Axios

The first film of a new entertainment company that was founded to help elevate Latinos in Hollywood won the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival awards on Friday.

Why it matters: Latinos are underrepresented both behind and in front of the screen in film and TV, a cycle many say is perpetuated by the lack of enough Latino studio heads.

President Biden spoke separately on Friday with the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to discuss the efforts to secure the release of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, the White House said.

Why it matters: The calls are part of a push by Biden personally and his team for a new hostage deal that could lead to a two-month pause in the fighting in Gaza and open the way for ending the war.

The International Court of Justice on Friday ordered Israel to take urgent action to prevent genocide in Gaza, but it stopped short of ordering the Israeli military to halt its offensive in the enclave completely.

The big picture: The ICJ, known as the World Court, also ordered Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, take effective measures to prevent and punish incitement to genocide and submit a report to the court within a month on what actions it has taken to comply with the order.

A Russian court on Friday again extended Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's pretrial detention by another two months.

Why it matters: The extension, which was at least the fourth since Gershkovich was arrested last March on espionage charges, means he will spend roughly a year behind bars in Russia without having been convicted of a crime.

David E. Sanger, White House and national security correspondent for the New York Times, will be out April 16 with his fourth book, "New Cold Wars" — reported from around the world, with interviews with leaders, combatants and former government officials.

Driving the news: "The first hundred pages or so are a reported, sometimes anecdotal account of how the U.S. deceived itself into thinking it would bring China and Russia into the West's economies and into its embrace," Sanger tells Axios.

President Biden last week pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale down the Israeli military operation in Gaza, stressing he is not in it for a year of war, two U.S. officials told Axios.

Why it matters: Biden's comments during the two leaders' call last Friday reflect the growing U.S. concern about the continuation of the war and the president's desire to see it end long before the November elections.

The fertility rate in Texas increased for the first time in eight years in 2022 — the year after the state passed its six-week abortion ban — but the growth is driven mostly by Hispanic women, a new analysis finds.

Why it matters: The report indicates Hispanic women are disproportionately affected by abortion restrictions in the state. It also offers a window into how bans or near-total bans across the country may play out over time.

When U.S. Steel last month agreed to be acquired by Japan's Nippon Steel, many pundits and politicians were aghast that such an iconic American company would even consider foreign ownership.

Driving the news: It turns out that the deciding factor was regulatory arbitrage, not price, according to a preliminary proxy statement filed this week.

CIA director Bill Burns will meet with the head of Israel's Mossad, the Egyptian intelligence chief and the Qatari prime minister in Europe in the coming days to discuss efforts to reach a deal to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, U.S. officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: A senior Israeli official said the meeting is crucial to the efforts to reach a breakthrough in the talks over a new deal that would include a two-month pause in return for the release of all hostages held by Hamas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an international investigation into a Russian military aircraft crash on Wednesday, which Russian officials claimed had been transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Driving the news: The United Nations Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday over the plane crash at the request of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday provided a pathway for Boeing to resume 737 MAX 9 flights.

Why it matters: Following the announcement, both United and Alaska airlines revealed plans to resume flying their grounded 737 Max 9 aircraft after receiving final approval from the agency to complete the process to return the aircrafts to service.