Iran has built up a vast network of proxies through which it wields influence across the Middle East, and which could take action to stoke tensions between the U.S. and Iran over the killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
Why it matters: The political parties and militias that are influenced by and act on behalf of Iran likely pose a more direct threat to U.S. targets than Iran itself, the Washington Post writes.
A Boeing 737-800 Ukraine International Airlines plane crashed in Tehran shortly after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on Jan. 8, killing all 167 passengers and nine crew members.
The latest: The Iranian government has agreed to send the black boxes from the downed jetliner to Ukraine, suggesting it cannot be read in Iran and providing little further detail, according to an unnamed Iranian official per AP. American, French and Canadian experts will help analyze the data in Ukraine.
World leaders are preparing to gather in Berlin on Sunday to discuss concluding the nine-month conflict in oil-rich Libya and restoring peace and stability, Al Jazeera reports.
Why it matters: The conflict in Libya is among the most "intractable proxy wars" in the Middle East, pulling in Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey, the New York Times reports.
India's top military commander Gen. Bipin Rawat suggested that Kashmiris could be sent to "deradicalization camps" at an international affairs conference in New Delhi on Thursday, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters,per the New York Times:Human "rights activists consider [the statement] an alarming echo of what China has done to many of its Muslim citizens," who are being held in mass detention camps in the Xinjiang area.
The Peace Corps formally notified members of Congress this week that it will withdraw volunteers from China starting in June, according to a statement from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
Citing federal regulations, the University of Maryland said on Friday that it will close its Confucius Institute, the earliest of its kind in the United States.
Why it matters: It is the latest in a string of U.S. universities to end their partnerships with Chinese government-funded language and culture programs.
China's birth rate is the lowest since 1961, with 14.6 million babies born in 2019, signaling struggles for families in a country with an underdeveloped social safety net, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday, per AP.
The big picture: It's the country's third yearin a row for falling birth rates, with factors like more financial freedom for women entering the workforce and Chinese couples' changing attitudes toward children with rising living costs, the New York Times reports.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei told a crowd of his supporters the U.S. is an "arrogant power" and that God had allowed Iran to "slap the face" of the U.S., The New York Times reports.
Why it matters: Khamenei gave the rare public sermon on Friday to present a unified image of Iran to the rest of the world after recent escalations with the U.S. and an Iranian military accidentally shot down a civilian plane. The killing of all 176 passengers — including 82 Iranians — sparked protests across the country.
