China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe departed from the far side of the moon on Tuesday, moving a step closer to completing an ambitious mission that underlines the country’s rise as a space superpower.

In a symbolic moment before takeoff, China also reportedly became the first country to display its national flag on the moon’s far side, which permanently faces away from Earth.

The probe, carrying the first lunar rocks ever collected from the far side of the moon, took off and entered lunar orbit early Tuesday Beijing time, following successful sample collection over the previous two days, according to a statement from the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Its return journey to Earth is estimated to take about three weeks, with a landing expected in China’s Inner Mongolia region around June 25.

The successful return of the samples would give China a head start in harnessing the strategic and scientific benefits of expanded lunar exploration – an increasingly competitive field that has contributed to what NASA chief Bill Nelson calls a new “space race.”

This is the second time China has collected samples from the moon, after the Chang’e-5 brought back rocks from the near side in 2020.

Earlier this year, Nelson appeared to acknowledge China’s pace – and concerns about its intentions – were driving the American urgency to return to the moon, decades after its Apollo-crewed missions.

A photo posted by CNSA Tuesday and trending on China’s X-like Weibo platform shows the drilled surface in a shape resembling the Chinese character “zhong,” or “middle” in English – the first character in the Chinese word for “China.”

The Chang’e-6 probe withstood “the test of high temperatures” and collected the samples by drilling into the moon’s surface and scooping the soil and rocks up with a mechanical arm, CNSA said.

After collecting the specimens, Chang’e-6 extended a robotic arm to raise the Chinese flag, according to an animation released by CNSA.

The flag, made from the volcanic rock basalt, was designed to resist corrosion and the extreme temperatures on the far side of the moon with an eye on future lunar missions, a Chang’e-6 engineer told state-broadcaster CCTV.

The rock “was crushed, melted and drawn into filaments about one third of the diameter of a human hair, then spun into thread and woven into cloth,” said engineer Zhou Changyi.

“The lunar surface is rich in basalt,” Zhou added. “Since we’re building a lunar base in the future, we will most likely have to make basalt into fibers and use it as building materials.”

Historic mission

Chang’e-6 successfully landed on Sunday morning in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the moon’s oldest impact basin formed some 4 billion years ago. It marked the second time a mission has successfully reached the far side of the moon, after China first completed that historic feat in 2019 with its Chang’e-4 probe.

If all goes as planned, the mission — which began on May 3 and is expected to last 53 days — could be a key milestone in China’s push to become a dominant space power.

The country’s plans include landing astronauts on the moon by 2030 and building a research base at its south pole, a region believed to contain water ice.

Samples collected by the Chang’e-6 lander could provide key clues into the origin and evolution of the moon, Earth and the solar system, experts say – while the mission itself provides important data and technical practice to advance China’s lunar ambitions.

“The enigmatic lunar far side is so different from the lunar nearside in so many ways, that without returned samples, lunar scientists can’t fully understand the moon as an entire planetary body,” said James Head, a professor emeritus at Brown University who has collaborated with Chinese scientists leading the mission. “Returned samples from Chang’e 6 will permit major strides to be made in solving these problems.”

The far side of the moon is out of range of normal communications, which means Chang’e-6 must also rely on a satellite that was launched into lunar orbit in March, the Queqiao-2.

China plans to launch two more missions in the Chang-e series as it nears its 2030 target of sending astronauts to the moon.

Space race

Multiple nations are expanding their lunar programs, with a growing focus on securing access to resources and further deep-space exploration.

Last year, India landed a spacecraft on the moon for the first time, while Russia’s first lunar landing mission in decades ended in failure when its Luna 25 probe crashed into the moon’s surface.

In January, Japan became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, though its Moon Sniper lander faced power issues due to an incorrect landing angle. The following month, IM-1, a NASA-funded mission designed by Texas-based private firm Intuitive Machines, touched down close to the lunar south pole.

That landing – the first by a US-made spacecraft in over five decades – is among several planned commercial missions intended to explore the lunar surface before NASA attempts to return US astronauts there as soon as 2026 and build its scientific base camp.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may soon be forced to choose: Agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas or keep his government in power.

But as he confronts that choice, Netanyahu is also looking for a way to avoid it altogether.

For months, Netanyahu has gingerly balanced these competing imperatives by refusing to even contemplate a permanent ceasefire as he blamed Hamas’s “delusional demands” for the collapse of previous rounds of negotiations. But after US President Joe Biden publicly outlined Israel’s latest ceasefire proposal on Friday – one that could lead to a permanent truce and which Hamas may be prepared to accept – Netanyahu is now out of time.

“I think that Bibi is cornered now,” said Aviv Bushinsky, a former adviser to Netanyahu, using the prime minister’s nickname. Biden is “forcing Bibi to take off his mask and say: ‘OK, now is the money time. Are you in favor of a deal?’,” he said.

As Israel awaits Hamas’ response to the latest proposal, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and other far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition are already threatening to bolt from the government and cause its collapse if the prime minister follows through.

Amid the chorus of threats from his right flank, Netanyahu is trying to reframe the latest ceasefire proposal, insisting to Ben Gvir and others that the terms of the deal are not as Biden defined them. While Biden squarely framed the proposal as a way to end the war, Netanyahu is insisting Israel will not end the war until and unless Hamas is eliminated.

Netanyahu told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee on Monday that “the claim that we agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met is not true.”

He appeared to be referring to the permanent ceasefire outlined in the second phase of the proposal, the conditions of which Israel and Hamas would need to negotiate during the first phase – a point Netanyahu has sought to emphasize in recent days.

According to Biden, the three-phase proposal would pair a release of hostages with a “full and complete ceasefire.”

But Netanyahu’s spokesperson told journalists at a briefing Monday that Biden had presented only a “partial” outline of the deal Israel had offered Hamas.

“The war will be stopped for the purpose of returning hostages and then we will proceed with further discussions. There are other details that the US President did not present to the public,” the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson reiterated Israel’s refusal to agree to any ceasefire until all hostages had been released, until Gaza no longer posed “a threat” to Israel, and until Hamas’s “governing and military capabilities” in Gaza had been eradicated.

