Over the course of just a few hours,President Trump was rebuffed by the Secretary of Defense over his call for troops in the streets and accused by James Mattis, his former Pentagon chief, of trampling the Constitution for political gain.
Why it matters: Current and former leaders of the U.S. military are drawing a line over Trump's demand for a militarized response to the protests and unrest that have swept the country over the killing of George Floyd by police.
U.S Navy veteran Michael White has been freed by Iran and has left the country on a Swiss government aircraft, AP reports.
Why it matters: White spent 683 days detained by the Iranian government. He was the first American known to be detained by Iran since President Trump took office.
Hong Kong’s legislature approved a bill Thursday that makes insulting the "March of the Volunteers," the Chinese national anthem, illegal, AP reports.
Why it matters: It did so on the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, when Chinese troops opened fire on pro-democracy activists in 1989. The death toll has never been released, but estimates vary between hundreds and thousands.
At least 12 people were detained as police and protesters clashed during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens, per an AP reporter in the Greek capital.
The big picture: Protesters threw firebombs toward police who responded with tear gas during a march toward the embassy on Wednesday evening, Reuters reports. Some 4,000 Greeks took part in the protest, which was largely peaceful until the end, according to Neos Kosmos. It's one of several anti-racism protests to be held in countries including the U.K., France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand that also showed support for U.S. demonstrators.
A new report seen first by Axios details the global security risks posed by emerging technologies like AI and gene editing.
Why it matters: Rising populism, as well as the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, has already eaten away at the postwar global order. Now powerful new technologies threaten to widen the gap between what we can do and what we can control.
The Beijing Municipal Health Commission just released a set of draft regulations for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), a huge industry of mass-produced, over-the-counter remedies based on herbal ingredients.
But buried in those draft regulations is a surprising rule: Article 54 states that "denigrating and defaming traditional Chinese medicine" will be "punished by public security organs according to law."
Some U.S. elected officials who expressed support for the Hong Kong protests have now called for military suppression of the ongoing protests in the U.S. — a fact that Chinese state media and government officials have been happy to call out.
Why it matters: The Chinese Communist Party is eager to convince a domestic audience that democracy is dangerous and that U.S. support for human rights is cynical.
A leading Chinese gene sequencing and biomedical firm that said it would build a gene bank in Xinjiang is supplying coronavirus tests around the world.
Why it matters: U.S. officials are worried that widespread coronavirus testing may provide an opportunity for state-connected companies to compile massive DNA databases for research as well as genetics-based surveillance.
The Department of Transportation announced Wednesday that Chinese passenger airlines will be banned from flying to the United States starting June 16.
Why it matters: Heated tensions between Washington and Beijing are now beginning to impact the airline industry, as the DOT has accused the Chinese government of preventing U.S. airlines from resuming flights to China after suspending them earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Looking at the economies of South Korea and Taiwan leads to a discomforting takeaway: "Reopening isn’t going to be an economic cure-all," Matthew C. Klein writes for Barron's.
What it means: "Both countries contained the virus better than the U.S., yet consumers in those countries remain reluctant to spend and venture out," Klein notes.
Pope Francis condemned Wednesday the "tragic" killing of George Floyd, while praying for "all those others who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism."
What he's saying: "My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life," the pope said to people in the U.S. "At the same time, we have to recognize that 'the violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self-defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost,'" he added, quoting a statement from Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez.
