A far-right firebrand is shaking up the French presidential election and, with six months to go, has pulled into second in the polls.
Why it matters: This race had long seemed on course for a rematch between President Emmanuel Macron, now an unpopular incumbent, and far-right leader Marine Le Pen. But it's Le Pen who's now facing a major threat on her right flank.
Both the U.S. and China described Wednesday's meeting in Zurich as “constructive” and “candid” — an improvement from other recent encounters in which, U.S. officials say, Chinese officials were either chiding their U.S. interlocutors or sticking stubbornly to prepared talking points.
Yes, but: National security adviser Jake Sullivan and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi spent much of their six-hour meeting talking not about the key issues in the relationship, but about how the U.S. and China can engage going forward without snubs, insults and the risk of dangerous misunderstandings. Nine months into Biden’s term, the relationship hasn’t really left the starting line.
The chair of Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) prepared to step aside today as three rival parties began coalition negotiations that will likely end with the CDU out of power for the first time since Angela Merkel was elected in 2005.
The big picture: The Greens and the liberals (FDP) — now kingmakers because either major party would need them to govern — began exploratory talks with the election-winning Social Democrats (SPD) aimed at forming a “traffic light coalition," so named because of the parties' colors.
A former Taliban commander has been charged with terrorism-related offenses for killing U.S. troops in 2008, the Justice Department said Thursday.
Details: The indictment, unsealed Thursday by a grand jury in New York, brings charges against Haji Najibullah, who served as a Taliban commander in 2007 and 2008, for attacks on U.S. troops carried out by Taliban fighters under his authority.
The former special envoy for Haiti said Thursday that he learned of the deportations of thousands of Haitians seeking shelter in the Texas border town of Del Rio "on the news just like the rest of us."
All Americans stranded in the Mazar-e Sharif airport in Afghanistan have been evacuated and have landed in Qatar, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announced Thursday and a senior State Department official has confirmed.
The big picture: With the Kabul airport closed, people instead went to the Mazar-e Sharif airport. Blumenthal had been vocally frustrated with the administration about the delay in evacuating people from the country.
John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, said Wednesday that his office would investigate allegations that former President Ashraf Ghani left the country with $169 million in cash when he fled in mid-August.
Driving the news: Sopko said in testimony before a House subcommittee for development aid that his office was "looking into" the allegations but had not "proven that yet."
The McDonald's Happy Meal has become a childhood staple around the world, but few know the marketing idea began in Guatemala as "Ronald's menu."
What happened: Jose Maria Cofiño and Yolanda Fernándezde Cofiño founded the first McDonald's in Guatemala in 1974. Fernández de Cofiño noticed that children were not able to finish the meals the restaurant offered, so she came up with the idea of offering smaller portions for kids and including a toy to make the meal more fun.
CIA Director Bill Burns announced Thursday that the agency is forming a China Mission Center to address "the most important geopolitical threat, we face in the 21st century, an increasingly adversarial Chinese government."
Why it matters: The U.S. intelligence community's annual global threat assessment warned that Beijing is seeking to spread its influence at the expense of the U.S., drive wedges between Western allies and "foster new international norms that favor the authoritarian Chinese system."
China’s energy crisis shows no signs of slowing, and it’s poised to impact the flow of goods that the nation sends stateside.
Why it matters: Supply chain disruptions are a huge part of what’s holding back the world’s economic growth as it recovers from the pandemic lockdown era. Electricity blackouts in China spawned by a power shortage could make that worse.
Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah on Tuesday was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for works that explore the effects of colonialism.
Driving the news: The Swedish Academy said Gurnah received the award "for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents."
The UN Climate Summit set to begin Oct. 31 in Glasgow will bring an unprecedented combination of leaders for such an event (even Pope Francis!), and the likely absence of vital players — notably Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Why it matters: The speeches and backroom meetings at COP26 between leaders on the summit's first two days will set the tone for the rest of the gathering. These will be moments when countries showcase any new pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the Paris Agreement's targets.
The World Health Organization said it's sending COVID-19 medical supplies to North Korea.
Why it matters: It's an indication that North Korea may be loosening one of the "world's strictest pandemic border closures to receive outside help," notes AP, which first reported the news. North Korea has never publicly confirmed a coronavirus case, though experts doubt it's been untouched by infection.
A 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit southern Pakistan on Thursday, causing killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 200 others, officials said, per Reuters.
The big picture: The shallow quake caused buildings to collapse as it struck about 3am local time, officials reported. Its epicenter was just over 6o miles east of Quetta, a city near the border with Afghanistan. The region is prone to quakes as it's situated where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres denounced Ethiopian officials Wednesday for claiming the UN had inflated the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis in the country and warned people were facing "famine-like conditions."
Why it matters: The Ethiopian foreign affairs ministry expelled seven UN officials from the country last week, accusing them of "meddling" in its affairs by warning thousands of people in war-torn Tigray were likely experiencing government-caused famine.
The six-hour meeting White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan had with his Chinese counterpart in Zurich on Wednesday may have done more to defrost the U.S.-China relationship than anything since President Biden took office.
Why it matters: That speaks more to the severity of tensions between the two superpowers than anything Sullivan achieved during his marathon with Yang Jiechi. But the White House counted it as a win and "model" for future talks.