“The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter. It’s not an option,” said the spokesperson.

Netanyahu’s efforts to convince the far-right ministers in order to avoid choosing between a ceasefire deal and the survival of his government have so far fallen flat. Ben Gvir said Monday that Netanyahu’s office refused to follow through on a commitment to show him the draft proposal, leaving him convinced the prime minister has something to hide.

If Ben Gvir or Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich don’t back off their threats to leave the government, Netanyahu will be back to the binary choice that is beginning to materialize before his eyes.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid has offered to provide a “safety net” to keep the government in power in order to achieve a ceasefire deal, but doing so would also be handing Lapid the keys to forcing early elections once the deal is implemented.

Just as it has been over the past eight months, Netanyahu’s political survival may be wrapped up in the continuation of the war and his elusive pursuit of total victory over Hamas.

Netanyahu is confronting the choice between his government’s survival and a hostage deal at a time when his political fortunes have begun to improve. For the first time this year, Netanyahu edged out his chief political rival Benny Gantz as the preferred choice for prime minister for Israelis, 36% to 30%, according to a Channel 12 survey last week.

And a smattering of recent polls have shown Gantz’s National Unity party faltering, while Netanyahu’s Likud is making modest gains. National Unity would still win a plurality of seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, but the party’s 19-seat advantage over Likud in December has dropped to a four-seat advantage in last week’s Channel 12 poll.

The improvement in Netanyahu’s political standing coincided with a surge of international condemnation of Israel’s war effort in Gaza and the International Criminal Court’s decision to seek an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, all of which have positioned Netanyahu domestically as Israel’s defender, a familiar and comfortable role for Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. Meanwhile, Gantz’s threat to leave the war cabinet over Netanyahu’s lack of long-term strategy in Gaza appears to be the cause of his drop in support.

A poll by Israel’s Channel 11 on Monday put the Israeli public’s support for the ceasefire deal currently on the table at 40%, with 27% opposed and 33% unsure.

But if Netanyahu is now contemplating whether there is more upside to continuing the war than reaching a ceasefire deal, Biden’s speech last week didn’t just force Netanyahu to confront that choice – it was also aimed at countering the pressure Netanyahu is now facing to abandon his own government’s proposal.

“I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely. Some are even in the government coalition,” Biden said. “Well, I’ve urged the leadership in Israel to stand behind this deal, despite whatever pressure comes.”

Despite Netanyahu’s remarks that the conditions for ending the war “have not changed,” the US State Department said Monday it was “completely confident” Israel would go along with the proposal laid out by Biden. “The only thing standing in the way of an immediate ceasefire today is Hamas,” Matthew Miller told a press briefing.

But one key question remains: Will Hamas force Netanyahu to make the choice he now confronts? Or will Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, offer Netanyahu an escape hatch of his own making?

Hamas said it viewed Biden’s speech about the latest Israeli proposal “positively,” but has yet to submit its official response.

While the latest proposal makes major concessions to close the gap with Hamas’s demands – including by offering a clear pathway to a permanent ceasefire – it still falls short of meeting all of the demands.

It allows an initial 6-week ceasefire period to be extended for as long as the parties need to negotiate a permanent truce that includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in a second phase of the deal. But it does not require Israel to commit to a permanent ceasefire upfront.

Hamas’s refusal to compromise on that point and sign off on this deal could let Netanyahu off the hook, and plunge Gaza into many more months of war.

This story and its headline have been updated.

The Israel Defense Forces says its representatives have informed the families of four hostages being held in Gaza “that they are no longer alive.”

The IDF said it had told the families of Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper, and Nadav Popplewell “who were brutally abducted to the Gaza Strip on October 7, that they are no longer alive and that their bodies are held by the Hamas terrorist organization.”

The IDF said the decision to pronounce the four hostages dead was based on intelligence and was confirmed by a Ministry of Health expert committee, in coordination with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Chief Rabbi of Israel.

The circumstances of their deaths in Hamas captivity are still under examination, according to the IDF, which says it uses a “a wide variety of methods to gather information about the hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip.”

Chief spokesperson for the IDF, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said “Their loved ones were killed a few months ago during Hamas captivity in Gaza and their bodies are still being held by Hamas. We assess that the four of them were killed while together in the area of Khan Younis during an operation there against Hamas.”

In May, Hamas said Popplewell, an Israeli-British citizen, had died from wounds following a strike by Israeli fighter jets on his place of detention over a month earlier.

More than 250 people were taken hostage and moved to Gaza during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel but more than 100 were released during a temporary truce last year. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office believes there are still 124 hostages, living and dead, in Gaza – four of whom were taken before October 7. Of the remaining 120 who were taken on October 7, Israel now believes 41 are dead.

Israeli War Cabinet minister and Chairman of Israel’s National Unity Party, Benny Gantz sent condolences to the families of those declared dead on Monday, saying on his Telegram channel the news was “a painful reminder of our supreme moral duty to continue to fight against terrorism and to do everything to return all the hostages home as soon as possible, even at painful costs.”

The latest deaths are likely to increase pressure on the Israeli leadership to secure a ceasefire proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden last week.

Following news of the four deaths, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum in Israel reiterated its demand to the Israeli government to immediately approve the proposal.

The organization called the news of the four deaths a mark of disgrace and a sad reflection on the significance of delaying previous deals.

“The Israeli government must send out a negotiating delegation this evening and return all 124 hostages, both living and murdered, to their homes,” the group said in a statement Monday.

“Chaim, Yoram, Amiram, and Nadav were kidnapped alive, some of them were with other hostages who returned in the previous deal – and they should have returned alive to their country and their families,” the statement added.

The three-phase proposal outlined by Biden on Friday would secure the release of hostages paired with a ceasefire.

The US president outlined the plan – which he said was proposed by Israel – in unusual detail in what appears to have been an attempt to pressure both Israel and Hamas into an agreement.

