Axios

The Chinese government released a plan on Tuesday aimed at boosting trade amid sagging global demand for the country's exports.

The big picture: After China dismantled its zero-COVID policies last December, its economy expanded 4.5% in the first quarter this year, faster than many analysts expected.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) is demanding that Secretary of State Antony Blinken make public a sensitive, 87-page review of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Why it matters: The rapid fall of Kabul to the Taliban was one of the toughest moments of Biden's presidency. Republicans are turning up the heat — demanding an internal review be made public and reviewing next steps to obtain a subpoenaed dissent cable.

Ada Limón will write a poem for space and collaborate with the National Park Service as she embarks on her historic second term as U.S. poet laureate, she told Axios Latino.

Driving the news: Limón was appointed last year for a one-year term and on Monday made history when she became the first U.S. poet laureate appointed to serve a two-year second term. She will now keep the title through 2025.

Latino workers are crucial to the oil and gas industry but remain vulnerable to pollution and the future transition to renewable energy jobs, lawmakers and business leaders say.

Driving the news: U.S. Reps. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) and Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), both from major oil and gas-producing states, said during an Axios Latino event last week that advocates and industry leaders need to do more to engage Latinos, especially workers, on climate change.

An activist who this week won the most prestigious environmental award for her work defending the Amazon said she hopes to motivate more people to stand up to polluting industries.

The big picture: Alessandra Korap, a leader of the Munduruku people in the Brazilian Amazon, was named a Goldman Environmental Prize winner on Monday for her fight against mining in the tribe's territory.

• Korap helped lead a campaign to pressure British mining company Anglo American to withdraw 27 permit applications for "mineral exploration and research."
• Gold mining in Munduruku and other territories has caused deadly mercury poisoning, according to NGOs and community leaders.
• Along with illegal logging and cattle-ranching, it has also contributed to record deforestation in the Amazon, which carries a worldwide impact.

What she's saying: Korap told Axios Latino that the prize is a recognition of environmental and Indigenous land protection fights other communities around the world also face. She also hopes people in other countries are encouraged to protect the planet.

• "The language is different, the people are different. But the battle is the same," said Korap, who speaks Portuguese.
• "The people shouldn't be afraid to fight. Shouldn't be afraid to defend their communities, children and forests. We have to continue resisting," she added.
• "It's not easy when the great and powerful have your land… but the strength should come from the river, the freedom of the bird to go where it wishes, from the forest [and] from the people."

Between the lines: Korap and other activists face great danger for their work in Latin America, which has been the deadliest region for environmental and land rights defenders in the past few years, according to annual reports from NGO Global Witness.

• Attacks on activists in Brazil are attributed mostly to illegal loggers, ranchers and miners.

Background: The Goldman Environmental Prize, or the "Green Nobel" as some know it, is awarded yearly to activists from six regions of the world in recognition of their grassroots work.

• The other winners this year are Delima Silalahi of Indonesia; Diane Wilson of the United States; Tero Mustonen of Finland; Chilekwa Mumba of Zambia; and Zafer Kizilkaya of Turkey.

Editor's note: At the request of the Goldman Environmental Prize, the dollar amount awarded to winners has been removed from this story for security reasons.

Axios Standards Editor Carlos Cunha contributed to this report.

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The editor-in-chief of a publishing house in Taiwan known for translating books critical of Beijing is believed to have been detained in China, fueling fears that freedom of speech may be under attack in Taiwan.

Why it matters: The self-governing island is the last Chinese-speaking region with an independent publishing industry still free to publish books critical of the Chinese Communist Party.

European leaders are condemning recent remarks by China's ambassador to France Lu Shaye denying that post-Soviet countries are sovereign nations.

The big picture: Though Beijing has said the remarks don't represent China's official position, Lu's cavalier attitude toward post-Soviet states combined with Beijing's close relationship with Russia amid its ongoing war on Ukraine have further alienated leaders in Western capitals.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken announced on Monday that the Sudanese military and Rapid Support Forces have agreed to a 72-hour cease-fire beginning at midnight local time.

The big picture: Previous attempts at a temporary cease-fire have failed. But there are hopes among the international community that if a truce can be implemented and holds, it can be the basis for negotiations for a permanent end to the fighting.

The American Library Association (ALA) on Monday released a list of the most challenged books of 2022.

The big picture: Libraries in every state faced yet another year of unprecedented attempts to ban books, the organization said.

If you haven't already submitted your passport application or renewal for summer travel, you could be out of luck and money.

The big picture: Surging international travel demand has created a backlog of passport applications with increased processing times of up to three months not counting shipping time, the State Department has warned.

India will overtake China as the most populous country this month, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs said on Monday, offering the most definitive timeframe on when the shift will take place.

Why it matters: China has had the world's largest population since at least 1950, when the UN started tracking population data. China ceding that title to India is expected to have geopolitical, economic and social implications in the two countries and worldwide.

Israel in a proposal given to the warring generals in Sudan offered to host the two sides for Israeli-mediated talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire agreement, three Israeli Foreign Ministry officials told Axios.

Driving the news: Israeli officials presented the proposal to Army chief Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) head Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo — known as Hemedti — after several separate calls between Israeli officials and the two generals showed some progress, the Israeli officials said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) praised the idea of a "strong Japan" during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other officials in Tokyo on Monday, while brushing off questions about his potential 2024 run.

Driving the news: Japan marks the first stop in DeSantis' four-country overseas trip, where the prospective 2024 presidential candidate will have a chance to dust off his foreign policy credentials.

Countries around the world spent a combined $2.24 trillion on their militaries last year, a 3.7% increase on last year's previous record high when adjusted for inflation, according to an annual report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The big picture: Many of the biggest increases came in Europe as countries responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. continued to top the chart, spending $877 billion on defense last year. That was more than the next 10 countries combined.

More governments have joined the U.S. in evacuating diplomatic staff from Sudan, as fighting between the Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary group entered a ninth day Monday.

The big picture: Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Egypt and Turkey were among the governments to announce evacuations from Sudan on Sunday, as officials expressed concern for foreigners still in the country who do not work in the diplomatic service.