The CIA concluded that Russian military hackers were responsible for a cyberattack that disabled computers in Ukraine last year, The Washington Post’s Ellen Nakashima reports, citing U.S. intelligence officials referencing a classified report.
Why it matters: Experts believe Russia is using Ukraine as a testing ground for future cyberattacks, so the way it behaves in Ukraine is worth watching. The tactic here is notable as well: the hackers launched the attack using what appeared to be ransomware, which would make it appear is if they were criminal hackers.
"Iran said [today] it would retaliate against new sanctions imposed by the United States after President Donald Trump set an ultimatum to fix 'disastrous flaws' in a deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear program," per Reuters.
The Trump administration has decided to continue waiving sanctions as they relate to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — but the president will “make clear this is the last waiver he will issue,” one senior administration official told reporters in a briefing Friday.
Why it matters: This effectively keeps the U.S. in the Iran deal, for now, and goes against Trump's threats last year that he would cancel the nuclear deal.
Chinese President Xi Jinping started 2018 as he ended 2017, demonstrating to all 80+ million Chinese Communist Party members that he is demanding absolute loyalty.
Why it matters: Politics are still very much in command in the Xi era, and the focus on Party loyalty and political correctness is about ensuring regime security and improving the implementation of central government policies through all levels of the bureaucracy. If Xi succeeds, we may see a much higher functioning PRC government that is able to execute on many of its ambitions goals.
For the third time, President Trump will not impose sanctions on Iran that could wreck the Iranian nuclear deal, the New York Times reports, citing two people briefed on the decision which is expected to be announced tomorrow. Trump will announce new sanctions on some Iranian officials.
Why this matters: Trump has called the Iran nuclear deal the "worst deal ever" but has again been persuaded by aides not to dissolve it because doing so "would play into the hands of hard liners in the country," the paper says.
