National

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

Anti-government protests in Peru are entering their second month, with growing concern among human rights groups and political observers that the deadly police crackdown on demonstrators is leading to democratic backsliding in the country.  

State of play: About 60 people have died and more than 700 have been injured in the past month as protests have spread from rural areas to all over the nation.

The situation led authorities on Saturday to close Machu Picchu, stranding tourists in one of the most visited places in the world, and cutting off a major source of revenue for the country.

This weekend, police entered the largest public university to disperse protesters and detain students, who police said had illegally entered the building. The National University of San Marcos denounced it as an abuse of authority.

Catch up quick: The protests started in early December after former President Pedro Castillo was ousted and arrested for attempting to dissolve Congress during an impeachment vote. 

Dina Boluarte, who was vice president, replaced him — but Castillo's supporters want her to resign, accusing her of plotting with Congress, which they also want to dissolve and make way for immediate elections.  

Boluarte has said "if we have made mistakes in trying to achieve peace and calm then I apologize," and that she won't resign "in response to a minuscule group making the country bleed."

Boluarte has also claimed that the munitions linked to the deaths haven't come from police or armed forces.

What they're saying: The government's refusal to pull back police forces is indicative of a "dangerous transition towards authoritarianism," dozens of Peruvian political scientists and academics wrote in a letter published yesterday in several Peruvian newspapers.

That makes any dialogue unlikely, political scientist Paula Távara Pineda, of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, tells Axios Latino. 

"If there's no real action from the government ... I do fear we'll be stuck with no way to move on from this conflict, and that uncertainty about what comes next will only grow," she adds.

The protests have also grown to include those angry over the police crackdown, not just Castillo's supporters, Távara Pineda says.

Many of those killed during the protests are between 15 and 30 years old, according to the country's human rights ombudsman office. 

Many died from projectile or bullet-like wounds to the head and chest, according to a review of autopsy reports by the health news platform Salud con Lupa.

Edgar Stuardo Ralón Orellana, envoy to Peru from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, said last week there should be prompt investigations into potential excessive use of force by the government.

Police have not responded to any accusations of excessive use of force.

The big picture: What's happening in Peru is indicative of the growing disenchantment with government institutions that has been seen across Latin America, analysts say.

Protesters in Peru say the current Congress isn't representative of the people — especially Indigenous communities — and that the nation needs a new constitution.  

Only 1 in every 5 Latin Americans says democracy is working, and trust in Congressional bodies and judicial branches has plummeted, the premier regional poll Latinobarómetro conducted in 2020 and 2021.

This could be "paving the way for authoritarian populists who rail against a failed establishment" to rise in power in the region, warns a recent paper in Johns Hopkins' Journal of Democracy.

Subscribe to Axios Latino to get vital news about Latinos and Latin America, delivered to your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Peru's protest crackdown could lead to authoritarianism, experts say

About 60 people have died and more than 700 have been injured as protests have spread from rural areas to all over the nation.

a young person in pigtails in  Peru pushes against a row of police officers in riot gear

Protesters on Jan. 21 in Lima demand the release of students arrested at a university. Photo: Ernesto Benavides/AFP via Getty Images

Peru

Latin America and Latinos

The Washington Post slammed former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday after he downplayed slain columnist Jamal Khashoggi's credentials as a journalist, calling Pompeo's remarks "vile falsehoods."

Driving the news: In his new memoir, "Never Give An Inch," published Tuesday, Pompeo criticized the media’s coverage of Khashoggi’s brutal murder at the hands of Saudi Arabia.

“He didn’t deserve to die, but we need to be clear about who he was — and too many in the media were not,” Pompeo wrote in the book, according to NBC News, which obtained an advance copy.

Pompeo called Khashoggi's murder "ugly" but criticized what he perceived as the media's portrayal of Khashoggi as “a Saudi Arabian Bob Woodward who was martyred for bravely criticizing the Saudi royal family through his opinion articles in the Washington Post.” 

Pompeo — who also served as CIA director under Trump — called Khashoggi an "activist" and said he was a journalist only insofar as "I, and many other public figures are journalists. We sometimes get our writing published, but we also do other things," per NBC News.

