Axios

A federal initiative seeks to standardize metrics in the country's criminal justice system as states and police struggle to keep data on Latinos, Indigenous people, and Asian Americans.

Why it matters: States and police have varying data collection systems identifying people of color during arrests or incarceration, causing incomplete or incorrect statistics. Experts say that incomplete data make developing policies to address inequalities hard.

A new movie studio aimed at reaching Hispanic audiences launched this month with a mission to fill a content hole that Hollywood has left open, its founder tells Axios.

Why it matters: Latinos are huge moviegoers but represent a fraction of people in front of and behind the screen.

Tuesday marks Equal Pay Day in the U.S., which symbolizes how far into the year women in general must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. But for Latinas, this year's Equal Pay Day won't come until October, and for some specific groups, it will come even later.

Driving the news: Latinas working full time make 57 cents for every dollar a white non-Hispanic man earns. But recent data shows that a woman's country of origin also impacts the size of her wages.

The plan revealed on Monday by the U.S. and the U.K. to transfer nuclear-powered submarine technology to Australia shows how seriously the three countries are taking the military threat from China in the Indo-Pacific, analysts say.

The big picture: It's the first time in 65 years that the U.S. has shared the technology — and only the second time ever.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) weighed in on the war in Ukraine this week, aligning himself with former President Donald Trump, who has led the anti-war wing of the GOP.

Why it matters: DeSantis and Trump's opposition to ongoing U.S. support reflects a deep division within the Republican Party when it comes to Ukraine.

By brokering a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, China is trying to ensure two of its most important partners in the Middle East get along so Beijing can achieve its economic and political goals, experts say.

Why it matters: The Middle East has become a major battleground for influence as Washington and Beijing both seek to strengthen their ties and mend relations between their friends in the region.

U.S. dominance in the global weapons trade increased dramatically over the past five years, according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The big picture: Russia slipped to an increasingly distant second place, while China’s share of global exports stayed relatively flat.

Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denounced Monday U.S. travel warnings and American news reports of violence in his country as a smear against his administration, per AP.

Driving the news: The U.S. State Department has "do not travel" alerts in place for six Mexican states, "reconsider travel" recommendations for six others and "exercise increased caution" advisories for a further 17 states.

The testing ground for the Iran-Saudi normalization deal, announced on Friday and brokered by China, will be in Yemen.

Why it matters: The truce that halted fighting in Yemen expired in October, though diplomacy has continued and full-scale warfare hasn't resumed. The Saudis seem desperate to pull out after eight years fighting the Houthi rebels, who ousted a Saudi-allied government from the capital in 2015.

The White House on Monday unveiled details of a joint agreement with the U.K. and Australia to supply the latter nation with nuclear-powered submarines.

Why it matters: It's the first concrete step taken by the trilateral strategic partnership, known as AUKUS, that was announced in 2021 and seeks to counter China's influence across the Asia-Pacific region.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has assumed control of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and will ensure that depositors don't lose any money in the aftermath of these banks' collapse.

The big picture: SVB was the 2nd largest bank in history to fail, but the FDIC steps in to help bank failures more commonly than people realize: It has worked for depositors of hundreds of failed banks since 2001.

• Here's how the FDIC works:

Government and non-government representatives from Israel and several Arab countries are expected to convene on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi for three days to discuss cooperation in agriculture, water and food security, the organizers of the N7 initiative told Axios.

Why it matters: Relations between Israel and the Arab world are at one of their lowest points since the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2020.

Saudi Arabia initially approved a request for Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to enter the country this week for the UN World Tourism Organization conference, but wouldn't seriously discuss the diplomat's security details, effectively blocking his trip, three Israeli officials said.

The big picture: In the past, Israeli ministers used UN conferences and international sports competitions as a way to visit Arab countries that Israel didn't have diplomatic relations with, mainly the United Arab Emirates.

Silicon Valley Bank's U.K. business has been sold to HSBC for £1, the British government and bank announced on Monday morning.

Why it matters: Despite its name, the bank best known for serving startups as its customers is a global business, with outposts outside of the U.S. in Europe, Canada, Israel and a Chinese joint venture.