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Primary results 2022: South Carolina, Nevada 

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Primary results 2022: South Carolina, Nevada 

Four states held primary elections Tuesday, and in one of the most closely watched races in South Carolina, CBS News projects Russell Fry wins the 7th District Republican primary, defeating incumbent Rep. Tom Rice, who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump. 

Tuesday’s primaries are setting up some of the most expensive general election matchups in the fall.

Rice vehemently defended his impeachment vote, telling Politico recently that “I think that was one of the worst things, if not the worst, that a president has ever done in terms of attacking the Constitution and separation of powers.” 

Trump backed Fry in the race. The former president issued a celebratory statement on Tuesday night, calling Fry’s win the “biggest News of the evening so far is that Russell Fry beat Impeach Master Tom Rice with a Vote of more than 51%, therefore WINNING OUTRIGHT with no need for a run-off.” 

Fry on Tuesday night called it a “huge night for Republicans” and thanked Trump for his endorsement. 

In the special election to fill the remainder of Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela’s term in Texas’ 34th District, Republicans got a short-term win with Republican Mayra Flores winning enough votes, 50% of the total turnout, to win the race outright to hold the seat until January. Vela resigned in March to work for a lobbying firm.

Republicans are hoping the win Tuesday will give them an edge to flip the district in November, where Flores will face off against Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez. Although the district lines will lean more Democratic in November than the version used in the special election, the win comes as Republicans continue to invest in their outreach with Hispanic voters in this region and across the country on issues such as the economy and immigration.

Flores and Republican groups spent close to $1 million dollars on ads for the special election, while national Democratic groups only devoted a fraction of their resources to the race.

CBS News projects that Rep. Nancy Mace has won the Republican primary in South Carolina’s 1st District. Mace, a freshman Republican who flipped South Carolina’s 1st District from blue to red, defeated Trump-backed former state Rep. Katie Arrington, the 2018 GOP nominee for this district who lost to Democrat Joe Cunningham.

Mace voted to certify the 2020 election results and to hold Trump ally Steven Bannon in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee. She was also outspoken against Trump’s conduct in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack.

Trump had issued a statement Saturday saying that Mace is “despised by almost everyone” and said she “fights Republicans all the time and is not at all nice about it.” But on Tuesday night, Trump issued a statement on Truth Social saying “Katie Arrington was a long shot but ran a great race and way over performed. Congrats to Nancy Mace, who should easily be able to defeat her Democrat opponent!”

Republican incumbent Sen. Tim Scott didn’t face any serious primary challengers on Tuesday and he’s expected to easily win deep-red South Carolina in November. But he’s raised nearly $40 million so far, more than any other Republican.

Democrats Catherine Fleming Bruce, Angela Geter and state Rep. Krystle Matthews are competing to take on Scott.

In the governor’s race, Trump-backed incumbent Republican Gov. Henry McMaster defeated his primary challenger, Harrison Musselwhite.

On the Democratic side, Cunningham, who lost his House seat to Mace in 2018, won the primary, defeating state Sen. Mia McLeod and several others. 

Also in the spotlight is Nevada, the state that officially gave President Biden enough electoral votes to win the presidency in 2020. Mr. Biden won the state by less than three points in 2020, and the state’s economy has been hit hard by inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans are hoping to flip the Senate seat and the governor’s mansion in the fall — and a number of Republicans are running to succeed the term-limited secretary of state, who refused to throw out the election results in favor of Trump.

Trump-backed Adam Laxalt won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in Nevada. Laxalt succeeded current Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto as the state’s attorney general.

Laxalt, who lost the governor’s race in 2018, had endorsements from a number of high-profile Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Donald Trump Jr., who came to Nevada to campaign with Laxalt. 

Cortez Masto won the Democratic primary. She has already raised big sums ahead of November — nearly $20 million in the last year — and went into primary day with more than $9 million cash on hand.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, won the Democratic primary for governor. Sisolak, elected in 2018, was the first Democrat to win the governor’s mansion in more than 20 years. 

Fifteen Republicans are on the primary ballot for governor. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, former boxer Joey Gilbert, former U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee and entrepreneur Guy Nohra are so far leading the field. 