On Monday, leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) nations added to that pressure by endorsing the proposal, calling on Hamas to accept it, and claiming that “Israel is ready to move forward” with it.

However, whether Israel is, in fact, “ready to move forward” with the plan laid out by Biden remains something of an unknown, as the Israeli government has offered a series of non-committal statements that have created a degree of uncertainty about the plan.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameroon also noted the proposal in a post on the social media platform X, in which he said he was “greatly saddened” by the death of Israeli-British citizen Popplewell. “My thoughts are with his loved ones at this terrible time for them,” Cameron wrote. “With a new deal on the table, we reiterate our demand for Hamas to send all hostages home.”

Husbands, fathers, brothers

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum released the following information on the four hostages declared dead Monday.

Nadav Popplewell: 51, from Kibbutz Nirim, a family man of distinction and a generous friend, a lover of books and science fiction.

Nadav was kidnapped from his home’s safe room along with his mother, Channa Peri, who was released after 49 days in captivity.

His older brother, Roy, was murdered on October 7.

Amiram Cooper: 84, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz. He was kidnapped together with his wife, Nurit, who was released from Hamas captivity after 17 days.

Amiram saw the establishment of the kibbutz as his life’s mission.

He was an economist, poet, and composer.

He is survived by his wife, three children, and nine grandchildren.

Yoram Metzger: 80, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, kidnapped from his home along with his wife, Tamar, who was released from Hamas captivity after 53 days.

Yoram was a man of family and people, stories and humor. He was one of the founders of the Nir Oz Winery.

Yoram is survived by his wife Tamar, three children, and seven grandchildren.

Chaim Peri: 80, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a man of peace, art, and cinema.

He taught in schools in the area and at Sapir College.

He established and built the art gallery in the kibbutz and the sculpture garden.

He was one of the founders of the Nir Oz Winery.

Chaim was abducted from the safe room in his home while protecting his wife, Osnat.

He is survived by his wife, five children, and 13 grandchildren.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The Israel Defense Forces says its representatives have informed the families of four hostages being held in Gaza “that they are no longer alive.”

The IDF said it had told the families of Chaim Peri, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper, and Nadav Popplewell “who were brutally abducted to the Gaza Strip on October 7, that they are no longer alive and that their bodies are held by the Hamas terrorist organization.”

The IDF said the decision to pronounce the four hostages dead was based on intelligence and was confirmed by a Ministry of Health expert committee, in coordination with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Chief Rabbi of Israel.

The circumstances of their deaths in Hamas captivity are still under examination, according to the IDF, which says it uses a “a wide variety of methods to gather information about the hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip.”

Chief spokesperson for the IDF, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said “Their loved ones were killed a few months ago during Hamas captivity in Gaza and their bodies are still being held by Hamas. We assess that the four of them were killed while together in the area of Khan Younis during an operation there against Hamas.”

In May, Hamas said Popplewell, an Israeli-British citizen, had died from wounds following a strike by Israeli fighter jets on his place of detention over a month earlier.

More than 250 people were taken hostage and moved to Gaza during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel but more than 100 were released during a temporary truce last year. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office believes there are still 124 hostages, living and dead, in Gaza – four of whom were taken before October 7. Of the remaining 120 who were taken on October 7, Israel now believes 41 are dead.

Israeli War Cabinet minister and Chairman of Israel’s National Unity Party, Benny Gantz sent condolences to the families of those declared dead on Monday, saying on his Telegram channel the news was “a painful reminder of our supreme moral duty to continue to fight against terrorism and to do everything to return all the hostages home as soon as possible, even at painful costs.”

The latest deaths are likely to increase pressure on the Israeli leadership to secure a ceasefire proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden last week.

Following news of the four deaths, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum in Israel reiterated its demand to the Israeli government to immediately approve the proposal.

The organization called the news of the four deaths a mark of disgrace and a sad reflection on the significance of delaying previous deals.

“The Israeli government must send out a negotiating delegation this evening and return all 124 hostages, both living and murdered, to their homes,” the group said in a statement Monday.

“Chaim, Yoram, Amiram, and Nadav were kidnapped alive, some of them were with other hostages who returned in the previous deal – and they should have returned alive to their country and their families,” the statement added.

The three-phase proposal outlined by Biden on Friday would secure the release of hostages paired with a ceasefire.

The US president outlined the plan – which he said was proposed by Israel – in unusual detail in what appears to have been an attempt to pressure both Israel and Hamas into an agreement.

On Monday, leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) nations added to that pressure by endorsing the proposal, calling on Hamas to accept it, and claiming that “Israel is ready to move forward” with it.

However, whether Israel is, in fact, “ready to move forward” with the plan laid out by Biden remains something of an unknown, as the Israeli government has offered a series of non-committal statements that have created a degree of uncertainty about the plan.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameroon also noted the proposal in a post on the social media platform X, in which he said he was “greatly saddened” by the death of Israeli-British citizen Popplewell. “My thoughts are with his loved ones at this terrible time for them,” Cameron wrote. “With a new deal on the table, we reiterate our demand for Hamas to send all hostages home.”

Husbands, fathers, brothers

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum released the following information on the four hostages declared dead Monday.

Nadav Popplewell: 51, from Kibbutz Nirim, a family man of distinction and a generous friend, a lover of books and science fiction.

Nadav was kidnapped from his home’s safe room along with his mother, Channa Peri, who was released after 49 days in captivity.

His older brother, Roy, was murdered on October 7.

Amiram Cooper: 84, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz. He was kidnapped together with his wife, Nurit, who was released from Hamas captivity after 17 days.

Amiram saw the establishment of the kibbutz as his life’s mission.

He was an economist, poet, and composer.

He is survived by his wife, three children, and nine grandchildren.

Yoram Metzger: 80, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, kidnapped from his home along with his wife, Tamar, who was released from Hamas captivity after 53 days.

Yoram was a man of family and people, stories and humor. He was one of the founders of the Nir Oz Winery.

