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June 2 (UPI) — Five people were shot, including one person fatally, in a shooting that erupted at a large outdoor gathering in southern Virginia over the weekend, authorities said.

According to preliminary information, the early Sunday shooting involved gunmen in a Chrysler sedan and individuals at a party in the 100 block of Carver Drive in Danville, a city of about 42,000 near the Virginia-North Carolina border.

The Danville Police Department said in a statement that the shooting occurred shortly before 1:30 a.m. local time Sunday. Officers dispatched to the area following reports of shots fired found a deceased man, later identified as Jay’Shaun Tiejae White, 22, in the front passenger seat of a Chrysler sedan with gunshot wounds to his upper body.

Officers found the suspected driver of the vehicle, identified as a 26-year-old man, suffering from a gunshot wound on an adjacent street. The victim was then transported by ambulance to Sovah Health Danville.

Three additional victims later arrived on their own at the health center with injuries from the gunfight, the police department said.

The victims have been identified as two men, ages 31 and 25, and a 19-year-old woman. The woman has since been treated and released, while the three men have been transferred to other medical facilities, police said.

Juwan Montel Baker, 26, of Danville, has been arrested in connection with the shooting. Police said he was a passenger in the sedan, and he has been charged with three counts each of discharging a firearm from a moving vehicle, malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

According to The Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 127 mass shootings involving four or more people shot so far in the United States this year.

June 1 (UPI) — At least two people have died, and hundreds were reported injured, in the chaotic aftermath of Paris Saint-Germain’s victory against Inter Milan at the Champions League final in Munich on Saturday.

The French Interior Ministry confirmed in an emailed statement to UPI that two people had died and 192 people were injured overnight Saturday. In total, 559 arrests were made, including 491 people in Paris.

The chaos also led to the injury of 22 police officers and seven firefighters, the Interior Ministry said. There were 692 fire incidents recorded, including some 264 burning cars.

PSG had defeated Inter Milan 5-0, marking the team’s first championship win and the first time a French team had won in more than three decades.

“All over France last night, numerous police and firefighters were injured as they intervened to restore public order and provide assistance during the Paris Saint-Germain victory celebrations,” French National Police spokesperson Agathe Foucault said in a statement.

“In Coutances, Manche, a police officer from the canine brigade was hit in the eye by a firework mortar. He is currently hospitalized in a serious condition. Thoughts and best wishes for a speedy recovery to all our colleagues.”

The deaths included a 17-year-old boy who was stabbed in the chest in the southern town of Dax and a 23-year-old man who was hit by a car while riding his scooter in central Paris, The New York Times reported.

Bruno Retailleau, the French interior minister, called rioters “barbarians” in comments to social media.

June 1 (UPI) — Ahead of South Korea’s snap presidential elections on Tuesday, the nation’s diplomatic relations with North Korea and China have risen to the fore — and officials are investigating voting irregularities.

“The relations between South Korea and China have become the worst ever,” Lee Jae-myung, the left-leaning presidential candidate leading public opinion polls, said in remarks to The New York Times. “I will stabilize and manage the relations.”

The already historically low diplomatic relations between South Korea and North Korea, as well as its relations with China, further soured after then-South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol was removed from office over imposing martial law in April, a move that was short-lived.

The bellicose North Korea has distance itself from South Korea following the failed 2019 Hanoi summit between Korean Korean Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump, which continued during Yoon’s conservative administration.

Pyongyang last year ended its founding goal of reunification and named South Korea its “principal enemy.”

The Yoon administration also shook a delicate diplomatic balance between Washington and Beijing. China was South Korea’s biggest post-Cold War trading partner, but the United States was its main military ally.

Early voter turnout was strong, but poll watchers expressed concern over irregularities. In past elections, the National Election Commission dismissed the irregularities as “simple mistakes” or “minor mistakes.”

The NEC has pushed back on claims of polling irregularities.

Independent candidate Hwang Kyo-ahn withdrew from the race Sunday, saying he was shifting his efforts to supporting People Power Party’s Kim Moon-soo.

South Korean independent presidential candidate Hwang Kyo-ahn said on Sunday that he is withdrawing from the race to support People Power Party’s Kim Moon-soo, local media reported.

“I will withdraw my efforts to supporting Kim Moon-soo to protect the government,” he said. My final task is to prevent election fraud. Fortunately, Kim has pledged to address election irregularities.”

Polling places are scheduled to receive ballots from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, which is a holiday because of the election.

“We are at a critical juncture,” Lee said on social media Sunday, “and it is in the hands of each and every one of you that we can return this country to its people, halt the retreat of democracy, and create a truly great Korea.