Jim Marchant won the Republican primary for Nevada Secretary of State. A former state lawmaker, Marchant told The Wall Street Journal last year that he didn’t know whether Mr. Biden won the state in 2020 and “would not have certified” the election. 

Marchant also told The Guardian that he would be open to sending an alternate slate of electors to Congress in 2024. He also falsely claimed that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him and Trump. Marchant lost to Rep. Steven Horsford and unsuccessfully challenged the results. 

Marchant and another candidate in the race, former Clark County District Court Judge Richard Scotti, have said they would push to decertify Dominion voting machines, which are used by nearly all of Nevada’s counties. The machines were at the center of some election conspiracies and the company has filed lawsuits against some high-profile figures who spread those claims. 

Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, who is term limited, has faced blowback from Trump’s supporters since the 2020 election, including being censured by the state party. There has been no credible evidence of widespread fraud that could have changed Nevada’s results. 

In Nevada’s 1st Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Rep. Dina Titus won the primary. She defeated progressive Amy Vilela, who was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders. 

In the 2nd District, national Republican groups have gotten involved to support Congressman Mark Amodei in his primary. Amodei is being challenged by Danny Tarkanian, a Douglas County commissioner who has had unsuccessful runs for Congress in the past decade.

Biden to meet with Saudi crown prince Mohammed despite ‘pariah’ pledge

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Biden to meet with Saudi crown prince Mohammed despite ‘pariah’ pledge

According to Reuters, U.S. President Joe Biden will meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a trip to the Middle East in July, in a break with his campaign pledge of making the kingdom a “pariah” as he struggles to combat record high U.S. gasoline prices.

Weeks after taking office, Biden shifted U.S. policy on Saudi Arabia, adopting a tougher stance over the kingdom’s human rights record and in particular the killing and dismembering of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018. U.S. intelligence implicated the prince in the murder. The Saudi government has denied any involvement by him.

Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump had a close relationship with the prince, the defacto ruler of the country. But while a presidential candidate in 2019, Biden vowed to make Saudi Arabia “pay the price, and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are” over the killing of Khashoggi. The White House has said, as recently as this month, that Biden’s view has not changed.

Biden will also travel to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other leaders to reaffirm his commitment to a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the U.S. official said.

The visit will help “integrate Israel into the Middle East,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia has signaled its backing for the so-called Abraham Accords under which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain forged relations with Israel two years ago. But Riyadh has stopped short of formally recognizing neighboring Israel.

The talks with the crown prince – part of Biden’s first trip to the region – are seen by rights advocates as at odds with his promise to put human rights at the heart of U.S. foreign policy. Biden’s trip from July 13 to July 16 will also include a stop in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that if Biden “determines it’s in his interest to engage with any particular leader, and if such an engagement can deliver results, then he will do so.”

The official pointed to the crown prince’s role in helping secure an extension of a U.N.-brokered truce between Yemen’s warring parties as an example of what he said was a need to engage with Saudi Arabia as way to help bring peace and security to the region.

Biden’s July 15-16 visit to the kingdom comes after the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations, led by Saudi Arabia, agreed to boost oil production to offset Russian losses – following Western sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine – and combat surging oil prices and inflation.

Victim of pandemic, Hong Kong’s a landmark floating restaurant towed away

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Victim of pandemic, Hong Kong’s a landmark floating restaurant towed away

 A landmark floating restaurant that fed Cantonese cuisine and seafood to Queen Elizabeth II, Tom Cruise and millions of other diners was towed from the Hong Kong harborfront Tuesday after being closed by the pandemic.

The parent company of Jumbo Floating Restaurant couldn’t find a new owner and lacked funds to maintain it after months of COVID-19 restrictions.

Encore Sin, 71, said Hong Kong was losing something unique.

“If the restaurant leaves today, there is definitely a sense of loss, not just for people who live around this area but for the whole of Hong Kong,” said Sin.

“Over the past few decades, I’ve been to many places around the world to take photographs, but where else in the world are there such floating restaurants? I don’t think there are any left.”

