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China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

Sneak Peek

Axios Sneak Peek

Axios World

The Biden administration is working to finalize an executive order to restrict outbound investments in China’s defense industry, aiming to release it later this summer, according to two sources familiar with the matter. 

Why it matters: The proposed regulations represent a novel approach by the Biden administration to prevent China from gaining a military advantage in certain targeted technologies. But new regulations are always complicated, and the administration wants to avoid unintended consequences and uncertainty for U.S. investors.

Biden officials, especially at the Treasury Department, have worked to convince European and G7 allies of the need to coordinate their efforts, which has slowed down the release of the U.S. executive order.

At the G7 summit in Japan, clear progress was made on the international front, a senior administration official told Axios.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the precise timing of the executive order.

What they're saying: "While each of the G7 countries may not act on the same timeline and in the exact same way, vis-a-vis outbound, I think there was a shared assessment of the challenge we face," the senior administration official told Axios.

There was also "a shared assessment that outbound investment tools are an important part of the toolkit that we all need," and that all G7 members must ultimately "act in common," the official said.

Driving the news: At the conclusion of the G7 summit, leaders agreed that some of China’s economic practices presented a risk to the global economy and pledged to “de-risk” from China.

“We’re not looking to decouple from China, we’re looking to de-risk and diversify our relationship with China,” President Biden said.

Beijing accused the G7 of holding an "anti-China" summit and summoned Japan's ambassador.

The big picture: The Biden administration hasn’t been shy about pursuing policies tied to competition with China on critical technologies.

In October, the Commerce Department announced new export controls on semiconductor technologies as a way to slow China’s military development.

The intrigue: Administration officials, including Paul Rosen, the assistant secretary of investment security at Treasury, have been soliciting feedback from think tanks and investment firms as they work to calibrate the executive order.

Those conversations have fueled speculation all year that an announcement was imminent.

But officials don’t feel intense pressure to release the executive order by a set date, according to the sources familiar with the matter.

They do feel pressure to get the policy — the first of its kind — right, and to make sure the rules are easily understood and enforceable. That has led to a more targeted approach, with the order focused on the semiconductor, artificial intelligence and quantum computing industries, the sources say.

The latest: Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressing skepticism that the executive order would be effective and requesting more information, Reuters reported Thursday.

State of play: China-U.S. relations have been on a downward trajectory since a Chinese spy balloon floated across U.S. airspace in February.

Plans for high-level visits to China from by Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are still on hold. But Biden said at the G7 that he's expecting a "thaw" soon.

This week, the two sides have an opportunity to improve relations, with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo meeting with her Chinese counterpart in Washington Thursday night.

Biden's next move to box China out on sensitive tech

The first-of-its-kind order is intended to prevent China from racing ahead on semiconductor, AI and quantum computing.

Biden and Xi during a virtual summit in 2021. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty

China

Estimated prevalence of modern slavery in 2021

Data: Walk Free Global Slavery Index; Map: Alice Feng/Axios

The number of people living in modern slavery is growing, reaching 50 million in 2021  — an increase of 10 million in less than six years. 

Driving the news: Longstanding factors like conflict, repressive governments and supply chains are, in part, driving the worsening situation. But additional conditions — including the pandemic, climate-induced migration and rollbacks of women's rights — have also become major drivers as well, according to a new report from the human rights group Walk Free. 

The big picture: Of those trapped in modern slavery, at least 27.6 million were in forced labor and 22 million were in forced marriages, with women, children, and migrants disproportionally affected, the Australia-based Walk Free said in its Global Slavery Index report, released this week. 

Women and children accounted for more than half of all those who were living in modern slavery in 2021, the report adds, noting that these are conservative estimates. 

Migrant workers are more than three times more likely to be in forced labor than non-migrant workers, according to the report. That finding is especially worrisome when looking at the compounding crises worldwide that are forcing more people to flee unexpectedly, says Jacqueline Joudo Larsen, head of global research for Walk Free. 

