Kenya is enduring its worst desert locust outbreak in 70 years, AP reports, as "hundreds of millions of the bugs swarm" into the country from Ethiopia and Somalia.
The impact: This infestation is destroying farmland and "threatening an already vulnerable region with devastating hunger," but March rains and new vegetation could worsen conditions.
Benny Gantz, the leader of Israel's Blue and White party who is challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in upcoming elections, has accepted President Trump's invitation for a separate, one-on-one meeting at the White House on Monday.
Why it matters: A meeting between the U.S. president and a foreign opposition leader is very unusual. It indicates the importance the White House places on showing Gantz that he is respected and dispelling concerns he's walking into a political trap.
Over 1.5 billion people globally are celebrating the Lunar New Year on Saturday and into the weekend, USA Today reports, as participants honor ancestors, exchange gifts of good fortune, and toast to abundance.
The backdrop: Amid the celebrations, major Chinese cities Beijing and quarantined Wuhan are banned from large gatherings and travel that are ubiquitous with the holiday, due to the growing coronavirus crisis.
DAVOS, Switzerland — The Trump administration is gearing up for a long-term confrontation with China, a rival viewed increasingly as an existential threat, but a week in Davos offers a stark reminder that the world is not prepared to line up behind it.
The big picture: There was a palpable sense of relief among the Davos crowd after the "phase one" trade deal reduced tensions between the U.S. and China.
DAVOS, Switzerland — Tech leaders once were given a free pass (literally and figuratively) as the young darlings of Davos, but they're now the established leaders, with a heightened role as well as added scrutiny.
While U.S.-China tensions were high on tech leaders' list, they also came to push their points on climate change, antitrust and AI regulation.
DAVOS, Switzerland — The heavyweights of Western-style capitalism in Davos don’t yet know how to deal with China's authoritarian state capitalism.
The big picture: For much of the past 70 years, the behavior of Western companies has been shaped by Western laws and regulations, and by the vagaries of Western markets.
DAVOS, Switzerland — At the head table Victor Pinchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch and the evening's host, was surrounded by dignitaries and leading experts on a controversial science: measuring happiness.
Up for debate was whether governments should seek to make their citizens happy, and whether they could satisfactorily measure their success in doing so.
During a press conference Friday, Department of Defense spokesperson Jonathan Rath Hoffman announced 34 U.S. troops were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries following Iran's attack on U.S. bases in Iraq on Jan. 7.
The state of play: Hoffman confirmed 8 of the 34 troops have returned to the U.S., while 16 of the injured were treated in Iraq and have returned to service. Iran's attack came after a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
Americans are more likely to support the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, despite general skepticism about President Trump's handling of foreign affairs, an Associated Press-NORC poll out Friday indicates.
By the numbers: 41% of respondents approved of the strike, while 30% disapproved. Another 28% didn't express an opinion. Among Republicans, 80% approved while 5% disapproved of the decision. Only 15% of Democrats approved, with 53% disapproving.
Benny Gantz, the leader of Israel's Blue and White party and the main political opponent to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is considering turning down President Trump’s invitation to come to Washington next week to discuss the U.S. Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
The big picture: Blue and White officials tell me Gantz and his aides are concerned the invitation to Washington is a political trap orchestrated by Netanyahu a little more than a month before the country's elections on March 2.
European Central Bank governor Christine Lagarde said Thursday the central bank would begin its first strategic review in 16 years. However, Lagarde's praise for negative interest rates and the stimulus programs from her predecessor, Mario Draghi, has investors betting the ECB holds rates at the current level of -0.5% for at least 18 months.
Quick take: The ECB left policy unchanged at Thursday’s meeting, and Lagarde said interest rates would only be raised from negative territory when eurozone inflation "robustly" meets the central bank’s target of just under 2%.
No story caused a bigger stir in Davos this week than the news that two suspected Russian spies had been caught in August posing as plumbers in the Alpine town.
Between the lines: One prominent attendee instantly suspected a personal connection. Bill Browder, a U.S.-born financier and long-standing thorn in the side of Vladimir Putin, tells Axios that before departing for Davos he received a warning from the British security services — passed along by their Swiss counterparts — that he could be in danger.