The massive floating restaurant designed like a Chinese imperial palace on Aberdeen Harbour was known for its Cantonese cuisine and seafood dishes. It received over 30 million guests since its establishment in 1976.

But Jumbo Floating Restaurant was forced to close in 2020 due to the pandemic, and all staff were laid off. Parent company Aberdeen Restaurant Enterprises said it had become a financial burden to shareholders, as millions of Hong Kong dollars were spent on inspection and maintenance of the floating restaurant every year even though the restaurant was not in operation.

“We do not foresee that (Jumbo Floating Restaurant) can resume business in the immediate future,” the company said. It said potential deals to keep the restaurant open were thwarted by the high operating costs.

Tugboats towed the restaurant away Tuesday but it wasn’t clear where it will berth next. The company planned to move it to a lower-cost site where maintenance could still be conducted.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam had previously rejected suggestions to bail out the restaurant, despite calls from lawmakers to preserve the iconic landmark.

Lam said last month that the government had no plans to invest taxpayers’ money into the restaurant as the government was “not good” at running such premises, despite calls from lawmakers to preserve the restaurant.

Some Hong Kong residents recalled the heyday of Jumbo Kingdom, and expressed disappointment in seeing the restaurant go. It was famed for its lavish banquet meals, with dishes such as roasted suckling pig, lobster and double-boiled bird’s nest, a Chinese delicacy.

Wong Chi-wah, a boat operator in Aberdeen Harbour, said that in the glory days of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant in the 1990s, flocks of Japanese tourists would visit the restaurants.

“The streets were full of parked vehicles as visitors arrived in big groups,” he said.

Drugs are back in the EU

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Drugs are back in the EU

Drug trafficking and use across the European Union are returning to pre-pandemic levels, according to the latest report published by the bloc’s drug agency on Tuesday.

According to AP, as COVID-19 restrictions and increased border controls have been relaxed on the continent, the EMCDDA said drugs are available in large quantities in the region, and in some cases above pre-pandemic levels.

Hundreds of drug production laboratories are being dismantled, and new psychoactive substances are appearing in the bloc every week. In 2021, 52 new drugs were reported for the first time, the agency said.

While the agency said it’s too early to assess the impact on heroin trafficking of the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the agency noted it could lead to an increase. According to the report, poppy cultivation continues in the country despite a ban on production and sale.

“The country’s current financial problems might make drug revenues a more important source of income,” the report said.

The report also looked at the war in Ukraine, noting that the conflict could have consequences for smuggling routes.

“For me, the take-home message that stands out from our analysis of drug trends in 2022 can be summarized as ‘Everywhere. Everything. Everyone,’” said the agency director, Alexis Goosdeel.

About 83.4 million people aged 15-64 in the EU, or 29% of that population, are estimated to have ever used an illicit drug, with more men than women reporting use.

The agency said cannabis remains the most popular substance, with over 22 million people reporting its use in 2021, ahead of cocaine, MDMA and amphetamines. Some 1 million Europeans used heroin or another illicit opioid. An estimated 5,800 overdose deaths occurred in the EU in 2020, the most recent year for which that figure was provided.

The report pointed to an increased use of social media applications and encrypted messaging services to get access to products during the pandemic, a model that is likely to persist.

The agency said last month that record amounts of cocaine are being seized in Europe while manufacturing of the drug is now taking place inside the the EU.

Strawberry Supermoon 2022

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Strawberry Supermoon 2022

The world is set to witness the June’s full moon, known as Strawberry Moon, on June 14 (Tuesday). At 7.51am Eastern Daylight Time (5.22pm IST) that day, the moon will be at its closest point in its orbit around the Earth, called perigee, which will make it appear like a “supermoon”.

Supermoons appear brighter and larger to people on Earth, providing spectacular night time gazing if skies are clear.

On Tuesday, it will come within 222,238 miles of Earth (about 16,000 miles closer than its average distance) and is expected to be about 10 per cent brighter than the regular full moon.

According to space.com, the supermoon this year will be the lowest full moon of 2022, rising just 23.3 degrees above the horizon, according to NASA. It will be lowest because the event is coming just ahead of summer solstice on June 21.