What they're saying: Washington Post publisher and CEO Fred Ryan said in a statement Tuesday that it was "shocking and disappointing" to see Pompeo's book "so outrageously misrepresent" Khashoggi's life and work.

"Jamal dedicated himself to the values of free speech and a free press and held himself to the highest professional standards," Ryan said.

"It is shameful that Pompeo would spread vile falsehoods to dishonor a courageous man's life and service — and his commitment to principles Americans hold dear — as a ploy to sell books," he added.

The big picture: U.S. officials determined that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved the 2018 murder of Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to an unclassified report.

MBS has denied the allegation but has said he accepted "responsibility" because it "happened under my watch."

Biden was criticized last year after he shared a fist bump with MBS during a trip to Saudi Arabia. Biden once vowed to make the kingdom a "pariah," as U.S.-Saudi relations had been strained over a number of issues, including the murder of Khashoggi.

Washington Post blasts Pompeo's "shameful" remarks on Khashoggi

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 

Photo: Kyle Mazza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Saudi Arabia

China

Axios China

From press freedom to the judicial system, Beijing is seeking to erode the traditional political rights that once made Hong Kong the only free Chinese city. 

The big picture: Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement has already been crushed, but the city's institutions are not yet as compliant as those in mainland China. 

In 2020, Chinese authorities imposed tough national security legislation on Hong Kong that gave local authorities sweeping powers to detain and arrest people for broadly defined national security charges, making it nearly impossible for residents to push back against widening government repression. 

What's happening: Hong Kong authorities are reshaping the city's judicial system to ensure a guilty verdict for pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who is on trial for “colluding with foreign forces" under the national security law, The Wire China reports.

Hong Kong has traditionally allowed foreign lawyers to represent defendants at trial. When Lai chose a British lawyer who doesn't face the same pressures as local lawyers, Hong Kong authorities appealed to Beijing to block the selection, and immigration authorities denied the lawyer a visa. 

That appeal granted Beijing the power to block foreign lawyers from representing Hong Kong defendants in the future. A previous ruling in the lead-up to Lai's trial also gave the government power to deny him bail.

Hong Kong Chief Justice Andrew Cheung defended the city's judiciary last week, saying judges there "have all faithfully applied the law to the best of their ability, in accordance with the evidence presented before them."

Speech and press freedoms continue to deteriorate as well.

On Dec. 30, Hong Kong immigration authorities denied entry to a Japanese photographer who had photographed the 2019 protests in the city. 

Six people were arrested last week for selling a book about the 2019 protests and other materials that authorities deemed "seditious." 

What to watch: Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said last week that the Hong Kong government plans to enact a national security law in 2023 that will expand the range of activities prohibited under the current law.

Beijing's grip on Hong Kong tightens

The city's institutions are not yet as compliant as those in mainland China.

Illustration of a gavel cracking the Hong Kong flag

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Fewer and fewer Chinese Muslims in Taiwan practice the religion of their ancestors. The grandson of a famous Chinese Muslim general is trying to keep the faith alive.

The big picture: Chinese Muslim communities in Taiwan are small and dispersed, which can make it difficult to transmit their traditions across generations. But a recent wave of migrants from southeast Asia have infused new vitality into Islamic life in Taiwan.

What's happening: Mohammed Ma, a member of Taiwan's Hui Muslim community, travels around Taiwan educating Muslims about the basics of Islamic practice. He's also a self-taught halal butcher and provides fresh Taiwan-raised halal meat and halal certifications for the handful of halal butcher shops in Taipei.

Ma's maternal grandfather is Bai Chongxi, one of the 20th century's most famous Hui Muslims, who served as China's minister of national defense from 1946 to 1948 before fleeing with Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan in 1949. Bai is also revered among Hui Muslims for founding numerous Hui associations.

The resemblance between Ma and his grandfather is striking, and he seems to take his grandfather's legacy seriously. He serves as chairman of Taiwan's Hui Association, as well as a supervisor with the Association of Muslim Life Support Taipei. 

What he's saying: When Hui Muslims came from China, "they dispersed around Taiwan rather than forming concentrated communities," Ma told Axios in an interview. Many intermarried with members of the majority Han ethnic group. Three or four generations later, many of their descendants don't know the basics of Islamic practice, Ma said. 

