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A federal judge on Wednesday evening granted the Biden administration's request to temporarily block enforcement of Texas' controversial abortion ban.

Why it matters: The ruling means that medical professionals can offer abortions in Texas even after about six weeks of pregnancy without fear of facing a lawsuit by members of the public, at least for the moment, Bloomberg notes.

The Biden administration announced plans Wednesday to restore climate change protections to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that were dismantled under former President Trump.

Why it matters: The White House Council on Environmental Quality plans to bring back a requirement for federal agencies to "evaluate all the relevant environmental impacts of the decisions they are making" for projects such as highways, mines, gas pipelines and water infrastructure, per a CEQ statement.

The six-hour meeting White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan had with his Chinese counterpart in Zurich on Wednesday may have done more to defrost the U.S.-China relationship than anything since President Biden took office.

Why it matters: That speaks more to the tense relations between the two superpowers than anything Sullivan achieved during his marathon with Yang Jiechi. But the White House counted it as a win and "model" for future talks.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blinked.

Why it matters: After McConnell refused for months to budge over his insistence that Democrats suspend the debt limit through the budget reconciliation process, he tried to forestall changes to the filibuster by offering Democrats an alternate route to temporarily raise the debt limit through December.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) withheld support for a joint statement condemning last weekend's protests against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) because it also wouldn't include a rebuke of her political views, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The move is emblematic of the hostility between the progressive and moderate members, who have been sparring over the cost and scope of President Biden's agenda. Sanders wanted the statement to urge Sinema to drop her opposition to prescription drug reform, as well as Biden's $3.5 trillion social safety net expansion.

A federal judge has sentenced a Texas man to 15 months in prison for perpetrating a hoax about COVID-19 last year.

Why it matters: The sentence comes as the government navigates new challenges related to pandemic fraud, including online misinformation and falsified vaccine documentation.

Pro-Trump social media influencer Brandon Straka pleaded guilty Wednesday to disorderly conduct in connection to his appearance at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot as part of a plea deal, per the Washington Post.

Driving the news: In exchange for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor, prosecutors dropped a felony count of impeding police during civil disorder. Straka agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in their investigation by turning over evidence and consenting to a law enforcement interview, according to the Post.

President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have reached an agreement "in principle" to hold a virtual meeting before the end of the year, according to a senior administration official.

Driving the news: The White House announcement followed a six-hour meeting today in Zurich between White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is offering Democrats a deal that could help the country avoid defaulting on its debt.

Driving the news: The proposal includes two options, which McConnell laid out in a statement on Wednesday: allowing Democrats to fast-track the suspension of the debt limit using the partisan budget reconciliation process, or raise the limit to a specified figure through December.

Whistleblower Frances Haugen on Tuesday provided rare insight into Facebook's operations during her testimony before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection.

What you need to know: The former Facebook data scientist sought to expose the social media giant's knowledge of harmful content circulating on its platform and underscored the company's lack of transparency — sparking outrage from both Democrats and Republicans on the committee.

The Biden administration will spend an additional $1 billion on rapid at-home COVID-19 tests, a White House official confirmed Wednesday.

Why it matters: Despite vaccination efforts, public health officials have said rapid home tests will be essential for businesses, homes and schools to get back on track to normalcy.

General Motors plans to double its revenues over the next decade as it transitions to an all-electric future, tapping into software and subscription services that enable new vehicle experiences and connect customers' digital lives, the company told reporters on Wednesday.

Why it matters: It's an extraordinary target for a lumbering industrial giant that is trying to transform itself from automaker to "platform innovator."

The World Health Organization on Wednesday recommended the first vaccine against malaria for widespread use inoculating children in sub-Saharan Africa and other at-risk regions.

Why it matters: Malaria kills more than 400,000 people per year, more than half of them children under 5. The introduction of the first vaccine could reinvigorate the fight against the disease, which has stagnated in recent years, per the press release.

The Biden administration has been privately pressuring the Israeli government to show restraint ahead of a key decision on settlement building in the West Bank, Israeli and U.S. officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: Both sides want to keep this from becoming a point of tension between President Biden, who considers the settlements a threat to the two-state solution, and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who leads a pro-settler party and is under political pressure on the issue.

The Department of Education announced Wednesday that it would temporarily relax rules governing a student loan forgiveness program, making it easier for service members, teachers, nurses and other public servants to qualify for debt relief.

Why it matters: In total, the department estimates that its overhaul of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program will bring over 550,000 borrowers closer to debt forgiveness.

