24: This year alone, at least two dozen environmental activists have already been murdered or disappeared in Mexico and Central America, according to an investigation by The Guardian. Many are from indigenous communities protesting against mining activities on their traditional lands.
2: Outgoing World Bank President David Malpass revised the international lender’s 2023 global growth outlook on Monday, bumping it from 1.7% to 2%. He credited China’s improved economic trajectory for the change. Malpass, who plans to step down in June, kicked off his final World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings with the news.
145: The mass shooting at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday was at least the 145th incident of its kind in the United States since the start of this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Five people – including a close friend of the state governor – were killed and nine injured when a disgruntled bank employee opened fire.
4: On the eve of President Biden’s trip to Northern Ireland to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, at least four men were spotted hurling petrol bombs at police. The incident occurred during a parade organized by people who oppose the agreement, which ended decades of conflict between Irish nationalists and the British government. For more on the contentious history, read our primer here.
300: A wildly popular new patch worn by Taiwanese fighter pilots shows a native Formosan black bear punching Winnie-the-Pooh – a common satirical stand-in for Chinese president Xi Jinping – in the face. The patch has been around for a year, but orders blew up this weekend after China conducted its mock invasion of Taiwan. A little e-commerce research shows that you too can own one of these patches for a mere 300 NT$ (about US $9.60).
The US leader will seek to reinforce his bonds with evangelical Christians when he reads from the Bible tonight, in what will be a televised reading.
It’s unclear if the second round of US-Iran talks will go ahead in Pakistan after the US Navy intercepted and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship outside the Strait of Hormuz this weekend.
Wall Street Journal Beijing bureau chief Jonathan Cheng says China has already won the tariff standoff, and the upcoming Trump-Xi Summit is a chance to project something bigger: that Beijing, not Washington, is the world's reliable partner.
The Kim dynasty has outlasted every threat for 80 years. Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Cheng explains how, and why the Iran war just made Kim Jong Un seem untouchable.