June 1 (UPI) — Crews rescued two people aboard a small plane that crashed into Long Island Sound Sunday near a Connecticut airport, according to the FAA and U.S. Coast Guard.

The Piper PA-32 plane went down about 10:30 a.m. south of the Tweed New Haven Airport in New Haven, a statement from the FAA said.

“The two persons onboard the aircraft were rescued and in stable condition,” the Coast Guard said in a statement, according to ABC News.

The Coast Guard dispatched a 45-foot New Haven-based rescue boat to the scene after the Sector Long Island Sound Command Center received notification of the incident from the air traffic control tower that the plane had gone down near the Thimble Islands close to Branford, Ct.

The rescued passengers were taken to the Stony Creek Pier in Branford, the Coast Guard said.

The FAA is investigating the incident.

June 1 (UPI) — Several people were injured in a mall shooting that police are calling a “target terror attack” in Boulder, Colo. Sunday, FBI Director Kash Patel said. A suspect is in custody.

“Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available, Patel said, according his post on X.

The incident occurred just before 1:30p.m. MDT at Pearl St. Mall where a group was gathered in a peaceful pro-Israel demonstration, known as the Boulder Run for their Lives event.

The Anti Defamation League said it was aware of the attack.

“ADL is monitoring the situation in Colorado as we approach the holiday of Shavuot,” it said in a statement on Facebook.

Police responded to reports of a man wielding a weapon and that people were being set on fire, a statement on social media from the Boulder Police Department said. It said there were multiple burn victims on the scene.

Witnesses told local media that the suspect attacked victims with Molotov cocktails.

Police established an evacuation zone and directed people to avoid the area. Emergency medical crews transported several victims to local hospitals, some of whom sustained life-threatening injuries, police said.

Colo. Gov. Jared Polis called the incident a “heinous act of terror.”

“Hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable,” he wrote on X. “While details emerge, the state works with local and federal law enforcement to support this investigation.”

Please check back for updates as this is a developing story.

June 1 (UPI) — Ukrainian intelligence officials claimed Sunday to have attacked at least 40 bombers deep inside Russia, which would be the most aggressive such attack on Russian territory since Moscow-led troops invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Ukraine targeted “41 strategic Russian aircraft” in an offensive code-named “Spiderweb,” NBC News reported, citing a source within the Security Service of Ukraine.

The attack happened at the Belaya air base in Russia’s Irkutsk region in Siberia, almost 3,000 miles from Ukraine, according to video posted by the Kyiv Independent.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday on X that he is “doing everything to protect our independence, our state, our people,” and said he was receiving regular updates from his security forces.

Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the President of Ukraine, posted an emoji on the spiderweb.

“At the right moment, the roofs of the cabins were opened remotely, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers,” the Independent reported of the “Spiderweb” operation, which sources told the paper was a year-and-a-half in the making.

Ukraine announced in March that it had developed a new, more cost-effective drone with a range of nearly 2,000 miles, but did not say when they would go into operation or if these drones were used in the Sunday attack.

At least seven people died and more were injured when a passenger train derailed following a bridge collapse and explosion in Russia’s Bryansk region near Ukraine, Duetsche Welle reported. A second bridge was said to have collapsed in the Kursk region.

The Russian defense ministry said Ukraine lost 510 troops and five armored personnel carriers, although it offered no evidence in a post on Telegram.

Ukraine has not commented on the collapsed bridges or ensuing explosion and deaths.

Day before his government’s publication of a defence strategy review, PM Keir Starmer says he will ‘restore Britain’s war-fighting readiness’.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned the United Kingdom must be prepared to confront and defeat hostile states with modern military capabilities, as his government unveils a 1.5-billion-pound (about $2bn) plan to build at least six new weapons and explosives factories.

“We are being directly threatened by states with advanced military forces, so we must be ready to fight and win,” Starmer wrote in The Sun newspaper on Sunday. “We will restore Britain’s war-fighting readiness as the central purpose of our armed forces.”

The announcement came in advance of a Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which Starmer is set to publish on Monday. The review will assess threats facing the UK amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and pressure from United States President Donald Trump for NATO allies to bolster their defences.

European nations have rushed to strengthen their armed forces in recent months, following Trump’s comments that Europe must shoulder more responsibility for its security.

Defence Secretary John Healey, speaking to the BBC network, said the planned investment signals a clear warning to Moscow and would also help revive the UK’s sluggish economy.

“We are in a world that is changing now … and it is a world of growing threats,” Healey told the BBC on Sunday. “It’s growing Russian aggression. It’s those daily cyberattacks, it’s new nuclear risks, and it’s increasing tension in other parts of the world as well.”

