White House envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday and present him with an updated proposal to end the war in Ukraine, a U.S. official said.
President Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner will join the meeting virtually.
Why it matters: The White House hopes Putin will show more willingness to compromise after Trump agreed to lift sanctions on Russian diesel sales and took other steps welcomed by Moscow.
As the French right-wing National Rally is seizing on fiery protests in the country for its pre-election pitch, so are President Trump and his Republican allies in the U.S.
The big picture: The Trump administration has used the unrest, which began over education grievances, to bolster its messaging on immigration and the threat of "communists," a group Trump has repeatedly claimed is threatening American civilization.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call Tuesday that President Trump hasn't issued any kind of order to harm Ukraine.
Why it matters: The call was an effort to prevent the crisis between the U.S. and Ukraine from escalating further — and to push back on Ukrainian accusations that Trump is trying to coerce Zelensky into making concessions to Russia.
Few if any Western militaries are prepared for underground warfare: the kind of visceral, claustrophobic fight that's reminiscent of Vietnam War tunnel rats and plays out year after year across the Middle East, according to a Jewish Institute for National Security of America report shared with Axios.
Why it matters: The lengthy document, littered with warnings, was co-authored by a man known as "Col. David," an elite combat engineer who commanded Israel's counter-tunnel and subterranean warfare operations after the Oct. 7 attack.
White evangelical Protestants are the only major religious group in which a majority says empathy can become dangerous when it leads people away from a society guided by God's truth, according to a new survey.
Voters in oil-rich Alberta overwhelmingly rejected a push to bring the province one step closer to secession in a historic referendum.
Why it matters: The result is a win for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has touted a united, energy-dominant Canada and sought to appeal to Albertans, who have expressed resentment over the nation's energy policies.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to Oslo for talks Tuesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders, a U.S. official said.
The big picture: The talks will bring together Ukraine, European allies and the U.S. as they seek to develop a peace proposal to present to Russia.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Monday, two sources with knowledge told Axios.
Why it matters: The unannounced visit comes eight days before Israel's election and amid U.S.-Israeli discussions about potentially resuming major combat operations against Iran.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday lobbied a bipartisan group of senators to press the Trump administration to remove what he claimed are restrictions on intelligence sharing and weapons supplies.
Why it matters: Ukrainian officials say the Trump administration has quietly imposed these limits without admitting it publicly in an attempt to press Zelensky to accept a deal to end the war that includes more concessions to Russia.
President Trump wants to hold a trilateral summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in China next month to discuss "denuclearization" — but not necessarily Ukraine.
Why it matters: Such a summit between the leaders of the U.S., China and Russia would be unprecedented.
Japan has launched a potentially historic mission to scoop up soil samples from Phobos — one of Mars' two lumpy, potato-esque moons — and return them to Earth.
Why it matters: The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission could reveal how the red planet's two weird little moons came to exist.
Some researchers believe they're remnants of a long-ago collision between Mars and some other body. Others think they're former asteroids captured by Mars' gravitational pull.
This weekend brought violence in the streets of France. Monday brought violence in its bond market. And therein lies a warning for other rich countries staring at big fiscal imbalances.
Driving the news: There were outbursts of violence and looting in several French cities, following demonstrations over school quality and cost of living. They included rioters setting fire to the city hall in Limoges.
China's economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, extending a yearslong pattern in which surging exports have compensated for weak spending and investment at home.
Why it matters: The stronger that China's economy performs, the less pressure Beijing faces to address the domestic imbalances that have made it so reliant on selling goods abroad.
But what is working for China is becoming harder for its trading partners to tolerate, raising the prospect that its growth model is reaching political and economic limits overseas.
President Trump's moves to avoid new penalties on Russian energy sent shockwaves through Washington, sparking diplomatic tensions and political turmoil.
Why it matters: Trump's push to lower energy prices ahead of the midterms could provide Russia an economic lifeline and is exposing divisions within his own party.
