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Senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay (photo) died on August 11, after being the victim of an attack last Saturday, June 7, while attending a political rally in the Modelia neighborhood of Bogotá.
Hard Numbers: Colombian presidential candidate dies after June shooting, Al Jazeera journalists killed in Gaza, South Korean military dropoff, Chinese ship hits its own man
39: At the age 39, center-right presidential candidate Miguel Uribe died on Monday, nine weeks after he was shot by a 14-year-old boy during a campaign rally in Bogota, the Colombian capital. Before his death, the shooting had catapulted Uribe to the top of the polls for next year’s election. The incident has revived fears in Colombia of a return to political violence, which was endemic in the 1980s and 1990s – read more here.
5: Five Al Jazeera journalists – and one freelance reporter — were killed in an Israeli strike on al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday, including prominent Arabic-language correspondent Anas al-Sharif. The Israeli military accused al-Sharif of leading a Hamas cell, a claim that Al Jazeera, the Committee to Protect Journalist and a UN expert have denied.
20%: South Korea’s paltry birthrate is now affecting the size of its military ranks, which have dropped 20% in the past six years to 450,000 troops. This is less than half of North Korea’s military, which numbers 1.2 million. South Korea has conscription – even soccer star Son Heung-min had to complete a military training, albeit a shortened one.
3104: There was some friendly fire, so to speak, in the South China Sea on Monday, as a Chinese warship accidentally rammed a Chinese coast guard ship – Coastguard Vessel 3104 – as it was chasing after a Philippine boat. The South China Sea has been a major area of dispute between Beijing and Manila, ever since China seized the Scarborough Shoal area in 2012.A school of fish swim above a staghorn (Acropora cervicornis) coral colony as it grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia October 25, 2019.
Hard Numbers: Great Barrier Reef suffers worst coral damage, US cuts mRNA vaccine funding, South Korea opens visa-free tourism for Chinese visitors, & More
39: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – the biggest living ecosystem in the world – has suffered its largest annual coral decline since monitoring began 39 years ago. Tropical cyclones and coral-eating starfish are partly responsible, but experts say rising sea temperatures due to climate change are the main culprit.
5: Law and Justice-backed Karol Nawrocki began his five-year term as Polish president after his inauguration earlier today. Nawrocki will be a consistent thorn in the side of centrist Prime Minister Donald Tusk: unlike Tusk, the new president supports tax cuts and doesn’t see a place for Ukraine in NATO nor the European Union.
$500 million: US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. canceled nearly $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine research. mRNA technology, which gives genetic instructions to the body on how to fight diseases, enabled the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine. Several large studies say mRNA is safe, but the technology has faced scrutiny from Kennedy Jr., vaccine skeptic groups, and other members of the Trump administration.
2: Just how big is the AI spending boom? Over the past two quarters, investment in artificial intelligence has contributed more to American GDP growth than consumer spending, according to Renaissance Macro, an economic research company.
30: South Korea announced it will temporarily allow Chinese nationals to visit with a tour group for 30 days without needing a visa. It’s the first time that Seoul has allowed Chinese tourists to enter without a visa like this. The pilot program, which runs from Sept. 29 to June 30 next year, is part of a cautious thaw in bilateral relations.
Plumes of smoke rise from what is said to be a Greek-operated bulk carrier, in a handout video released on July 8, 2025
HARD NUMBERS: Houthis attack ships again, US Measles cases reach new high, message in a bottle finally arrives, & More
3: The Iran-backed Houthi rebel group is once again attacking cargo ships passing through the Red Sea, killing three people while snatching a Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned cargo vessel on Monday night. This was the Houthis’ second such attack over the last few days. Until this past weekend, the group hadn’t targeted cargo ships since late 2024.
33: Measles cases in the US have already reached a 33-year high in 2025, with the disease spreading most rapidly in parts of New Mexico and Texas. At least 1,288 cases have been reported in the first half of this year, surpassing the 2019 full-year total of 1,274, when there was an outbreak within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community of New York. The spread has come amid falling nationwide vaccination rates, driven in part by skepticism about vaccines from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
52: A South Korean court on Thursday issued another arrest warrant for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who faces trial on a range of charges related to his decision to place the country under martial law back in December. Yoon has already spent 52 days in jail, but was previously released on technical grounds. Prosecutors are now expected to expedite their probe into Yoon, who was impeached and officially removed from office back in April.
