Our daily trip around the world

🇨🇳🤝🇺🇸 Chinese President Xi Jinping met with President Biden in San Francisco. During the two-plus hour meeting, Biden and Xi discussed potential agreements on restoring military contacts between the two nations, combating fentanyl trafficking from China to the US, and cooperating over global challenges including climate change and AI. Xi also urged Biden to stop arming Taiwan and support China’s peaceful unification with the self-governing island, calling it “the most important and most sensitive issue” in the bilateral relations. Yesterday marked the leaders’ first meeting since November 2022, and the second since Biden took office.

🇺🇦 Ukrainian forces have entered Russian-occupied territory in their ongoing counteroffensive. On Tuesday, Ukraine said its forces established a foothold in an area of the southern Kherson region that Russia had captured shortly after launching its invasion in February 2022. Russian officials acknowledged Ukraine’s advance yesterday, but said the opposing troops are currently pinned down after the Kremlin sent reinforcements to the area. Separately, the EU proposed new sanctions against Moscow aimed at curtailing its sources of revenue for the war in Ukraine, including restrictions on Russia’s diamond industry.

🇻🇦 The Vatican confirmed a ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons (sorry Nic Cage). The Freemasonry is one of the oldest fraternal organizations in the world, with a current global membership of ~6 million, and former members including at least 13 US presidents. While Freemasonry itself isn’t a religion, many local groups require members to believe in one God or “Grand Architect of the Universe.” The decree from Pope Francis came in response to a bishop from the Philippines concerned about the country’s growing Freemason population.