"There's not just one crisis ... there's conflict, climate change, COVID-19. They've all caused a significant disruption to employment and education and have led to increases in extreme poverty and forced an unsafe migration," Joudo Larsen tells Axios. 

"And we know when people don't have time to plan a move like that, that they're more exposed to exploitation, both en route and at the destination."

Where it stands: Countries with the highest prevalence of modern slavery — North Korea, Eritrea, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Afghanistan and Kuwait — share "some political, social, and economic characteristics, including limited protections for civil liberties and human rights," the report notes. 

The countries with the lowest prevalence were Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Nations with the highest number of people living in modern slavery included India, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, Bangladesh, and the United States. Six of those countries are in the G20. 

Between the lines: The majority of modern slavery occurs in lower-middle and upper-middle-income nations, but it's "deeply connected to demand from higher-income countries," the report says. 

G20 countries import $468 billion of at-risk products annually, according to Walk Free. 

"The purchasing practices that happen within [wealthier] countries are actually increasing the demand for goods that is fueling exploitation in countries that are sitting at the frontline of global supply chains," says Joudo Larsen.

The highest-value at-risk products imported by G20 nations included electronics ($243.6 billion), garments ($147.9 billion), palm oil ($19.7 billion), solar panels ($ 14.8 billion), and textiles ($12.7 billion). 

State of play: The number of people living in modern slavery has gone up, but government action has stagnated, Walk Free says. 

The organization recommends governments and the international community approach modern slavery as an intersectional issue. That includes building modern slavery responses into humanitarian and crisis response plans. 

It also calls on governments to focus on protections for those who are already vulnerable, implement stronger measures to combat forced labor supply chains, prioritize human rights when dealing with repressive regimes, and raise the legal age of marriage to 18 with no exceptions.

The bottom line: The world must remember that "these are people that we're talking about," not just numbers, Joudo Larsen says. 

She adds that we also "can't lose sight of the fact ... this is an entirely man-made problem. So it's completely within our power to fix it."

Compounding crises push more people into modern slavery, report warns

Human rights

Russia

Afghanistan

North Korea

The number of people living alone in the U.S. is on the incline while couples living together are decreasing, per newly released 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data.

Why it matters: The decennial census figures show the changing trends in demographics and housing for American families.

Driving the news: One-person households increased to about 28% of all U.S. households in 2020.

That's up from 25% in 1990 and 7.7% in 1940.

That means 0ver a quarter of occupied U.S. households in 2020 consisted of one person living alone.

The share of "nonfamily households" — those in which someone lives alone or no one related to the householder is present — increased by 12%.

Zoom out: Families remained the largest type of U.S. households, with the majority consisting of married couples.

About two-thirds of all households were family households, the same share as a decade earlier.

Married-couple households accounted for about 71% of them.

Yes, but while coupled households are still the most common, their share declined to 53.2% in 2020 – down from 55.1% in 2010 and 56.9% in 2000.

Coupled households are when the householder lives with a spouse or partner.

The majority of such households were opposite-sex married couples (45.7%), followed by opposite-sex unmarried (6.5%), same-sex married (0.5%) and same-sex unmarried (0.4%).

The highest percentage of coupled households of all types were in the West, while the most opposite-sex married couples were concentrated in the southern U.S.

The South also has the lowest share of opposite-sex unmarried couples living together.

Of note: The number of female householders (35.5 million) with no spouse or partner present was higher than that of males (23.9 million).

Same-sex couples made up about 1% of U.S. households in 2020, per the newly released U.S. Census Bureau data.

By the numbers: Married same-sex couples made up 0.5% of 127 million U.S. households, while unmarried ones made up nearly 0.4%, totaling about 1.2 million same-sex households, survey results show.

That's up from 980,000 same-sex couple households in 2019.

