Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the U.S. delegation for the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, her press secretary Kirsten Allen said in a statement on Wednesday.
The big picture: Harris' visit to Tokyo will "underscore the importance of [Abe's] leadership in championing the alliance between the United States and Japan and advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific," Allen said.
Researchers may have just found evidence of the world's oldest amputation, dating back to the Stone Age, in a cave in Indonesia, according to a new study.
The big picture: The discovery means humans may have been practicing amputation earlier than previously thought without medical tools and medications that are deemed necessary today.
Barbara Leaf, the U.S. State Department’s most senior diplomat for the Middle East, had difficult meetings last week with Palestinian officials in Ramallah, Israeli and Palestinian officials say.
State of play: The Biden administration is trying to convince Palestinian leadership not to pursue a bid at the UN Security Council for full UN membership.
The Biden administration urged the Israeli government to take urgent steps to stabilize the Palestinian Authority, which officials say is increasingly weakening and losing its control in the occupied West Bank, two Israeli officials told me.
Why it matters: U.S. officials are deeply concerned that the deteriorating situation in the West Bank and an increase in violence could lead to a major crisis.
Israel on Wednesday rejectedthe U.S. call for it to review the Israel Defense Forces' rules of engagement in the West Bank as part of accountability steps for the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
Driving the news: State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday that the Biden administration will continue to press Israel “to closely review its policies and practices on rules of engagement” of the IDF in the occupied West Bank.
Six Gulf countries issued a joint statement on Tuesday asking Netflix to remove content they said "contradicts Islamic and societal values and principles."
Driving the news: The statement did not specify which material it deemed offensive. The countries warned they would take "necessary legal measures" if the content was not removed.
The big picture: More than 33 million people — roughly 15% of Pakistan's total population of 220 million — have been affected by the flooding, which Pakistani officials have tied to human-caused climate change.
Israeli and Lebanese officials see the upcoming visit of U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein as crucial to the efforts to reach a deal to end the maritime border dispute between Israel and Lebanon and de-escalate the situation.
Driving the news: Hochstein is expected to arrive in the region in the coming days to try to push the parties closer to an agreement, Israeli officials said.
The Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania announced Wednesday that they intend to block Russian citizens from entering their countries.
Why it matters: The move would seriously complicate the ability of Russians with Schengen visas to enter the European Union. The visas allow holders to travel freely within the bloc.
