Axios

The U.S. will designate the Wagner Group, a private Russian mercenary company currently deployed in Ukraine, as a "significant transnational criminal organization" and will announce additional sanctions against the group, the White House said on Friday.

Why it matters: The U.S. believes Wagner has about 50,000 personnel deployed to aid Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Last month, the White House said the group recently received weapon supplies in the form of infantry rockets and missiles from North Korea.

A Texas school district canceled two book events with bestselling author Emma Straub over her use of profanity on social media.

Driving the news: Straub, known for her novels "The Vacationers" and "All Adults Here," traveled to Houston last week on a book tour for her new children's book, "Very Good Hats," but arrived to find that her readings were canceled over parents' complaints "about something they’d seen on my social media," the author said in a Substack newsletter post.

DAKAR, Senegal — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen used her first speech on African soil to take direct aim at Russia — citing the war in Ukraine as the leading cause of African misery — and to call on China to offer debt relief to struggling economies.

Why it matters: Yellen’s ten-day trip is designed to highlight what the U.S. can offer Africa, and not dwell on where other countries fall short. But Russia’s military aggression and China’s unyielding approach to indebted, poor countries, is the unavoidable background music to Yellen’s three-country tour.

Clashes erupted in Lima between Peru's police and protesters on Thursday, as thousands took to the streets in the capital and across the country to call for President Dina Boluarte's resignation.

Details: A historic building caught fire in the capital as riot police fired tear gas and demonstrators, many from the predominantly Indigenous south, threw stones during the latest demonstration unrest, which was originally sparked by the ousting of Peru's detained former President Pedro Castillo.

The U.S. plans to send Ukraine a roughly $2.5 billion shipment of arms and equipment, the Department of State announced Thursday.

Driving the news: The package includes hundreds of additional armored vehicles, including Stryker armored combat vehicles and Avenger air defense systems, "to support Ukraine as it bravely defends its people, its sovereignty, and its territorial integrity," per the State Department.

The global energy transition was near the top of the agenda at this week's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, whether it was the carbon-cutting potential of everything from green hydrogen to AI, or tensions between the U.S. and Europe over climate-related subsidies.

The flipside: Less discussed in the halls and in the sessions, at least the ones Axios attended, was the debt crisis in the developing world. But the link between those two issues will have lasting ramifications.

Maine on Thursday joined North Carolina and Wisconsin this month in barring state employees from using TikTok on government-issued devices.

The big picture: The three are the latest states to do so, joining more than 20 others, including Texas, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and South Dakota, after the FBI warned of possible threats to national security posed by the Chinese-owned social media platform.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shocked many when she announced her impending resignation, citing burnout, but some of the burdens she has faced are familiar to women leaders around the world.

The big picture: The vitriol aimed at Ardern during her tenure reflects wider trends that directly impact many women in politics.

DAVOS, Switzerland — UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk tells Axios he's determined not to get caught up in "the whirlwind of geopolitics" or "any agenda" in the role he assumed in October.

Flashback: In the final hours of her tenure, Türk's predecessor Michelle Bachelet defied intense pressure from Beijing to release a report accusing the Chinese government of "serious human rights violations" in Xinjiang.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in a private meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday raised the Israeli government’s plan to overhaul the country's judicial system, U.S. officials briefed on the meeting told Axios.

Why it matters: It is the first time that a senior Biden administration official has discussed the issue directly with Netanyahu. The Biden administration is concerned the plan could harm the independence of the Israeli judicial system and other democratic institutions.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says it is making $5.5 million in grants available to Hispanic-serving higher-education institutions for research on housing and community issues.

Driving the news: HUD announced Thursday that the grants will go to schools to establish research centers that will study housing and community development.

Latino podcasters are making major inroads with audiences.

Why it matters: Latinos are telling their own stories — and bringing in big audiences — in the world of podcasting, an industry that's expected to generate $4 billion a year in advertising by 2024.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and discussed ways to broaden the Abraham Accords and reach a breakthrough that could lead to the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

Why it matters: Netanyahu has set normalization with Saudi Arabia as one of his two main foreign policy goals. But Israeli officials admit that it won't be possible if relations between Riyadh and Washington remain tense.

Pages from the original Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, a document that transformed the American Southwest, are headed to a museum in Denver on the 175th anniversary of its signing.

Why it matters: The treaty ended the U.S.-Mexico War and greatly expanded the United States territory. Its impact on the lives of people living in the region and their nationality is still the focus of conversations today.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is kicking off her 10-day trip to Africa with a promise that America is committed to the continent through good times and bad.

Why it matters: The Biden administration is trying to counter China’s entrenched influence and infrastructure in the region by offering African countries an alternative path on economic and political security.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday urged his Western partners to deliver Ukraine "the vaccine against Russian tyranny" — more sophisticated weapons, particularly longer-range missiles.

What he's saying: “The vaccine against Russian tyranny is available. There is a list of countries that have it, there is a list of what we need. There doesn’t have to be dialogue, just do it," Zelensky said in a virtual address to a breakfast event packed with Western officials and billionaires in Davos.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will step down as leader on Feb. 7 and the country will hold an election on Oct. 14, she abruptly announced on Thursday.

Why it matters: Ardern rose to global prominence for her response to the country's worst mass shooting, the 2019 terrorist attack on two Christchurch mosques, after which she led Parliament in passing sweeping gun control measures. She was praised for her leadership during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

An American businesswoman was sentenced to two years in prison Wednesday for illegally lobbying the former Trump administration to drop an investigation into a multibillion-dollar Malaysian embezzlement scheme and to return a dissident to China, per AP.

Driving the news: Nickie Mali Lum Davis pleaded guilty in 2020 to aiding and abetting the violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act following her failed lobbying campaign attempts that sought to persuade the Trump administration to drop the probe into Malaysian state fund 1MDB and fugitive businessman Jho Low in exchange for millions of dollars.

Top Chinese officials told Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen they are optimistic China can return to normal economic growth and avoid a crisis in its property sector, according to a Treasury official.

Why it matters: China’s economy is somewhat of a black box. The Biden administration — not to mention every investor with a Bloomberg Terminal — is eager to gain a better understanding.