France announced Wednesday that visitors will need a COVID-19 pass to visit tourist venues such as the Eiffel Tower as cases in the country begin to rise, CBS News reports.
Why it matters: The new requirement comes after cases are starting to soar in the country and the Delta variant accounts for 96% of new cases, France's Health Minister Olivier Véran said, per CBS News.
The soon-to-be-announced deal between the U.S. and Germany on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline falls well short of Ukraine's hopes and fails to address the country's national security concerns, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky tells Axios.
Why it matters: The deal is designed to allay concerns in Kyiv and on Capitol Hill about the imminent completion of the Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline, which the Biden administration itself has condemned as "a Kremlin geopolitical project that threatens European energy security."
The arrest on Tuesdayof Tom Barrack, a business tycoon and close Trump ally, for allegedly acting as an unregistered Emirati agent could complicate relations between the Biden administration and the UAE.
Driving the news: The indictment against Barrack, a real estate investor who chaired Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee, indicates he was in contact with the highest echelons of the Emirati leadership, without naming specific officials.
The Biden administration has decided to hold off on reopening the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem until after Israel's new government passes a budget, likely in early November, Israeli, U.S. and Palestinian sources say.
Why it matters: The decision shows how invested the Biden administration is in helping to stabilize the new Israeli government. The Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign Ministry had requested the delay.
The visit to Washington this week by King Abdullah II of Jordan, the first Arab leader to visit President Biden, was a victory lap after years of tense relations with Trump and Netanyahu.
Why it matters: The White House invitation and the meetings with all of Biden's top foreign policy and national security officials repositioned the king as a leading U.S. ally in the Middle East.
After holding a rare call last week with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke to his Greek counterpart and reassured her that any improvement in Israel’s relations with Turkey won't come at the expense of Greece, Israeli officials tell me.
Why it matters: Prior to Erdoğan's call to congratulate Herzog for assuming office, no Israeli official had spoken with the Turkish president since 2017.
The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday warned that the world is in the early stages of another wave of coronavirus infections and deaths.
What he's saying: The global failure to share vaccines, testing and treatments has led to a "two-track pandemic — the haves are opening up, while the have-nots are locking down," said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a speech to an International Olympic Committee meeting.
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will visit Tianjin, China, on July 25-26 to meet with Chinese government officials, including State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the State Department announced Wednesday.
Why it matters: Sherman will become the highest-ranking Biden administration official to visit China, just days after the U.S. and its allies accused Chinese state-sponsored actors of carrying out massive cyberattacks all over the world.
The International Olympic Committee awarded the 2032 Olympics to Brisbane, Australia, on Wednesday, capping a new one-city selection process meant to minimize costly bidding wars between countries.
Why it matters: It will be the third time that Australia hosts the Olympics, following the popular 2000 Summer Games in Sydney and the 1956 Summer Games in Melbourne.
Olivia Breen, a British double Paralympic world champion is speaking out after an official said her competition bottoms were "too short and inappropriate" during the English Championships over the weekend.
Why it matters: The issue of womenswear in sport has come to the fore ahead of the Olympic Games. The European Handball Federation fined Norway's women's beach handball team for wearing shorts, like men are allowed to, instead of the required bikini bottoms during a match.
Breen told broadcaster LBC on Tuesday she was left "baffled" after the official told her to consider buying shorts instead of sprint briefs. The Welsh athlete questioned in a tweet whether a male competitor would be similarly criticized.
Torrential rain caused severe flooding in parts of China's Henan province on Tuesday, killing 12 and forcing more than 100,000 people to evacuate their homes, per Reuters.
The latest: Zhengzhou, Henan's capital, picked up 21.75 inches of rain over the 24-hour period ending on Tuesday. That's roughly 87% of the city's average annual precipitation in 24 hours, and about the same as its average seven-month total from April to October, according to the Weather Channel.
