Inflation in the U.S.is at a 40-year high, but America isn’t alone. Soaring prices are a truly global phenomenon.
The big picture: An analysis of inflation across 111 countries from Deutsche Bank puts the U.S. near the middle of the pack. Among those countries, the median rate of 7.9% year-over-year inflation has more than doubled from 3.0% one year ago, thanks largely to spiking energy and food prices.
The Air Force's Office of Special Investigations (OSI) has cleared the crew operating the C-17 aircraft that lifted off as multiple civilians clung to the jet during the U.S.'s withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Military.com reports.
Why it matters: Several people were killed after plummeting from the aircraft, which had been departing Kabul following the country's fall to the Taliban. OSI said it would review the incident upon discovering human remains in the plane's wheel well.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan held a "productive" 4.5-hour meeting with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in Luxembourg on Monday, a senior administration official told reporters.
State of play: The meeting, which was not announced in advance, came just three days after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met his Chinese counterpart Gen. Wei Fenghe at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet announced on Monday that she won't seek a second term.
Why it matters: The announcement comes amid blowback by genocide scholars and rights advocates criticizing Bachelet for her visit to China's Xinjiang region last month, which ended with Bachelet repeating, rather than denouncing, Chinese government propaganda about an ongoing genocide there.
Russian forces destroyed a second bridge to Severodonetsk on Sunday, leaving the last remaining major city in the Luhansk region of the Donbas under Ukrainian control with just one way out, the regional governor said.
What's happening: Putin's forces were shelling the city's last remaining bridge, Luhansk region Gov. Serhiy Haidai said in a Telegram post. Russia's military was "throwing all their forces to cut off" Severodonetsk, Haidai said. "The next two or three days will be significant."
The Biden White House was angling to replace David Beasley, the head of the World Food Program, before an extraordinary bipartisan intervention by senators convinced the president to support extending his term, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The potential change at the top of the Rome-based United Nations agency, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020, could have complicated the WFP's ability to raise money and deliver food at a critical moment for global hunger.
The Russian-owned fast-food chain that will replace McDonald's in Russia opened the doors to its first restaurants in Moscow on Sunday, AP reported.
Catch up quick: McDonald's temporarily closed its Russian stores in March in the wake of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. In May, the fast-food giant announced that it would sell its Russian businesses to a local buyer and exit the country.
President Biden plans to visit Israel and Saudi Arabia in July, the White House confirmed to Axios on Sunday.
Details: Three Israeli officials told Axios Biden is expected to visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority on July 14 and 15 before traveling on to Saudi Arabia. The White House has not confirmed those dates, and the Israeli officials all warned that the timing had shifted several times and could change again.