Yoram is survived by his wife Tamar, three children, and seven grandchildren.

Chaim Peri: 80, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a man of peace, art, and cinema.

He taught in schools in the area and at Sapir College.

He established and built the art gallery in the kibbutz and the sculpture garden.

He was one of the founders of the Nir Oz Winery.

Chaim was abducted from the safe room in his home while protecting his wife, Osnat.

He is survived by his wife, five children, and 13 grandchildren.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Any tourist wandering through the glitzy lobby of Singapore’s Shangri-La Hotel this weekend would have stumbled on a rather bizarre scene.

Military officers from around the world thronged the halls of the luxury hotel, their shoulders dripping with gold braids and epaulets, complicated colored bars lined up on the chests of their dress uniforms like some martial game of Tetris.

Every few minutes a defense minister strode purposely through the mix, surrounded by a phalanx of aides and escorts.

This gathering is an annual spectacle that to the uninitiated might seem surreal. But the topics being discussed here are deadly serious.

The annual Shangri-La Dialogue is one of the few places in the world where you can watch warriors who spend their careers preparing for armed conflict, engaged in polite, carefully-moderated debate.

The stakes this year could hardly be higher.

War rages in both the Middle East and Europe. Meanwhile China’s increasingly assertive moves has much of the Asia-Pacific on edge.

The Singapore summit brought key players together.

Where else would you have the President of the Philippines, a nation whichdo has seen its vessels increasingly targeted by Chinese coast guard ships in the disputed South China Sea, deliver a keynote address on the same stage that, two days later, Beijing’s new Defense Minister makes his debut appearance?

There was even a surprise appearance from Ukraine’s embattled president Volodymyr Zelensky – and a first face-to-face meeting between US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Adm Dong Jun.

Given its location in the city-state of Singapore, events in Asia – and in particular China’s behavior in the region – stalked the conference.

In his keynote speech, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued a stark warning about the ongoing confrontations between Philippine and China Coast Guard vessels in a contested part of the South China Sea.

“If a Filipino citizen is killed by a willful act,” he said, “that is I think, very, very close to what we define as an act of war.”

Two days later, China’s Adm Dong fired back from the same stage, accusing the Philippines of “blackmail” in the maritime dispute.

“There is a limit to our restraint,” said Admiral Dong Jun.

“I saw that as a threat,” said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a research professor at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Center who has been attending the Shangri-La Dialogue since its founding twenty-one years ago.

“In decades past, the Chinese only came in a small number and they were extremely quiet,” she said.  “Now they’re very self confident…they intervene in all the sessions.”

The open nature of the Shangri-La Dialogue provides delegates with a unique opportunity to ask blunt questions of speakers.

After his speech on Sunday, China’s Dong received many questions from audience members on Beijing’s increased threats towards self-governing Taiwan as well as its disputed claims in the South China Sea, and he replied in unapologetic terms.

The “separatists” in Taiwan’s newly-elected government would be “nailed to the pillar of shame in history,” he said.

But equally, Chinese military officers also used Q&A sessions at other key moments to make their views known.

Senior Colonel Yanzhong Cao of China’s People’s Liberation Army asked US Secretary of Defense asked US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin whether the US was trying to build a NATO-like alliance in the Asia-Pacific region, adding the claim “the eastward expansion of NATO has led to the Ukraine crisis.”

“I respectfully disagree,” Austin replied, the audience in the ballroom then erupting into a rare burst of applause.

“The Ukraine crisis obviously was caused because Mr. Putin made a decision to unlawfully invade his neighbor,” Austin continued. “This was brought on because of a decision by Mr. Putin.”

Later that day, Ukrainian leader Zelensky got a borderline rock star welcome when he made a surprise appearance at the conference, dressed in his trademark fatigues and black t-shirt.

“We stand with you,” Ng Eng Hen, Singapore’s minister of defense, later said to Zelensky.

But the large contingent of Chinese army officers present at other sessions was notably absent during Zelensky’s speech and the Ukrainian leader said he failed to secure a one-on-one meeting with Chinese officials during his Singapore visit.

He also accused Beijing of aiding Ukraine’s mortal enemy.

“With China’s support to Russia, the war will last longer.  That is bad for the whole world, and the policy of China – who declares that it supports territorial integrity and sovereignty and declares it officially. For them it is not good,” Zelensky told journalists.

It was not clear whether Zelensky succeeded in securing new support for Kyiv from non-aligned south-east Asian countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.

Instead, Indonesian president-elect and retired general Prabowo Subianto – the new leader of the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation – spent much of his speech calling for an end to the on-going carnage in Gaza and an investigation into recent Israeli attacks that killed dozens of displaced civilians in Rafah.

Another political elephant in the room was what direction might the United States be heading in.

The Singapore gathering began just hours after a 12-person jury in a court-room in New York City convicted former US President Donald Trump on of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his hush money criminal trial.

Asia is watching very closely for whether Trump will return to office in November and what impact that might have on the world’s most populous continent and a region already fraught with very real geopolitical fault lines.

His fellow Republican Senator Dan Sullivan also requested not to discuss Trump during a meeting with journalists, instead directing reporters to a press release.

“This is a very sad day for American and the rule of law,” Sullivan’s statement said, calling the verdict a “gross abuse of our justice system.”

But speaking to journalists, the Senator from Alaska also celebrated what he called America’s “commitment to liberty and democracy,” saying this marked a competitive advantage over “authoritarian aggression led by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.”

Sullivan was part of a bi-partisan delegation seeking to demonstrate Congressional commitment to US allies in Asia.

“The dictators we are allied against…are ally poor,” Sullivan said.

But there are clearly concerns about US reliability.

An academic from Japan – Washington’s closest ally in Asia – asked defense chiefs from Singapore and Malaysia about Trump’s possible re-election.  He called it a “nightmare” scenario.

That triggered nervous laughter from the audience and on stage.

Singapore’s Dr. Ng Eng Hen gamely responded, “we will work with any administration in any country if we can find common ground.”