5.2: A 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck Guatemala on Tuesday afternoon, with authorities urging residents of the Central American country to evacuate. Some of the aftershocks have registered even higher on the Richter scale than the original quake, reaching magnitudes of 5.6.
13: While most of the world now has instant communication, some people have sought out alternative ways of getting their message across the globe – even if it takes a little longer. Thirteen years ago, a young couple in Newfoundland, Canada, placed a message into a bottle and dropped it into the Atlantic Ocean. This week, it was found on a beach on the west coast of Ireland. The note included a request to contact the original writers. After an appeal on social media, they were found: Anita and Brad Squires are now married with three children.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the European Council summit at the headquarters of the European Council, in Brussels, Belgium, on June 26, 2026.
Hard Numbers: European leader faces no confidence vote, Sheinbaum wants to sue SpaceX, & more
401: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faces a no-confidence vote over “Pfizergate,” a scandal over how she secured vaccines in 2021 by personally texting Pfizer’s CEO. It would take an unlikely 401 votes in the 720-strong European Parliament to oust her, but the vote may push her to make political concessions to both the left and right to shore up support.
25: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is threatening to sue Elon Musk’s SpaceX for debris from ground tests near the Mexican border. Her move comes after the US government in May increased the permitted number of annual SpaceX launches from 5 to 25, despite concerns about adverse effects on the environment.
2: Two Chinese international students studying in South Korea were arrested on Wednesday for using drones to film a US carrier at a naval base. They were accused of violating the Protection of Military Bases and Installations Act, and it’s the first time foreign nationals have been detained on such charges. South Korea’s new left-leaning president has sought to distance Seoul from Washington somewhat, raising the prospect of greater tension between its largest security partner, the United States, and its largest trading partner, China.
6-3: In a 6-3 vote, the US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Planned Parenthood cannot sue the state of South Carolina over its effort to defund the reproductive health clinics. Abortion is legal in South Carolina only during the first six weeks of pregnancy, but the decision is expected to diminish Planned Parenthood’s ability to provide other healthcare to patients, like physical exams and cancer screenings.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, on the day he is sworn in as secretary of Health and Human Service in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025.
Hard Numbers: RFK Jr. cleans house at the CDC, K-Pop’s Chinese comeback, and more
17: In an unprecedented move, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the vaccine advisory committee at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday. While Kennedy defended the “clean sweep” as necessary to restore public trust, experts warn that changes to the panel could threaten public confidence in government health agencies.
$180 million: Chinese tech giant Tencent recently struck a deal with SM Entertainment, one of the leading K-pop production houses, to purchase almost a 10% stake for $180 million. The latest move signals a potential musical thaw in China-South Korea relations: Beijing has imposed an unofficial ban on K-pop ever since Seoul agreed to host US missile defenses in 2016.
2%: Citing the need to reduce reliance on the United States, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to raise defense expenditures to 2% of the nation’s GDP by the end of the year. The accelerated spending will bring the country in line with NATO benchmarks five years ahead of Carney’s previous target of 2030.
499: Russia launched 499 drone and missile attacks on Kyiv last night, in one of the largest aerial assaults of the three-year-war. The latest attack coincides with a fresh Russian push into eastern Ukraine, and it follows Kyiv’s own large-scale drone attacks on Russian strategic bombers last week.
3%: Less than 3% of the world’s oceans are effectively protected from destructive activities like industrial fishing and deep-sea mining. But with the UN Oceans conference now underway in France, delegates are on track to ratify the High Seas Treaty, a landmark agreement that will allow countries to establish protected areas in biodiverse international waters.
Trump-Musk rift over Trump's "big, beautiful bill"
On Ian Bremmer’s World In 60 Seconds: Ian breaks down the rift between President Trump and Elon Musk over Trump’s “big beautiful bill”, Mexico’s democratic backslide, and South Korea's new leadership.
Ian's takeaways:
On Trump-Musk feud: “I think Elon is mad at a bunch of stuff right now. And as we know, he's not exactly stable in how he puts his views out as he has them.”
On Mexico’s judicial reform: “It’s really bad for democracy… and leads to a lot more corruption.”
On South Korea’s new leadership: “He (Lee Jae-myung) says he wants to govern as a centrist, but I suspect he’s going to govern more to the left.”
South Korea's President-elect Lee Jae-myung waves as he leaves to meet his supporters, in Incheon, South Korea, June 3, 2025.
