The World is smoldering:

The U.S. Missile Launcher That Is Enraging China

https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/china-us-typhon-weapons-system-missile-philippines-100fd852?mod=world_lead_pos3
A new U.S. missile system deployed in the Philippines puts key Chinese military and commercial hubs within striking distance and hands President Trump an early test of his commitment to deterring Chinese aggression against American allies in Asia. 
Last year, the U.S. Army moved the Typhon Missile System, which can fire missiles as far as 1,200 miles, to a base on Luzon Island in the northern Philippines. It is the first time since the Cold War that the U.S. military has deployed a land-based launching system with such a long range outside its borders.
The Typhon, military experts say, is part of a broader strategic repositioning by the American military as it seeks to counter Beijing’s huge buildup of intermediate- and long-range missiles in the Pacific. 
In the event of a conflict with China, land-based missile systems such as the Typhon could be central to defending key U.S. allies such as the Philippines, which has clashed with China over Beijing’s claims to nearly all of the South China Sea, and Taiwan, which Beijing has threatened to take, by force if necessary. 
The Chinese government has responded to the Typhon’s deployment with alarm, rebuking the U.S. and the Philippines for fueling what it called an arms race.

Greenlanders Are Angry and Confused Over Unwanted U.S. Visit
https://www.wsj.com/world/greenlanders-are-angry-and-confused-over-unwanted-u-s-visit-87e701c2?mod=world_lead_pos4
A planned visit to Greenland this week to be led by second lady Usha Vance was originally presented as a feel-good event to celebrate Greenlandic culture. Instead, it is stirring anger and anxiety—and testing already strained relations between the U.S. and European allies. And that was before Vice President JD Vance announced that he would be joining his wife on the trip.
The U.S. has now shifted the visit’s focus to national security even as both Danish and Greenlandic officials have insisted they see the uninvited trip as a provocation. Instead of taking in a dogsled race as originally scheduled, the Vances will be visiting American soldiers at a U.S. military base, far from any large settlement of civilian Greenlanders, White House officials said Tuesday.

U.S. Agrees to Help Russia Boost Exports in Ukraine Talks
https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/u-s-agrees-to-help-russia-boost-exports-in-black-sea-truce-7661b78f?mod=world_lead_pos5
The U.S. said it would help Russia boost agricultural exports and restore its access to payments systems, after the Kremlin demanded the easing of Western sanctions in return for a cease-fire in the Black Sea.
The announcement, which followed two days of talks involving the U.S., Russia and Ukraine, sets up a potential standoff between America and its allies in Europe, who imposed some of the sanctions at issue. 
Russia said it would only comply with a Black Sea truce upon the lifting of some banking sanctions, which European nations have vowed to keep in place. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was opposed to weakening sanctions on Russia as a part of a deal. 
Moscow said major Russian banks involved in the food and fertilizer trade would need to be reconnected to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, payment network, singling out Rosselkhozbank, a state-owned bank that deals with Russian agribusiness, but suggesting that other banks should also have their access restored.
Western sanctions never targeted Russian grain or agricultural exports directly, because that is largely prohibited under international law, and out of concern that such sanctions would raise food prices and increase global hunger. But Russia says its agricultural exports were affected by the European port and banking sanctions.
The Kremlin has long sought the lifting of financial restrictions, which lie at the heart of the Western sanctions regime. The European Union has always said its banking sanctions allow exemptions for payments to Russia for permitted trade, such as in grain and fertilizers. Among the banks the EU didn’t sanction, for instance, is Gazprombank, one of Russia’s largest, and a key conduit for payments for Russian natural-gas sales.

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