The UK’s Ministry of Defence confirmed the funds would support the domestic production of up to 7,000 long-range missiles. With this package, its total munitions spending will reach approximately 6 billion pounds (nearly $8bn) during the current parliamentary term.

Meanwhile, The Sunday Times reported that the government is eyeing US-built jets capable of launching tactical nuclear weapons, although the UK’s Defence Ministry has yet to comment.

The forthcoming SDR, ordered after the Labour Party’s election win in July 2024, will outline emerging threats and the military capabilities required to address them. Starmer has pledged to raise defence spending to 2.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2027, with an eventual aim of reaching 3 percent.

The arms initiative follows earlier government pledges to invest 1 billion pounds ($1.3bn) in artificial intelligence technology for battlefield decision-making and an additional 1.5 billion pounds (about $2bn) to improve housing conditions for armed forces personnel.

May 31 (UPI) — President Trump plans to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz next week in Washington, D.C..

Merz, who was elected May 6 in a parliamentary election, is scheduled to visit with Trump on Thursday in the White House, German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said in a news release Saturday.

Merz, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, replaced Olaf Scholz, who served since 2021 with the Social Democratic Party. Merz was first elected to the Bundestag in 1994 and was leader of the opposition since February 2022.

He will travel to the U.S. capital one day ahead, according to broadcaster n-tv.

They will focus on bilateral relations, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Middle East and trade policy, which includes tariffs, according to Kornelius.

A White House official confirmed the meeting to The Hill.

Like Trump, Merz wants a cease-fire in the war between Ukraine and Russia that began in February 2022.

Merz met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin on Wednesday.

The chancellor said that Germany will increase financial support for Ukraine as part of a more than $5.5 billion agreement. That includes sending over more military equipment and increasing weapons manufacturing in Kyiv.

Members of the Trump administration have criticized Germany’s designation of the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party as an “extremist” political entity.

“We have largely stayed out of the American election campaign in recent years, and that includes me personally,” Merz said in an interview with Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which is part of Politico, that was published on May 7.

Last Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul traveled to Washington and met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump spoke on the phone with Merz during his visit on May 10 with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to meet with Zelensky in Kyiv.

Macron, Starmer and Zelensky have already met with Trump in the White House.

Other foreign leaders who met with Trump since he took office again on Jan. 20 include Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Irish Prime Minister Micheel Martin, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Many heads of state, including Trump, went to the funeral for Francis on April 26 in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Merz wasn’t one of them.

General Anil Chauhan, India’s chief of defence staff, has admitted that an unspecified number of fighter jets were shot down during its conflict with Pakistan last month.

The acknowledgement of aerial losses by the country’s highest ranking general comes weeks after the two South Asian neighbours were engaged in their heaviest fighting in decades, which involved fighter jets and cruise missiles.

Indian officials had previously refused to confirm or deny Pakistani claims of downing Indian jets. The conflict was triggered after gunmen killed 26 tourists in India-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam town on April 22.

India’s first official admission of a loss of fighter jets came during Chauhan’s interviews on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore.

What was the conflict between India and Pakistan?

India carried out strikes on what it called “terror infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on May 7 in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack. India blamed armed groups backed by Pakistan for the April 22 attack.

An armed group called The Resistance Front (TRF) claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam killings. India accused the TRF of being an offshoot of the Pakistan-based armed group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Pakistan denied involvement, condemning the Pahalgam attack and calling for a neutral investigation.

India claimed to have targeted at least six cities in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on the first day of the conflict. Pakistan initially asserted that it had downed six Indian fighter jets in retaliation. But a senior Pakistan official told Al Jazeera five Indian aircraft were lost in the aerial battle.

India did not confirm or deny the Pakistani claims. “Losses are a part of combat,” Air Marshal AK Bharti, India’s director general of air operations, said at a news conference on May 11.

The Indian embassy in China called reports of the downing of jets “disinformation”.

After that, tit-for-tat cross-border attacks across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between India- and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, rattled the region, renewing fears of a nuclear war.

On May 10, United States President Donald Trump announced that the two countries had reached a ceasefire, potentially averting a “nuclear disaster”. India and Pakistan have given competing claims on casualties in the fighting, but more than 70 people were killed on both sides.

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full but administer only parts of the Muslim-majority Himalayan territory.

Here is what Chauhan said in recent interviews with the Reuters news agency and Bloomberg TV:

On the downing of Indian fighter jets

Chauhan admitted that India suffered air losses on the first day of fighting without giving details.

In an interview with Reuters, he said: “What was important is why did these losses occur and what we’ll do after that.”

