Axios

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a briefing with reporters on Tuesday that "there are still ways to travel" to get a mega-deal with Riyadh that could include a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Why it matters: Sullivan's comments appeared to be an attempt to try to lower expectations after a flurry of press reports suggested an agreement could be close.

Japan will begin releasing more than 1 million metric tons of treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean starting Thursday.

Why it matters: Though the plan has been deemed safe by the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has faced pushback from fishing groups and neighboring countries.

Addressing the dire nationwide teacher shortages by lowering standards for becoming a teacher is only putting a Band-Aid on a bigger problem and could end up backfiring, education experts say.

Driving the news: Houston Independent School District, one of the largest in the country, is seeking to temporarily hire uncertified teachers to fill dozens of vacancies after "extraordinary efforts" to recruit certified teachers, according to the district.

The takeover of the Houston Independent School District by the state of Texas is part of a national trend that is likely to accelerate amid political conflicts and pressures to close achievement gaps, experts tell Axios.

Why it matters: The student population in the nation's public schools is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, but disparities, particularly for Black and Latino students, have worsened — especially after the COVID-19 pandemic stalled academic progress for many elementary and middle schoolers and reversed years of gains.

Ecuadorians voted on Sunday to ban oil drilling in a part of the Amazon rainforest that's considered one of the most biodiverse regions in the world and is home to some of the last Indigenous peoples living in isolation.

Why it matters: The results of the historic referendum will require Ecuador's national oil company, Petroecuador, to close all of its active oil wells and remove all infrastructure from a portion of Yasuní National Park within a year.

This story, part of a series supported by the Pulitzer Center, is a joint investigation between Axios and Danish newspaper Politiken. Read the interactive version of this story.

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — The Chinese Communist Party is teaching African leaders its authoritarian alternative to democracy at its first overseas training school — the strongest evidence yet that Beijing is exporting its model of governing in its push to challenge the Western-led world order.

Why it matters: The Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School in Tanzania is Beijing's counter to efforts by the U.S. and other Western countries to shape African politics in a fight for influence on a continent rich in raw materials and energy. At the school, the CCP teaches how it fuses the ruling political party and the state, marking a clear departure from Beijing's previous, more subtle attempts to peddle influence on the international stage.

President Biden is considering meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of next month's G20 summit in New Delhi, four sources with knowledge of the issue told Axios.

Why it matters: A meeting between the two leaders could give a significant push to the talks the White House has been holding with the Saudi government in an effort to reach a mega-deal that could include U.S. security guarantees for Riyadh, as well as a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Tropical Storm Hilary's intense rains were flooding roads in Southern California and posing a threat to much of the U.S. Southwest overnight after crossing the border from Mexico on Sunday.

The big picture: California is in a state of emergency due to this extremely rare event that's caused thousands of flights to be delayed or canceled. Climate change has increased the likelihood and intensity of heavy rainfall that can cause catastrophic flooding, studies show.

Bernardo Arévalo, a center-left anti-corruption candidate, appeared to have won Guatemala's presidential election on Sunday with over 98% of ballots counted, according to data from the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

The big picture: The leader of the social democratic Movimiento Semilla Party was up against former first lady Sandra Torres, of the National Unity of Hope, in the runoff after he surprised many with his first round performance, per Marina E. Franco of Noticias Telemundo, writing for Axios.