Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday paid a surprise visit to France and the United Kingdom, the latter of which has become one of the country's biggest backers in its war against Russia.
Why it matters: It's his second known trip out of Ukraine — and his first to Britain — since the invasion began in February 2022.
New satellite images from Turkey and Syria illuminate the extent of devastation facing the region after a massive earthquake and aftershocks struck on Monday, reducing neighborhoods to rubble and displacing thousands of people in the dead of winter.
Driving the news: The death toll surpassed 12,000 on Wednesday as search and rescue operations continued, with officials warning that the death toll will continue to rise.
Why it matters: Global sports organizations are still grappling with how to sanction Russia's invasion of Ukraine while upholding principles of fairness and individual opportunity.
A groundbreaking ruling by a human rights court on how the Bolivian justice system must treat sexual violence cases could reverberate throughout Latin America.
Why it matters:Latin America — and Bolivia specifically — have some of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world.
People in China are interpreting the Chinese spy balloon drama through the lens of alternative facts, propaganda, and censorship — underscoring how divergent information environments are deepening the chasm between the U.S. and China.
Why it matters: The balloon incident has genuinely alarmed a lot of Americans. Official Chinese statements about the nature of the airship make it harder for Chinese people to understand why Americans are reacting this way, and make the U.S. seem diplomatically unreliable.
The impacts of ateacher shortage across the country are particularly stark for bilingual students and English learners, advocates say.
The big picture: The Latino population has ballooned in the past decade, especially in cities in the South and East with historically lower numbers of Hispanics.
Rescue workers are in a "race against time" to find survivors trapped beneath the rubble of buildings that collapsed during Monday's deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
The big picture: Survivors and first responders described scenes of horror and shock as they attempted to dig through the debris to try to rescue those heard calling out beneath the rubble.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday he fears the world is "sleepwalking" into a wider war beyond Russia's invasion of Ukraine while it at the same time faces "a confluence of challenges unlike any other in our lifetimes."
Driving the news: Guterres urged countries to adhere to the UN charter and international law and to shift their decision-making processes from "near-term thinking" to those that consider "what will happen to all of us tomorrow."
Secretary of State Tony Blinken while in the Middle East last week asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for a temporary “pause” in certain actions each side opposes, including Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and Palestinian moves at the UN, U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The Biden administration is looking for ways to de-escalate the situation in the West Bank and prevent it from deteriorating into a third intifada. This includes a package of steps the U.S. hopes both Israel and the Palestinian Authority could take and others they would refrain from taking in order to lower tensions.
Hong Kong's largest national security trial opened on Monday for 16 prominent pro-democracy activists facing subversion charges under a 2020 law that stifled political dissent.
Why it matters: The trial, which is expected to last three months, will signal how the Hong Kong legal system will prosecute once-protected rights under Beijing's tightening grip.
Disney removed an episode of '"The Simpsons" from its streaming platform in Hong Kong that mentions "forced labor camps" in China, the Financial Times first reported Monday and Axios has confirmed.
Why it matters: It comes at a critical time for relations between Disney and the ruling Chinese Communist Party, and it's the latest sign of deteriorating freedoms in Hong Kong as Beijing tightens its grip on the former British colony.