“On the summer solstice, the Sun appears highest in the sky for the year. Full moons are opposite the sun, so a full moon near the summer solstice will be low in the sky,” according to a guide released by NASA.

The American space agency also said that this will give people a chance to spot craters and mountains on the lunar surface using a good telescope.

The Strawberry Moon doesn’t look like a strawberry, neither it is pink in colour. This name has been given to the full moon by native American tribes. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, “This name (Strawberry Moon) has been used by Algonquin, Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota peoples, among others, to mark the ripening of ‘June-bearing’ strawberries that are ready to be gathered.”

This will be the first of the three summer supermoons.

The Virtual Telescope Project in Italy’s Ceccano will host a free livestream of the full moon on Tuesday. The webcast will begin at 3.15pm EDT (12.45am IST) and show live views of the moon.

South Korea truckers end strike; gov’t agrees to extend pay guarantee

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South Korea truckers end strike; gov’t agrees to extend pay guarantee

According to Reuters, South Korea’s unionised truckers and the transport ministry reached a tentative agreement on Tuesday on minimum pay guarantees in a late night deal ending a nationwide strike that crippled ports and industrial hubs, the two parties said.

The eight-day strike has delayed cargo shipments for industries from autos to petrochemicals and spirits in the export-heavy nation, and cost South Korea’s industry more than $1.2 billion in lost output and unfilled deliveries, according to the industry ministry.

An official from HiteJinro Co Ltd (000080.KS), the biggest brewer of soju, the South Korean liquor, said its shipments were cut by about 40% by the strike.

“It was the breaking point, but it turned out well,” said trucker Kang Myung-gil, a 50-year-old father of three who had joined the strike despite not being part of the union to protect his family’s livelihood.

“It’s going to be a sweet sleep.”

The latest round of talks were held at a major industrial transport hub near the capital, where Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong earlier warned the government may step in and force truckers to return to work or face jail.

The transport ministry and truckers union reached an agreement to extend the truckers’ minimum wage system and continue discussing expanding a guarantee of minimum pay for carrying cargo to cover additional products, a union official told reporters.

“The Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union will immediately return to work, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will make utmost efforts so that truckers can return to work…” the union said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the transport ministry said it will work with parliament on extending minimum pay guarantee and review expanding fuel subsidies and support “in order to ease truckers’ difficulties from recent rise in oil prices”.

The trucker strike had cost the South Korean auto industry about 5,400 vehicles in lost production, worth about 257 billion won as of Sunday, according to the industry ministry.

Average daily shipments of about 74,000 metric tonnes of petrochemical products have been slashed by 90% due to the strike, the Korea Petrochemical Industry Association had said. 

Small business owners had voiced concern about the havoc a lengthy strike could have on the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as the truckers launched their action less than two months after social distancing norms were lifted.

“Small business owners are waiting helplessly,” a dozen lobby groups representing such businesses said in a joint statement, adding that shipments of liquor, food, farm and fisheries products had been blocked.

Chicago Severe Storms, Tornado Warnings Leave Homes Damaged, and 40K Without Power

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Chicago Severe Storms, Tornado Warnings Leave Homes Damaged, and 40K Without Power

Powerful storms with 85 mile-per-hour winds, tornado-like conditions and hail ripped through the Chicago area Monday, leaving flash flooding, downed trees and powerlines, and residential damage in its path as it blew from west to east, traveling from Elgin to Lake Michigan, reported by NBC.

As of early Monday, more than 44,000 ComEd customers were still without power, according to ComEd’s outage map.

As tornado warnings across Cook, Kane and other counties created dangerous weather conditions, travelers at O’Hare were ordered to shelter-in-place and a ground stop was issued for nearly an hour.

The entire Chicago area is under an excessive heat warning until 8 p.m. Wednesday. Temperatures Tuesday are expected to reach a high of 98 degrees — just one degree shy of the record set in 1987 — but the heat index will make things feel hotter, with heat indices expecting to reach between 105-110 in most locations.