The states with the highest concentrations of same-sex married couples were along the West Coast and in the Northeast, plus Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii and New Mexico, per the Census.

Context: It's the first time the decennial census has shown distinct totals of opposite-sex and same-sex spouse and unmarried partner households.

Previous censuses have had limited data on same-sex couples and the latest is the most comprehensive set of information for the U.S. yet.

The data doesn’t include information on single or transgender people, meaning it covers less than a fifth of the LGBT population, Kerith Conron, research director at the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, told the Wall Street Journal.

People living alone on rise as coupled households decline, Census data shows

Over a quarter of occupied U.S. households in 2020 consisted of one person living alone the data from the Census Bureau showed.

Illustration of an upward pointing arrow made from the top of a house

Same-sex marriage

Texas police are becoming better equipped to face active shooters after the "abject failure" of the response to last year's Uvalde school shooting, a leading expert says — but critics are skeptical, insisting not enough is being done to hold police accountable. 

The big picture: The May 24, 2022, shooting at Robb Elementary School that left 19 fourth graders and two teachers dead is among the deadliest in U.S. history.

Nearly 400 law enforcement officers from local, state and federal agencies responded. Those inside the school spent more than an hour before shooting the gunman dead, prompting investigations and demands for accountability from victims' families.

A Texas legislative committee found that police on the scene lacked clear leadership and communication, as well as urgency to stop the gunman.

The Uvalde school board fired the school district's police chief, but nearly all other law enforcement agents involved remain employed, according to a Washington Post investigation.

Since the shooting, the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center (ALERRT), the organization that has provided active shooter training in Texas and around the country for 20 years, has received more funding, and a new law will further bolster its work, says executive director Pete Blair.

"I think that this is a good step toward ensuring that officers have proficiency in responding to these events," Blair says. "I think we're in a better place." 

The Texas law, which takes effect Sept. 1, requires all officers to complete 16 hours of active shooter training and to repeat the training every other year. Until the law goes into effect, not all police are required to take active shooter training. Some of the law enforcement officers who responded to Uvalde had not received the training, investigators found. 

Blair says his organization, which is part of Texas State University, has already started providing extra training to police after Uvalde.

Yes, but: Democratic lawmakers tell Axios most measures to hold police accountable have largely been ignored.

Holding police criminally liable for some of their behaviors does not have wide support, says G.M. Cox, a retired police chief and lecturer at Sam Houston State University. Police unions are effective at defending their ranks, and making a strong criminal case is hard, Cox adds. 

A bill proposed by Democratic state Sen. Roland Gutierrez that would end qualified immunity for police gained no traction. Gutierrez, who represents a district that includes Uvalde, hoped the bill would make it easier for victims' families to sue the officers who responded to the scene, he says.

Legislation by Houston-area Democrat Rep. Jolanda Jones that would have required officers to have personal liability insurance to compensate victims in cases of wrongdoing didn't make it out of committee. Jones' bill was meant to address police violence against Black people.

Of note: The police response in Uvalde stands in stark contrast to how police have acted in other mass shootings — and to how police everywhere have been taught to respond to active shooters since the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.

In Nashville, police were hailed for their quick response at a Christian school where six people were killed on March 27.

In Allen, Texas, where eight people were killed at a mall earlier this month, a police officer who happened to be responding to a different call heard the shots, tracked down where they came from and fatally shot the suspect.

What to watch: A Republican-sponsored bill that would give more authority to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which regulates licensed officers but said last year it had no authority to discipline Uvalde responders, passed in both chambers of the Texas legislature. 

The bill would give TCOLE the ability to set policies for law enforcement in the state including for use of force, vehicle pursuits and impartial policing, according to Andrew McConnell, a policy analyst for the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, which helped make recommendations for the bill.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has until June 18 to sign or veto the bill. It's unclear if he will.

More training after botched Uvalde police response, but accountability still in question

Police who were inside the school took over an hour to take the shooter down.