What We’re Watching: South Korea's election results, Ukraine strikes Crimean bridge, Sudan's government disolves
Lee Jae-myung poised for victory in South Korea’s election
Progressive candidate Lee Jae-myung is expected to soundly defeat conservative opponent Kim Moon-soo in the Korean presidential election, with exit polls showing him winning by 12 points. Lee shifted to the center during the campaign, but his political history may indicate otherwise – his victory could also signal a more cozy relationship with long-time rival China. To read more about how his election could realign the Indo-Pacific, click here.
Ukraine strikes key Crimean bridge
Ukraine launched a powerful underwater explosion damaging the Kerch Bridge on Tuesday, a critical road and rail link between Russia and occupied Crimea. The attack, following a drone strike on Russian bombers on Sunday, signals Ukraine’s increasing reach and resolve. Peace talks remain deadlocked, and this attack is unlikely to bridge the gap.
Sudan’s new Prime Minister dissolves government amid ongoing civil war
Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris dissolved the caretaker government on Sunday, just a day after taking office, signaling a major political setback amid a devastating civil war that has so far displaced 14 million people. Idris, who was to be the first civilian leader since 2022, offered no timeline for forming a new government
South Korean presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung of the Democratic Party speaks at a campaign rally in Seoul on May 29, 2025.
How South Korea’s election could realign the Indo-Pacific
South Koreans head to the polls this Tuesday, June 3, to elect a new president. They’ll face a choice between two candidates with sharply contrasting visions for the country’s future — the outcome could determine whether Seoul stays closely aligned with the US and Japan, or shifts toward a more independent course that might favor closer ties with China.
Why is there an election now? The special election comes after former President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in December — a move widely condemned as an unnecessary and unconstitutional power grab – and was subsequently impeached and removed from office. Ever since, South Korea has been facing “a slow-moving catastrophe,” according to Eurasia Group’s regional expert Jeremy Chan, one that’s rippled through Seoul’s economy, foreign policy, and image as a stable democracy.
Who’s running? Yoon’s conservative People Power Party party has nominated Kim Moon-soo, one of the few politicians to stand by Yoon during his impeachment drama. Kim would likely continue Yoon’s fiscal and foreign policies. The party is gambling that the tie to Yoon won’t hurt Kim too much with the moderates whose support he will need to win.
His opponent is Democratic Party nominee Lee Jae-myung, a former mayor, governor and lawmaker with a left-leaning track record.
“For two decades, Lee has been a classic progressive,” Chan explained. “Big government, high taxes on corporations and the wealthy, and redistribution.”
He has tacked to the center in his campaign, but, given that his party controls the legislature, he would face little opposition to a more classic progressive agenda. Chan expects him to govern from the left.
What do the polls say? Lee led by 14 points in a Gallup Korea poll from last week.
This vote could realign East Asia. Under Yoon, South Korea took major steps to normalize relations with Japan and deepen trilateral security cooperation with Washington and Tokyo, culminating in the Camp David summit in August 2023, something Chan says “would’ve been unthinkable under the previous DP administration.”
Lee, by contrast, has a long record of skepticism toward both Japan and the US. While he’s publicly committed to maintaining stable relations with Tokyo, his past rhetoric — calling Yoon’s Japan policy “subservient” — hints at a deeper ideological divergence.
China, it seems, is betting on that. Lee made waves on the campaign trail by saying that Seoul should stay out of any China-Taiwan conflict, though he insists he is not pro-Beijing. Earlier this year, the speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly – an ally of Lee’s – received an unusually warm welcome in Beijing, including an hour-long meeting with Xi Jinping.
“Beijing’s behavior is very telling,” Chan says. “They’re treating Lee as the next president — and as someone they can work with.”
Tensions with the US may surface quickly – especially around trade. South Korea is facing the imminent return of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, unless a new deal is struck by July 8. But Lee is unlikely to offer concessions up front.
“He wants to go late in the negotiating queue,” said Chan, who thinks Lee will delay until similarly positioned countries like Japan, India, and Vietnam make deals that can be benchmarked against. “He doesn’t want to sign a bad deal early and look foolish later.”
If Lee wins on Tuesday South Korea’s domestic politics, its regional alignment, and its US alliance could all shift dramatically.
“This is a turning point,” Chan said. “Not just for Korea, but for the entire Indo-Pacific. And the signals from Beijing, Tokyo, and Washington suggest that they all know it.”