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South Korea nuclear deal
The US has agreed to give South Korea a leading role in strategic planning for the use of nuclear weapons in a conflict with North Korea. In return, South Korea agreed not to pursue its own nuclear arsenal.
The deal, announced during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to Washington, is intended to assure South Korea that the US will use its nuclear arsenal, if necessary, to prevent or respond to a nuclear attack from the North – despite the risk of an attack. in an American city. The concept is called “comprehensive prevention.”
The agreement is an acknowledgment that disarming North Korea is no longer credible. In the past four years, the North’s arsenal has grown so rapidly that U.S. and South Korean officials have stopped trying to keep an accurate count.
Xi spoke to Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, has long requested a conversation with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Yesterday, the two spoke by phone – the first known contact since the Russian invasion.
Both made the call carefully. China’s official account omits the words “Russia” and “war,” and instead mentions the need for a “political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.” Zelensky said the discussions were “long and fruitful.”
Despite Xi’s conversation with Zelensky, China and Russia remain close: Last month, Xi met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and the two also spoke little about the war, although China has floated a potential peace plan.
Xi has also tried to burnish his image as a global statesman by helping restore ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and by welcoming French President Emmanuel Macron to China.
More power to Catholic women
Pope Francis will allow women to vote in bishops’ meetings for the first time, an important step toward giving more people a say in the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church.
These meetings, of an advisory committee called the Synod of Bishops, are held periodically in the Vatican to discuss issues such as divorce. In 2021, the pope changed church law to allow women to read the Bible at Mass, serve at the altar and distribute communion – a practice that has become common in many places.
Humans love the dizziness that comes from spinning in circles. Apparently, another primate, like the gorilla in the video that has now gone viral. “They seem to do it for the same reasons as children – because it’s fun and exciting,” said the authors of a new study that looked at why apes play.
ART and IDEAS
Indian girls cricket dreams
This spring, a new professional cricket league for women in India held its inaugural season — a $500 million bet on female talent in the country’s most popular sport.
The Women’s Premier League has created new opportunities for female athletes, as seen in a village in Punjab, where a team of girls aged 9 to 14 dream of becoming professional cricketers.
His coach invited him to watch an away game. They pay salaries to teams and bring recruits to watch them play. She built their confidence, encouraging them to see cricket as an escape from the confines of Indian village life, where women did most of the domestic labor.
“This looks like breaking down India’s rigid gender divide,” wrote Mujib Mashal, bureau chief for South Asia.
PLAY, WATCH, EAT
What to cook
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