Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation as a member of Parliament on Friday, claiming in a lengthy statement that the committee investigating him for misleading Parliament during the "partygate" scandal was determined to "drive me out."
Why it matters: Johnson resigned as prime minister last July amid a cascade of scandals, including over social gatherings held in Downing Street in apparent violation of Covid lockdowns. Now he's out as an MP as well — a remarkable downward trajectory for a man who seemed politically untouchable after winning a landslide in 2019.
U.S. and Iranian officials held indirect talks in Oman last month with Omani officials shuttling between their separate rooms to deliver messages, three sources briefed on the issue told Axios.
Why it matters: The “proximity talks,” which haven't been previously reported, represent the first known indirect engagement between the U.S. and Iran in this way in several months. They took place amid growing concerns in the White House about Iran’s nuclear advances.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to postpone next week's scheduled meeting on the highly sensitive settlement plan in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, two Israeli officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The E1 area between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement is the most diplomatically sensitive and internationally explosive area in the West Bank. Building an Israeli settlement there would prevent Palestinian territorial contiguity between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank, which would make it much harder to establish a Palestinian state in the future.
The jockeying between candidates and countries over who'll be announced next month as NATO's next secretary-general appears to have reached the Oval Office.
Driving the news: Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, widely seen as a front-runner for the role, visited on Monday. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak then visited on Thursday and made little secret of the fact that he was lobbying for his defense secretary, Ben Wallace.
Ukrainian forces attacked Russian positions in the southeast of the country on Thursday as the country's long-awaited counteroffensive gets underway.
Why it matters: Ukraine has spent six months preparing for this moment. Its forces are armed with Western artillery, tanks and training. But Russia's military has also had ample time to entrench its positions and bring in additional forces.
President Biden said Thursday his administration is deploying more U.S. firefighters to Canada to tackle more than 400 wildfires that have displaced tens of thousands of people.
Driving the news: "We already have 600 American firefighters on the ground, and have been there for a while in Canada, including hotshots and the smokejumper crews," Biden said at a news conference Thursday, one day after speaking with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to offer additional help.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and briefed him on his talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), including the possibility of Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel, according to a source familiar with the call.
Why it matters: The Biden administration wants to try and make a diplomatic push for a Saudi-Israeli peace deal in the next six to seven months before the presidential election campaign consumes President Biden’s agenda, as Axios reported two weeks ago.
Ukraine and Russiaaccused each other on Thursday of shelling evacuation efforts in the Kherson region after this week's massive dam collapse unleashed a torrent of water, flooding towns and destroying homes.
The big picture: The reported shelling on Ukraine-controlled parts of Kherson came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the area to assess the damage from the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. Both Kyiv and Moscow continued to trade blame over Tuesday's dam collapse.
A Mexican American U.S. Army veteran who helped stop a suspected mass shooter from killing more people at an LGBTQ club will serve as a Pride parade grand marshal in Colorado Springs next week.
