Axios

North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, arrived in Beijing via his armored train on Tuesday to attend China's largest-ever military parade with his Chinese and Russian counterparts.

Why it matters: Chinese leader Xi Jinping is putting on a show of force with Wednesday's event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and also with his recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin, China — during which he took thinly veiled swipes at President Trump's tariffs.

U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Axios he's concerned there will be an economic collapse in the West Bank that could lead to violent escalation.

What he's saying: "If the Palestinian economy were to completely collapse, it won't be a winning deal for anyone. It would lead to an escalation and further desperation. Desperate people do desperate things," Huckabee said in an interview on Friday.

The first strike of President Trump's militarized drug war took place on Tuesday with what the Pentagon called a "precision strike against a drug vessel operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization."

• Trump said 11 members of the Tren de Aragua cartel had been killed while transporting drugs. He shared what appeared to be video of an aerial attack on a speedboat.

Why it matters: Trump has ordered a flotilla of ships off Venezuela's shores, ostensibly to stop drugs but also in hopes of sparking regime change, as Axios reported last week.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro faces a potentially lengthy sentence over his alleged involvement in a scheme to overturn his 2022 election loss, an accusation he denies.

The big picture: Brazil's Federal Supreme Court begins the latest phase of the trial beneath the shadow of President Trump's threats to impose sweeping tariffs on Brazilian goods unless the country drops the criminal charges against his ally.

Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to reconsider the decision to bar Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the UN General Assembly, arguing it was made on false pretenses, according to a copy of the letter seen by Axios.

Why it matters: The Trump administration's decision sets up a major diplomatic showdown at the UN, where several western countries will announce they're recognizing a Palestinian state at a gathering Palestinian leaders won't even be allowed to attend.

Facing tariffs and insults from President Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a far friendlier interaction on Monday with his Russian and Chinese counterparts during his first visit to China in seven years.

The big picture: Successive U.S. presidents have aggressively courted India as a counterweight to China. Trump is actively trying to drive a wedge between India and Russia while seeking to gradually peel Russia away from China. So the image of all three leaders literally holding hands is, at the very least, a symbolic blow.

People in Afghanistan were searching into Monday night for survivors following a 6.0-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 800 people and wounded nearly 2,800 others a day earlier.

The big picture: Aid groups and the Taliban have called for urgent assistance in the country, which has faced a humanitarian crisis since the 2021 Taliban takeover that saw the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Nestlé fired CEO Laurent Freixe "with immediate effect" on Monday due to an "undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate" the Swiss food giant announced.

Why it matters: Freixe was replaced by Nestlé Nespresso chief Philipp Navratil after just a year in the job.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum issued a stern warning on Monday to the Trump administration that Mexico is willing to enter security agreements with the U.S. around immigration and fighting cartels, but "without subordination."

Why it matters: Sheinbaum is facing pressure from President Trump amid his increasingly changing and erratic demands to battle drug cartels while holding the threat of tariffs over Mexico.

Rural states in the American South and West had some of the nation's highest violent crime and homicide rates in 2024, driven by violence in small communities, according to an Axios analysis of FBI data.

Why it matters: A state-by-state comparison paints a complex picture of U.S. crime trends as President Trump threatens to send the National Guard to Democrat-controlled cities in blue states over concerns about violent crime.

The average bedtime for American adults is 11:37pm, and the average duration of sleep is less than 7 hours, Apple Watch data shows.

Why it matters: Most people aren't getting the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, which impacts mood and health.

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan on Sunday night, killing more than 800 people, wounding over 2,800 others and causing significant damage to villages in the mountainous region, Taliban officials said.

The big picture: The quake struck at 11:47pm local time some 17 miles east-northeast of the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, with a depth of about six miles, per the U.S. Geological Survey.

A federal judge told the Trump administration not to deport 10 Guatemalan children in a temporary order on Sunday that also blocks the removal of hundreds of other unaccompanied minors.

Why it matters: Some of the children were on planes facing deportation within hours when District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan issued the temporary restraining order, allowing them to stay in the U.S., for now, to challenge their removal.

Pope Leo XIV offered his prayers for the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting victims and called for an end to the "pandemic of arms, large and small" on Sunday.

What he's saying: "Our prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school Mass in the American state of Minnesota," said the first U.S. pontiff during a weekly prayer with crowds in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.