The Indian general said that after the losses, the Indian army “rectified tactics” and then went back on May 7, 8 and 10 “in large numbers to hit airbases deep inside Pakistan, penetrated all their air defences with impunity, carried out precision strikes”. He added that the Indian air force “flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordnances” on May 10.

Islamabad acknowledged that its airbases suffered some minimal losses but denied that it lost any planes.

When a Bloomberg reporter asked Chauhan about Pakistan’s claims that six Indian jets were downed, Chauhan responded that this information was incorrect.

He went on to say: “What is important is … not the jets being downed but why they were downed.” Some media outlets inferred that his statement appeared to imply that a number of jets were lost in the aerial battle.

The general did not provide details about the number of jets downed or specifics about what these rectified tactics were.

The Pakistani military said India did not fly its fighter jets in the conflict again after suffering the air losses.

On the risks of nuclear war

Media reports suggested that some attacks were near Pakistan’s nuclear sites but the nuclear infrastructure itself was not a target.

“Most of the strikes were delivered with pinpoint accuracy, some even to a metre [3.3ft] to whatever was our selected mean point of impact,” Chauhan said in the interview with Reuters.

Chauhan had previously provided assurances that India was not considering using nuclear weapons during the conflict. The chairman of Pakistan’s joint chiefs of staff, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, has done the same for his country.

“I think there’s a lot of space before that nuclear threshold is crossed, a lot of signalling before that. I think nothing like that happened. There’s a lot of space for conventional operations which has been created, and this will be the new norm,” Chauhan said.

The Indian general added that on both sides, the most “rational people are in uniform” during conflict because they understand the consequences of “this kind of conflict”.

“I found both sides displaying a lot of rationality in their thoughts as well as actions. So why should we assume that in the nuclear domain there will be irrationality on someone else’s part?”

On Chinese role

The Indian chief of defence staff said that while Pakistan enjoys a close alliance with China, there was no sign that Beijing helped Islamabad during the conflict.

China sits on India’s northern and eastern borders and controls a barely inhabited northeastern zone in Kashmir called Aksai Chin.

“We didn’t find any unusual activity in the operational or tactical depth of our northern borders, and things were generally all right,” Chauhan said.

When Chauhan was asked whether China provided Pakistan with intelligence information such as satellite imagery, the Indian general responded by saying that such information is commercially available and Pakistan could have obtained it from China or other sources.

However, Chauhan said “almost 80 percent of the equipment” in Pakistan has been procured from China in the past few years.

From 2020 to 2025, China supplied 81 percent of Pakistan’s arms imports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Chinese jets got a boost after media reports said Pakistan used Chinese-manufactured J-10C fighter jets in the air battle. The Chinese government did not officially confirm that the J-10C jets were used to down Indian jets, but China Central Television, a state broadcaster, posted on social media on May 17 that the jets achieved actual combat results for the first time.

What’s next

Chauhan said that while hostilities have ceased, India would “respond precisely and decisively should there be any further terror attacks emanating from Pakistan”. He added that this will be a new normal for India.

“So that has its own dynamics as far [as] the armed forces are concerned. It will require us to be prepared 24/7.”

The president of the main opposition Indian National Congress party said Chauhan’s admission warrants a review of India’s defence preparedness.

“There are some very important questions which need to be asked. These can only be asked if a Special Session of the Parliament is immediately convened,” Mallikarjun Kharge wrote in an X post on Saturday.

Referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added: “The Modi Govt has misled the nation. The fog of war is now clearing.”

“We salute [the Indian military’s] resolute courage and bravery,” Kharge said. “However, a comprehensive strategic review is the need of the hour.”

The Congress party has called the Pahalgam attack a “security and intelligence failure” and sought accountability, given that India-administered Kashmir is directly governed from New Delhi.

June 1 (UPI) — A ship filled with aid bound for Gaza set sail Sunday, hoping to break Israel’s blockade on the Palestinian enclave a month after another of its ships was damaged in an alleged Israeli drone strike in Maltese waters.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition launched a ship called the Madleen from Catania in southern Italy with activists onboard.

Ahead of the launch, those expected to join included Greta Thunberg; celebrity artists Brian Eno and Nan Goldin; actors Susan Sarandon, Guy Pearce, Aiysha Hart, Liam Cunningham, and Indya Moore; and Alana Hadid, the daughter of Palestinian-Jordanian real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, among others.

The ship is carrying “as much life-saving aid as she can carry,” including baby formula and medical supplies. Its organizers have stressed that the ship is not carrying any weapons.

Organizers have installed a tracking device on the ship so that the public can view its progress, noting that “the risk is real.” They hope that the tracker can help increase its safety, accountability and solidarity with their mission.

A similar flotilla was raided by the IDF in May 2010, leading to the close-range shooting deaths of at least nine passengers in international waters.

