If the Kremlin follows through with its purported plans to annex large swaths of southern and eastern Ukraine, as the White House expects, it could fundamentally shift the stakes of the war and make a negotiated settlement all but impossible.
Why it matters: Kyiv and its western backers hope an influx of NATO-caliber weaponry will allow Ukraine to reverse Russia’s gains. But if Russia follows the “playbook” the White House laid out this week, Moscow will claim that fighting is now taking place on Russian soil.
Aid groups are sounding the alarm about the worsening conditions in East Africa, where a prolonged drought and rising food prices exacerbated by the war in Ukraine are making severe humanitarian crises even more dire.
What's happening: An estimated 20 million people across the region will go hungry by September, with at least 3 million facing "emergency and catastrophic levels of hunger" and possible death if the international community doesn't deliver urgently needed aid, the International Rescue Committee warned this week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone on Thursday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed oil production and his latest visit to Iran, according to the Kremlin.
Why it matters: The phone call took place less than a week after President Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, which was aimed in part at pressing the kingdom to increase oil production.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday reconvened an emergency committee to reconsider whether it should declare monkeypox a public health emergency.
The recent murders of two women in Egypt and Jordan have sparked outrage across the Middle East and calls for greater legislative reforms to protect women who face a daily reality of gender violence and discrimination.
The big picture: Although there have been "some elements of progress" in protecting women's rights in the Middle East and North Africa in recent years, there have also been "a lot of really alarming trends," Mai El-Sadany, the managing director at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, told Axios.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned on Thursday after his coalition imploded, setting up the country for a new era of political chaos at a critical time.
The latest: Italian President Sergio Mattarella formally dissolved parliament following Draghi's resignation, paving the way for new snap general elections that will take place within 70 days.
Democratic members of Congress are pushing the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure communities undercounted in the 2020 survey get the federal funding they need.
Why it matters: Latinos were omitted from the 2020 census at a rate more than three times higher than in the 2010 census.
The extreme heat pummeling the U.S. has been especially hard on Latinos, many of whom live in states with a shaky power infrastructure, work outside and struggle to cope with soaring energy bills.
The big picture: Extreme weather like heat waves increases energy demands and tests the limits of power infrastructure. Texas, Nevada, California, New York and Florida, among other states, have struggled with power outages in recent years.
Driving the news: A U.S. Census survey carried out between June 29 and July 11 and released Wednesday found that 17% of Latino tenants said they were behind on their rent.
The migratory monarch butterfly endemic to North America has been categorized as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Why it matters: The monarch's native population has shrunk between 22% and 72% over the past decade. Its decline is largely due to climate change, deforestation and pesticide use, which kills the milkweed the monarchs feed on, the IUCN said Thursday after adding the butterfly to its "red list" of threatened species for the first time.
Russia's Foreign Ministry criticized the U.S. on Thursday for describing WNBA star Brittney Griner as "wrongfully detained," saying the claim shows disrespect for Russian law, according to AP.
Why it matters: Griner, who has been imprisoned since February, pleaded guilty this month to drug charges that carry up to 10 years in prison. Her trial is set to resume Tuesday; it's unclear how long it will last.
The European Central Bank said on Thursday it would raise interest rates for the first time in 11 years — hiking borrowing costs by a larger-than-expected 0.5%.
Why it matters: It's one of the last major central banks to pull the trigger on raising rates. It's a new era for the eurozone after a long spell of ultra-loose monetary policy (with negative interest rates) as policymakers face record-high inflation in the bloc — and the threat of a recession.
President Biden weighed in on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's reported trip to Taiwan, saying on Wednesday that military officials currently advise against it.
Driving the news: “Well, I think that the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now, but I don’t know what the status of it is," Biden said when asked his opinion on the trip, per a White House pool report.
Europeans didn’t need another reminder that they’re living through an energy crisis — but, boy, did they get one.
Driving the news: The historic heat wave pummeling the continent this week sent power prices to new record highs; in France and Italy, average weekly prices have more than tripled over the last five weeks, according to Rystad Energy.
The Russian military's months-long war on Ukraine is influencing the Chinese government's considerations on "how and when" to invade Taiwan, CIA Director Bill Burns said Wednesday.
What he's saying: "I wouldn't underestimate President Xi's determination to assert China's control" over the self-governing island, Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. "He's determined to ensure his military has the capability to undertake such an action should he decide to move in that direction."
Two Texas men were indicted Wednesday in connection with the heat-related deaths of 53 migrants who were found inside a tractor-trailer in San Antonio last month, prosecutors announced.
The big picture: A federal grand jury in San Antonio indicted Homero Zamorano, 46, of Pasadena, and Christian Martinez, 28, of Palestine, on charges that include conspiracy to transport and the transportation of illegal migrants resulting in death, per a Justice Department statement.
CIA Director Bill Burns said Wednesday U.S. intelligence estimates that about 15,000 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine "and maybe three times that wounded."
The big picture: Russian military deaths are classified as state secrets by the Kremlin, which hasn't updated casualty numbers much since Putin's forces first invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
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