Photo illustration of a police officer facing away from a group of activists rallying with the Uvalde families.

Photo illustration: Allie Carl/Axios. Photo: Brandon Bell, Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images

Uvalde, Texas school shooting

Latin America and Latinos

A Chinese state-sponsored group has hacked into critical American infrastructure, including in the U.S. territory of Guam, Microsoft and the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance warn.

Why it matters: Guam is home to three American military bases. The western Pacific island would play an important strategic role should the U.S. need to respond to any potential Chinese military attack on or blockade of Taiwan.

The likely aim of the operation is to "disrupt critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia region during future crises," per a blog post Wednesday by Microsoft, which detected the hacking.

Driving the news: The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a joint advisory with its "Five Eyes" partner agencies in the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand warning that the "Volt Typhoon" hackers posed a threat to all five allied countries following a "recently discovered cluster of activity."

Microsoft said in its blog post that the "state-sponsored actor based in China ... typically focuses on espionage and information gathering."

Detecting "and mitigating this attack could be challenging," Microsoft said.

State of play: "Volt Typhoon has been active since mid-2021 and has targeted critical infrastructure organizations in Guam and elsewhere in the United States," per Microsoft.

"In this campaign, the affected organizations span the communications, manufacturing, utility, transportation, construction, maritime, government, information technology, and education sectors. Observed behavior suggests that the threat actor intends to perform espionage and maintain access without being detected for as long as possible."

The Australian Signals Directorate’s Australian Cyber Security Centre noted that a key strategy of Volt Typhoon, known as "living off the land," used "built-in network administration tools to perform their objectives," allowing the group "to evade detection by blending in with normal Windows system and network activities."

The big picture: The Chinese Communist Party has been linked to previous hack attacks targeting the U.S. government, businesses and American infrastructure, but it has always denied being involved in such cyber espionage.

What they're saying: "Today’s advisory highlights China's continued use of sophisticated means to target our nation's critical infrastructure, and it gives network defenders important insights into how to detect and mitigate this malicious activity," CISA director Jen Easterly said in a statement.

Chinese hackers hit critical U.S. infrastructure, intelligence agencies warn

The likely aim is to "disrupt critical communications infrastructure" between U.S. and Asia in a crises, Microsoft says.

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, is docked at Naval Base Guam in Apra Harbor amid the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, April 27, 2020. 

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, is docked at Naval Base Guam in Apra Harbor amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 27, 2020. Photo: Tony Azios/AFP via Getty Images

Computer hacking

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

With this upcoming Memorial Day weekend projected to be the third busiest on record, travelers may want to consider the best and worst times to drive or fly. 

The big picture: Those traveling can expect to see heavy traffic on roads and congestion at airports as air travel is expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels, according to AAA.

By the numbers: Airports will be packed with some 17 million passengers expected to fly out of U.S. airports from Thursday to Monday, per travel app Hopper.

Road trips are up 6% over last year, with 37.1 million Americans projected to drive to their destinations, per AAA.

AAA estimates the lightest traffic days will be Saturday and Sunday.

Aside from those days, AAA says the best times to travel by car are before 1 p.m. Thursday and before noon Friday.

When heading back home, the company says the best times are before 10 a.m. Monday, or Tuesday before 2 p.m. or after 6 p.m.

The busiest day on roads is projected to be Friday, per INRIX, which provides transportation data and insights.

The worst times to travel by car are 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday.

When returning from travel, Monday noon to 3 p.m. and Tuesday 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. will be the most congested.

Be smart: “With lower fuel prices and more travelers on the road compared to last year, drivers should expect long delays this holiday weekend, especially in and around major metros as commuters mix with Memorial Day travelers," said Bob Pishue, transportation analyst at INRIX. 

Major metro areas like Boston, New York, Seattle and Tampa will likely see travel times double compared to normal, per AAA.

The Federal Aviation Administration projects that Saturday and Sunday will have the least flights. 

