Axios

Seventeen Democratic senators have written to Secretary of State Tony Blinken urging him to press Israel to allow materials needed for reconstruction and humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The effort is led by Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).

Why it matters: The U.S., Egypt, Qatar and others have committed to rebuilding Gaza — where many homes, health care facilities and schools were destroyed and crucial water infrastructure was damaged in the fighting — as well as providing humanitarian aid. But Israel is threatening to hold up that process.

Israel will ask the U.S. for $1 billion in additional emergency military aid this week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told "Fox and Friends" on Tuesday and Israeli officials confirmed.

Why it matters: Israeli officials say the aid is needed to replenish the Iron Dome aerial defense system and to purchase munitions for the Israeli air force — mainly precision-guided bombs. But several congressional Democrats have argued against providing additional weapons to Israel after at least 256 Palestinians were killed during last month's fighting in the Gaza Strip, mainly by Israeli airstrikes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday at a ceremony for the new director of Israel's Mossad spy agency that Israel must prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon even at the cost of tensions with the Biden administration.

Why it matters: The U.S. is holding indirect talks with Iran on a mutual return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. Netanyahu, who may be in his final days as prime minister, is a fierce critic of the deal and contends a U.S. return would take the pressure off the Iranian regime.

Pope Francis on Tuesday changed a church law to criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests and other church officials, AP reports.

Why it matters: This is the first time Catholic Church law has recognized how sexual predators "groom" their victims based on power imbalances to build relationships that eventually lead to sexual abuse, per AP.

The U.S. is about to pivot from hoarding vaccines to sharing them globally, and countries around the world are trying to secure their places in line.

Why it matters: President Biden has promised to donate 80 million doses by the end of June. With domestic demand waning, he’ll soon be able to offer far more. But the White House hasn't said how it will distribute the initial 80 million, or when it will feel comfortable truly opening its supply to the world.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged Monday to help after Indigenous leaders called for residential school grounds across Canada to be searched for mass graves after the remains of 215 children were uncovered at a school site.

Driving the news: Trudeau noted during a Monday briefing on last week's discovery at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that "sadly, this is not an exception or an isolated incident" and finding other mass grave sites was "an important part of discovering the truth."

Peru officials revised the country's COVID-19 death toll Monday from 69,342 to 180,764 after a review.

Why it matters: The almost tripling of the number listed Sunday means the country has the worst pandemic death rate per capita, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The World Health Organization announced Monday a new naming system for COVID-19 variants that uses letters from the Greek alphabet.

Why it matters: Health officials have been concerned that the strains' scientific names, comprising numbers and letters, are leading people to refer to them by the place they were detected, such as the "U.K. variant" for B.1.1.7, which the WHO notes in a Twitter post "is stigmatizing & discriminatory."

The United Nations’ atomic watchdog said Monday that Iran has failed to explain the presence of "traces of uranium found at several undeclared sites," Reuters reported.

The big picture: The International Atomic Energy Agency also said that it has not been able to access data necessary for tracking the development of Iran's nuclear program since the end of February, when Tehran began restricting international inspections at its facilities, per AP.

More than one-third of heat deaths each year can be directly linked to climate change, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Why it matters: The findings require global actors to take "more ambitious mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize the public health impacts of climate change," the study said.

The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) announced Monday that Brazil will host next month's Copa América soccer tournament after Argentina and Colombia were stripped of their hosting rights, AP reports.

Driving the news: Colombia was first dropped as a co-host amid ongoing protests. Argentina was then ruled out as new COVID-19 cases soared. After Brazil was named the new host Monday, some health experts criticized the decision, pointing to the country's response to the pandemic.

World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged member states Monday to negotiate a global pandemic preparedness treaty to ensure sustainable funding for the WHO and address the challenges and failures exposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Driving the news: Tedros argued that the coronavirus pandemic has been defined by a "lack of sharing: of data, information, pathogens, technologies and resources."

Scandinavian leaders on Monday demanded answers after a report from Danish broadcaster DR alleged that Denmark's foreign secret service had cooperated with the U.S. to spy on European leaders more than 7 years ago, AP reports.

Why it matters: The Danish Defense Intelligence Service, or FE, reportedly finished an internal probe in 2014 that found the U.S. National Security Agency used connections in Denmark to eavesdrop on political leaders in France, Germany, Sweden and Norway.

China's government announced Monday it is relaxing strict family planning restrictions and allowing couples to have three children each, per an official Xinhua post translated by Channel News Asia.

Why it matters: The ruling Chinese Communist Party lifted the two-children-per-parents limit in order to counter an aging population and falling birth rate that has raised concerns about the country's economic future.

Hollywood actor Steven Seagal proposed cracking down on Russian businesses that are "defiling the environment" as he took up a new role: the face of a pro-Kremlin political party, Reuters reported Sunday.

The big picture: The A Just Russia — Patriots — For Truth party, which controls a section of Russia's lower house of parliament, released images of Seagal receiving its membership. The Russian citizen vocally supports President Vladamir Putin and was named "special representative for Russian-U.S. humanitarian ties" in 2018.