I vividly remember collective nervousness at the 2017 Shangri-La Dialogue, held just months after Trump’s inauguration.

Trump’s then secretary of defense James Mattis clearly sought to reassure American defense partners worried about the new mercurial president.

“Bear with us,” Mattis told the audience, after being asked whether the “America First” commander-in-chief would contribute to the destruction of the post-World War II order.

“Once we’ve exhausted all possible alternatives, the Americans will do the right thing.  We will still be there.”

Seven years later, uncertainty over the political future of the US is just one of many challenges facing policy makers.

One by one, the leaders of armies and navies shared their fears about climate change, nuclear proliferation, wars in Europe and the Middle East and concerns that a miscalculation between the US and Chinese militaries could spiral out of control

“The world cannot withstand a third geopolitical shock,” Singaporean defense chief Dr. Ng warned, after invoking the Gaza and Ukraine conflicts.

In this tense geopolitical environment, it’s far better for commanders to put on their dress uniforms and rub shoulders in the halls of a five-star hotel, than aim at each other over gun barrels on the battlefield.

A nationwide strike in Nigeria brought air travel to a standstill and plunged the country into darkness on Monday as union workers stormed the national grid and shut down the nation’s power supply, according to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

Tens of millions are without power and flights have been disrupted, as the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) initiated an indefinite strike.

Operators from TCN were beaten and injured while they were forcibly removed from control rooms, the company said. Cane-swinging union workers were also seen in photos circulating on social media Monday ordering personnel of the country’s tax agency out of their offices.

This strike comes after failed negotiations with the government to raise the federal minimum wage. The unions are also protesting a recent hike in electricity tariffs.

The unions’ demands include raising the minimum wage from 30,000 naira ($22.4) to 494,000 naira ($369.6). Presidential aide Bayo Onanuga dismissed these demands as “unreasonable,” in a post on the social media platform X.

The government had proposed a 100% increase to 60,000 naira ($44.89), which the unions rejected, seeking a 1,547% increase instead, Onanuga added.

Despite being Africa’s fourth-largest economy, Nigeria’s minimum wage is not among the continent’s top ten, lagging far behind countries like Seychelles, where workers receive a minimum wage of $465.4 monthly.

Health care system disrupted

“I’m worried because the state of the healthcare system is on the verge of collapse,” he said, adding that his medical facility located in southwest Nigeria was unable to power crucial hospital equipment due to the shutdown of the national grid.

“Coming in the morning, the emergency (unit) and everywhere was dark. Patients and healthcare workers were all in darkness.”

Nigerian Justice Minister Lateef Fagbemi has declared the strike illegal in a letter to the labor unions, calling it “premature and ineffectual,” in a statement posted by Onanuga.

The strike has elicited mixed reactions from Nigerians on social media, with some declaring support, others saying it is detrimental to citizens.

“I support the strike action by the NLC. 30k or 60k minimum wage in 2024 Nigeria is unsustainable and unacceptable,” wrote lawyer Festus Ogun in a post on X.

“The NLC should refrain from actions that punish the common man – the average Nigerian. Electricity, roads, airports and other critical infrastructure should be left to function as normal,” argued management consultant Dipo Awojide.

Controversial expenditure

Nigeria faces numerous economic challenges, including the devaluation of its currency which has dropped to record lows in recent months, as well as a cost-of-living crisis marked by soaring prices for food, transport, and health care. Inflation has reached 33.69%, according to the country’s data office, the highest in nearly three decades.

President Bola Tinubu’s administration has faced criticism for controversial spending of public funds which has fueled public anger.

Last month, the president approved a 90 billion-naira ($67 million) subsidy for Muslims attending the Hajj pilgrimage, and previously, he authorized multimillion-dollar budgets for luxury SUVs and renovations for presidential residences, as well as vehicles for the First Lady’s office, which is not formally recognized under Nigerian law.

Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale admitted that the current wage is “unsustainably low” but warned that the unions’ proposed increase would have severe economic consequences, including significantly higher school fees and potential mass retrenchment if schools and other institutions cannot afford the increased wages.

“Nigerian parents will now have to grapple with school fees that are 10 times more than what they are paying today … you are going to mandate schools to pay cooks, janitors, and others 20 times more in wages?” he said.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on his way to meditate inside an island shrine for two days to cap weeks of election campaigning – his latest public display of religiosity days after proclaiming he was sent by god.

India’s election is the world’s largest, a mammoth exercise in democracy that has taken place over six weeks. The final day of voting takes place on Saturday and results will be announced three days later.

Modi will visit the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, a pilgrimage site off India’s southernmost tip, from May 30 to June 1, according to Indian state broadcaster DD News.

The site is where popular Hindu monk and philosopher Swami Vivekananda attained enlightenment.

Modi has twice before ended an election campaign with meditation. But he has recently been making increasingly grand displays of piety, to capitalize on Hindu-nationalist sentiment as he eyes a third consecutive five-year term in power.

In an interview last week with local news channel NDTV, Modi said: “I’m convinced that God has sent me for a purpose, and when that purpose is finished, my work will be done.”

“God doesn’t reveal his cards. He just keeps making me do things,” he continued.

India is constitutionally bound to secularism, but since assuming power in 2014 Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have promoted a strident brand of Hindu nationalism that has deepened religious divides.

When he first contested national elections a decade ago, Modi chose India’s spiritual capital Varanasi as his constituency, making the ancient city the perfect backdrop to meld his religious and political ambitions.

At the end of that campaign, Modi visited Pratapgad in the western state of Maharashtra, where the Hindu-led Maratha forces won a historic battle against the Mughal empire army in the 17th century.

Toward the end of the 2019 national elections, which he also won, Modi went to meditate in the revered Kedarnath shrine dedicated to Hindu deity Lord Shiva high in the Himalayas.

In January, just months before campaigning began, Modi consecrated the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, a controversial Hindu temple that was built on the site of a destroyed mosque, taking on a role typically reserved for priests.

