President Biden is planning a multi-country trip to Africa next year, with an announcement expected to be made at this week’s U.S.-Africa summit, two sources familiar with the plans told Axios.
Why it matters: U.S. officials want the summit to be a mixture of substance and symbolism. The Biden administration hopes that announcing a presidential visit to sub-Saharan Africa will send a clear signal that the U.S. is serious about deepening ties to the continent.
Fearing international backlash, Iran wants to limit the range of the missiles it plans to provide Russia for the war in Ukraine, four senior Israeli officials told Axios, citing intelligence reports.
Why it matters: Iranian ballistic missile deliveries to Russia could violate a UN Security Council resolution and trigger a "snapback" mechanism, which would reimpose UN sanctions on Iran.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will skip his annual marathon December news conference this year for the first time in a decade, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday, according to Russian state media.
Why it matters: Putin's cancellation comes as Russia's militaryfaces severalsetbacks in its war in Ukraine and Western sanctions continue to erode the country's economy.
Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, as long as they do not compete under their nations’ flags or colors, Susanne Lyons, chair of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) board of directors, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Monday.
Why it matters: Lyons was backing an idea proposed by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach last week to allow the athletes to compete despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Belarus' support of the invasion.
The big picture: It's the second known execution in less than a week related to the anti-government protests that began after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Peru authorities confirmed two deaths during ongoing protests demanding fresh elections and the resignation of new President Dina Boluarte, as thousands of demonstrators were reported on streets across the country Sunday.
The latest: Boluarte responded to the calls by announcing in a televised address a proposal for Congress to bring forward the next general elections to April 2024, per AP.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked President Biden for his "unprecedented" support as the U.S. leader highlighted how the U.S. was prioritizing efforts to strengthen Ukraine's air defense during a phone call Sunday.
The big picture: Zelensky also spoke with the presidents of France and Turkey Sunday as he pushes for more international assistance 10 months into the war, in the face of sustained Russian aerial bombardments that have targeted critical infrastructure and caused widespread blackouts.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Sunday that Iran's neighbors around the Gulf would take measures to strengthen their own security if Iran were to obtain a nuclear weapon.
The big picture: Talks to revive the 2015 Iran deal have stalled in recent months, with U.S. envoy for Iran Rob Malley admitting in October that the talks were not the Biden administration's "focus right now."
The U.S. is still "negotiating" for the release of detained American Paul Whelan, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
Driving the news: Kirby said that the U.S. made a "very serious, specific proposal made to the Russians" to secure the release of Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner together, but "it just didn't land anywhere ... with the Russians."
U.S. Central Command forces killed two ISIS officials, including a Syrian province official, in a helicopter raid on Sunday morning.
Driving the news: The raid, which took place in eastern Syria at 2:57am local time, killed ISIS Syria province official Anas, who was involved in plotting and running deadly terrorist attacks in the area, per a press release.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia this week was a result of "bad American policy," former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told "Fox News Sunday."
Driving the news: Xi's four-day visit to Saudi Arabia included three summits with several Arab leaders and came at a time of heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Biden administration, primarily over oil production in recent months.
A Libyan man suspected of making a bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 and killed 270 people, including 190 Americans, was taken into U.S. custody on Sunday, AP reports.
Why it matters: Abu Agela Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi was taken into U.S. custody roughly two years after the U.S. announced charges against him, alleging that new evidence indicated Mas’ud had created the explosive device.
Ukraine struck the southern Russian-occupied city of Melitopol on Saturday, according to Ukrainian and Russian-backed officials.
Why it matters: Ivan Fedorov, the exiled Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, said on social media 200 Russians were killed or injured, while Russia's installed regional governor, Yevgeny Balitsky, said two died and 10 were injured in the attack.
China is setting up new intensive care facilities in response to rising COVID-19 cases, AP reports.
Driving the news: Some Chinese cities, including Beijing, are facing outbreaks, which has forced some businesses to close due to infected workers, Reuters reports.
