Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected requests by the Biden administration to not move forward with a vote at the United Nations Security Council on accepting Palestine as a full member of the UN, four Palestinian, U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios.
The big picture: Tension, frustration and mistrust have been growing between the Abbas government and the Biden administration over the last three years. The Palestinian president sees the administration as not acting to push a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The record "rain bomb" that struck Dubai and other nearby Gulf states on Tuesday dumped more than two years' worth of rain on the global financial and transportation hub.
Why it matters: By bringing the city to a standstill, the floods demonstrated how inadequate existing infrastructure is for withstanding extreme weather events that are becoming more common and severe due to climate change.
Israel considered conducting a retaliatory strike against Iran on Monday night but eventually decided to postpone it, five Israeli and U.S. sources told Axios.
Two House members urged the State Department Wednesday to step up its diplomatic efforts to ensure companies that benefit from the forced labor of Uyghurs in China can't access global markets.
Why it matters: The U.S. has sought to crack down on companies believed to be complicit in the Chinese government's human rights abuses towards Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in Xinjiang province.
Microsoft's new $1.5 billion partnership with G42, a government-backed tech-investing giant in the UAE, marks a stunning move in AI's increasingly frantic global chess game.
Why it matters: The deal enlarges America's AI tent and sidelines China from the UAE market while placing Microsoft's AI business at the heart of American geopolitical interests and policy.
Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been hit by a major bleaching event affecting 73% of the iconic ecosystem, according to a new Australian government report.
The big picture: A "perfect storm of threats" including climate change and the related hottest year on record in 2023 and warmer ocean temperatures, coupled with El Niño, contributed to the bleaching, said Anna Marsden, managing director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation nonprofit, in a Wednesday interview.
The U.S. will impose new sanctions on Iran's missile and drone program after the country's unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced Tuesday evening.
Why it matters:President Biden is urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to exercise military restraint. But in the economic sphere, the administration is demonstrating a willingness to retaliate against Iran.
Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend was likely one of the largest — if not the largest — combined drone-missile barrages ever launched.
Why it matters: Iran's drone and missile salvo, and Israel and its allies' defensive measures, featured a complex array of technologies that cost both countries and their allies billions of dollars over several decades to develop.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a group of American Jewish leaders on Tuesday that further escalation with Iran is not in the interests of either the U.S. or Israel, three people who attended the meeting told Axios.
Why it matters: The Biden administration and several other Western countries allied with Israel are urging Benjamin Netanyahu's government not to rush into a retaliation against Iran that could lead to a regional war.
Many Latino students are missing out on a growing trend that requires high schools to teach personal finance.
Why it matters: Compared to their white counterparts, Latinos have lower rates of bank account ownership, savings and investments. Teaching a new generation about building wealth could alter the future for many families — especially since nearly 30% of the K-12 population is Hispanic.
China's communist government is complicit in the U.S. fentanyl epidemic, subsidizing the manufacturing of fentanyl materials, according to a new House report.
Why it matters: The bipartisan investigation uncovers fresh details about the Chinese Communist Party's pivotal role in the illicit fentanyl trade as overdoses in the U.S. continue to surge.
The Olympic flame for the summergames was lit on Tuesday during a ceremony in Ancient Olympia, Greece.
The big picture: The flame is now making its way to Athens during an 11-day relay, after which it will be handed off to the organizing committee of the Paris games.