In a country where about 80% of the population are followers of the polytheistic faith, critics say Modi’s brandishing of Hinduism has led to rising Islamophobia and persecution of the country’s more than 200 million Muslims.

Modi and the BJP have increasingly resorted to overtly Islamophobic language during his recent election speeches. In a controversial speech last month, Modi said that if the opposition wins, they would distribute the country’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children,” in apparent reference to the Muslim community.

Claudia Sheinbaum, the former head of the government of Mexico City and candidate for the ruling Morena party, is projected to be the country’s first female president, marking a historic achievement in a country known for its deeply patriarchal culture.

The 61-year-old rode the wave of popularity of her longtime political ally, the outgoing leftist Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and their Morena party.

The Electoral Court must still validate the presidential election, and if confirmed, she will start her presidency on October 1.

Sheinbaum, a former climate scientist, entered the campaign as the favorite, according to February and March polls by Mitofsky, Parametría, and De las Heras Demotecnia, which placed her support between 49% and 67% compared to her political rivals.

Sheinbaum holds a degree in physics and a master’s and doctorate in energy engineering. She has received several accolades for her academic career.

Born in Mexico City in 1962, she has two children and one grandchild. Her partner, Jesús María Tarriba, whom she met at university while both were studying physics, is currently a financial risk specialist at the Bank of Mexico.

In 2018, she became the head of government of Mexico City, the first woman elected to this position. Her desire to be part of Mexican politics began in 2000 when she was appointed Secretary of the Environment for the Federal District under Andrés López Obrador’s administration until 2006.

Three year before she became the first woman elected as the head of the Tlalpan borough, serving until 2017. In early 2018, she joined the government of Mexico City as head until June 2023, when she stepped down to run for the presidency with the Morena party, of which she is a founder, aiming to succeed her party colleague, López Obrador.

As part of her campaign within Morena, Sheinbaum is designated the coordinator for the Defense of the Transformation, whose mission, as stated on her LinkedIn profile, is to defend and promote the values of the Fourth Transformation of Public Life in Mexico, the central axis of López Obrador’s policy.

Much of her life has been dedicated to university teaching, focusing on renewable energy and climate change. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to which Sheinbaum contributed, received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Sheinbaum is not only the first female president in Mexico, but the first president with Jewish heritage, although she rarely speaks publicly about her personal background and has governed as a secular leftist.

What challenges lie ahead?

Violence has loomed large in this election, the bloodiest in Mexico’s history. Dozens of political candidates and applicants have been killed by criminal organizations trying to influence those coming into power.

The poll is seen by some as a referendum on the policies of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador who is Sheinbaum’s mentor.

López Obrador’s popular social welfare has helped poorer Mexicans but his “hugs, not bullets” policy of not confronting cartels has not stopped criminal violence.

Mexico’s homicide rate is among the highest in the world, and more than 100,000 people remain missing in the country. It also remains a dangerous place to be a woman, with sky-high femicide rates for the region – with figures showing around 10 women are murdered every day.

Sheinbaum will have to act quickly on Mexico’s organized crime and security issues, said Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“It’s stunning that the governing party could win re-election by a landslide as it seems… given the sweeping violence, the thing is the opposition didn’t seem to put together a much more credible set of proposals about what they would do,” Freeman said.

Sheinbaum comes with a team from her time as Mexico City mayor that has a proven record on improving security but it remains to be seen if she can replicate that on a national scale, Freeman said.

US-Mexico relations

Both Mexico and the US are holding elections in 2024, something that happens only once every 12 years – and comes at a time of transition in the relationship between the two countries.

Sheinbaum will assume office just a month before Americans head to the polls in November, where immigration is a top issue on the ballot for Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Mexico is a key US ally on a range of issues, from trade to cracking down on drug trafficking to managing migration. Current and former US officials have frequently described the relationship between President Joe Biden and Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as friendly and professional — and anticipate a productive relationship with Mexico’s next president.

But Mexico’s election also comes at a critical time for the Biden administration.

In recent months, the US has relied heavily on Mexico to step up immigration enforcement and help stem the flow of migration to the US southern border. The election in Mexico has raised uncertainty in the minds of some Biden officials about what, if anything, will change with a key partner when it comes to border cooperation.

One of the considerations in rolling out a new border executive action was doing so after Mexico’s election. The administration will likely need buy-in and assistance from Mexico to execute the order.

Officials expect that a new administration in Mexico would likely continue cooperating with the US on migration given years of partnership, but it’s unclear how migrants — and especially, smugglers — might plot their next moves in a moment of government transition.

Wearing a toy whale hat, whale tie and a whale motif shirt, Hideki Tokoro spends much of his days thinking about the world’s largest mammals. But he doesn’t want to protect them. He wants to hunt them.

To do that his company Kyodo Senpaku has built and launched a brand-new whaling $48 million “mothership” – the Kangei Maru.

“We are proud of catching whales and are very proud of this ship which will allow us to begin offshore mothership-style whaling this year,” Tokoro told reporters as he escorted them around the 370-foot, 9,300-ton vessel that set sail last Saturday for an eight-month tour of the country’s northern waters.

The new ship replaces the Nisshin Maru, the infamous whaling factory vessel dubbed by activists as a “floating slaughterhouse” that was decommissioned in 2020 after more than 30 years of service, during which it frequently clashed with anti-whaling activists.

The Kangei Maru is bigger and faster than its predecessor, the company says, and is equipped with state-of-the-art drones able to travel a reported 100 kilometers (62 miles) to allow crews of smaller boats to quickly locate and kill whales.

But activists say the ship’s high-powered features, including a cruising range of 13,000 kilometers (more than 8,000 miles) and its ability to sail for up to 60 days, suggests that Japan is setting its sights on whales far beyond its northern waters.

‘We need to cull whales’

The Kangei Maru boasts a slipway large enough to haul 85-foot whales from the sea that leads to an indoor flensing deck the size of two basketball courts.

There, workers will strip away the blubber before cutting up the whale flesh on enormous cutting boards, before vacuum-packing and storing the meat in 40 industrial freezers, ready for sale.