“Unarmed and nonviolent, ‘Madleen’ poses no threat. She sails in full accordance with international law,” the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement on Telegram. “Any attack or interference will be a deliberate, unlawful assault on civilians.”

Last month, another ship called the Conscience put out an SOS distress signal when it was 16 miles off the coast of Malta.

“The front of the vessel was targeted twice, resulting in a fire and a breach in the hull,” the group said at the time. “We have sent an SOS distress signal out, but no one has responded. Water is coming into the ship.”

Oscar Piastri strengthens his F1 world championship lead, beating McLaren teammate Lando Norris, while Max Verstappen drops to 10th spot after post-race penalty.

Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri has won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two to go 10 points clear of teammate Lando Norris in the world championship title battle.

The Australian’s win on Sunday by 2.4 seconds over Norris was his fifth in nine races this season and McLaren’s seventh.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the podium places on Sunday after passing Max Verstappen’s Red Bull six laps from the end following a safety car period that triggered the main talking point of the afternoon with the champion demoted from fifth to 10th place.

“It’s a nice way to bounce back from Monaco. A superb weekend,” said Piastri, who finished third last weekend in a race won from pole by Norris.

Verstappen, who made four stops in total and ended up on the slower hard tyres against rivals on softs, collided with Leclerc and twice with Mercedes’s George Russell after the safety car restart.

The Dutch driver was given a 10-second penalty – added to his overall time post-race – for the second Russell collision, which was clearly his fault.

He and Leclerc also faced a post-race investigation for their clash, which could lead to further sanctions.

“I tried to push him to the left. There was a bit of contact but fortunately no consequences,” Leclerc said. Verstappen claimed the Monegasque had rammed into him and should have given back the place.

Russell finished fourth after eventually being let through by Verstappen, who reluctantly did as his team told him.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg finished a surprising and morale-boosting fifth for the future Audi team after passing Ferrari’s seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap.

Hamilton was a disappointing sixth, Isack Hadjar seventh for Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly eighth for Renault-owned Alpine.

Home hero Fernando Alonso scored his first points of the season with Aston Martin, who had only one car on the grid due to Lance Stroll’s withdrawal through injury after Saturday’s qualifying.

Piastri keeps his cool out front

Piastri led away cleanly at the start with Verstappen seizing second from Norris while Hamilton and Leclerc moved up to fourth and fifth at the expense of Russell.

Hamilton let Leclerc through on lap 10 of 66 after the two Ferraris had run nose to tail.

Norris took back second place from Verstappen on lap 13 with the Dutch driver making no attempt to defend against the quicker McLaren and pitting on the next lap for new tyres.

Verstappen took the lead again on lap 23 after Piastri pitted. Norris made his first stop on lap 21 and came out behind the Red Bull, but that lasted only until Verstappen pitted for a second time on lap 30.

Verstappen came in for a third stop on lap 47, and Norris pitted a lap later to defend second place.

A safety car was deployed on lap 55 after rookie driver Kimi Antonelli beached his Mercedes in the gravel, bunching up the field and triggering a rash of pit stops.

The McLarens came in together for new tyres, double-stacking, and comfortably resumed ahead of Verstappen, who questioned the switch to a set of hards but was told that was the only option available.

The next round of the 2025 season will be the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on June 15.

June 1 (UPI) — China criticized the United States on Sunday for having a “Cold War mentality” after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared to warn that the U.S. is prepared to go to war to prevent China from dominating the Indo-Pacific region in a speech Saturday.

“Hegseth deliberately ignored the call for peace and development by countries in the region, and instead touted the Cold War mentality for bloc confrontation, vilified China with defamatory allegations, and falsely called China a ‘threat,'” a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The remarks were filled with provocations and intended to sow discord. China deplores and firmly opposes them and has protested strongly to the U.S.”

Hegseth had delivered his remarks during the International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue event in Singapore. He said the Indo-Pacific region is the United States’ “priority theater” and won’t allow China to push it and its allies out of the region.

China retorted Sunday that “no country in the world deserves to be called a hegemonic power other than the U.S. itself.”

“To perpetuate its hegemony and advance the so-called ‘Indo-Pacific strategy,’ the U.S. has deployed offensive weaponry in the South China Sea and kept stoking flames and creating tensions in the Asia-Pacific, which are turning the region into a powder keg and making countries in the region deeply concerned,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

Hegseth had also said that China was “preparing to use military force” to alter the balance of power in the region and appeared to indicate that the United States would step in to defend Taiwan if China were to attack it.

Mainland China and the island of Taiwan, among other islands, were ruled by the Republic of China before the ROC lost the Chinese Civil War in the early 20th century to the Chinese Communist Party, which established the new government of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949.

