Axios

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen taunted Moscow that U.S.-led sanctions have impaired Russia's “ability to conduct war” and claimed their military is now scavenging to find crucial replacement parts for battlefield equipment.

Why it matters: Yellen made her comments in an interview with Axios in Johannesburg, South Africa, after warning government officials in Pretoria they shouldn’t violate U.S. sanctions.

Police say a gunman opened fire on worshippers at a Jerusalem synagogue Friday night local time, killing at least seven Israeli citizens and wounding three others in an incident that officials are describing as a terror attack.

The big picture: The gunman, who authorities identified as a Palestinian man from East Jerusalem, was also killed, police said. It's the deadliest attack on Israelis since the new right-wing government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, assumed office. It comes amid escalating tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. 

The Department of Justice on Friday announced three new arrests related to an alleged murder-for-hire plot to kill a New York-based journalist and human rights activist who was critical of the Iranian government.

Why it matters: The Justice Department alleged that the three arrested men were members of an Eastern European criminal organization with ties to Iran and were tasked with killing the victim, a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who was previously the target of other intimidation, harassment and kidnapping plots by the Iranian government.

CIA director Bill Burns arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday for visits to Israel and the occupied West Bank, where he is expected to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders and his counterparts on both sides, according to two U.S. sources with knowledge of the issue.

Why it matters: Burn’s visit was pre-planned but it takes place amid the most significant escalation of tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza in months.

A former Fox News employee who alleges its late CEO Roger Ailes sexually abused her for years is accusing the network of "enabling" it and "actively covering" it up. Fox News strongly denies the claims.

Driving the news: Former booker Laura Luhn alleges in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York against Fox News Network, its parent company 21st Century Fox and former network executive Bill Shine that Ailes "used his position as the head of Fox News to trap" her in a yearslong "cycle of sexual abuse."

Former employees of Russian propaganda broadcaster RT America have taken over its old studios in downtown D.C. and are ramping up a new media venture, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: RT was a key node in a Russian-backed media apparatus that U.S. intelligence agencies described as integral to Kremlin foreign influence operations.

Cuban American author Meg Medina was inaugurated Tuesday as the first Hispanic ambassador for young people's literature at the Library of Congress.

Why it matters: Young adult and children's literature has been diversifying in recent years, but several of those works have been targets of book bans.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday designated the Wagner Group, private Russian mercenary force that has become a key player in the war in Ukraine, as a significant transnational criminal organization.

Driving the news: The designation was made due to Wagner Group's work in "Kremlin-backed combat operations" and due to having "meddled and destabilized countries in Africa" the Treasury Department said in a statement.

It's not just your abuelita — many Hispanic parents worry a lot more than other parents about certain things, according to new data from Pew Research Center.

The big picture: Being a parent was already hard. But social media and the pandemic have made parenting a minefield.

The Palestinian Authority on Thursday suspended its security coordination with Israel after Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

Why it matters: The move is likely to escalate the situation in the West Bank even further and comes just days ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken's scheduled trip to the region, where he will meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the heightened tensions.

Recent excavations in Egypt have uncovered what could be the oldest mummy ever found in the country, a team of Egyptologists announced Thursday, AP reported.

Driving the news: An excavation near the Saqqara pyramids, about 19 miles south of Cairo, revealed several new ancient tombs dating back to the Fifth and Sixth dynasties of the Old Kingdom (about 2686-2181 B.C.), per ABC News.

Russia launched a new barrage of missile strikes on Ukraine Thursday, a day after the U.S. and Germany announced plans to send battle tanks to aid Ukraine's embattled military.

The latest: The strikes killed at least 11 people and wounded at least 11 others, Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, told national television.

Israeli forces killed at least nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, on Thursday during a raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The latest: Two rockets were fired from Gaza and intercepted by Iron Dome, the Israeli military said late Thursday. The Israeli military had said earlier that it was preparing for possible rocket fire from Gaza in retaliation for the Jenin raid.

Thousands of Australians protested Thursday the Australia Day national holiday marking the anniversary of a British fleet landing in the country for the first time on Jan. 26, 1788.

Why it matters: There are calls to change the date of the annual event that's also known as "Invasion Day," because of the devastating impact colonialism and its racist legacy had on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who'd lived in the country for tens of thousands of years before the British arrived — or abolish it altogether.