“Whales are at the top of the food chain. They compete with humans by eating marine creatures that should be feeding other fish,” Tokoro said on the tour.

Besides objecting to the slaughter one of the ocean’s most majestic creatures, marine conservation groups and scientists have highlighted the important role which whales play in helping to tackle the climate crisis through sequestering and storing planet-heating carbon emissions.

“Whales are not just consumers in ocean eco-systems – they recycle a ton of nutrients into the environment which helps stimulate plant-life growth,” said marine ecologist Ari Friedlaender, also rejecting pro-whaling arguments that commercial hunts could be “sustainable.”

“Humans have a very long history of killing whales and have not done a good job of being able to sustainably harvest animals,” he said. “There is no way to sustainably harvest a wild animal like that.”

Why is Japan so determined to keep whaling?

Commercial whaling was banned in 1986 under a moratorium by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) after whale populations were almost driven to extinction by humans.

Japan is one of three countries – along with Norway and Iceland – that continues to hunt whales, and officials argue that the industry is an important part of its culture and history – and also provides food security.

Iceland, which has fiercely defended commercial whaling, said it would end whaling in 2024, citing falling demand for whale meat as well as “high operation costs and little proof of any economic advantage.”

Commercial whaling continues in Norway, which experts say has quietly become the world’s leading whaling nation – killing more whales than Japan and Iceland combined.

For decades, Japan has justified whaling under the guise of “scientific research.”

In 2018, it tried one last time to persuade the IWC to allow it to resume commercial whaling – and failed. So, it withdrew from the body and resumed commercial whaling months later, in defiance of international criticism.

“Within its waters, it has the absolute authority to control the management of living resources – and that includes whales.”

Under Japanese law, three species of whale are permitted to be hunted in its territorial waters and exclusive economic zones – endangered sei whales and threatened minke whales and Bryde’s whales, with endangered fin whales set to be added to kill lists.

“Whales are important food resources and should be sustainably utilized based on scientific evidence,” said government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi this month, as he announced a proposal to hunt fin whales, the second-largest species of whales after blue whales.

The World Cetacean Alliance (WCA) marine conservation group said that whale watching in Japan was “a far more successful industry” than harvesting whale meat.

“Commercial whaling in the 21st century is unjustifiable,” it said.  “The whaling industry in Japan recognizes that it is a challenge to increase whale meat consumption and there is currently no market,” WCA said.

“So why keep slaughtering these wonderful and intelligent animals?”

Demand for whale meat in Japan

Over the years, Kyodo Senpaku has launched aggressive public relation campaigns to promote whale meat and win over new generations of young diners.

Tokoro says he eats whale meat every day.

“Whale meat is not only delicious, it’s good for you,” Tokoro told reporters during the tour of his ship, as he talked up the purported “health benefits” of eating whale, claiming that the meat could cure hair loss and cancer.

“I can definitely say whale meat and rice is a really good (combination) for Japanese people. There is no doubt about that, much better than beef and bun.”

Last year Tokoro, again wearing his whale hat, launched controversial whale meat vending machines, offering whale sashimi, whale steak and whale bacon.

The company has also sponsored influencers from countries such as Russia, Thailand and South Korea – hosting them at a local izakaya in Osaka, where they sampled dishes like whale sashimi and skewers and encouraging them to take the message back to their followers that whale meat was delicious and acceptable.

Japan may have a long and storied history of whaling dating back to the Edo period in the 1600s, but experts say whale meat consumption only really peaked after World War II – when food sources, especially protein, were scarce.

Today, whale meat is now considered more of a “luxury” dish, said Nobuhiro Kishigami, a professor at the National Museum of Ethnology, one of the country’s largest research institutes.

The same goes for dolphin meat, he added. “It’s just a sign of the times. But if we were asked to stop eating blue fin tuna, there would be a huge uproar. We would react very badly to that.”

Japan’s fisheries ministry estimates that between 1,000 and 2,000 tons of whale meat are consumed annually in the country, compared to average annual totals of more than 230,000 tons during the 1960s.

“The demand for whale blubber disappeared after the discovery of oil and petroleum products, so many countries stopped whaling and with international regulations, the number of caught whales decreased and as a result, whale meat production decreased while beef, pork and chicken became more popular,” he said.

Scientists have also expressed concern about the risks of consuming whale meat, with studies pointing to high levels of mercury found in whale and dolphin meat, which could prove dangerous to consumers – especially pregnant women and young children.

Could Japanese whalers return to the Southern Ocean?

Located in deep waters surrounding the entire continent of Antarctica, the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary hosts dozens of whale species including humpbacks, blue whales and fin whales.

It was established by the IWC in 1994 to protect whale species after centuries of hunting, but until 2019 Japan took regular trips to the region to hunt for self-stated “scientific research” purposes.

Japanese whalers killed 333 minke whales in the Southern Ocean in 2018/2019, according to the IWC, before abandoning the region after it left the international body.

“Commercial whaling is not profitable,” he said. “It will take 50 days to get to the Antarctic and back and we are not confident we can make a profit by paying the wages of employees and fuel for 50 days. However, I will go only when the government orders me to go … Until then, I will not go commercial whaling at all.”

But activists aren’t convinced.

“Given the ship’s long-range capabilities and drones, and recent announcements from Japan’s fisheries ministry that it is keen to start hunting fin whales, we believe there is a high likelihood that Japanese whalers will return to the Southern Ocean,” said James Anderson, activist and founder of the Whale Defense Agency (WDA).

“The Southern Ocean is a critical habitat for many whale species that provides a safe haven for breeding and feeding … protecting it is more important than ever due to the increasing threats posed by climate change and illegal whaling.”

Rothwell, from ANU, said that if Japan looks to kill whales beyond its territorial waters, it can expect an international response.

“It would immediately trigger global interest and action about the conservation and protection of whales, especially in waters sanctioned by the IWC as a whale sanctuary,” Rothwell said.

