Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday agreed to allow a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspect the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to readout of the call released by Macron's office.
Why it matters: Russia has faced pressure from dozens of countries, the United Nations and other international organizations to cease military activity at the plant and withdraw its troops and military equipment.
The Department of Defense announced Friday a new $775 million military assistance package for Ukraine on Friday as Russia's unprovoked invasion of the country nears the six-month mark.
Why it matters: The package includes four additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) 16 howitzer heavy field artillery pieces and 36,000 rounds of ammunition, 15 surveillance drones and 40 mine-resistant troop transport vehicles.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah intensified his threats against Israel on Friday, saying if Lebanon's demands aren't met in the maritime border dispute between the two countries, there will be an escalation regardless of whether there is a U.S. nuclear deal with Iran.
Why it matters: Hezbollah has set a mid-September deadline for a resolution in the maritime border dispute, the group's newspaper, Al-Akhbar, wrote earlier this week.
British national El Shafee Elsheikh has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in helping an ISIS cell kidnap, torture and kill prisoners, the Department of Justice said Friday.
The big picture: Elsheikh — who had the nickname "Beatle" — is the most notorious and highest-ranking member of the Islamic State group to ever be convicted in a U.S. Court, the DOJ said.
China issued its first national drought alert of the year this week amid more than two months of record-breaking temperatures and below average rainfall, Chinese state media reports.
Why it matters: The "yellow" alert is the third-highest on China's four-tier system and comes as central and southwest regions are facing some of the highest temperatures ever recorded.
China's President Xi Jinping and Russia's leader Vladimir Putin plan to attend the G20 summit in Bali later this year, according to Indonesian officials.
The big picture: President Biden is expected to attend November's forum, setting the stage for the first summit involving the leaders of the U.S., China and Russia since Putin's forces invaded Ukraine and tensions between Washington and Beijing became further heightened after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
Massive storms lashing Europe killed at least 13 people in Italy, Austria and France on Thursday, in the latest extreme weather event to rock the continent this summer, per the BBC.
The big picture: Storm-related deaths were reported in Italy, Austria and on the French island of Corsica on Thursday. Wreckage from the storm system was also reported in parts of Austria and Slovakia.
Brazil's election campaign officially kicked off this week, with polls showing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva leading incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in their titanic clash of ideologies and personalities.
Driving the news: A new Datafolha poll out Thursday evening shows Lula up 47% to 32%. Four other recent polls showed him leading by between 7 and 12 points.
Paraguay's Vice President Hugo Velázquez Moreno said on Thursday that he will not resign from office as he awaits more information about the United States' corruption allegations against him, Reuters reported.
The U.S. asked Israel for clarifications about the raids the Israeli military conducted at the offices of several Palestinian civil society organizations in the occupied West Bank, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.
Why it matters: Last October Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz designated six Palestinian civil society and human rights organizations as "terrorist organizations." The move was widely condemned internationally.
Russian citizens starting Thursday will no longer be allowed to visit Estonia with a travel visas for tourism, business, sports or other activities because of the Kremlin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR News reports.
Why it matters: While several European Union nations stopped issuing travel visas to Russian citizens at the start of the invasion, Estonia last week became the first to announce that travel visas previously issued to Russian citizens are no longer valid.
Latino, Black and Asian adults are more likely to have diabetes at lower body mass indexes than non-Hispanic white adults, suggesting doctors should lower the threshold for testing.
The big picture: The estimated rate of undiagnosed diabetes among Latino adults is 4.4%, compared to 2.7% for white non-Hispanics, CDC data shows.
Latinos' political power remains significantly underrepresented in California despite their plurality status, emerging studies and data points show.
Driving the news: In report last week, the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute said it found Latinos woefully underrepresented on the most populous state's boards and commissions appointed by the executive branch.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid sent a message to the White House on Thursday that the EU draft nuclear agreement being discussed with Iran goes beyond the 2015 nuclear deal and isn’t in line with the Biden administration’s own red lines, a senior Israeli official said in a briefing to reporters.
What he's saying: “In the current situation, the time has come to walk away from the table. Anything else sends a message of weakness to Iran," Lapid said in a meeting with Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East and North Africa subcommittee, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides on Thursday, per the official.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the United Nations Thursday to "ensure the security" of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russia since March.
Why it matters: Russia has maintained military activity at or near the facility, which is Europe's largest nuclear power plant, for several months despite repeated condemnations from dozens of other countries and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
A bombing at a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, during evening prayers, killed at least 21 people and injured dozens of others, AP reports.
Driving the news: No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded several children and killed a prominent cleric.
People who have had COVID-19 face increased risks of neurological and psychiatric conditions like brain fog, psychosis, seizures and dementia up to two years after infection.
Driving the news: That's according to a new large-scale University of Oxford study that also found anxiety and depression were more common after COVID, though typically subsided within two months of infection.
Prosecutors in Argentina said Wednesday they have linked opera singer Plácido Domingo to a criminal gang's sex trafficking operation.
Driving the news: Argentinian authorities conducted 50 raids last week against the BA Group and obtained a wiretap that allegedly includes the voice of Domingo, NPR reports.
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