Why it matters: Malpass' exit, expected by the end of June, comes months after calls grew from him to step down after he declined to acknowledge the scientific consensus that fossil fuels were warming the planet.
Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda died from poisoning nearly 50 years ago, his family says, based on a new report from forensic scientists.
The big picture: The cause of Neruda's death has been the subject of debate for decades.
The Biden administration is discussing additional steps it can take in response to Israel's latest announcement on settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, U.S. officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The Israeli Cabinet decision on Sunday to legalize nine illegal outposts and approve the planning and building of close to 10,000 housing units in existing settlements in the occupied West Bank was the single biggest settlement announcement ever made.
A senior U.S. delegation traveled to Saudi Arabia this week for talks with six Gulf countries on Iran and security cooperation in the region.
Why it matters: It's the first senior U.S. delegation to travel to the kingdom since a crisis erupted over oil production, which led the Biden administration to announce it was reevaluating its relations with Riyadh.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is expected to visit Israel next week with a delegation of Senate Democrats for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials, Israeli Foreign Ministry officials told Axios.
The big picture: Democrats in Congress are increasingly voicing their concerns over Netanyahu’s controversial judicial overhaul plan and its implications for Israel’s democracy and the bilateral U.S.-Israel relationship.
The European Union is expected to impose sanctions on seven entities connected to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that the bloc says are involved in the delivery of drones to Russia for its war against Ukraine, two senior EU officials said.
The big picture: One senior EU official told Axios the bloc is "much more concerned" about Iran's weapons support for Russia than it was before. "The IRGC is much more the focus than it used to be, and there is a real change of mindset." Until recently, most of the EU focus was on Iran's nuclear program and not on the IRGC military activity abroad.
Close trade ties between China and Europe once guaranteed warm relations. But those economic links are now facing scrutiny as Europe’s view on Beijing has soured.
What’s happening: China was planning to send a delegation of Xinjiang officials to Brussels, but that trip has been postponed amid outrage from human rights groups who called the possible visit a “charm offensive.”
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made the unexpected announcement Wednesday that she would be resigning from government after eight years in the role.
Driving the news: The four men — three U.S. citizens and a legal permanent resident in Florida — plotted to "remove President Moise from office by either killing or kidnapping him in order to replace him with a candidate who would serve their political goals and financial interests," according to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The Russian government has systematically relocated at least 6,000 children from Ukraine since the start of its invasion last February, according to a report published Tuesday by Conflict Observatory, a program supported by the U.S. Department of State that tracks evidence of alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The big picture: Children aged four months to 17 years old were taken to camps or other facilities, the majority of which engaged in pro-Russia reeducation efforts, with some even providing military training, per the report, which was done in partnership with Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab.
The Palestinian Authority is talking to members of the UN Security Council about a possible resolution against Israeli government policy, mainly around the latest decision to expand the settlements in the occupied West Bank, Israeli, Palestinian and U.S. officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The Biden administration opposes any unilateral moves by Israel, including settlement expansion, that would hurt efforts to negotiate a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If the resolution is introduced and passed, it will likely force the U.S. to decide whether to use its veto to support Israel, which it has repeatedly done in the past.
A Nicaraguan bishop who refused to get on a plane with hundreds of other political prisoners to go into exile in the U.S. has been sentenced to 26 years in prison, according to a Nicaraguan justice system statement.
The big picture: The prosecution of Rolando Álvarez, a political prisoner who was first arrested in August, comes as the government of President Daniel Ortega has increasingly cracked down on dissent.
U.S. forces shot down an airborne object over Michigan's Lake Huron on Sunday afternoon, the fourth such downing in the past eight days.
The big picture: The chain of events — perhaps based on increased vigilance rather than fresh threats — has no peacetime precedent, Defense officials said.
The U.S. intelligence community has had no indication so far that the three unidentified objects shot down over the weekend were tied to external espionage efforts, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday.
The big picture: The downing of four aerial objects this month has captured the nation's attention, with Defense officials saying the chain events has no peacetime precedent.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to temporarily allow earthquake aid to flow through two new border crossings from Turkey into rebel-held areas of northern Syria, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday.
Why it matters: First responders and activists have strongly criticized the UN and international community for their slow response in getting aid to the millions in northern Syria affected by this month's deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake and dozens of aftershocks.
Balloons have some advantages over satellites when it comes to surveillance, but also carry different risks — as Beijing recently learned when the U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon that flew into U.S. airspace earlier this month.
Why it matters: The U.S. and China are nowembroiled in a deepening dispute over high-altitude balloons that is threatening to further derail the bilateral relationship.
New Zealand's government declared a nationwide state of emergency in response to Cyclone Gabrielle's heavy rains and destructive winds that caused widespread flooding, landslides and power outages and forced hundreds of people to evacuate this week.
Why it matters: NZ's third-ever national emergency was declared Tuesday as weather agency MetService warned the effects of the storm that closed over 30 state highways and caused "the shutdown of air, sea, and rail transport" across the North Island will be felt long after it moves away early Wednesday.
The U.S. State Department issued a statement on Monday supporting the Philippines after the country accused a Chinese Coast Guard ship of using a "military-grade" laser to temporarily blind a Filipino crew in the South China Sea.
The big picture: The episode involving a Philippine Coast Guard ship is the latest sign of rising tensions in the region after the Philippines and the U.S. reached a military agreement earlier this month.
Equatorial Guinea has confirmed its first-ever outbreak of the Marburg virus disease, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
Driving the news: At least nine recent deaths in the countryhave been linked to the Marburg virus, which is highly infectious and has a fatality rate of up to 88%, the WHO said.
/2023/02/13/1676326802293.gif?w=3840)
