Fugees rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel was convicted Wednesday for his role in a multibillion-dollar scheme to ransack Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB.
The big picture: After a trialfeaturing high-profile witnesses including Leonardo DiCaprio and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Michel was found guilty on 10 counts — including conspiracy, acting as an agent of a foreign government and witness tampering.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Wednesday that he could face life in prison on new charges that Russian authorities have leveled against him.
Why it matters: Navalny, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critics, is already serving combined prison sentences of more than 11 years.
Several UN agencies and international aid groups issued a series of dire warnings this week as the humanitarian situation in Sudan worsened amid 11 days of fighting between the Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary group for control of the country.
The big picture: More than 450 people have been killed and at least 4,072 people have been injured since the fighting between the Sudanese military and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted. Several hospitals have been forced to close, aid agencies have suspended or significantly scaled back their operations and the country is facing growing shortages of basic supplies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskysaid on Wednesday that he'd had a "long and meaningful call" with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Why it matters: It was the first known call between Xi and Zelensky since Russia invaded Ukraine. Xi has offered himself as a mediator in the conflict, but he made a lengthy state visit to Moscow and has offered diplomatic cover for the invasion.
President Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will sign a declaration on nuclear coordination during Yoon's visit to Washington this week in response to "provocations" from North Korea, senior U.S. officials briefed reporters.
Why it matters: North Korea's nuclear breakthroughs and unprecedented increase in missile testing have inflamed debate in South Korea about whether the country can still entrust its security to its nuclear-armed ally in Washington. In the new "Washington Declaration," Biden will announce new measures to coordinate with Seoul and deter Pyongyang, while Yoon will re-commit to non-proliferation.
Driving the news: Biden administration officials did not identify the suspect's name, but said he was a leader of the ISIS Afghanistan chapter known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, and that he was killed in early April.
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 andthe 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.
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 alsoface. 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-chiefof a publishing house in Taiwan known for translating books critical of Beijing is believed to havebeen 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 condemningrecent 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.
