June 19 update

Antony Blinken, America’s secretary of state, met Xi Jinping, China’s president, in Beijing. After the meeting Mr Xi reported that the two sides had “made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues”. Yesterday Mr Blinken met Wang Yi, China’s most senior diplomat. After that meeting, Mr Wang said both countries must choose between “cooperation or conflict.” On the issue of Taiwan Mr Wang said China had “no room to compromise”, according to Chinese state media. Mr Blinken’s visit to China follows a meeting between President Joe Biden and Mr Xi at the G20 summit in Bali last November.

Ukraine made “small advances” in its counter-offensive amid heavy fighting along the frontline in the country’s south, according to British intelligence. Russia’s defensive operations were “relatively effective”, it said. But a Russian-appointed official acknowledged that Ukraine had recaptured the village of Piatykhatky, in the Zaporizhia region. Military analysts have cautioned that Ukraine’s attempt to retake occupied areas along the 1,000km (620-mile) frontline will be heavy going.

Israeli forces raided a refugee camp in the West Bank, killing three people and wounding at least 29, according to Palestinian officials. Israel’s army said its troops were attacked first, after they had entered the camp to arrest two terrorism suspects. Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, called for a “large-scale operation” in the West Bank.

The EU signed a trade deal with Kenya. The country will have tariff-free access to the bloc’s market, and will also gradually open its market to EU imports. The deal also included an agreement to collaborate on sustainability commitments, including on climate change. The EU is already Kenya’s largest export market; total trade between the two was worth €3.3bn ($3.6bn) in 2022.

Australia’s senate voted to hold a constitutional referendum on recognising the rights of indigenous peoples. If approved, the constitution will be changed to allow for the creation of an indigenous advocacy group to parliament. Aboriginal people, who make up 3% of the population, played no part in drafting Australia’s constitution and were not accorded any special rights in it.

A Russian warship rescued 68 people from a boat on the Mediterranean, according to the country’s defence ministry. Passengers were safely transferred from the ship to Greek coastguard boats. Earlier, authorities in Pakistan arrested 12 alleged human traffickers in connection with the shipwreck of a migrant boat off Greece’s coast last week that killed at least 78 people. The vessel was carrying hundreds of people.

“Elemental”, Pixar’s latest release, suffered the worst opening weekend in the studio’s 28-year history. Despite favourable reviews, the animated film brought in only $30m in ticket sales in North America. Pixar’s last release, “Lightyear”, was also a flop. The results heap more pressure on Disney, Pixar’s beleaguered parent company.

Figure of the day: $640, the cost of a human head. Read the full story.

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PHOTO: AP

Russia stacks up Navalny’s charges

On Monday another trial of Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent dissident, begins. It is taking place at a penal colony some 250km (150 miles) east of Moscow, where the politician has been imprisoned for the past year.

Since his arrest in January 2021, Mr Navalny has been convicted of parole violation, fraud and contempt of court. Now the Kremlin is adding spurious charges of extremism and terrorism. If Mr Navalny is found guilty, as is almost certain, he could face 35 years in jail.

The charges show the role the courts are playing in carrying out the Kremlin’s increasingly repressive policies. As Vladimir Putin’s bloody and expensive invasion of Ukraine grinds on, he is suppressing dissent back home. Last week, Lilia Chanysheva, a co-ordinator for Mr Navalny’s political office in Bashkortostan, a region in central Russia, was jailed for seven and a half years on extremism charges. In Mr Putin’s Russia, it is becoming increasingly costly to speak out.

PHOTO: AP

Imran Khan is losing his battle

Imran Khan is in a precarious position. On Monday the bail granted to him in a corruption case will probably be extended again, staving off a looming arrest. Pakistan’s former prime minister has suffered a spectacular reversal of fortunes in recent weeks. Until early May the country’s most popular politician looked on course to force Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, into early elections—or at least to be odds-on to win a vote later in the year. But after Mr Khan’s supporters attacked military installations on May 9th, Pakistan’s powerful army set about dismantling his base.

Thousands of Mr Khan’s followers have been arrested; many face trial in military courts. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, disintegrated as senior leaders defected; the government has mooted banning it. Media have been told not to broadcast Mr Khan’s speeches or even mention his name. Threatened with jail, deprived of political support and the oxygen of publicity, the flamboyant rabble-rouser looks increasingly lonely and powerless.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Paris Air Show takes off again

The aerospace and defence executives, industry analysts, journalists and hangers-on pounding the baking tarmac at Le Bourget airport will do so with springs in their steps this year. The first Paris Air Show since 2019, which starts on Monday, will probably bring a glut of orders for passenger jets. Order books at Boeing, the American planemaker, and Airbus, its European rival, are already stuffed as air travel bounces back with a vengeance. And the war in Ukraine is boosting military spending by governments around the world. Defence companies will be keen to show off their newest kit.

There will be plenty of talk about decarbonising air travel, with companies that plan to launch battery-powered flying taxis in the coming years converging on the show too. None has yet carried passengers, but by the end of a long day in the heat, the promise of a quick flight from the suburbs of Paris to the city centre will seem worth waiting for.

PHOTO: AP

Trump’s post-indictment glow

When Bret Baier, Fox News’s senior political correspondent, last interviewed Donald Trump, it was aboard Air Force One in 2018. The then-president was in negotiations with North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong Un. His concessions in a tentative agreement on Korea’s denuclearisation alarmed many Republican lawmakers.

On Monday Mr Baier will sit down again with Mr Trump, who is now tussling with America’s Justice Department. But more Republicans have his back this time. Last week Mr Trump was charged with 37 felonies related to an alleged mishandling of classified documents. At least 100 Republicans in Congress have questioned the validity of his stunning indictment; about 76 fully reject it.

Expect Mr Baier to let Mr Trump air his grievances. But even Fox’s support has its limits. A recent town hall with Mr Trump was pre-recorded, so that any references he made to a “stolen” election in 2020—a claim similar to one that cost Fox $787.5m in a recent legal settlement—could be edited out.

PHOTO: BASSO CANNARSA / OPALE.PHOTO

Lorrie Moore’s haunting story of lost love

“Everyone at some point in their lives should have a long great love affair with a magnificent lunatic,” declares Finn, a melancholic schoolteacher, in the beautifully idiosyncratic “I Am Homeless if This is Not My Home” by Lorrie Moore, an American novelist. The deceptively slender volume, published on Tuesday, ponders heavy themes, such as love, death, suicide and the meaning of life. But its true power lies in the almost antic ingenuity of each sentence.

Does Finn actually spot his beloved ex-girlfriend wandering around the cemetery where she has just been buried, smelling vaguely of rot? Do they really embark on a road trip, discussing their love and trials? Perhaps Finn is simply undone by his grief. Yet Ms Moore seems to be probing how we are all haunted by past loves, unhealed wounds and slipping memories. As Finn observes: “no longer caring about a thing was key to both living and dying. So was caring about a thing.”