Airport departures will be busiest on Thursday and Friday ahead of the long weekend, while Monday will be the heaviest return day, according to Hopper.

Most airports will be busiest in the morning or early evening.

What we're hearing: "Expect long lines and potential disruptions over this first peak summer weekend as airlines and airports work to manage schedules as we head into the busiest time of the year for travel," Hopper said in its outlook.

Seat capacity is currently expected to be 17% higher or 2 million more seats than Memorial Day weekend last year, per Hopper.

Atlanta, Dallas, Denver and Los Angeles will be the busiest departing airports.

Go deeper: Memorial Day travel projected to reach pre-pandemic levels

Memorial Day travel projected to reach pre-pandemic levels

Memorial Day weekend: Best and worst travel times

Air travel is expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels.

Illustration of a series of roadsigns on a pole with boat, train, and building icons

Traffic

AARAMTA, LEBANON — The Lebanese Hezbollah militant group held a rare demonstration of the group's fighting power this week in an apparent attempt to remind the Lebanese people, Israel and Iran about its military capacity and role in the region. 

Why it matters: The military exercise was unusual not only because it was made public — nearly 400 people attended, including Hezbollah supporters and several journalists — but also because it was conducted only 12 miles north of the Israeli border, just outside an area where militias are not allowed to operate under a UN Security Council resolution adopted in 2006.

Rockets fired toward Israel from Lebanon following a violent Israeli military raid on Jerusalem's Haram al-Sharif compound, also known as the Temple Mount, less than two months ago resulted in the most serious escalation between the two countries since the 2006 war. The Israeli military said Hamas was behind the rockets, though Hamas never claimed it fired them. 

Israel responded with strikes in Lebanon. It, however, only targeted Hamas targets in an effort to avoid a wider conflict with Hezbollah. 

Driving the news: Sunday's exercise took place ahead of the annual celebration of “Liberation Day," when the Israeli army withdrew from southern Lebanon on May 25, 2000, after a 15-year occupation of the territory.

During the two-hour staged military exercise, held at one of Hezbollah’s training sites in southern Lebanon, fighters jumped through flaming hoops, demonstrated their hand-to-hand knife combat skills, and fired off the back of motorcycles at Israeli-flag targets.

At the end, Hezbollah’s fighters emerged from plumes of gun and rocket-fire smoke, ripped out an Israeli flag, and planted in its place the distinctive yellow and green flag of the militant group. Claps and cheers then erupted from the audience, which faded into religious chants and melodies.

Dalal Shahrour who came to attend the military show from the Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon told Axios that Palestinians “have high hopes that Palestine will be liberated very, very, very soon and Israel will be defeated and we will return."

“The people who saw the show can really feel the power of Hezbollah,” said a 22-year-old Lebanese Christian youth, who supports the Shiite group and asked to remain anonymous. “What I like about Hezbollah is that they’re not just fighting for themselves … they are defending the Lebanese people,” he told Axios at the event.

The other side: A day after the exercises, Israel’s chief of military intelligence, Aharon Haliva, said that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was “close to making a mistake that could plunge the region into a big war” and warned that Israel would be “ready to use force” in the event of an escalation on the Israeli-Lebanese or Syrian border.

The U.S. and Israel consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization. 

What they're saying: Hezbollah deputy secretary-general Sheikh Naim Qassem said the military drill sends a “message of deterrence” and “readiness to confront any Zionist aggression and defend Lebanon.''

He added that the weapons presented during the exercise represent a fraction of Hezbollah’s arsenal and stressed that the organization’s precision missiles weren’t shown.

Although no precision-guided missiles were displayed at the military show, Hezbollah did reveal a new anti-drone weapon.

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati criticized Hezbollah’s public show of force and told the UN special envoy in Lebanon this week that “the issue” of Hezbollah’s weapons “must be among the priorities of the coming phase."

