The U.S. and UN are reiterating their calls for an international intervention in Haiti to break the stranglehold of violent gangs that have terrorized the capital city and paralyzed the country's economy.
Why it matters: It's been eight months since interim HaitianPresident Ariel Henry first requested an armed intervention. The government now controls only small pockets of Port-au-Prince, and violence has spread out of the slums into virtually every corner of the city.
The U.S. last week privately notified the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that it has decided to rejoin the agency nearly six years after the Trump administration announced it was withdrawing U.S. membership, a State Department spokesperson told Axios.
Why it matters: Rejoining UNESCO is one of the Biden administration's foreign policy goals — mainly in an effort to counter what it sees as the growing influence of the Chinese government on the UN agency's agenda.
The Israeli government told the Biden administration it intends to announce later this month the building and planning of thousands of new housing units in the settlements in the occupied West Bank, three Israeli and U.S. officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The Biden administration has said it is vehemently opposed to new building in the Israeli settlements, which it sees as undermining the prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani confirmed on Monday Axios’ report that Iran and the U.S. held indirect talks last month in Oman.
Why it matters: The “proximity talks” represented 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.
Former Italian Prime Minister and billionaire media mogul Silvio Berlusconi died on Monday at the age of 86.
The big picture: A right-wing provocateur who blazed a trail other populists would follow, Berlusconi thrice served as prime minister between 1994 and 2011 and led his Forza Italia party right up until his death. His political career survived multiple criminal trials and one conviction, for tax fraud, as well as scandals over "bunga bunga" sex parties and accusations of economic mismanagement.
Some 435 wildfires were burning across Canada overnight as smoke from the blazes lingered in New York City and other parts of the U.S.
State of play: The fires forced officials in British Columbia to order fresh evacuations over the weekend and evacuation orders remained in place for thousands of people in Alberta and Quebec.