Relief from the heat isn’t expected until Thursday, when temperatures are expected to dip down in the 80s.

Photos and videos from across the Chicago area show damage to residential buildings, neighborhoods and yards, leaving some unable to return to their homes due dangerous debris from the severe weather.

According to a statement, Brookfield Zoo says it must delay its opening time Tuesday due to storm damage. “We received significant damage to our grounds due to last night’s storm,” Zoo officials said. “We will be clearing downed trees and pathways and assessing the extensive damage this morning.”

Nearby, in the western Chicago suburb of Bellwood, the storm was especially frightening for the tenants of a three-story apartment building at 24th Avenue and Washington. Multiple residents say they initially heard hail and high winds, then seconds later, they noticed part of the roof had peeled away. Tenants scrambled to exit the building as the fire department arrived to provide help.

At least 18 families were displaced, and two people were taken to the hospital for minor injuries, according to Andre Harvey, mayor of Bellwood.

A structural engineer is expected to inspect the building today to see if and when resident can return.

More damage occurred down the street, where some discovered their cars had been struck by the storm.

“I’m glad no one was sitting in it,” said Naeesha Ellis, one resident whose car was damaged.

While the severe storm cell has moved out, extreme heat and dangerous humidity has moved in.

White House press secretary dismisses concerns about Biden’s age

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White House press secretary dismisses concerns about Biden’s age

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday brushed off concerns about gaffe-prone President Biden’s age and physical stamina amid his plummeting poll numbers — gushing that she “can’t even keep up with him.”

In an interview on CNN, the spokeswoman seemed shocked when host Don Lemon asked whether the 79-year-old commander-in-chief could handle another grueling presidential campaign.

David Axelrod, the chief strategist for former President Barack Obama’s two winning campaigns, told the New York Times Sunday “the presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue.”

He told the paper that even some of Biden’s diplomatic wins, such as unifying NATO against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are overshadowed by his frailty.

“And part of the reason he doesn’t [get credit] is performative. He looks his age and isn’t as agile in front of a camera as he once was, and this has fed a narrative about competence that isn’t rooted in reality,” Axelrod argued.

On Monday night, Jean-Pierre slammed the Times report as “hearsay” and “fallacious.”

“That is not a question that we should be even asking,” Jean-Pierre said. “Oh, my gosh, he’s the president of the United States, you know, he … I can’t even keep up with him.”

She continued: “We just got back from New Mexico, we just got back from California … just look at the work that he does, and look what he’s, how he’s delivering for the American public.”

Jean-Pierre’s comments come as Democrats looking ahead to 2024 are increasingly viewing Biden as a liability who could potentially lose to a Republican.

Some reportedly fear his age, weakened political standing, perceived shakiness on the world stage and lack of ability to enthuse voters could scuttle his chances for re-election.

Joe Biden.
Some reportedly fear President Biden’s age and weakened political standing could scuttle his chances for re-election.

“That’s not what we care about — we care about, how are we going to deliver for the American people? How are we going to make their lives better?” she told Lemon.

“That’s what the president talks about. That is his focus. And that’s where we’re going to continue to focus on,” added Jean-Pierre, who reiterated that Biden plans to mount another bid for the White House.

“There’s something called the Hatch Act that I have to be very mindful of,” she said, referring to the federal law that prohibits electioneering by executive branch officials. 

“What I can say is the president has repeatedly said that he plans to run in 2024, and I’m gonna have to leave it there,” Jean-Pierre said. “All I can say is that the president intends to do what the president plans to do.”

Meanwhile, Biden’s job approval rating has fallen to a shameful 33%, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released last week.

In addition, more than six in 10 (64%) of Americans are discouraged by Biden’s handling of the economy.

But Jean-Pierre defended the administration’s response to skyrocketing inflation, blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine for surging energy and food costs, and touted the American Rescue Plan.

“This is a president that understands what happens around the kitchen table — he grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania — when prices go up just a little bit, it really hurts families,” she told Lemon.

“So that is why we believe we’re in a good position to take on inflation, but yes, we understand that folks are feeling this, and we’ve got to remember, when thinking about gas prices and food, this is coming from Putin’s war against Ukraine,” she continued.

