Axios

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned the U.N. Security Council on Monday that the U.S. is willing to act if the body fails to carry out military action against the Syrian regime that's bombing civilians and continues to flout a U.N. resolution.

“We warn any nation determined to impose its will through chemical attacks and inhuman suffering, but most especially the outlaw Syrian regime, the United States remains prepared to act if we must. It is not a path we prefer. But it is a path we have demonstrated we will take, and we are prepared to take again.”

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is currently touring Africa, declared Monday that the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the U.K. “clearly came from Russia” and vowed it “will trigger a response,” reports the AP.

Why it matters: Tillerson is way out ahead of the White House here. Shortly after U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May announced that her government had "concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible" for the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter on U.K. soil, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders declined to point the finger at Russia for the attack.

Jared Kushner, U.S. special envoy Jason Greenblatt and officials from the National Security Council will present U.S. proposals for improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza tomorrow at a White House "brainstorming session", a senior White House official said.

The White House meeting, which was initiated by Kushner and Greenblatt, will be attended by many representatives from the international community including Israel and several Arab countries. The Palestinian Authority, which has cut off contacts with the White House over Trump's Jerusalem announcement, turned down an invitation.

Shortly after U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May announced that her government had "concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible" for the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy and his daughter on U.K. soil, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders declined to point the finger at Russia for the attack:

Between the lines: If the U.K. assessment is correct, the Kremlin did next to nothing to hide its culpability — using a nerve agent produced by the Russian government and leaving Sergei Skripal, the ex-spy, and his daughter nearly unconscious in a busy area. Per former Russia ambassador Michael McFaul, Putin "is taunting us, daring us to do nothing."

910 children were killed in Syria in 2017, a 50% increase from 2016 and the most of any year since the war began in 2011, according to a new report from UNICEF. Conflict is now considered the leading cause of death for Syrian adolescents.

Why it matters: With no end in sight to the seven-year war, a humanitarian crisis in Syria continues to devolve into unspeakable tragedy. There are now more than 1 million Syrian children who have only ever known a lifetime of war.

China's policy banks did not issue loans to Venezuela in 2017, departing from a decade-long trend of pouring billions into the country's economy, the Inter-American Dialogue found. In 2016, China lent $2.2 billion to Venezuela to bolster oil production in the country.

The backdrop: As the U.S. has retreated, pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, China has taken an increasingly influential role in Latin America, signing off big loans and investments to several countries. The lack of Chinese loans to Venezuela in 2017 could signal, however, that the Venezuelan economy and leadership seem too unstable to China — even though Beijing places far less weight on the quality of governance in nations where it invests than other countries do.

The House Intelligence Committee has reportedly concluded interviewing witnesses in its Russia probe tasked with investigating any Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, according to the WSJ, which cites a source familiar with the investigation.

Why it matters: This announcement points towards the end of a highly contentious investigation following classified interviews with Trump campaign members and administration officials including Hope Hicks, Corey Lewandowski, Steve Bannon and Michael Cohen.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters Monday during a visit to Nigeria that the U.S. has "not heard anything directly back from North Korea" since President Trump's abrupt decision to accept an invitation to meet Kim Jong-un.

• Tillerson's explanation: Things are still “in the very early stages” and the U.S. does expect to "hear something directly from them" at some point, per Politico.
• Why it matters: Kim's invitation was passed to Trump via South Korean officials, along with his promises to freeze Pyongyang's nuclear program, halt missile testing and allow U.S.-South Korean military drills to move forward. It will be hard to assess whether he intends to keep those promises, and to establish the terms for a meeting, absent direct communication.

British Prime Minister Theresa May updated the House of Commons on the investigation into the nerve agent attack against Russian former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter this afternoon, stating that "the [British] government has concluded that it is highly likely that Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal."

What's next: May said that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had summoned Russia's ambassador to provide an explanation for the use on British soil of a nerve agent manufactured by the Russian government — with an acceptable response required by Wednesday:

Should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom.

US-Bangla Flight 211 crashed in Kathmandu, Nepal on Monday, killing at least 40 of the 71 people on board. It's the third commercial airplane crash on record in 2018, after zero people died in such crashes in 2017.

Why it matters: Last year was the safest year on record for commercial air travel. But at least 177 people have already died in plane crashes this year, and it's only March.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will chair a meeting of her National Security Council this morning, where she is expected to hear evidence from her intelligence services that Russia was behind the nerve agent attack on spy Sergei Skripal, according to a report in The Times. That could prompt the U.K. to present "retaliatory measures" to parliament within "the next 48 hours," including the expulsion of Russian diplomats, financial sanctions, and actions against this summer's World Cup in Russia.

Why it matters: A similar report in The Sun highlights the geopolitical risk that comes with the U.K.'s response: "It is suspected that [Putin] sanctioned the brazen nerve agent attack simply to goad Britain into a reaction that he can strike back against and look like a strongman standing up to the West to voters."