President Biden, while in South Korea, took part in the announcement of an economic initiative in which the United States and twelve countries Asia and the Pacific will "counter China's influence in the region." Named the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the initiative includes nations that the Biden Administration says is forty percent of the world's Gross Domestic Product.
In the last few weeks, former President Obama has been diagnosed with COVID-19, as has Hillary Clinton, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, and DC mayor Muriel Bowser. Late last week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tested positive as well. While their exact variant has not been made public, their diagnoses bring attention to the latest variant - a mutation of the Omicron variant called BA.2.
The war in Ukraine is in its forty-sixth day (on Sunday), and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg predicts a "permanent troop presence" on the Eastern flank, which reaches from the Baltic to the Black Sea. When NATO leaders meet this coming June in Madrid, this decision will be considered and could result in a "reset."