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This morning’s 3-by-3 travels across a proposal to empower female professionals in Japan, a controversial Coca-Cola ad in Bangladesh, Jay-Z’s support for private school vouchers in Philadelphia, and more. Let’s fly!

Politics

• Hunter Biden convicted of lying on a gun form

Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, has been convicted of 3 felony charges pertaining to his 2018 purchase of a revolver in which prosecutors claim Biden lied about his drug status at the time — checking “no” to a purchase form question of whether he was an “unlawful user or addicted to” drugs despite testimony from former romantic partners and text communications that suggest otherwise. Spiraling into addiction after his brother Beau Biden passed away in 2015 yet claiming sobriety since 2019, Hunter had completed an 11-day rehabilitation program in August 2018 before purchasing the gun in October — possessing it for 11 days and allegedly never once firing it. While his lawyers intend to pursue all challenge opportunities, arguing that this prosecution is a political effort designed to attack the Biden family and distract from President Trump’s recent felony charges, President Biden has stated he will fully respect the legal process and results of his son’s case (though many worry the conviction will take an emotional toll on the 81-year-old candidate).

• Japanese women fight for dual surname households

The Japanese Business Federation, an organization of over 1,500 companies that regularly makes policy recommendations, is calling on Japan’s government to remove its mandatory unified-surname rule for married couples — referencing 90% of its female members who use their maiden names at work but are forced to use their husband’s surname on all official documents. Arguing that the measure hinders the professional and social advancement of women in a country ranked poorly on the World Economic Forum’s 2023 gender gap survey, the Federation sees the requested change in civil code as essential for an inclusive society and consistent with a majority of Japanese citizens who support dual-surname households. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Kishida has rejected the dual-surname movement for decades and often defended conservative stances on social issues, including a patriarchal view of family structure, but it faces increasingly undeniable pressures to evolve.

• Russian warships visit Cuba amid tensions with the U.S.

Four Russian warships will be stationed in Havana, Cuba from June 12 to June 17, as the two countries look to strengthen their “historically friendly relations” amid many Western countries’ support of Ukraine in its war against Russia. Cuban and American officials alike have confirmed the ships are not carrying nuclear weapons and pose no danger to the region, but the visit comes just after a warning from President Vladimir Putin that Russia could very well provide weapons to adversaries of the U.S. — retaliating to the U.S.’s recent supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine. With Russia conducting missile strike drills on the way to Cuba and Putin reinforcing his country’s general readiness to use nuclear weapons to defend its sovereignty, it appears likely that the Ukraine War will exacerbate global conflict elsewhere in the world.

Business

• Coca-Cola ad raises controversy in Bangladesh

A 60-second Coca-Cola commercial aired in Bangladesh during the T20 Cricket World Cup is sparking further backlash amid an existing boycott and 23% decline in national sales since the Gaza invasion, as the soft drink company aimed to dispel the Muslim-majority country’s perception that its products directly fund and come from Israel. In the ad, a Bengali shopkeeper attempts to convince customers that Coke does not in fact come from Israel but is instead a beverage that people in 190 countries have been drinking for the past 138 years, even claiming that Palestine has a Coke factory — technically misrepresented given this factory is located in an Israeli-occupied part of the West Bank. The ad was received as a “ludicrous attempt” by many locals on social media and even removed by Coca-Cola for 5 hours before it was reuploaded with comments disabled, suggesting a largely unsuccessful campaign to regain market share.

• Banana company charged for deaths in Colombia

Chiquita Brands, the U.S.’s largest banana company, has been found guilty of funding a Colombian right-wing paramilitary group that killed thousands during the country’s civil war — now owing $38.3 million to victims’ family members according to a Florida jury. The company previously held a Colombian subsidiary called Banadex that operated huge banana plantations and compensated $1.7 million to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (a U.S.-designated terrorist organization), supposedly only to protect Chiquita’s local employees and operations from threats. Chiquita paid a $25 million file in 2007 after pleading guilty to engaging in these transactions with a terrorist organization, but this recent verdict represents an uncommon occurrence of holding a private U.S. company accountable for human rights violations in foreign countries — sending a “powerful message” to corporations, according to the plaintiff’s lawyer, that “profiting from human rights abuses will not go unpunished.”

• European Union looks to raise tariffs on Chinese EVs

The European Union’s executive arm has moved to raise tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle automakers like BYD and SAIC from 10% to as much as 38%, directly resulting from an internal investigation that found China’s subsidies for said companies unfair in the context of global trade. Though imports of Chinese EVs have skyrocketed globally, the EU now believes these subsidies (which allow Chinese automakers to operate without needing to turn a profit) are harming its own producers — joining with the U.S. in raising tariffs. China has responded to the EU much how it responded to Biden’s move last month, calling the action “typical protectionism” and vowing to protect Beijing’s interests.

Culture

• BTS’s Jin completes mandatory military service

Jin, the 31-year-old member of world-renowned K-pop group BTS has returned from 18 months of South Korean military service, a mandatory duty that his 6 fellow group members are still fulfilling. After a debate led by the group’s management company in 2022 on whether the popstars would be exempt due to their unprecedented global success, the members announced they would all serve — encouraged by the Korean government to do so out of fairness. With Jin concluding first as the group’s oldest, BTS expects to reunite in 2025 when all 7 members are discharged and ready to resume their music careers.

• Jay-Z’s Roc Nation backs private school vouchers in Philadelphia

After a longstanding relationship with the city of Philadelphia, Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation is raising money for the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success — a legislative proposal to finance private school scholarships for low-income students using taxpayer dollars. Though intending to create opportunities for underserved youth, Roc Nation has been criticized by the state’s teachers union and several residents who oppose incentives to escape public schools rather than improve them. Supported by billionaire Jeffrey Yass, Pennsylvania’s largest donor to Republican campaigns, the voucher program is similar to a Republican-led $100 million school choice proposal last year in the PA House which Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro initially supported before backing down due to opposition from his party.

• Oxford University returns Hindu sculpture to India

In the latest case of a global effort to restore precious antiquities that were wrongly taken during the British Empire, Oxford University has agreed to repatriate a 500-year-old bronze sculpture depicting the Hindu saint Tirumankai Alvar — granting a 2020 claim made by the Indian High Commission in the UK. Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum has a record of purchasing the statue in 1967 but proposed its return after finding a photo of the statue in an Indian temple in 1957, located in the country’s southern state of Tamil Nadu. The intended return will now require approval from the Charity Commission, an English and Welsh body that has delayed a similar repatriation effort to the Nigerian government.

Written by Outer Voice founders

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