has taking a "significant downturn," the National Post reports.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani ordered his forces to resume their offensive against the Taliban on Tuesday in the wake of two deadly attacks that killed a total of 40 people, including two newborns, the Washington Post reports.
The big picture: President Trump's deal with the Taliban — which Pentagon leaders acknowledged would not bring peace to the country — was meant as a precursor to a peace process between Kabul and the Taliban. The Taliban, which has denied responsibility for the attacks, called Ghani's announcement a "declaration of war."
Wuhan — the original epicenter of the coronavirus — has ordered all residents be tested for COVID-19 within 10 days following six new infections reported over the weekend, China state media announced Tuesday.
The state of play: The city's first confirmed COVID-19 case since early April was seen in an 89-year-old man on Saturday, the New York Times writes, and five asymptomatic cases were reported Monday.
The Trump administration does not view the new Israeli government's July 1 deadline to begin the process of annexing parts of the West Bank as a "do or die" date, a senior U.S. official tells me.
Why it matters: Israel will want an American “green light” before making any moves on annexation.
Russia is reporting the most novel coronavirus cases in the world outside of the U.S., per Johns Hopkins data.
The big picture: Russia first reported a surge of more than 35,000 cases between April 30 and May 3. The country has reported more than 2,100 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon, a significantly lower number than the other most-affected countries such as Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Luckin Coffee, a Chinese rival to Starbucks that went public in the U.S. last year at a $4.3 billion valuation, fired both CEO Jenny Zhiya Qian and COO Jian Liu on Tuesday after an investigation into accounting fraud.
The backstory: Luckin disclosed in early April that its COO had fabricated around $310 million in 2019 sales — numbers the company had relied on while selling investors on both a secondary share sale and convertible bond offering.
Israel will review the participation of a Hong Kong-based company in a government tender for the construction of a $1.5 billion desalination plant, following pressure from the Trump administration.
Why it matters: The U.S. has linked the issue to potential Chinese influence in Israel. With Pompeo arriving in Jerusalem tomorrow in the midst of an intense campaign against the Chinese government, Israeli officials are wary of getting in the middle of U.S.-China tensions.
Reproduced from Pew Research Center; Chart: Axios Visuals
In its first-ever research survey conducted in Taiwan, Pew Research Center has found the vast majority of Taiwanese hold a favorable view of the U.S., while most Taiwanese have an unfavorable view of mainland China.
Why it matters: Beijing has long hoped Taiwan will eventually choose to be unified with the mainland. Taiwanese attitudes toward China suggest this is doubtful.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's longtime spokesman and close adviser Dmitry Peskov has been hospitalized after testing positive for coronavirus, Russian news agencies report, following positive tests for several other senior officials, including Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
Why it matters: The virus is now inside Putin's inner circle. The Russian president has been conducting meetings by video conference, though, and Peskov says he hasn't seen Putin in over a month. Russia's outbreak is among the world's fastest-growing, and is likely far more severe even than the official numbers suggest.
An Interpol Red Notice was issued and circulated globally Monday for Anne Sacoolas, the U.S. diplomat's wife who was charged last December over the auto crash death of a teenager in the U.K.
Why it matters: President Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson have both weighed in on the high-profile case, which threw the issue of diplomatic immunity into the spotlight the spotlight. The International Criminal Police Organization's notice means Sacoolas would be arrested if she were to leave the U.S.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told "Axios on HBO" that there isn't yet enough information to determine whether or not the coronavirus outbreak resulted from an accident at a Chinese lab.
What he's saying: "I'm not ruling out that it could be a lab accident, and some experts have not ruled it out either," said Rubio. "Though I can't prove it and no one can because we don't have enough information to disprove it or prove it."