Benjamin List and David MacMillan won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their development of asymmetric organocatalysis, an "ingenious tool" to build molecules, the Nobel Foundation announced Wednesday.

Why it matters: Catalysts are used to accelerate chemical reactions and are crucial to producing many commercial products, especially pharmaceuticals. Before List's and MacMillan's discoveries, researchers believed that there were just two types of catalysts available: metals and enzymes.

A whistleblower's sharp testimony — following hard on the heels of a massive global service outage — has raised hopes among Facebook's many critics on the Hill and in the industry that Congress will place new restraints on the company.

The big picture: The outage showed how dependent on Facebook the world has become. The whistleblower showed how the company's own research documents its harms and outlined ways lawmakers could limit them.

Democrats' push to extend health coverage to millions of very low-income people in red states has a lot working against it: It's expensive, it's complicated, it may invite legal challenges, and few national Democrats stand to gain politically from it.

Yes, but: The policy is being framed as a test not only of Democrats' commitment to universal health coverage, but also their commitment to racial equity.

Rent prices are rising rapidly across the country, and the number of people seeking rental apartments has returned to pre-pandemic levels or higher, according to home-search websites.

Why it matters: As COVID-era restrictions expire — including moratoriums on evictions — and available housing stock continues to dwindle, expect once-desperate landlords to sit in the catbird seat as renters fork up.

South Dakota has become the world's foremost tax haven — right up there with the Cayman Islands, and ahead of old-fashioned locations like Switzerland. That's one of the clear messages from the Pandora Papers leak of confidential financial information about the world's richest individuals.

Why it matters: The hundreds of billions of dollars sequestered in South Dakota trusts generate no taxes and are effectively off limits to anybody who might have a legitimate claim on them.

Google unveiled a suite of sustainability features focused on giving consumers more information so they can choose to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

Driving the news: The product rollout this morning will immediately be noticeable if you use Google Maps, utilize the company's flight search tools, search for companies to invest in or simply query the search engine about the causes of global warming.

President Biden told reporters Tuesday evening that he discussed Taiwan with China's President Xi Jinping in their phone call last month.

Why it matters: Beijing's growing aggression toward Taipei is drawing fresh concerns of a war in the region. Asked by a reporter Tuesday for comment on the provocation, Biden said he had "spoken with Xi about Taiwan," per a pool report. "We agree, we will abide by the Taiwan agreement," Biden said.

President Biden told reporters Tuesday night that it's a "real possibility" Senate Democrats could change the chamber's filibuster rules to overcome Republican obstruction to raising the debt ceiling, per a pool report.

Why it matters: Overhauling the rules could help Democrats "stave off a potential, calamitous default roughly two weeks before a critical fiscal deadline," the Washington Post notes.

Northwestern Italy has been hit by record rainfall from a complex of thunderstorms, triggering flooding and mudslides, per AP.

By the numbers: 29.2 inches of rain fell in 12 hours on Monday in Rossiglione, Genoa province, just south of Milan. That's a new, all-time European record, meteorologists noted Tuesday.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to his own platform to reject claims made by a former employee in testimony before Congress on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen urged Congress earlier Tuesday to regulate the tech giant, accusing Facebook of putting profit before user well-being.

In the days before the Pandora Papers exposed details of his foreign real estate holdings, King Abdullah II of Jordan retained a white-shoe law firm from the U.S. with an eye toward potential defamation claims, records show.

Why it matters: The records provide a glimpse into how some of the world's most powerful people have braced for fallout from a massive media investigation. It's exposed the ways the ultra-wealthy manage — and, in some cases, conceal — their substantial assets.

President Biden knows his administration messed up with French President Emmanuel Macron and is scrambling to make amends, three sources familiar with the internal deliberations told Axios.

Why it matters: The White House's secret deal with Australia last month left the French feeling betrayed and blindsided, and furious about the loss of a $60 billion submarine contract. Secretary of State Tony Blinken visited Macron on Tuesday; national security adviser Jake Sullivan is on his way to Paris too.

Donald Trump's post-office online engagement is hitting new lows, according to exclusive data from SocialFlow provided to Axios. It helps explain why the former president recently asked a federal judge to have Twitter restore his signature account.

Why it matters: Trump has tried press releases styled as tweets, launched his own "platform" and held campaign-style rallies, yet the numbers suggest his social media megaphone has no true replacement.

A Missouri man with intellectual disabilities was executed Tuesday for killing three people during a 1994 robbery at a convenience store, per the New York Times.

Why it matters: Pope Francis, lawmakers and activists called for Ernest Lee Johnson's life to be spared because of his low IQ showing he had the intellectual capacity of a child.