Axios

Secretary of State Tony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan will take a "tough-minded" approach to their first meeting with senior Chinese officials and raise several of the most sensitive issues in the relationship, senior administration officials told reporters on Tuesday night.

Why it matters: President Biden's two top foreign policy aides will meet face-to-face in Alaska on Thursday with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi. A senior official says one goal of the meeting is to dispel any notion in Beijing that Biden will take a softer line on China behind closed doors than he has thus far in public.

The Olympic torch relay kicks off next week at a spectator-free "Grand Start" in Japan, with organizers hoping to avoid a cancellation after last year's delay.

The big picture: The Tokyo Olympics start in four months, and there's considerable opposition to the Games in Japan, AP reports.

Russian authorities on Tuesday said they are prepared to block Twitter in a month's time if the social media giant does not comply with demands to remove upwards of 3,000 posts of banned content, AP reports.

Driving the news: Russia claims Twitter failed to heed previous warnings to remove posts about child suicide and pornography, and information about drugs. Authorities in the country have a fraught relationship with social media platforms, which for years have provided a forum for political dissent.

The head of the European Medicines Agency said at a briefing Tuesday that while a full review is ongoing, there is currently "no indication" that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is responsible for the small number of blood clots reported in patients in Europe.

Driving the news: EMA executive director Emer Cooke said she is "firmly convinced" that the benefits of the AstraZeneca shot "far outweigh" the risks, and expressed concern that the suspension of vaccinations by dozens of European countries could increase vaccine skepticism.

The U.S. is on-pace to encounter more people at the U.S.-Mexico border "than we have in the last 20 years," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas wrote in a lengthy statement on Tuesday.

The big picture: The scale of the arrivals represents a budding crisis for President Biden. Mayorkas acknowledged that the arrival of the migrants, including unaccompanied children, at the Southwest border is "difficult," but added that the administration is "making progress and we are executing on our plan."

The spread between U.S. and German 10-year government bond yields widened to its steepest level since January 2020 on Monday, as European yields tumbled following the European Central Bank's announcement that it will speed up its pace of bond buying.

The big picture: The ECB became the first major central bank to announce an increase in bond buying to stem higher yields.

The U.S. accounted for 37% of all global arms exports over the last five years, with Saudi Arabia — easily the world’s top arms buyer — accounting for one-quarter of those sales, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

By the numbers: U.S. arms exports rose by 15% from 2011-2015 to 2016-2020, with 96 countries buying arms from America. Russia remained the second-largest exporter with 20% of the market, but supplied a smaller pool of 44 countries and saw sales fall by 22% from the previous five years due primarily to a decrease in sales to India.

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, on Monday warned the Biden administration to "refrain from causing a stink," according to the state-run KCNA news agency.

Why it matters: The North Korean regime's first comments about the Biden administration come as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visit South Korea and Japan this week.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday appointed cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga as the new health minister, as the number of infections and deaths from COVID-19 continue to spike in the country, per Bloomberg.

Why it matters: Queiroga is Brazil's fourth health minister since the pandemic began. Intensive care units in 25 of Brazil's 26 state capitals are operating at capacity or close to it, and the numbers show no signs of slowing down.

Germany’s ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered embarrassing defeats in two regional elections on Sunday, casting doubt on the party’s chances of retaining power after Chancellor Angela Merkel steps down later this year.

Why it matters: The defeats also damage new CDU leader Armin Laschet’s chances of representing the German center-right in September’s general elections.

Use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was halted across much of Europe today, including in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Why it matters: The suspensions followed reports that a small number of patients who received the vaccine experienced blood clots. But public health agencies, including the World Health Organization and the EU’s own medical arm, say there’s no indication that the blood clots were caused by the vaccine, or that the risks of giving the shot outweigh those of delaying it.

Europe continues to struggle with the rapidly evolving coronavirus as Germany's public health agency warns of a "third wave" of coronavirus infections and Italy prepares to enter another near-nationwide lockdown.

The big picture: Countries have attempted to lift restrictions as vaccination campaigns are deployed, but doing so too quickly could invite another wave of infections amid the spread of new variants.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called in a New York Times op-ed on Monday for U.S. corporations and spectators to stay home for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and for President Biden to invite Chinese dissidents, religious leaders and ethnic minorities to represent the U.S. instead of sending a diplomatic delegation.

Why it matters: The U.S. declared China's campaign against over 1 million Muslim minorities in Xinjiang as "genocide" and "crimes against humanity" in January, intensifying calls from activists and political figures like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to boycott the winter games.

France, Germany, Italy and Spain on Monday became the latest countries to suspend use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine as EU regulators investigate reports of blood clots in recipients, joining Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Ireland and several others.

The latest: The European Medicines Agency said in a statement it would carry out a" rigorous analysis of all the data related" to blood clots this week, but added: "While its investigation is ongoing, EMA currently remains of the view that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19, with its associated risk of hospitalisation and death, outweigh the risks of side effects."

Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner praised the Biden administration for its Iran strategy, writing in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that Biden's refusal to remove sanctions before Iran returns to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal is a "smart diplomatic move."

Why it matters: Kushner led Middle East peace talks on behalf of the Trump administration. Former President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran deal in 2018, and many Republicans have called on President Biden not to return to the agreement.

The Vatican in a decree approved by Pope Francis on Monday said that the Catholic Church's priests cannot bless same-sex unions because God “does not and cannot bless sin," AP reports.

The big picture: Francis previously voiced his support for same-sex civil unions in a documentary last year, breaking from the Roman Catholic Church. Monday's decree made a distinction between "the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions," AP writes.

Beijing was covered in dust on Monday as the city's worst sandstorm in a decade blanketed the skies and left the city in a shade of orange, BBC reports.

Driving the news: People in the city have been asked to stay indoors, according to CNN, as pollution levels in some districts were up to 160 times the recommended level at one point. The sandstorm originated in Mongolia, where it has lead to multiple deaths and dozens missing.

Thousands of protesters rallied across Australia on Monday against the sexual abuse and harassment of women — driven by allegations centered on Australia's Parliament, per the Guardian.

Why it matters: Many are angry at Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government, after Attorney General Christian Porter was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl when he was a teenager in 1988, Reuters notes.

Myanmar's ruling junta imposed martial law on townships in the country's most populous city Sunday following the deadliest day since the Feb 1 coup, per Reuters.

Driving the news: At least 38 civilians were killed in live ammunition Sunday, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent monitoring group, in a statement. A police officer was also killed.