The Treasury Department said Tuesday in a note that it will not extend a waiver that allows Russia to pay its international debt holders through American banks, making the first Russian international default since the Bolshevik Revolution all but certain, AP reports.
Why it matters: The Kremlin has so far avoided a default despite the overwhelming sanctions imposed on Russia over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. That's likely to change when banks are unable to process dollar-denominated bonds payments from Russia after Wednesday.
From the American Southwest to New England, Latino candidates are seeking to break barriers in statewide races and flip seats traditionally held by opposing parties.
Why it matters: If successful, the up-and-coming candidates could quickly become the faces of their parties and catapult themselves onto the national stage.
Germany's health minister said Tuesday the country has ordered 40,000 smallpox vaccine doses as a precaution after Germany and other countries reported multiple monkeypox infections, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: Cases of monkeypox, a disease rarely seen outside of western and central African countries, have been recently reported in multiple European countries. The World Health Organization's (WHO) European chief said last week that those outbreaks could spread in the summer as people gather for parties and festivals.
In a string of recent indictments, the U.S. Department of Justice is cracking down on Chinese state-backed repression of U.S.-based dissidents.
Why it matters: The Chinese government has spent decades harassing and trying to silence its critics abroad. Now the U.S. government is taking action to protect people on U.S. soil.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was re-elected to a second five-year term Tuesday after no other candidate challenged him for the post amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Why it matters: The pandemic has so far killed an estimated 6.2 million people worldwide and over 1 million in the U.S., though vaccines and other treatments have significantly slowed death rates in most parts of the world.
Tuesday’s congressional runoff between two South Texas Latino Democrats with opposing views on abortion could shape how their party fares in November.
The big picture: Democrats bracing for a loss of the House majority in November are rallying voters nationally around fearsthe Supreme Court is about to overturn abortion rights — but in a general election, this message may not work as well in socially conservative districts with Democratic incumbents.
China and Russia sent jets over the seas in northeast Asia on Tuesday in what Japan's defense minister called a "provocative" and "unacceptable" move as President Biden was visiting the region, a senior administration official confirmed to Axios.
Driving the news: Japan says it scrambled jets as Chinese and Russian planes neared the country's airspace while Tokyo was hosting the leaders of the Quad group that includes the U.S., Reuters reports.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that sanctions against Russia are "draining the Kremlin's war machine."
Driving the news: "Ukraine must win this war. Putin's aggression must be a strategic failure, so we will do everything we can to help Ukrainians prevail and retake the future into their hands," she said in her speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
America's shortfall of health care workers is adding to the obstacles the Biden administration faces in returning the country to normal.
Why it matters: The nation entered the pandemic with major health care worker shortages and its workforce was strained to its limits in the emergency response to the COVID pandemic. It drove record levels of burnout and many to leave their roles.
Russian forces intensified attacks in southern and eastern Ukraine as the invasion entered its 90th day Tuesday, per U.K. intelligence and Ukrainian military officials.
President Biden met with the leaders of Japan, Australia and India in Tokyo on Tuesday for a second in-person summit of the Indo-Pacific Quad countries.
Driving the news: While the leaders discussed the importance of issues including climate change, trade, supply chains and the pandemic, Russian forces' invasion of Ukraine remained a key focus for Biden — who noted the world was "navigating a dark hour in our shared history," per pool reports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a sanctions law Monday enabling officials in the country to seize and sell Russian assets related to Russia's military invasion in order to support Ukraine's war efforts.
Driving the news: The law is designed to rapidly resolve cases and targets Russian oligarchs, covering offenses including donating to the Kremlin and setting up puppet governments or elections in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine, per an NPR translation. It'll remain in effect while Ukraine remains under martial law.
