Taipei, Taiwan
Will China attack? The Biden administration is increasingly concerned that China might invade Taiwan, as an emboldened President Xi Jinping attempts to bolster his legitimacy and legacy. China regards the island nation of Taiwan, a U.S. ally, as a rogue province and has stepped up its aggressive behavior in recent months. Twenty Chinese warplanes flew into Taiwan’s air defense zone last week—the biggest incursion on record. And just days after President Biden’s January inauguration, Chinese jets simulated missile attacks on the USS Theodore Roosevelt while the aircraft carrier was stationed in Taiwanese waters. Adm. Philip Davidson, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told Congress in March that the People’s Liberation Army is strengthening its offensive capability, making the threat to Taiwan “manifest during this decade.”
Makassar, Indonesia
Suicide bombing: At least 20 people were wounded this week when two Islamist terrorists blew themselves up outside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Makassar at the end of a Palm Sunday mass. Indonesian authorities said the attackers were a recently married couple with ties to an ISIS-linked jihadist group. The pair arrived at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on a motorcycle just as congregants were leaving the service. Before the terrorists reached the crowd, they were spotted by Kosmas Balembang, a 51-year-old parking attendant. He rushed the jihadists, who then detonated a pressure cooker packed with explosives. “All I could say was, ‘God help me,’” said Kosmas. The attackers died instantly;
Kosmas suffered only minor burns.