An Israeli delegation held talks in Washington last week to try to convince the State Department and U.S. intelligence agencies to back Israel's designation of six Palestinian civil society groups as terrorist organizations, three Israeli officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The designation and other moves by Israel against the Palestinian NGOs over the last year led to harsh criticism from progressives in Washington, including members of Congress and liberal Jewish organizations.
Chinese authorities are collecting genetic information from residents across Tibet, according to two recent reports by research organizations in the U.S. and Canada.
Why it matters: The collection of genetic data, though important for scientific research and for criminal investigations, can present serious ethical concerns regarding consent, exploitation and genetic surveillance.
King Charles III received a warm welcome in Belfast on Tuesday while pledging to continue his mother's work of "healing of long-held hurts" within Northern Ireland.
Why it matters:Queen Elizabeth II, who died late last week, became a symbol of reconciliation toward the end of a three-decade-long period of sectarian violence known as "the Troubles."
Latinos are taking stock of their cultural heritage and adopting accent marks in their surnames as a show of pride.
Why it matters: Pressure to assimilate and technological shortcomings have forced many Latinos in the U.S. to ditch accent marks that would normally be in Hispanic surnames and change pronunciation in dramatic ways.
GUATEMALA CITY — The Biden administration could begin forcing more human smugglers arrested in other countries to face the U.S. justice system in an effort to crack down on the illegal networks booming throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Why it matters: The border crisis is both a humanitarian challenge and a sensitive political issue that Republicans have aggressively campaigned on, sometimes prompting Democrats in close midterm contests to criticize their own president.
An Alabama woman and New York City man have pleaded guilty to trying to fight for the ISIS terrorist group.
Driving the news: Arwa Muthana, 30, and her husband, James Bradley, 21, attempted to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS, prosecutors say. Bradley had also allegedly expressed a desire to support ISIS by committing a terror attack in the U.S.
Violent crime in the U.S. is a top concern for Chinese tourists considering travel there, according to new data from Morning Consult.
Why it matters: When Chinese tourists begin to venture back out into the world after COVID, U.S. gun violence may still keep them away, sending tourism dollars elsewhere and cutting back on opportunities for cross-cultural exchange.
Despite facing a rapidly advancing Ukrainian counter-offensive, the Kremlin insisted on Monday that Russia will continue to wage its war in Ukraine until all its military goals have been achieved.
The big picture: In one of its greatest setbacks of the war so far, Russian troops over the weekend were forced to withdraw from the areas surrounding Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, as Ukrainian troops pushed on into the region's northern, southern and eastern flanks.
The number of people living in modern slavery reached an estimated 50 million in 2021, marking a significant increase since 2016, according to a new report published Monday by the UN's labor agency.
The big picture: Overlapping crises — from the COVID-19 pandemic to climate change to armed conflicts — have caused "unprecedented disruption to employment and education" and increased extreme poverty, unsafe migration and gender-based violence, leading to a heightened risk of modern slavery, according to the report.
Mossad director David Barnea said at a counterterrorism conference Monday that the Israeli spy agency will continue its operations against Iran even if a nuclear deal is signed.
Why it matters: The Israeli government is opposed to a U.S. return to the 2015 nuclear deal. President Biden told Prime Minister Lapid the U.S. won't tie Israel's hands and prevent it from acting against Iran if a nuclear deal is reached.
Ukrainian forces continued advancing into the Kharkiv region's northern, southern and eastern flanks, Ukraine's military chief Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said on Telegram Sunday.
The latest: As Ukrainian officials reported Russia's forces responded by attacking infrastructure including power stations and causing widespread blackouts, Russian nationalists were calling on President Vladimir Putin to make immediate changes after his troops retreated from most of the Kharkiv region, per Reuters.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov criticized Russia's military after Ukrainian forces regained large swaths of territory from the Russian Army in Ukraine's northeast over the weekend.
Why it matters: Kadyrov is a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who appointed him leader of the Russian North Caucasus republic in 2007.