Between the lines: “The parade demonstrates how much weaker the Lebanese state has become while Hezbollah grows its military capabilities,” Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, told Axios, noting how the country’s army and security forces have weakened as its state coffers dry up.

Editor's note: This story was corrected to reflect that Hezbollah's military drills took place just outside the area where militias are not allowed to operate under a UN Security Council resolution, not inside the area.

Inside Hezbollah's wargames near the Israeli border

Fighters jumped through flaming hoops, demonstrated their hand-to-hand knife combat skills, and fired off the back of motorcycles at Israeli-flag targets.

 Pro-Iranian Hezbollah fighters take part in a staged military exercise in a camp in the Lebanese southern village of Aramta. Marwan Naamani/picture alliance via Getty Images

Pro-Iranian Hezbollah fighters take part in a staged military exercise in a camp in the Lebanese southern village of Aaramta on May 21. Photo: Marwan Naamani/picture alliance via Getty Images

Hezbollah

Israel

Tel Aviv

Axios from Tel Aviv

There is optimism among the Biden administration and Israeli government officials that a ministerial meeting of the Negev Forum will take place on June 25 in Morocco after being postponed, four U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios.

Why it matters: Such a meeting would be a positive sign regarding the willingness of Arab countries, especially those who were part of the Abraham Accords, to work with Israel's right-wing government. 

Since the current Israeli government came to power late last year, several Arab countries have paused a lot of their cooperation with Israel. 

Catch up quick: The Negev Forum was established in March 2022 in an unprecedented summit in Israel attended by Secretary of State Tony Blinken and the foreign ministers of Israel, Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco.

The idea was that the Negev Forum would be a platform for multilateral cooperation in the region in the fields of health, economy, climate change, water and security.

A second ministerial meeting was planned to take place in March but was postponed by the Moroccan government due to the political sensitivities around the new right-wing Israeli government and the concerns about possible violence during Ramadan.

Driving the news: Israeli and U.S. officials told me that in recent weeks the Biden administration has been engaged in diplomatic efforts with Morocco and other participants in order to convene the meeting at the end of June.

The Israeli and U.S. officials said that the final decision hasn’t been made yet, but there is optimism that the meeting will take place on June 25. 

Blinken is expected to attend the meeting. 

The Moroccan Foreign Ministry and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment. 

U.S., Israeli officials optimistic that Negev Forum will meet in Morocco on June 25

A scheduled meeting had been postponed due to the political sensitivities around the new right-wing Israeli government.

Flags are set up during the Negev Summit in the southern Negev desert on March 28, 2022. Photo: Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Morocco

Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi are expected in Washington next week for talks at the White House as concerns grow over advances in Iran's nuclear program and as the U.S. seeks to push for an Israel-Saudi Arabia peace deal, four Israeli and U.S. officials told Axios.

The big picture: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took power about five months ago, still hasn't received an invitation for a meeting with President Biden at the White House. 

Biden said in late March that he wasn't going to invite Netanyahu in the near future and called on him to “walk away” from his plan to weaken Israel's Supreme Court and other democratic institutions.

Netanyahu and his advisers hope the suspension of the judicial overhaul and negotiations with the opposition about the proposed legislation could lead to an invitation from Biden, according to Israeli officials.

But U.S. officials say the White House still wants to see where these negotiations go before deciding whether to invite Netanyahu for a meeting with Biden.

Details: Dermer and Hanegbi are expected to arrive in Washington toward the end of next week and meet White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and other senior officials at the White House and the State Department, the U.S. and Israeli officials said.

The primary issues expected to be discussed are Iran and Saudi Arabia. 

An official at the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said the date of the meetings hasn’t been finalized yet. A White House National Security Council spokesperson said they have nothing to confirm.

Scoop: Israeli officials expected to visit White House for talks on Iran, Saudi Arabia

Israeli officials have escalated their rhetoric around concerns over Iran’s nuclear program.

Thursday's world stories