So Ma holds classes teaching Muslims in Taiwan about what is "halal" (permitted) and "haram" (forbidden) in Islam.

He also serves as an informal social worker for Muslims here, including many migrants, when they face troubles at home or with the authorities.

"Most of what the Quran teaches is about relationships between people. ... So when Muslims here are having problems, they come find me and ask me to help," Ma said. "People call me their Muslim dad."

Background: Around 40,000 Hui Muslims fled China to Taiwan in 1949. Most were soldiers and generals from China's central and northwest regions, where Hui Muslims are concentrated.

The Hui are an ethnic group unique to China. They trace their ancestry back to Persian and Arab merchants and militias that arrived in China's northwest about a thousand years ago and intermarried with local Han Chinese women.

Several Hui Muslims feature prominently in Chinese history, including Zheng He, a 15th-century admiral who led huge fleets on expeditions around southeast Asia and India, sailing as far as the Horn of Africa and perhaps, some historians argue, even to California's coast.

But now, Ma said, there are now only about 20,000 people who identify as Hui in Taiwan. 

"In Taiwan, the Hui population is too small to sustain a cultural group," Ma Haiyun (no relation to Mohammed; Ma is a common surname among Hui Muslims), a professor at Frostburg State University in Maryland whose research focuses on Chinese Muslims, told Axios. 

"The good thing for the Hui Muslims in Taiwan is that they have a tolerant political and cultural environment," Ma Haiyun said, adding that in China, by comparison, Hui communities are much larger but Islam is tightly controlled.

Where it stands: Immigration is breathing new life into Muslim communities in Taiwan.

The Taipei Grand Mosque, the country's most famous Muslim house of worship, was built under Bai's supervision to accommodate the influx of Hui Muslims from China. But now most regular participants in Friday prayers there are Indonesian, Malaysian and Pakistani.

Today there are 11 mosques in Taiwan, several of which were founded to support new immigrant communities.

One man's struggle to keep Islam alive in Taiwan

Fewer and fewer Chinese Muslims in Taiwan practice the religion of their ancestors.

Mohammed Ma stands in front of a halal butcher shop in Taipei, Taiwan.

Mohammed Ma stands in front of a halal butcher shop in Taipei, Taiwan, on Jan. 12. Photo: Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian/Axios

Taiwan

China's shrinking population highlights the need for the country to build a more efficient and robust workforce, but analysts tell Axios that it won't be an easy task.

Why it matters: China's nearly 1 billion working-age population already peaked in 2014 and has dipped in the last few years. By 2100, China is projected to have a workforce size of less than 400 million, according to UN data last July. Harnessing the potential of existing workers will be key to maintaining economic productivity, experts say.

"The question is whether an increasingly autocratic dictatorship can unlock the value of human resources when so many of the things that an open society like Germany or Japan can count on are beyond their reach," said Nicholas Eberstadt, a political economist at the American Enterprise Institute, citing the institutional flexibility of advanced economies.

Driving the news: Following last week's population announcement, Beijing underscored the importance of retraining the country's workers.

"We should not only look at the quantity of the demographic dividend but also its quality," Qu Hongbin, vice chairman of the China Chief Economist Forum, told a state media outlet this week. 

China can continue to improve its human capital, and educational investments can counter the risks of a shrinking workforce, he said.

What they're saying: China needs to create more high-wage, high-value jobs because jobs based on cheap labor are expected to move away from the country due to geopolitical tensions and as other countries like India become bigger manufacturing hubs, said Zak Dychtwald, founder of market insights firm Young China Group.

That will leave a large swath of its population vulnerable to income loss, Dychtwald told Axios. 

"China’s population decline means fewer people need to support more economic weight. Fewer people working the same jobs as before will not cut it," he said.

Joseph Chamie, an independent demographer and former director of the UN Population Division, shared similar views. "Technology will play an increasingly important role in China's economic productivity," he said, adding that robots could be an answer to aging societies.

By the numbers: By 2030, up to 220 million Chinese workers may need to switch occupations due to automation, according to a McKinsey report in 2021. 

