Sudan's transitional government has reached an agreement to compensate the families of victims of the 2000 U.S.S. Cole attack, which killed 17 sailors and injured 39, it said Thursday.
Why it matters: This is part of an effort to get off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Sudan previously harbored al-Qaeda, which carried out the attack. The designation carries restrictions on foreign assistance and financial transactions that have strangled Sudan's economy.
President Trump says he's "very close" to a deal that will begin the end of America's war in Afghanistan.
Why it matters: There’s a reason the U.S. has been stuck in Afghanistan for nearly two decades. Pulling out would leave the precarious structure it's attempted to build in danger of collapse.
The Justice Department on Thursday announced a 16-count superseding indictment against Chinese telecom giant Huawei and its CFO Meng Wanzhou that includes charges of racketeering and conspiracy to steal trade secrets.
Why it matters: The superseding indictment could ratchet up the potential penalties against Huawei, which was already facing charges for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea. Meng is currently in Canada fighting extradition to the U.S., with the first stage of her hearing beginning last month.
Masons in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are working "round-the-clock" to build a 400-meter-long wall that will ensure President Trump doesn't catch a glimpse of a large slum while visiting the city later this month with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Reuters reports.
What they're saying: A government official told Reuters the wall was being built for security reasons. But the contractor hired to build it says the government “did not want the slum to be seen." Some local residents criticized the government for spending money to hide the poor, not help them.
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer’s resignation as chair of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was abrupt, but her fall as Angela Merkel’s heir apparent was inevitable.
Why it matters: The CDU has been longing for a different chancellor candidate throughout the short and bumpy tenure of Kramp-Karrenbauer, known as AKK, because of her blunders and the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Now it can cut its losses and prepare for the 2021 election.
A 31-year-old Portuguese hacker named Rui Pinto from 2015 to 2019 leaked a series of anonymous documents that exposed corruption in European soccer, pulling back the curtain on the murky world of soccer finance and resulting in criminal prosecutions of several top players.
Driving the news: Turns out the enormous trove of data that Pinto obtained held a much bigger secret, revealing how Isabel dos Santos, Africa's richest woman and the daughter of Angola's former president, exploited her country's wealth to amass a $2 billion fortune.
A bipartisan group of senators that includes Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) announced in a statement Wednesday that they will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev on Friday.
Why it matters: The meeting will come less than two weeks after President Trump was acquitted of impeachment charges that alleged he withheld military aid to Ukraine in order to pressure Zelensky into investigating his political rivals.
A bipartisan group of senators wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Wednesday expressing concerns and seeking State Department assessments on India's crackdown in Kashmir and controversial citizenship law.
Why it matters: President Trump is heading to India later this month. Rather than pressure Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Kashmir crackdown during their last appearance together, in Houston, Trump praised him.
In this recurring feature from the Axios China newsletter, I'll interview an expert about a Chinese Communist Party phrase to explain the news.
The phrase: "Use the local to surround the center." (以地方包围中央）
What it means: Building up support for China at the state and local levels in a foreign country so that those leaders may then call upon the national government to adopt policies that are friendlier to Beijing.
Multiple signs are currently pointing toward a U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan.
What they're saying: Defense Secretary Mark Esper said today that he's comfortable with a smaller U.S. troop presence, national security adviser Robert O'Brien said he's "cautiously optimistic" an announcement is forthcoming, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the Afghan president to fill him in on a possible deal.
A bombshell Washington Post report revealed that a communications tech company used by dozens of countries was secretly owned by the CIA, thus allowing the U.S. to spy on conversations with both allies and enemies. Dan digs in with Washington Post reporter Greg Miller.
Migrant workers will be most negatively affected by the travel limits that China’s local governments have imposed to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, Eli Friedman of Cornell University tells Axios.
What's happening: After travel restrictions were put in place over the Lunar New Year holiday, migrant workers with jobs in cities under lockdown can’t get back to work.
Several nations try to influence America's domestic politics, but China has its own distinctive set of methods and goals, according to an FBI official who spoke to Axios about malign foreign influence in the United States.
Why it matters: “Our concern at the end of the day isn't focused on an election event. It is focused on the integrity of our policymaking process and the policymakers' decision-making ability," said the FBI official.
In May 2019, the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force quietly added a unit aimed at countering China's political influence in the United States. In an exclusive interview, an FBI official reveals for the first time the bureau's approach to countering China's interference in local and state politics.
Why it matters: "This is ultimately a potential systemic challenge to the world order that we've had for the past several decades," the FBI official tells Axios ofChina's efforts.