The ROC in turn established a temporary capital in Taipei on the island of Taiwan, a former Japanese territory, in December 1949 that served as the seat for China at the United Nations until it was replaced by the People’s Republic of China in 1971 when foreign countries switched their diplomatic relations.

China views self-governed Taiwan and its 23 million residents as a wayward province and has vowed to retake it by force, if necessary. Many supporters of Taiwan have since argued that it is already an independent sovereign state separate from mainland China, which has never controlled Taiwan.

Tensions between the United States and China started to grow during the administration of President Joe Biden in 2022 when then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, sparking a military response from the Chinese government and increased drills in the Taiwan Strait. In 2022, a four-star general predicted that the U.S. and China could be at war by the end of this year.

After returning for his second term, President Donald Trump‘s administration has escalated tensions with China, particularly related to trade tariffs that appear now to be expanding into broader military and diplomatic arenas.

For example, the Pentagon has increased naval patrols in contested areas of the South China Sea and bolstered military partnerships with allies including Japan, Australia, and the Philippines.

“The Taiwan question is entirely China’s internal affair. No country is in a position to interfere. The U.S. should never imagine it could use the Taiwan question as leverage against China,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. “The U.S. must never play with fire on this question.”

June 1 (UPI) — The famed anonymous street artist Banksy has claimed credit for new graffiti that is believed to offer a rare moment of introspection and vulnerability by the artist.

The new graffiti was claimed by Banksy on his Instagram account last week and depicts a painted black lighthouse with white beams of light extending horizontally from it as well as the stenciled white text. “I want to be what you saw in me.”

The street artist used a real metal bollard in the foreground as part of the artwork. The bollard’s shadow is cast onto the wall, aligned with the base of the painted lighthouse, creating a sort-of three-dimensional effect.

While Banksy’s true identity remains unconfirmed, he is widely believed to be a white British male from Bristol, active since the early 1990s, possibly a man named Robin Gunningham. His work has often been political and aimed at critiquing societal power structures and politics, as well as commenting on consumerism and the concept of surveillance.

With his access, the artist has been able to make his galvanizing work even in war-torn Ukraine and in Gaza.

But Banksy has faced a slew of recent criticism suggesting that his work is starting to lose its edge.

For example, a Sky News article last year questioned if the public was falling out of love with Banksy after the lukewarm reception of his recent animal-themed murals in London.

“While Banksy’s messages have always been anti-capitalist, many of his works have brazenly succumbed to the very workings of capitalism. So it is difficult to know what exactly the artist’s intentions are,” Lala Singian wrote in an article published by Asia News Network after a recent museum exhibition of his work.

The presence of Banksy’s graffiti can also pose challenges for property owners: a mural in London last year was defaced quickly after it went up, the building housing his big Brexit mural was demolished, and another on a farmhouse was accidentally demolished, and plans to renovate a mural located on Venice’s Grand Canal faced backlash from artists.

Because the artist rarely discusses his work, it can be hard to ascertain his true intentions with the most recent work. In an op-ed, Hyperallergic criticized the work as a “beacon of nope” and called it a “bit jarring” to see him refer to himself in first-person and self-conscious.

“But even with all of that,” journalist Rhea Nayyar wrote for the online art magazine, “the work comes across as overly sentimental for something so … empty? So obvious?”

A longtime columnist for Foreign Policy and professor of international relations at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Stephen Walt is a sharp critic of how the United States has pursued its version of liberal democracy globally, which he calls liberal hegemony. His books include Taming American Power, The Hell of Good Intentions, and the New York Times bestseller The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy.

In this episode of Reframe, Ken Roth and Stephen Walt discuss how President Donald Trump is undermining democratic norms and institutions within the US and worldwide, questioning whether his leadership has brought about an unprecedented shift in its global power.

Activist Greta Thunberg says silence is more dangerous than sailing to Gaza, as she boarded a vessel that will try to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. The Gaza Freedom Flotilla had to abandon its last attempt on May 2 when it was bombed.

Relentless monsoon rains across the northeastern states leave a trail of deaths and destruction.

At least 30 people have died in India’s northeast after relentless monsoon rains caused floods and landslides over the weekend, Indian officials and media reports say.

Authorities on Sunday said at least eight people were killed in Assam state and nine more in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, many of them buried under earth and debris dislodged by the torrential downpour.

Three members of one family were killed in a mudslide in Assam’s Guwahati, officials said, as heavy rains led to flooding in many areas of the city, leading to long power outages and prompting authorities to shut schools and colleges on Saturday.

