Axios

Raul Castro announced on Friday he is resigning as the secretary-general of the Communist Party of Cuba, AP reports.

Why it matters: The move, though widely expected, marks the beginning of a new era for the party. It will be the first time since the 1959 revolution that a Castro won't hold one of the most powerful positions on the island.

Russia will expel 10 U.S. diplomats and add eight current and former U.S. officials to its no-entry list in retaliation for sanctions that the Biden administration leveled at Moscow on Friday, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday.

Why it matters: The measures come after the U.S. said it would expel 10 Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover, as part of a broad package of sanctions retaliating against the SolarWinds hack of federal agencies and Russia's interference in the 2020 election.

The CEO of the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines, asked President Biden on Friday to lift a U.S. export embargo on raw materials for vaccines, saying it is hampering vaccine production in other parts of the world.

Why it matters: Equitably producing and distributing coronavirus vaccines may be the defining global challenge of 2021 and a crucial step to controlling the pandemic, as prolonged unequal access to vaccines may allow the virus to spread and dangerously mutate in unvaccinated parts of the world.

China's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Yucheng told AP on Friday that China is unlikely to pursue climate proposals beyond its current arsenal, calling it "not very realistic" for a country of 1.4 billion people.

Why it matters: Despite heightened geopolitical tensions, the Biden administration has emphasized the need to partner with China on climate change. Le's comments come as Biden's climate envoy John Kerry is discussing the issue in meetings with Chinese officials in Shanghai.

A Hong Kong court sentenced a group of the city's most prominent pro-democracy activists to up to 18 months in prison Friday for organizing a massive unauthorized protest in August 2019 that drew an estimated 1.7 million people, AP reports.

Why it matters: Critics say the sentences send the message that even peaceful pro-democracy activism will be severely punished. They mark a continuation of Beijing's overhaul of Hong Kong's political structure, designed to crack down opposition to the Chinese Communist Party.

Despite bold talk from top administration officials, there's little reason to think the Russia sanctions package President Biden announced Thursday will do anything to alter Russian President Vladimir Putin's behavior or calculus.

Why it matters: While it's true some elements of the package — namely, the targeting of Russia's sovereign debt — represent significant punitive measures against Moscow, it leaves plenty of wiggle room for the Russian president.

John Kerry became the first senior Biden administration official to touch down in China this week. He's also been the first to sit down with a string of world leaders.

Why it matters: Kerry may no longer be secretary of state, but you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise after a glance at his calendar. The unusual role could make Kerry a foreign policy force multiplier for President Biden, or potentially a source of mixed messages.

Thirty members of the Mexican navy were turned over to civilian authorities this week to face charges related to forced disappearances in the border city of Nuevo Laredo.

Why it matters: The Mexican marines for years had the mission of combating drug-trafficking and transnational criminal organizations, for which they received U.S. training and financing.

U.S. intelligence officials have "low to moderate confidence" in reports that surfaced last year that Russia had offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan, according to The Guardian.

Why it matters: The news comes as the Biden administration unveiled a spate of sanctions against Russian officials and entities on Thursday. The bounty reports, however, were not a factor in the decision to pass sanctions.

The world crossed a coronavirus vaccine milestone this week: over 1 billion doses have now been produced.

The big picture: Production continues to ramp up quickly. While it took several months to reach one billion doses, we should hit two billion by the end of May, according to data from Airfinity, a science information and analytics company.

The Biden administration announced it will sanction dozens of Russian officials and entities, expel 10 diplomats from the U.S., and set new restrictions on buying Russian sovereign debt in response to the massive SolarWinds hack of federal agencies and interference in the 2020 election.

Why it matters: The sweeping acts of retaliation are aimed at imposing heavy economic costs on Russia, after years of sanctions that have failed to deter an increasingly aggressive and authoritarian President Vladimir Putin.

If the U.S. does commit to slashing greenhouse gas emissions by about 50% below 2005 levels by 2030, the U.S. would compare favorably to other major economies, a report finds.

Why it matters: Consulting firm The Rhodium Group evaluated a 50% reduction target against the targets put forward so far by other nations, using different baselines as reference points. The results?

The U.S. government has sanctioned Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-Ukrainian political consultant indicted in the Mueller investigation in 2018, for carrying out election influence operations on behalf of Russian intelligence services.

The big picture: The Senate Intelligence Committee's report on 2016 Russian election interference assessed that Kilimnik, who worked with former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort as a lobbyist for the pro-Russia president of Ukraine, is a Russian intelligence officer.

The U.S.' ability to prevent terrorist attacks "will change" but not diminish after the U.S. withdraws its troops from Afghanistan, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN Thursday.

Why it matters: Sullivan's interview comes after CIA director William Burns told a Senate panel Wednesday that withdrawal could allow terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS to rebuild, following President Biden's announcement Wednesday that the U.S. will begin the process of leaving the country in May.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced trip to Afghanistan on Thursday to meet with the nation's president, Ashraf Ghani, and Abdullah Abdullah, who is representing the Taliban in negotiations, per the Washington Post.

Why it matters: Blinken sought to reassure the pair that the U.S. will maintain support for the country, despite President Biden's decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan starting May 1 and concluding in full by Sept. 11.

One of Sweden's most populous regions has asked residents to enter a "personal lockdown" in order to curb soaring COVID-19 cases, Euronews reported Wednesday.

Why it matters: Sweden's more relaxed approach to the pandemic prompted libertarians and conservatives, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), to argue the U.S. should've adopted a similar strategy. But the country this week reported the highest infection rate in the EU.