The State Department said in a report Thursday that historical discriminatory policies in the United States and other countries contribute to current human trafficking.
Why it matters: It's the first time the federal government has linked systemic racism in the U.S. and abroad to global human trafficking, according to Reuters.
Large numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations and more immunocompromised people in general are fueling a global spread of a different threatening microbe: invasive fungi.
Why it matters: These infections cause more than 1.6 million deaths worldwide every year, and the microorganisms responsible for them are starting to evade the small supply of antifungal drugs.
Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that prohibiting the recreational use of marijuana and THC is unconstitutional because it violates the right to a “free development of personality.”
What they’re saying: “Criminal organizations are currently the ones who determine when and how one can have access to the active substance,” drug policy lawyer Frida Ibarra tells Axios. “And that can only be changed if the government builds on the court’s decision and Congress votes to regulate the legal who, when and where.”
Unrest in Nicaragua and Colombia is generating concern from Latino members of Congress who worry about violent crackdowns to curb continuingprotests.
Why it matters: After 20 years of focus on the Middle East, Latino lawmakers are reaching across the aisle and helping shift some of the nation's foreign policy spotlight to Latin America, which continues to battle COVID-19 and pockets ofpolitical turmoil.
130 countries around the world — including, crucially, China and India — have agreed on a 15% minimum corporate tax rate, in a move designed to prevent what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called a "self-defeating international tax competition."
Why it matters: Corporations will have to pay tax of at least 15% no matter where they operate in the world. The OECD framework, agreed to Thursday but many years in the making, includes penalties for companies and jurisdictions attempting to bypass the rule.
A Canadian village issued an evacuation order Wednesday due to a wildfire blazing through the village, one day after the town set the all-time national heat record of 121°F.
The big picture: Lytton Mayor Jan Polderman urged all residents to "leave the community and go to a safe location," per the order.
Children are "bearing the brunt" of Lebanon's economic collapse, one of the worst in the world, according to a new UNICEF report.
Why it matters: Lebanon was already struggling with instability when a deadly explosion in Beirut killed more than 211 people, injured 6,000 and left roughly 250,000 homeless last year.
A United Nations court on Wednesday convicted two wartime Serbian State Security officials for aiding and abetting war crimes committed by Serbian paramilitaries during Bosnia and Herzegovina's 1992–95 war, AP reports.
Why it matters: This is the final UN trial at The Hague for crimes committed during the breakup of Yugoslavia. It's the first time that high-ranking wartime Serbian government officials have been convicted for crimes committed in Bosnia, per the New York Times.
The Biden administration needs to put more pressure on the Palestinian Authority over its human rights abuses and anti-democratic steps, prominent Palestinian human rights activist Issa Amro told me in an interview.
What he's saying: “Palestinian Authority officials say internally that they are protected by the U.S. so they can do whatever they want. They feel nobody will try to hold them accountable and nobody will demand them to take steps toward reform and democracy," Amro told me.
Israel Foreign Ministry officials have been lobbying the State Department to hold off on reopening the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem to avoid creating difficulties for the new government, Israeli officials tell me.
Why it matters: Israel's new government contains an unstable mix of parties with opposing views, and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing the consulate issue to portray the government as weak and unable to stand up to the Biden administration.
Myanmar's government on Wednesday will begin releasing thousands of prisoners, including activists who participated in the protests against the country's military, AP reports.
The state of play: Officials confirmed that more than 720 prisoners had been released from the Insein Prison, "which for decades has been the main facility for political prisoners," AP writes. Approximately 2,300 prisoners from across the country will be released.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared that China has eradicated malaria after more than 70 years of fighting the disease.
Why it matters: China is the first country in the WHO Western Pacific Region to receive a malaria-free certification in more than 30 years. It follows Australia (1981), Singapore (1982) and Brunei (1987).
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed told me in an exclusive interview on Tuesday he is convinced that relations with Israel will continue to move forward regardless of the change of government in Jerusalem.
Why it matters: This was the first interview bin Zayed has given to an Israeli journalist. The interview took place on the sidelines of Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid's visit here, the first official visit by an Israeli minister to the UAE since the signing of the peace treaty between the countries in September.
The Pacific Northwest heat wave has been linked to dozens of deaths in Canada — where Lytton reached 121°F Tuesday. It's the third consecutive day the British Columbia town had smashed the country's all-time high temperature record.
What's happening: From Friday, when the heat wave began, to Monday officials in the West coast province had recorded at least 233 deaths — roughly 100 more reports than they would typically receive over a four-day period, the B.C. Coroners Service said in a statement on the fallout from the extreme heat.
The Biden administration will shut four emergency shelters housing record numbers of unaccompanied migrant children, as more minors arrive at the southern border, an official during a court hearing Tuesday, per AP.
What's happening: The Department of Health and Human Services plans to close two shelters in Texas and stop housing the children at two California convention centers in California by early August, Aurora Miranda-Maese, juvenile coordinator for the agency’s office of refugee resettlement, said at the hearing on custody conditions for minors, according to AP.