Authorities disconnected electricity in several areas to reduce the risk of electrocution, Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

In Mizoram state, five people lost their lives in a landslide, while six others died in Meghalaya state. Officials in Nagaland and Tripura states also confirmed two deaths.

Meghalaya’s Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma ordered emergency teams to stay vigilant, “especially in landslide-prone and low-lying areas”, he warned in a public statement.

The Indian Army launched a large-scale rescue effort in Manipur state, evacuating hundreds. “People have been shifted to safer places,” the army said. “Food, water and essential medicines were provided.”

The downpour has continued for three straight days, and India’s weather agency has forecast more heavy rains in the region in the coming days as it issued a red alert for several northeastern districts.

Rivers across the region, including the Brahmaputra, which originates in the Himalayas and flows through India into Bangladesh, have breached their banks, submerging vast areas and cutting off access to many communities.

Floods and landslides are common during India’s June-to-September monsoon season, which is vital for agriculture but often deadly. Dozens of people die each year as rainfall overwhelms fragile infrastructure across the world’s most populous country.

Last month, Mumbai was deluged by rain nearly two weeks before its usual beginning, the earliest monsoon arrival in the capital city of the western state of Maharashtra in over two decades, according to meteorological officials.

Scientists say climate change is altering weather patterns across South Asia, but the precise effects on the monsoon system remain unclear.

Los Angeles FC secure final spot in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 with a thrilling extra-time winner by Denis Bouanga against Club America.

Gabon forward Denis Bouanga scored late in extra time, and Los Angeles FC (LAFC) dramatically secured the final spot in the FIFA Club World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Mexican side Club America in a play-in match.

Igor Jesus tied it for LAFC in the 89th minute on Saturday night, slipping through traffic and converting a header for his first goal with his new club.

After 24 tense minutes of extra time, Bouanga jumped into the play and fired home a deflected shot from the top of the penalty area in the 115th minute, setting off a wild celebration at BMO Stadium and sending LAFC to their first FIFA Club World Cup.

LAFC will join English club Chelsea, Brazil’s Flamengo and Tunisia’s ES Tunis when group play begins in two weeks across the southern United States.

LAFC’s victory is extraordinarily lucrative for the Major League Soccer (MLS) power, guaranteeing at least $9.55m in prize money for making the tournament field. The club also has a chance at nearly $100m more in prize money from FIFA’s nearly $1bn pool.

Brian Rodriguez put Club America ahead midway through the second half by converting a penalty kick against his former team, but Las Aguilas fell short in front of thousands of supporters.

One spot in the 32-team Club World Cup was open because FIFA disqualified Mexican side Leon under its rules against participation by multiple clubs owned by the same entity. Leon and Pachuca are owned by the same group, and Leon lost its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport four weeks ago after attempting to change its ownership structure.

Second-half thriller

With a stadium full of raucous fans supporting both teams, LAFC and Club America were cautious in the first half, putting just one shot on target apiece.

Rodriguez beat Hugo Lloris from the spot in the 64th minute, capitalising on a penalty awarded following a video review of Mark Delgado’s risky, spikes-up challenge on Erick Sanchez.

Rodriguez, who came on as a half-time substitute after recovering from injury recently, spent parts of four seasons with LAFC from 2019 to 2022 before the Uruguayan winger moved to America for a hefty transfer fee.

LAFC got moving offensively when Olivier Giroud came on as a second-half substitute. The French star nearly tipped home a pass in the box in the 81st minute, but Luis Malagon thwarted him. LAFC cranked up their late pressure behind Bouanga and Giroud.

Jesus, the 22-year-old Brazilian midfielder, finally beat Malagon with a header in the box.

Lloris stopped a point-blank chance for Javairo Dilrosun in the second half of extra time shortly before Bouanga’s winner.

Tickets for the match were distributed equally between the clubs’ supporters, and Club America have a large fan base in Los Angeles, where Mexican teams and players are greeted with massive support whenever they visit. Club America fans mobbed the south stands at BMO Stadium 90 minutes before kickoff, while LAFC’s famed North End crowd was packed.

Both sections set off fireworks and smoke bombs after kickoff, underlining the remarkable atmosphere and giving a taste of what is to come in June and July.

The largest Club World Cup to date will be held across the US as a precursor to the FIFA World Cup’s return to North America in 2026. Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders have already qualified from MLS, while Pachuca and Monterrey have qualified from Liga MX.

In the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, escaping the war with Russia is nearly impossible.

On certain days, when the wind shifts, residents of this historic city can hear the distant rumble of artillery fire from the front line, some 30km (18.5 miles) away.

Most nights, Russian kamikaze drones packed with explosives buzz overhead as parents put their children to bed.

