Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending his closest confidant to Washington next week for talks at the White House about the Biden administration's push for a mega-deal with Saudi Arabia that could include a Saudi-Israel normalization agreement, according to three Israeli and U.S. officials.
Why it matters: U.S. officials have previously told Axios that the administration wants to try to complete its diplomatic initiative with Saudi Arabia before the presidential election campaign consumes President Biden's agenda.
President Biden'srequestfor $20 billion in additional funding for Ukraine has teed up the first major test of the anti-interventionist sentiment coursing through the GOP — with real-world implications for Kyiv's existential war.
Why it matters: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Punchbowl News in June that a supplemental aid package for Ukraine is "not going anywhere" in the House, signaling that extra funding would have to come through an appropriations process already plagued by GOP infighting.
President Biden is unveiling a request to Congress for $24 billion in supplemental funding for Ukraine and other international needs.
Why it matters: The request adds another dynamic to an already tenuous effort on Capitol Hill to fund the government and avert a shutdown by the Sept. 30 deadline.
Iran has released five Americans from prison and placed them on house arrest, the White House confirmed Thursday, saying that "negotiations for their eventual release remain ongoing and are delicate."
The big picture: Those placed on house arrest include two unidentified Americans and Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi, who have each spent several years in an Iranian prison.
Leaders from the eight nations that share the Amazon rainforest promised in a joint statement this week to work towards "deforestation zero," but they did not commit to a roadmap for achieving it.
Driving the news: The leaders of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela met this week to discuss Amazonian conservation — the first such meeting since 2009.
For many Latinos, hip-hop has shaped not only their musical preferences and style, but also their way of life.
What they're saying: "Hip-hop was my first genre, unique to me. My friends and family were not into it, nor was it a popular music in my country and hometown. I liked being an outlier," says Max Rivera, who lives in New York, via email. Rivera is from Honduras.
On Friday, hip-hop will celebrate 50 years since its birth, and Latinos have been there every step of the way.
The big picture: Hip-hop is a global phenomenon and multi-billion dollar industry that encompasses music, dance, fashion and nearlyevery aspect of pop culture. By many accounts, it was officially born at a back-to-school party at an apartment complex in the Bronx on Aug. 11, 1973.
President Biden on Wednesday proposed an effective ban on U.S. venture capital and private equity investments into Chinese tech companies, via an executive order aimed at bolstering national security.
Why it matters: This is the end of unfettered globalization in venture capital and private equity.
Ukraine's corruption prevention agency on Thursday added Bacardi to its list of international war sponsors, arguing that the liquor company is expanding its business in Russia as the invasion wears on.
Why it matters: Ukrainian authorities say Bacardi, the world's largest privately held liquor company, has scored billions more in profits as other booze brands have stopped doing business in Russia.
Severe storms that swept much of the U.S. in the first half of this year resulted in $34 billion in insured losses — the "highest ever" recorded in a six-month period.
The big picture: That's according to a report out Wednesday from Swiss Re Group, which estimated global insured losses from natural catastrophes at $50 billion — the second highest since 2011. "The effects of climate change are evident in increasingly extreme weather events," the report notes.
Fernando Villavicencio, an anti-corruption presidential candidate in Ecuador's upcoming election, was killed after shots were fired at a campaign rally in the capital, Quito, Wednesday, the country's president confirmed.
What they're saying: President Guillermo Lasso said in a statement he's "outraged and shocked" by the country's first-ever assassination on the campaign trail.
Mayor Eric Adams (D) urged the Biden administration on Wednesday to declare a state of emergency over the southern border to help officials respond to large numbers of asylum seekers arriving in New York City.
Thought bubble via Axios' Stef Kight: It's the latest cry for help from Democratic-run cities struggling to care for a surge in newly arrived asylum seekers who initially crossed the U.S.-Mexico border — putting even more political pressure on an administration that's struggled to get control of the border from day 1.
