John Hayward

China’s state-run Global Times on Thursday claimed outsiders misunderstand Beijing’s increasingly bizarre “dynamic zero-Covid” strategy, and fail to appreciate how China is somehow saving the global economy tomorrow by brutally locking down cities, shuttering factories, and snarling supply

...

Speaking at the second Global Covid Summit, hosted by the Biden administration, World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while the supply of coronavirus vaccines has improved, “vaccine hesitancy driven by mis- and disinformation” is keeping

...

Shanghai officials claimed on Friday that the city’s coronavirus outbreak is “under effective control” after a month under harsh lockdown restrictions - but the lockdown will continue.

India’s largest opposition party on Friday called for a dramatic increase in government compensation for the families of coronavirus victims after the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) released a report that accused India of radically understating how many deaths were caused by the pandemic.

The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources on Friday announced $6 billion in funding for a plant that will manufacture metals for electric vehicle batteries, plus plans for another $32 billion invested into Saudi Arabia’s mining industry.

Canada’s National Post on Monday found Prime Minister Justin Trudeau awkwardly trying to upsell Canadian fossil fuels to countries that have decided to boycott Russian oil, while at the same time insisting Canada remains committed to its “green energy” goals.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a convicted sex offender traveling with a 15-year-old unaccompanied minor. Agents arrested three other criminal aliens over the weekend.

Japanese clothing giant Uniqlo, embroiled in controversy last year for refusing to stop buying cotton from China’s slave fields in Xinjiang province, on Monday refused to close its stores in Russia as other fashion houses have done.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Monday his government will “continue resorting to active measures in order to settle this critical situation in Ukraine.”

China came up about $6 billion short of the $40 billion in U.S. agricultural products it agreed to purchase in the two-year trade deal it signed in January 2020 - but suddenly began making up a bit of that deficit after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Chinese buyers scrambled to cover

...

China’s state-run Global Times on Tuesday heckled the Biden administration for supposedly sending a delegation of defense officials to Taiwan to upstage former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who arrived for his own visit Wednesday.

President Joe Biden had very little to say about China in his first State of the Union (SOTU) address, and Chinese media returned the favor by saying very little about Biden’s speech.

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) stated that under President Joe Biden, Russia and China have come back together as allies.

International observers generally agree Ukraine did well against the first phase of the Russian invasion, thwarting a blitzkrieg apparently intended to decapitate the Ukrainian government in a matter of days.

The Russian ruble crashed amid a public frenzy to pull cash out of bank accounts on Monday, instantly knocking almost 30 percent off the value of a currency that was not in good shape to begin with.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko of Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv said Thursday he was ready to take up arms against the Russian invasion.

Russian opposition leaders and human rights activists took to the streets on Thursday to protest President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine, but were swiftly met by a crushing police response.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky briefly addressed his nation about 90 minutes after the Russian attack began early Thursday morning local time. Zelensky declared martial law and vowed to resist the Russian invasion while urging his citizens to remain calm.

The Ukrainian parliament, known as the Verkhovna Rada, on Wednesday passed a bill greatly expanding civilian access to firearms.

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny jeered at his nemesis Vladimir Putin for holding a stage-managed Security Council session on Monday, a prelude to Putin declaring two regions of eastern Ukraine to be “independent” and sending in Russian troops to “protect” them.