Axios

The State Department on Friday announced more than $266 million in new humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.

Why it matters: The assistance comes as the U.S. completes the drawdown of military forces. The impending departure has led to fears about the Taliban returning to power.

Thirty-two years after the Chinese government cracked down on student protesters in Tiananmen Square, people around the world gathered to remember the bloody June 4 event and its victims.

Why it matters: Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have long rallied around the Tiananmen anniversary, which over the years has become synonymous with the struggle against the Chinese Communist Party. This year, Hong Kong officials banned a scheduled vigil for the second year in a row.

The Biden administration's decision to sanction three high-profile Bulgarian power brokers landed like a bombshell in the Balkan country and has major political implications.

Why it matters: The sanctions were the first major action Biden has taken to fight global corruption, which he has said will be a major foreign policy priority. They were also the largest-ever single action taken under the Global Magnitsky Act.

Nigeria's government says it is indefinitely suspending Twitter operations in the country after the social media giant temporarily froze the president's account.

Why it matters: Twitter removed a tweet posted by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, which the company said violated its "abusive behavior" policy. His accounts were frozen for 12 hours, per the Washington Post.

The European Union on Friday banned Belarus airlines from flying over EU territory or landing in its airports in response to the Belarus government's forced landing of a Ryanair plane to arrest journalist Raman Pratasevich.

Driving the news: The restrictions come one day after Pratasevich appeared in a video on Belarus state television declaring his respect for strongman Aleksandr Lukashenko — who he has opposed for years — and claiming to have organized "mass riots" against the regime.

Hong Kong police on Friday arrested an organizer of the annual Tiananmen Square vigil and sealed off parts of the park where the event is usually held, according to Reuters.

Why it matters: Thousands of people typically gather in Victoria Park on June 4 to mourn those killed by Chinese troops during the bloody 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square.

The European Union and United Kingdom opened dual antitrust investigations into Facebook on Friday to determine if the social media company distorts competition in the classified advertising market.

Why it matters: The new investigations are the latest salvo in European regulators' crackdown on Big Tech companies, in an attempt to even the playing field and save local businesses.

The world reached a vaccination milestone this week, with 2 billion total doses now administered, according to the tracker from Our World in Data.

Why it matters: The global rate is speeding up considerably. It took 30 days to go from 500 million doses to 1 billion, 24 days to go from 1 billion to 1.5 billion, and just 16 days to jump from 1.5 billion to 2 billion.

After watching the swift success story of COVID-19 vaccines, researchers and advocates are hopeful renewed funding and vaccine advances might finally lead to an end to the devastating 40-year-old AIDS epidemic.

The big picture: HIV is more difficult to target than the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 because the virus can mutate quickly and a vaccine would need to trigger a broadly neutralizing antibody response.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked political allies in a meeting on Thursday to push the talking point that Prime Minister-designate Naftali Bennett would be unable to stand up to President Biden on Iran or fend off U.S. pressure on the Palestinian issue, sources who attended the meeting tell me.

Why it matters: Bennett and centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid sealed a coalition agreement to replace Netanyahu on Wednesday, but the vote to swear in the new government might not come until next Wednesday. They will have to keep their wobbly alliance together until then as Netanyahu attempts to sabotage it.

President Joe Biden issued an executive order Thursday that would ban Americans from investing in companies linked to China's military and its surveillance activities.

Why it matters: Biden's executive order is an expansion of one issued by the Trump administration in November 2020, and it shows that the Biden administration is "continuing some of the hard-line China policies left by former President Donald Trump," according to the Wall Street Journal.

Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Peru currently have some of the highest coronavirus infection and death rates per capita in the world.

Why it matters: Vaccine access has been uneven in the region, which has mostly depended on Russian and Chinese vaccines. Just under 20% of the area’s population has been immunized.

While most countries in the European Union have raced ahead after a slow initial vaccine rollout, countries in Eastern Europe are far behind, with little prospect of catching up quickly.

The state of play: While 39% of people across the EU have had at least one dose, just 12% have in Bulgaria, the lowest rate among the 27 member states. The situation is even more difficult for non-EU members that don’t have access to the bloc’s bulk vaccine purchases.

The Biden administration on Thursday laid out its framework for sharing vaccines for the world and named the recipients of the first 25 million doses, taking a major step toward becoming a global vaccine supplier.

Why it matters: The U.S. had until recently been the only major vaccine producer to keep virtually its entire supply at home, while countries looked to Russia or China for doses. But Biden has pledged to share at least 80 million doses this month and additional shipments beyond that.

The White House announced Thursday that President Biden will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, on June 14.

Why it matters: The two leaders have had a strained relationship in the past, which has been exacerbated by Biden's decision in April to formally recognize the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces as an act of genocide.

Former CDC Director Robert Redfield told Vanity Fair that he received death threats from other scientists after telling CNN in March that he believes the coronavirus accidentally "escaped" from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Why it matters: The allegation was featured in a sweeping investigation by Vanity Fair into the battles over the origins of COVID-19 that have raged inside the U.S. government and scientific community.

10,000 volunteers working to organize the Tokyo Olympics next month have quit, Toshiro Muto, the CEO of the Tokyo organizing committee, told reporters Wednesday, the according to the New York Times.

Why it matters: The games have been under pressure to cancel amid low vaccination rates and a surge of active COVID-19 cases in Japan. Scientists have warned that "canceling the games may be the safest option" and a recent poll by Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper found 83% of voters wanted the games to be postponed or canceled.

President Biden offered his "warm congratulations" to Israel's incoming President Isaac Herzog Wednesday night, as Benjamin Netanyahu's political rivals push for the prime minister's ouster.

What he's saying: Biden noted in a statement that Herzog, with whom he has a personal relationship, has throughout his career "demonstrated his unwavering commitment to strengthening Israel's security, advancing dialogue, and building bridges across the global Jewish community."