Latest news for 13 June 2025

China

Pope names bishop in China.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed the first Chinese bishop of his papacy, signalling he’ll uphold the controversial Vatican-Beijing 2018 deal giving China’s Communist Party a say in who the pope can name as local bishops. (ABC)

Comment: While this suggests continuity on China, Leo has pivoted on Russia, with his initial statements moving the Vatican away from Pope Francis’s ‘all parties’ vibes.

SPAIN

PM apologises but rejects resignation calls.

Spain’s shockingly handsome Pedro Sánchez has apologised for the mounting corruption scandals rocking senior members of his Socialist Party, but he’s rejecting ongoing protestor and opposition calls for his resignation. (Politico EU)

INDIA

Air disaster death toll climbs.

As emergency response efforts continue, the death toll from yesterday’s Air India disaster now stands at 290, including 241 on board and at least 49 on the ground. The cause remains unclear. Miraculously, one passenger somehow survived. (CNN)

DENMARK

Alliance still strong?

The Danish parliament has voted overwhelmingly to grant the US sweeping access to three bases on Denmark’s Jutland peninsula. (Guardian)

Comment: Before you ask… yes, the Danish parliament was basically ratifying a deal the Danes had signed long before President Trump started musing about seizing Greenland again. Still, the fact the Danes stayed the course against that kind of backdrop is probably a message unto itself: we’ll uphold our deals, you uphold yours.

INDONESIA

Putin > G7, says Jakarta.

Shrugging off a personal invitation from Canada’s prime minister to attend the G7 next week, Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto will instead visit Russia for bilateral talks with Putin (Jakarta says Putin’s invite arrived first). (SCMP)

Comment: Prabowo won power last year on a promise to maintain Indonesia’s non-aligned stance, something he must feel means visiting Vladimir Putin twice in less than a year.

UNITED STATES

Court blocks Trump’s National Guard move.

A federal court has now blocked President Trump’s National Guard deployments to LA amid unrest around immigration raids. Meanwhile, security has forcibly removed and cuffed Senator Alex Padilla (CA, D) after he interjected with questions at a Los Angeles news conference held by Trump’s homeland security chief. (Independent)

MALI

President 4eva.

Mali’s junta-run council of ministers has approved a draft bill that’d extend General Assimi Goita’s power for another five years without an election. (Africa Briefing)