Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen travelled to Africa last week to deepen U.S. ties in the continent. All of this comes as China is working on how to restructure debt in the region, after loaning around $700 billion to Africa in the last two decades.

• Plus, the end of the Memphis Scorpion police unit.
• And, a surge in violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Guests: Axios' Hans Nichols and Shawna Chen.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Naomi Shavin, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at podcasts@axios.com. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Go Deeper:

• Yellen warns of debt ceiling "catastrophe" for U.S. and beyond
• China's first African debt rodeo is playing out in Zambia
• Why Memphis' specialized police unit is under fire after Tyre Nichols' death

Editor's note: This episode has been corrected to reflect that the roughly $700 billion in outstanding African debt belongs to many countries and institutions, not just China, which has roughly 12%.