Unprecedented flooding conditions force Yellowstone National Park

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Unprecedented flooding conditions force Yellowstone National Park

According to CNN, Yellowstone National Park will remain closed to visitors through at least Wednesday due to dangerous flooding conditions, which have prompted park evacuations and left some in surrounding communities trapped without safe drinking water, officials say.

The park announced Monday afternoon that all park entrances were closed to visitors, citing “record flooding events” and a forecast of more rain to come.

The Yellowstone River gauge at Corwin Springs, Montana, reached 13.88 feet Monday afternoon, surpassing the historical high crest of 11.5 feet from 1918, NOAA river gauge data shows. “The river is still rising near Livingston, and it is expected to crest between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Monday,” Park County officials said on Facebook.

Across the nation in recent days, extreme weather events have battered communities, including thunderstorms that left nearly 300,000 customers without power in the Midwest, a tornado threat in Chicago, and a severe heat dome which has left more than a third of the US population under heat alerts.

“Our first priority has been to evacuate the northern section of the park where we have multiple road and bridge failures, mudslides and other issues,” Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement Monday.

Immediately north of the Yellowstone, several cities in Montana’s Park County are also experiencing extensive flooding, which has washed out bridges and roads, making it unsafe to travel or impossible to evacuate, Park County officials said on Facebook Monday. Officials have also issued warnings in many areas for residents to avoid drinking local water due to a broken water main and submerged wells.

“The river has never been this high before by my house,” said Elizabeth Aluck, who lives in Gardiner in Park County. Aluck told CNN Monday afternoon that she cannot evacuate because the roads and bridges around her home are washed out.

An Indiana family staying at a short-term rental cabin in Gardiner told CNN they were supposed to leave Monday morning, but the flooding left them stranded.

“The water levels were high on Saturday but within the past 10-12 hours things have gotten rougher,” Parker Manning said. “Our way out of town would be north on 89, but those roads are currently all underwater.”

The Yellowstone River, which runs through the park and several Park County cities, swelled to a record high Monday due to recent heavy rainfall and significant runoff from melting snow in higher elevations, according to CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller.

N. Korea plans crackdown as Kim pushes for internal unity

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N. Korea plans crackdown as Kim pushes for internal unity

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top deputies have pushed for a crackdown on officials who abuse their power and commit other “unsound and non-revolutionary acts,” state media reported Monday, as Kim seeks greater internal unity to overcome a COVID-19 outbreak and economic difficulties.

It wasn’t clear what specific acts were mentioned at the ruling Workers’ Party meeting on Sunday. But possible state crackdowns on such alleged acts could be an attempt to solidify Kim’s control of his people and get them to rally behind his leadership in the face of the domestic hardships, some observers say.

North Korea on May 12 admitted the omicron variant of the coronavirus had infected people, and it subsequently has said about 4.5 million people — more than 17% of its 26 million people — have fallen ill with fevers and only 72 have died. Foreign experts widely doubt the outbreak was North Korea’s first, and they believe the statistics being disclosed in state media are manipulated to prevent political damage to Kim while bolstering internal control and promoting his leadership.

During a Workers’ Party conference last week, Kim claimed the pandemic situation has passed the stage of “serious crisis” and ordered officials to remedy “the shortcomings and evils in the anti-epidemic work” and take steps to build up the country’s anti-pandemic capability.

Kim and other senior party secretaries discussed “waging a more intensive struggle against unsound and non-revolutionary acts including abuse of power and bureaucratism revealed among some party officials,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim ordered the authority of the party’s auditing commission and other local discipline supervision systems to be bolstered to promote the party’s “monolithic leadership” and “the broad political activities of the party through the strong discipline system,” KCNA said.

Kim has previously occasionally called for struggles against “anti-socialist practices” at home in the past two years amid outside worries about his country’s fragile economy that has been battered by pandemic-related border shutdowns, U.N. sanctions and his own mismanagement.

The North’s elevated restrictions on movement in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak could cause a further strain on the country’s economic difficulties, some experts say.

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