The changing workforce landscape will also bring challenges for China's 292 million migrant workers — unskilled laborers who move from China's rural areas into cities to seek jobs mainly in construction and manufacturing, the McKinsey report said. Many can't access quality training programs and have limited capacities to make work transitions.

State of play: Since 2017, the Chinese government has pushed the country to transition from "high-speed" to "high-quality" development. In its manufacturing sector, the government has prioritized the transition from making low-valued products to those based on advanced technology, which it hopes will drive economic growth in the future.

In 2020, the government also recommended delaying the legal retirement ages “gradually." In another document the following year, Beijing hinted that it could start implementing the measures nationwide by 2025.

Currently, the country has some of the lowest retirement ages in the world, with men retiring at 60 and most women at 55. 

Analysts have argued that as China's population continues to age, it will create further strain on the country's already underfunded pension system.

Between the lines: Although the Chinese government has highlighted the progress it has made in education and worker protections in recent years, significant barriers remain.

Chinese women earn 12% less on average than men, and nearly 40% of them feel marriage and childbearing dim their career prospects, according to a report last year by online recruitment platform Zhilian Zhaopin.

China revised its law on the protection of women's rights last year, explicitly banning gender-based discrimination in hiring practices, but some experts say more protections and tighter enforcement are needed.

"As China’s workforce grows older, it becomes ever more important to provide meaningful labor protections against pervasive workplace discriminations that are often systematically based on gender and age," Zhou Yun, a demographer and assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan, told Axios.

The bottom line: Building a more efficient workforce can mitigate the impacts of population decline on China's economy, but there are limitations.

"Qualitative upgrades can only go so far," said Paul Morland, a British demographer and associate research fellow at the University of London.

"China’s population is already quite well-educated. There is no substitute to raising the birth rate," he added.

Go deeper: Why China's growth and population declines matter for the world

China wants a more efficient workforce but analysts say that will be tough

By 2100, China is projected to have a workforce size of less than 400 million.

Chinese factory workers on a car assembly line

Employees on a Chinese EV startup assembly line in Zhejiang province last October. Photo: Hu Xiaofei/VCG via Getty Images

Tel Aviv

Axios from Tel Aviv

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman on Tuesday and committed to maintaining the status quo in Jerusalem, according to a senior Israeli official.  

Why it matters: It was Netanyahu's first foreign trip since he returned to the prime minister post a month ago. It was also the first meeting between the two leaders, whose relationship had been strained when Netanyahu was last in power, since June 2018.   

The big picture: Jordan has already summoned Israel's ambassador for urgent meetings this year due to incidents at Jerusalem's Temple Mount, also known as the Haram al-Sharif or the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. 

Tensions in Jerusalem intensified two weeks ago, when Israel's ultranationalist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the Temple Mount, drawing widespread condemnation and concern over whether Israel would maintain the status quo at the religiously sensitive site. 

The compound, which is considered the holiest site for Jews and the third holiest for Muslims, is administered by the Jordanian Islamic Waqf and protected by the Israeli police, per the status quo rules.

Behind the scenes: A senior Israeli official said Tuesday's meeting lasted two hours and was held in a good atmosphere. A big part of the meeting dealt with security cooperation between the countries and the situation at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

“I have been to many meetings between Netanyahu and the king and this one was one of their best meetings," Israeli minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer said.

Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s domestic security service Shin Bet and in charge of security in the West Bank and Jerusalem, attended the meeting, which also included the head of the Jordanian general intelligence service.

What they're saying: “King Abdullah stressed in his meeting with Netanyahu the importance of respecting the historical and legal status quo at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound," the royal court said in a statement.

Netanyahu told the king that the new Israeli government is committed to preserving the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem, a senior Israeli official told Axios. 

According to the royal court, the king stressed the need to maintain calm and cease all acts of violence "in order to pave the way for a political horizon for the peace process, calling for an end to any measures that could undermine peace prospects."

"The King reaffirmed Jordan’s steadfast support of the two-state solution, which guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with Israel in peace and security," the royal court said. 

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said the two leaders discussed regional issues and the strategic, security and economic cooperation between the two countries "which contributes to regional stability".