Three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the unrelenting war exerts a heavy psychological burden on many in Kharkiv. Yet, there is a place in the city where, for a few fleeting hours, the war seems to vanish.

Beneath the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, in a dim, brick-walled basement, a dance company has established a refuge from drones and bombs – a space where audiences can lose themselves in performances of classic ballets.

In April, this underground venue hosted performances of Chopiniana, an early 20th-century ballet set to the music of Frederic Chopin. Despite the improvised setting, the ballet was staged with full classical grandeur, complete with corps de ballet and orchestra.

It marked a significant milestone for Kharkiv’s cultural life: the first complete classical ballet performance in the city since February 2022, when Russian troops launched their invasion of Ukraine.

“In spite of everything – the fact that bombs are flying, drones, and everything else – we can give a gift of something wonderful to people,” said Antonina Radiievska, artistic director of Opera East, the ballet company behind the production.

“They can come and, even if it’s just for an hour or two, completely immerse themselves in a different world.”

Despite Ukraine’s rich tradition in classical ballet, the art form now seems far removed from the everyday existence of Ukrainians living through war. Daily routines revolve around monitoring apps for drone alerts, sleeping on metro station floors to escape air raids, or seeking news of loved ones on the front line. Pirouettes, pas de deux and chiffon tutus feel worlds away.

Nevertheless, the journey of Kharkiv’s ballet through wartime reflects the ways in which Ukrainian society has adapted and evolved.

On February 23, 2022, the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre staged a performance of the ballet Giselle. The next day, Russia launched its full-scale invasion. As Moscow’s forces advanced towards Kharkiv and threatened to seize the city, the theatre closed its doors and much of the ballet troupe departed.

Some regrouped in Slovakia and Lithuania, mounting ballet productions abroad with assistance from European sponsors.

By 2023, although the conflict ground on, the situation in Kharkiv, in Ukraine’s northeast, had stabilised after Russian ground troops withdrew. A new realisation took hold – this was a long-term reality. Locals began referring to the city, and themselves, with the Ukrainian word “nezlamniy”, meaning invincible.

That year, work began on transforming the theatre’s basement into a performance venue. By October 2023, it was being used for rehearsals. The following spring, authorities permitted the theatre to admit audiences, and small-scale ballet performances, including children’s concerts, resumed.

The revival of Chopiniana marked the next chapter in Kharkiv’s wartime cultural journey.

Staging a classical opera again signals that Ukraine endures, says Igor Tuluzov, director-general of Opera East. “We are demonstrating to the world that we really are a self-sufficient state, independent, in all its aspects, including cultural independence,” he said.

The auditorium now seats 400 people on stackable chairs, compared with the 1,750 seats in the main theatre above, where the plush mustard seats remain empty.

The stage is a quarter the size of the main one. Grey-painted bricks, concrete floors, and exposed pipes and wiring form a stark contrast to the varnished hardwood and marble of the theatre above. The basement’s acoustics, performers say, fall short of the cavernous main auditorium.

For artistic director Radiievska, however, the most important thing is that, after a long pause, she and her troupe can once again perform for a live audience.

“It means, you know, life,” she said. “An artist cannot exist without the stage, without creativity, without dance or song. It’s like a rebirth.”

May 30 (UPI) — Ukraine said it will not send a delegation for peace talks to Istanbul Monday until Russia provides details of its cease-fire proposal.

Ukraine accused Russia, which has said it will send a delegation to Istanbul for the talks, of stalling in peace negotiations.

“Russia is dragging out the war and doing everything to simply deceive countries that are still trying to influence Moscow with words, not pressure. Words with Moscow do not work. Even the so-called “memorandum” that they promised and supposedly prepared for more than a week has not yet been seen by anyone,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video posted to the presidential website.

During a joint press conference with Turkey’s foreign minister, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia must accept an unconditional cease-fire.

Ukraine has sent cease-fire proposal details to Russia.

“We are interested in seeing these meetings continue because we want the war to end this year,” Sybiha said.

The Monday Istanbul meeting will not include Zelensky or Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Russian cease-fire proposal memo will be delivered at the Monday Istanbul meeting.

He said it will focus on overcoming what he termed the “root causes” of the war.

Lavrov proposed a second round of Istanbul talks for June 2. Ukraine has not yet committed to that proposed meeting.

“They are doing everything to make the meetings empty. And this is another reason to have sufficient sanctions – sufficient pressure on Russia,” Zelensky said of Russia.

The United States, France, Germany and Britain are all sending security advisors to the Monday Istanbul talks as Ukraine awaits details from Russia about its cease-fire proposal.

Ukraine’s position is that it must see details of the Russian cease-fire proposal before the next peace talks session happens.