Axios

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced Friday a three-week partial lockdown as a result of surging COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands.

Why it matters: The lockdown comes as Western Europe experiences a new wave of COVID-19 infections across the continent.

The Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Eritrea's military and ruling party over the ongoing crisis in neighboring Ethiopia.

Driving the news: The Treasury Department also signaled its willingness to impose sanctions on the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front if progress isn't made towards a ceasefire in the country's Tigray region.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has launched a Twitter campaign to get the U.S. Senate to back sanctions in a last-ditch effort to block the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Why it matters: President Biden waived sanctions on the operator of the Kremlin-backed pipeline, which will bypass Ukraine and deliver Russian gas directly to Europe, in order to protect the U.S. relationship with Germany.

President Biden will hold a virtual summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, marking the most public direct engagement between the two leaders since Biden took office, the White House announced Friday.

Why it matters: The Biden administration views the rise of China as the top geopolitical challenge that the U.S. will face in the 21st century, but has stressed the need for cooperation with the world's second-largest economy.

Qatar has agreed to become the "protecting power" for U.S. interests in Afghanistan, taking on a formal role as the diplomatic intermediary between Washington and the new Taliban government, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Friday.

Why it matters: The U.S. has shown no indication it will recognize the Taliban government, but diplomatic engagement will be necessary in order to stave off the mass humanitarian crisis bearing down on Afghanistan as winter approaches.

The big surprise at COP26 was China vowing more aggressive steps on climate in a joint declaration with the U.S.

Catch up fast: The Wednesday statement calls for "accelerated actions in the critical decade of the 2020s," as well as cooperation on measurement and reductions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.

GLASGOW, Scotland — China used backroom negotiating to make itself a player, though far from a leader, at the global COP26 climate summit.

Why it matters: It's in the world's best interest for the U.S. and China to manage tensions and cooperate in the future, since the two together account for 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate in a speech Thursday challenged policymakers at COP26 to prove the skeptical youth climate movement wrong by following through with the pledges made so far at the meeting.

Why it matters: Climate activists have been largely doubtful toward the climate promises from this year's assembly because they are not mandatory, meaning no one will be punished for failing to live up to them.

GLASGOW, Scotland — When Tina Stege, the Marshall Islands climate envoy, walks into a negotiating room, she carries a burden that most other negotiators here do not. Her task is ensuring the survival of her low-lying island nation.

What's happening: In an interview with Axios Thursday on the sidelines of the summit, a visibly exhausted Stege talked about what separates her thinking on the COP26 climate summit from the others' approach to these talks.

Doctors should incorporate air pollution to their list of risk factors for heart disease when treating patients, a study out Thursday from the New England Journal of Medicine urges.

The big picture: Air pollution is still overlooked as a cause of heart disease, as outdoor air quality worsens in some parts of the globe.

A Myanmar military court sentenced American journalist Danny Fenster to 11 years in prison Friday, his employer Frontier Myanmar announced after a closed hearing in Yangon.

Details: The 37-year-old Frontier Myanmar managing editor was found guilty of "breaching immigration law, unlawful association and encouraging dissent against the military," per the BBC. He's also facing further charges of sedition and terrorism.

The State Department on Thursday called on Iran-backed Houthi rebels to release Yemeni U.S. Embassy staff the fighters detained in the northern city of Sanaa after breaching the compound in the war-ravaged country.

Details: A State Department spokesperson in an emailed statement also called on the Houthis to "immediately vacate" the complex and "return all seized property." Most of those detained, who worked outside of the compound on duties including security, had been released, the spokesperson said.