“Netanyahu and King Abdullah stressed the long-standing friendship and partnership between Israel and Jordan," the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said.

According to the royal court statement, "discussions also covered bilateral ties and the need for the Palestinian people to benefit from economic and regional projects." 

Netanyahu meets Jordan's king and commits to status quo in Jerusalem

It was Netanyahu's first foreign trip since returning to the Israeli prime minister's post a month ago.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Jordan's King Abdullah II , during a visit to Amman on January 16, 2014. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Jordan's King Abdullah II  during a visit to Amman on Jan. 16, 2014. Photo: Handout/Jordanian royal court via Getty Images

Jerusalem

Israel

Data: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; Chart: Jacque Schrag/Axios

In an annual update announced Tuesday morning, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the symbolic Doomsday Clock to 90 seconds to midnight.

Why it matters: The setting moves the clock's hands closer to midnight than it has ever been before.

The clock is a figurative tracker of the world's proximity to total human-caused destruction. The clock's hands are moved closer to midnight to suggest humanity is nearer to self-made catastrophe, and farther when that risk appears to fade.

The big picture: Since its inception in 1947, the Doomsday Clock was initially used to represent the danger posed by nuclear weapons. It has since evolved to take into account the risks posed by climate change, bioweapons, and disinformation.

The move forward closer to midnight was due "largely, though not exclusively, because of the mounting dangers in the war in Ukraine," Rachel Bronson, current president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said at the press conference Tuesday.

"Russia’s thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict—by accident, intention, or miscalculation—is a terrible risk. The possibility that the conflict could spin out of anyone’s control remains high," the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists said in a press release.

The group also highlighted other factors that played a role in the clock's setting.

Among these are "China’s considerable expansion of its nuclear capabilities" and North Korea's increase in its missile testing.

The climate crisis also continues to pose an existential threat, with global carbon dioxide emissions rebounding from their pandemic low and climate change-linked extreme weather events abounding.

Bio-threats are also a concern. "Devastating events like the COVID-19 pandemic can no longer be considered rare, once-a-century occurrences," the press release noted.

The press release added that "cyber-enabled disinformation continues unabated," pointing to instances of strict information control in Russia as an example. In the U.S., political opposition prevented the creation of a “Disinformation Governance Board” proposed by the Department of Homeland Security, it added.

Catch up quick: Since 2020, the clock had remained at 100 seconds to midnight, the closest it had ever been until this year's new setting.

The past year has been marked by heightened fears of nuclear war stemming from Russia's war in Ukraine as well as extreme weather events.

War in Ukraine pushes Doomsday Clock forward

The setting moves the clock's hands closer to midnight than it has ever been before.

Science

A look at the scientific breakthroughs changing the world, explorations in space and in worlds beyond our own and the threats posed to us by our own planet, both out of our control and of our own making.

Several high-profile Ukrainian officials were fired or resigned on Tuesday, as President Volodymyr Zelensky seeks to contain allegations of corruption.

Why it matters: The shakeup, the government's largest since the start of the war last February, comes at a critical moment as Western nations debate whether to send tanks to Ukraine in accordance with requests from Kyiv.

Driving the news: The ousters follow allegations that the Ukrainian military was overpaying for food for Ukrainian troops, the New York Times reported.

State of play: Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov resigned following the allegations, the Defense Ministry confirmed in a statement Tuesday. Though the ministry called the accusations "unfounded and baseless" it said Shapovalov's resignation would "preserve the trust of society and international partners."

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, submitted his resignation on Monday, he confirmed in a Telegram post Tuesday. 

No reason was given but Tymoshenko had been criticized in local media for his "lavish lifestyle and use of government resources," per the Times.

Deputy prosecutor general Oleksiy Symonenko has been dismissed from his post, the prosecutor general’s office confirmed on Telegram Tuesday. His removal comes after social media posts revealed he'd gone on vacation to Spain in December, NPR reported.

Zelensky also ousted five regional governors on Tuesday— Valentyn Reznichenko of Dnipropetrovsk oblast, Oleksandra Starukha of Zaporizhzhia oblast, Oleksiy Kuleba of Kyiv oblast, Dymtro Zhivytskyi of Sumy oblast and Yaroslav Yanushevich of Kherson oblast, Cabinet Secretary Oleg Nemchinov confirmed in a Telegram post.

