A group of Democratic senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Friday asking him not to move forward with admitting Israel into the Visa Waiver Program, claiming the country will not fully meet the criteria for admission by the Sept. 30 deadline, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Axios.
Driving the news: The U.S. and Israel in mid-July signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) setting the conditions for Israel's entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which allows a country's citizens to travel to the U.S. for 90 days without first obtaining a visa. The MOU was a big step forward for Israel's bid.
Countries are facing a significant gap between the course of global greenhouse gas emissions under current plans and what is needed to meet the Paris Agreement's targets, according to a new UN report.
Why it matters: The report, released Friday, is the technical summary of the "First Global Stocktake" that will form the foundation of negotiations at the next climate summit, to be held in Dubai in early December.
Elon Musk said Thursday that SpaceX denied a request to activate its Starlink satellite communications network for a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian military ships in the Black Sea — drawing heavy criticism from Ukrainian and other foreign officials.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping's expected absence from this year's G20 leaders summit in New Delhi will give President Biden — and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — a bigger opening to push their agendas.
The big picture: This will be the first time Xi has missed a G20 summit since he assumed power in late 2012, and comes as he is facing major challenges at home. Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend in his stead.
AI's first language is English — a bias that researchers are racing to counter before it gets permanently baked into the new technology.
Why it matters: Most of today's generative AI tools are built on large language models (LLM) trained on texts and data in English and Chinese, leaving the 6 billion native speakers of the world's more than 7,000 other languages at risk of being left out as the technology reframes work, business, education, art and more.
An appeals court temporarily allowed Texas' floating border barrier blocking migrants crossing from Mexico into the U.S. to remain in place in the Rio Grande on Thursday, per multiple reports.
Driving the news: Attorneys for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and the state argued in a filing Thursday opposing a federal judge's preliminary injunction a day earlier to move the barrier to the riverbank that the "buoys have nearly eliminated illegal crossings of people and drugs where they've been placed."
President Biden and the leaders of India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates hope to announce a major joint infrastructure deal on Saturday that will connect Gulf and Arab countries via a network of railways, two sources with direct knowledge of the plan told Axios. It will also connect to India through shipping lanes from ports in the region,
Why it matters: The project is one of the key initiatives the White House is pushing in the Middle East as China's influence in the region grows. The Middle East is a key part of China's Belt and Road vision.
The U.S.-China tit-for-tattech battle is starting to impact one of the most profitable and influential companies in the world — Apple.
Driving the news: Two separate reports from WSJ and Bloomberg this week suggest that the Chinese government is expanding a ban on using iPhones and other foreign-branded devices for work within certain government agencies and state companies.
Nonprofit groups are using blockchain and other technologiesto digitize, safely preserve and make accessible key documents about past Latin American dictatorships, including their human rights abusesand information about their victims.
Why it matters: The region continues to grapple with the legacy of these dictators, autocrats and military juntas.
Apple's Impact Accelerator program, which helps businesses that have Black, Latino or Indigenous owners, has unveiled the third group of companies to be accepted.
The big picture: The program is part of Apple's Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, launched after the murder of George Floyd. Apple initially allocated $100 million to the fund but has since more than doubled the investment, according to the company.
Two Taiwanese NGOs sent a small delegation to Ukraine last week to learn about combating disinformation and other resistance tactics from Ukrainian civil society groups.
The big picture: A growing number of Taiwanese citizens see Ukraine's experience as offering valuable lessons for Taiwan if Beijing were attempt to annex the island.
Toxic smoke from Canada's historic wildfires is drifting across the U.S. — triggering air quality alerts throughout much of Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota and Nebraska through Thursday.
The big picture: Canadian officials warn there's no immediate let-up in sight from the country's worst-ever wildfire season which has left an estimated 41 million acres razed and repeatedly choked North American cities with unhealthy smoke this summer, sending carbon emissions to record levels and posing a grave threat to people's health.
The abrupt transition to online schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic left many children behind and had lasting impacts on them per a report released Wednesday.
The big picture: Achievement levels fell as physical and mental health declined during school closures that impacted over 1.6 billion learners from 2020 to 2022, and ripple effects continue, according to the 655-page analysis from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
