Israeli national security adviser Meir Ben Shabbat discussed Iran with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on a secure video call on Thursday, according to two Israeli officials.
Why it matters: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Ben Shabbat to lead Israel's talks on Iran with regional partners and world powers — most importantly, with the Biden administration, the Israeli officials say.
Driving the news: The president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took over the chairmanship of the African Union this week. Days earlier, he won a major victory in an ongoing power struggle with his predecessor, Joseph Kabila, by convincing a large swath of parliament to leave Kabila's camp and vote out the speaker, a Kabila ally.
One hundred days into a military campaign in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is attempting to soothe international concerns about alleged war crimes and the grave humanitarian toll.
The state of play: Abiy’s offensive quickly succeeded in removing the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) from power in the regional capital, Mekelle. Federal troops are now attempting to hunt down the leaders who fled and stave off an insurgency.
Chinese regulators banned BBC World News on Thursday, accusing the British broadcaster of a "slew of falsified reporting" on Beijing's coronavirus response and oppression of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, according to Chinese state media.
Why it matters: The move was widely seen as retaliation against the U.K. after Britain's own broadcasting regulator withdrew the operating license for China Global Television Network, citing its control by the Chinese Communist Party.
President Biden told reporters on Thursday that his call Wednesday evening with China's Xi Jinping lasted two hours.
Why it matters: Biden summed up his view on China during the brief remarks from the Oval Office on Wednesday, saying, "If we don't get moving, they're going to eat our lunch."
The board of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) is set to approve a new policy on Sunday that will allow the organization to officially purchase land in the West Bank for the potential expansion of Israeli settlements there, according to a draft resolution I obtained.
Why it matters: A non-governmental organization founded in 1901 to purchase land for Jews to settle in Ottoman Palestine, JNF today owns 15% of all the land in Israel. This major policy shift could funnel hundreds of millions of dollars into the expansion of West Bank settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
Prices for Chinese consumers in January declined by 0.3% from last year, while prices for producers, or businesses, rose by 0.3%, data showed.
Why it matters: Rising prices for producers in China, the world's No. 1 trading nation, are often the result of increasing commodity costs and typically mean prices will rise for the rest of the world.
A long-held New Zealand requirement for male Members of Parliament to wear ties has been changed after an indigenous leader was ejected from the chamber for refusing to wear one.
Why it matters: Māori Party Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said after Tuesday's incident that wearing a tie, which he likened to a "colonial noose," breached indigenous people's rights. Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard said Wednesday most of the standing orders committee voted to remove the rule.
Emissions of ozone-depleting CFC chemicals are back on the decline, five years on from a major spike, an international team of researchers has found.
Why it matters: The surprising findings indicate "we should see recovery of the ozone layer back to levels that we saw in 1980" later this century, said Luke Western, lead author of one of two papers published on the matter in the journal Nature Wednesday, per the BBC.