Nemchinov also confirmed the dismissal of two deputy ministers from Ukraine’s Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories.

Ukraine’s deputy infrastructure minister, Vasyl Lozinskiy, was detained over the weekend for allegedly embezzling $400,000 intended for purchasing aid, according to Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau. Zelensky confirmed on Telegram Sunday that Lozinskiy had been dismissed from his post.

The big picture: The present corruptions scandals are much smaller than previous scandals that rocked older administrations, per the Wall Street Journal. However, Zelensky had run for president on an anti-corruption platform.

Zelensky alluded to the shakeup in his nightly address Monday, saying, "personnel decisions" had been made "regarding officials of various levels in ministries and other central government bodies, in the regions, and in the law enforcement system."

Zelensky also announced in Telegram post Monday that he'd signed a new decree restricting government officials from traveling abroad when not on official business.

"Officials will no longer be able to travel abroad for vacation or for any other non-governmental purpose," Zelensky said.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, tweeted Tuesday that Zelensky's personnel decisions were intended to ensure that no persons were above the law.

Zelensky “directly responds to a key public demand — justice for all," he wrote.

Several Ukrainian leaders ousted amid corruption allegations

The shakeup is the government's largest since the start of the war last February.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with his Finnish counterpart in Kyiv, on Jan. 24. Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

Ukraine

Generate

Axios Generate

The eastern Horn of Africa just saw an unprecedented fifth straight failed rainy season on record, making it the longest and most severe drought in 70 years of precipitation data.

The region is likely headed for a sixth poor rainy season this spring, a new forecast warns. 

Why it matters: The drought has tipped the region, which encompasses much of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, into widespread severe food insecurity. It has also driven Somalia to the brink of famine. 

State of play: More than 1.3 million people in Somalia have been forced to leave their farms and migrate to seek food in displacement sites. 

About 8.3 million Somalis are at risk of famine if more humanitarian assistance is not delivered soon, according to the International Rescue Committee, an aid group. 

The big picture: The ongoing drought has its roots in a combination of human-induced global warming and La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

La Niña can temporarily reconfigure global weather patterns, bringing increased rainfall to Indonesia, whereas eastern Africa tends to see reduced rains. 

The warming climate worsens droughts by boosting air temperatures and enhancing evaporation from soils and vegetation. 

Globally, ocean temperatures are also increasing rapidly, which tilts the odds in favor of wet and dry precipitation extremes. 

What they're saying: The Famine Early Warning Systems Network called the rainfall totals for the most recent October through December period "grim" in a statement issued Monday. 

"Five inches or so of rain, over three months, in a very hot region, is very close to no rainfall," Chris Funk, research director at the University of California at Santa Barbara's Climate Hazards Center, said in a statement.

Threat level: The Horn of Africa has two rainy seasons per year, one from March to May, and another from October to December. 

The Hazards Center predicts the sixth straight failed wet season from March to May of this year, as La Niña's effects are expected to linger. 

The drought is worsening a humanitarian crisis at a time when parts of the region are in conflict, a type of scenario national security planners expect the U.S. and other countries will encounter more frequently abroad due to global warming. 

Horn of Africa may see record sixth straight failed rainy season

The rare "triple dip La Niña" plus climate change has yielded an extended, intense drought.

A woman tries to get clean water in Kajiado, Kenya, during a severe drought.

A woman tries to get clean water in Kajiado, Kenya on Nov. 13, 2022. Photo: Gerald Anderson/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Africa

Climate change

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" breakout star Tenoch Huerta called out colorism in the film and television industry during an event at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah this past weekend.

Details: Huerta, who made the remarks at a Latinx House event, said Latinos with lighter complexions are cast more often than actors with darker complexions, like him. 

When Latino actors are cast, he noted, they are often portrayed as stereotypical characters such as criminals or nannies.

"Black Panther" actor Tenoch Huerta calls out Hollywood colorism

Latinos account for nearly 19% of the U.S. population but represent about 7% of film leads.

Tuesday's world stories