The U.S. and China have agreed to ease Trump-era visa restrictions for journalists on a reciprocal basis, following a series of expulsions by both governments during heightened tensions last year, a State Department spokesperson confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: It's an initial but significant breakthrough in a dispute that had played a prominent role in the overall ratcheting up of tensions between Washington and Beijing toward the tail end of the Trump administration.
Pfizer announced on Tuesday it will allow low and middle-income countries to make and distribute the company’s COVID-19 pill inexpensively. The move is an attempt to increase the global supply in 95 poorer nations.
While the deal helps treat patients, the company has not made the same decision when it comes to its COVID-19 vaccine.
Axios Re:Cap host Felix Salmon is joined by Axios health care business reporter Bob Herman to discuss Pfizer’s decisions and the global ramifications.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) announced Tuesday he had placed a hold on President Biden's nominee for ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, over concerns about Burns' business relationships in China.
Why it matters: Burns is a widely respected former career diplomat who was expected to receive overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate. Even Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has stalled dozens of Biden's State Department nominees, lifted his blockade for Burns.
Germany's network regulator said Tuesday that it paused its certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline due to an issue with the company's license under German law, the Associated Press reports.
Why it matters: The pause throws a wrench in the approval process of the already contentious pipeline — which would transport Russian gas to Europe under the Baltic Sea — and caused regional gas prices to rise.
Call centers and group meetings in Mexico and Colombia offer ways to combat violence against women by focusing directly on the men who perpetrate it.
Why it matters: Organizers hope the pilot programs can promote best practices to curb gender violence. They would also like to see the programs replicated across Latin America and the Caribbean, the region with the highest rate of sexual violence against women in the world, as well as alarming numbers of murdered women, according to the UN.
Companies that do business in China — especially Olympics sponsors — are concerned Beijing will use the 2022 Winter Games as a loyalty test.
Why it matters: China's leaders have become adept at silencing criticism from U.S. companies that might otherwise condemn the country's human rights record — and the Chinese government has been able to host prestigious global events like the Olympics while committing rights violations with impunity.
Georgia's political elites cooperate closely with several controversial Chinese companies, raising new concerns about corruption in the country, former Georgian Defense Minister Tinatin (Tina) Khidasheli told Axios in an interview.
The big picture: The small former Soviet republic is economically dependent on Russia, despite breaking diplomatic ties with Moscow in 2008 amid the Russo-Georgian War, and some there see China as a better option.
Pfizer has agreed to a licensing deal with the UN's Medicines Patent Pool for its COVID-19 pill — roughly a month after Merck said it licensed its COVID pill with the MPP.
Why it matters: These antiviral pills have showed promising results in reducing the severity of infection and preventing death among the unvaccinated, and Pfizer's licensing agreement, combined with Merck's, will allow generic drug companies to cheaply produce the pills for more than 100 low- and middle-income countries.
President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a wide-ranging and, at times, candid discussion in a virtual meeting that lasted for about three and half hours on Monday evening.
Why it matters: The meeting didn't produce any "deliverables," but it did bolster a sense of much-needed stability between the two countries.
An intense "atmospheric river event" has resulted in extensive flooding and wind damage across parts of the Pacific Northwest, per the National Weather Service.
The latest: The extreme storm has triggered record-shattering rainfall in several cities in British Columbia, namely Hope, which had more than 11 inches of rain between Saturday and Monday.
The Biden administration denounced Cuban authorities' "intimidation tactics" during a clamp-down on activists who planned to hold a civil rights protest on the Caribbean island Monday.
Why it matters: Protesters were hoping to build on July's massive anti-government demonstrations in Havana and other Cuban cities with the nationwide "Civic March for Change." But police and security forces poured into the streets, arresting and even "trapping" activists in their homes, per the Washington Post.
An Iranian military helicopter "circled" close to a U.S. Navy warship in an "unsafe and unprofessional manner" three times in the Gulf of Oman, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said Monday.
The big picture: Saturday's incident, which ended without impact, comes as U.S. special envoy for Iran Rob Malley visits the Middle East ahead of the resumption of indirect nuclear talks with Iran.
President Biden told Chinese President Xi Jinping at the start of Monday night's virtual summit that he's looking forward to a "candid and forthright discussion" on how to establish "common-sense guardrails" between the world's two most powerful countries.
The big picture: Biden has repeatedly said that he likely knows Xi better than any world leader does, citing the dozens of hours that the two spent together while serving as vice presidents of their respective countries.
Migrants fleeing countries that refuse to take them back are driving new backlogs in the U.S. immigration system — and White House and Homeland Security officials worry this poses a growing obstacle to balancing humanitarian and national security concerns.
Driving the news: U.S. officials at the southern border have come across an average of nearly 800 Venezuelan migrants each day for the past week— more than any other nationality except those from Mexico, according to internal immigration data obtained by Axios.
The Biden administration is warning Americans in Ethiopia to evacuate immediately or risk being trapped if the civil war spreads to the capital.
What they're saying: State Department spokesperson Ned Price said U.S. passport holders should not expect a Kabul-style airlift if the fighting reaches Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. That's not going to happen, Price told Axios, calling the Afghanistan withdrawal a "unique and extraordinary situation."