“It’s called the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary for a reason – you don’t kill whales there,” Watson said.

“We want to be able to track them down and intercept them like we’ve done before – and we are more than prepared to do it again.”

Pavlo Kushnirov was among the Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the eastern city of Bakhmut with the 114th territorial defense brigade on a sunny day last winter when Russian shelling changed his life forever.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has killed tens of thousands and left even more with lost limbs and other life-altering injuries since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. German officials estimate there are between 30,000 and 50,000 Ukrainian amputees as a result of the conflict.

Obtaining adequate prosthetic limbs and care is tough inside Ukraine. Now a German non-governmental organization is working to bring wounded Ukrainian soldiers to Berlin so they can be fitted with custom-made artificial limbs and given treatment that will allow them to lead as normal a life as possible.

Kushnirov and Sayko-Kazakov are among the first of 60 severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers who will receive treatment in Germany, thanks to the Berlin-based NGO “Life Bridge Ukraine.” They hope to start what they see as a new life soon. “My doctor called and said there was an opportunity to go abroad for me to receive prosthetics. So, I said OK,” Vitaliy said. “Once there were hundreds of us, now there are thousands of people like me.”

Limbs amputated quickly to save lives

Bending over Kushnirov’s leg stumps, he softly felt along them. “Are you in pain?” he asked. Kushnirov shook his head as a translator relayed the question. “Let me know if anything hurts,” Gänsl said, taking out a tape to measure the stumps. He and other orthopedic technicians assessed the condition of Kushnirov’s limbs.

Battlefield conditions in Ukraine mean limbs must often be amputated quickly to save soldiers’ lives. “The severity of the amputations often leave the survivors with stumps that won’t allow for the fitting of regular-sized prosthetics,” said Gänsl. “And of course we are dealing here with completely different requirements (than what orthopedic technicians are used to in Germany).”

It will be relatively easy to provide a prosthesis for Kushnirov’s right leg, Gänsl said. However, his left leg will be more difficult to treat because it was amputated above the knee.

“I jumped away and pulled my legs into my chest to protect myself from the explosion which I knew was coming. But look at my legs, they are injured badly.”

Sitting in a wheelchair with his left leg amputated and the other one badly bruised and shattered, Omelchenko added: “But at least I am still alive.”

Keen to save his damaged leg, doctors in Germany kept it in a metal frame, or external fixator, at first while it healed. That has just been removed and he will be fitted with a prosthesis on the other leg soon.

A bridge between two capitals

Janine von Wolfersdorff, a Berlin-based financial expert who became involved in humanitarian aid work in Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion, is the initiator of Life Bridge Ukraine, a project which is being run in partnership between the German and Ukrainian capitals. Under its auspices, experts in workshops in Berlin will make new limbs and teach the 60 patients chosen for treatment how to walk and move again.

“We want to give Ukrainian war-wounded soldiers a new life – and simultaneously want to train six Ukrainians for three months here in Berlin, who will learn to build very good quality prosthetics so that they can do it themselves in Kyiv.”

Von Wolfersdorff is collaborating closely with Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko and Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner on the project, hoping that a prosthetics center will be opened in Kyiv later this year. Ultimately, her group wants to open further prosthetics centres in other Ukrainian cities as well. “The trainees learn here first-hand when a stump may need another amputation, another surgery, when a scar needs to be attended to again, and other issues that arise during this very complex process,” Von Wolfersdorff said.

Havrylov said he wants to learn “as much as possible from the Germans and maybe even get better at it so that we can open our center in Kyiv and help there. Unfortunately, there will be more people with injuries. We need good workshops to provide our Ukrainians with a good life. We need to bring them back into society.”

Life Bridge Ukraine has collected around $600,000 in donations for the project, including for the care of the soldiers in Berlin. “It is a long process of recuperation,” Von Wolfersdorff said. “We seek a holistic treatment approach: In addition to a lot of physiotherapy, patients are offered psychological help, as well as nutritional advice, to reintegrate themselves into as normal as possible a life.”

‘Completely new way of learning to walk’

With the help of the medical and orthopedic technician teams Sayko-Kazakov took his first steps using them. “These are cool feet. Really fine work.”

For Kushnirov, the initial fitting was trickier because of the artificial knee joint on one limb. “Unfortunately walking will be more difficult for him,” Gänsl explained. “It is a completely new way of learning how to walk.”

Kushnirov knows his rehabilitation process will take time, but he is determined to keep trying. “It’s a shame I am losing so much time getting rehabilitated and I know it will still take me a lot of time. But of course, my life will improve,” he said. “But it’s hard to say what life will be like after my prosthetics fittings. I know it will be different.”

Sayko-Kazakov, Kushnirov and the other soldiers with new artificial limbs will receive a lot of training on how to move again in the coming weeks in Berlin. Any final adjustments that are needed will be made before they receive their permanent prosthetic fittings and leave to be cared for back home in Ukraine.

“It is a lot of fun working together with our highly motivated patients and Ukrainian trainees, we see so much progress,” Gänsl said. However, there will be challenges ahead for these soldiers even with their final artificial limbs. “Prosthetic fittings need to be adjusted again and again. It is a lifelong process,” he said. “After all, bodies change. Just as we occasionally put on weight over Christmas or lose weight when exercising, a stump does not grow with you.”

Both Sayko-Kazakov and Kushnirov are determined to return to Ukraine soon, walking comfortably with their new artificial limbs. They say they are ready to support their units back home as they fight to fend off Russian forces.

“The war is not yet over. Our work is not yet finished,” Sayko-Kazakov said. “I often think of the guys who worked with me at the front line. So many lost their lives. So many I carried out on my shoulders. It hurts. When we go back, we can be useful on the home front, for example assembling drones.”

Kushnirov acknowledges his limitations. “I know I won’t be able to walk again just like others do. I won’t be able to fight at the front line anymore,” he said, “but there are a lot of other things I can do: I could operate a drone or take care of repair and maintenance works. Wherever I can help, I will do so. I will continue to fight for Ukraine.”