White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is leading President Trump's Middle East peace team, gave an interview to a leading Palestinian newspaper, which was published today. The White House has released a transcript in English. The key quote:
"[Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas] has his talking points which have not changed in the last 25 years. There has been no peace deal achieved in that time. To make a deal both sides will have to take a leap and meet somewhere between their stated positions. I am not sure President Abbas has the ability to do that."
Why it matters: Axios contributor Barak Ravid, who scooped news of the interview yesterday, notes that it marks an effort by the White House to speak directly to the Palestinian people before unveiling its Middle East peace plan, which Abbas' Palestinian leadership has said it will not even read.
President Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, the head of the White House's Middle East peace team, gave an interview on Friday to the most popular Palestinian daily newspaper Al-Quds.
Why it matters: Set to be published Sunday morning, it's Kushner's first-ever interview on the Trump administration's peace efforts. A person familiar with the content of the interview told me that it's an attempt by the White House to talk directly to the Palestinian people before the U.S. launches its peace plan.
Two years after the International Trade Commission cleared Fitbit of the theft of trade secrets from Jawbone, a federal grand jury returned charges related to the case against six former and current Fitbit employees, who all previously worked for Jawbone, in a personal capacity, per Wired.
Why it matters, via Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva:The original lawsuit between the companies went nowhere, so it’s notable that the U.S. Attorney's Office has now found a reason to file criminal charges. There's added intrigue because, as Wired reports, DOJ is most interested in cases that involve exfiltration of trade secrets to other countries. However, there's not enough information provided in this indictment — save references to Chinese market analyses — to know if that's the case here.
The details: The "People's Vote" campaign demands a public ballot so people "can decide if a decision that will affect our lives for generations makes the country better or worse off." A Survation poll this week shows that a majority of Britons would now vote to remain in the U.K. — and 48% of respondents said they supported a second referendum on the final Brexit deal with just 25% opposed.
With a little more than nine months to go until the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, the country is bracing for a workforce shortage that could cause companies to divest and head elsewhere.
Why it matters: It’s been two years since the Brexit vote, and Prime Minister Theresa May and the country's Conservative government are still attempting to weave legislation through the House of Commons to set the terms of Brexit. Until then, businesses will be left in limbo on what to expect for the country's industries — and some of the fallout is already taking place.
Why it matters: President Trump has had a whirlwind few months on foreign policy: pulling out of the Iran deal, executing a historic sit-down with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, and a combative end to the G7 summit earlier this month.
The U.S. military announced that it was moving "assets" near the border between North Korea and South Korea to prepare for the return of the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean War, per the AP.
The big picture: The return of Korean War dead was one of the biggest successes touted by President Trump from his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un earlier this month in Singapore. A military spokesman told the AP that South Korean media reports that more than 200 American caskets were set to cross into North Korea today were "completely false," adding that the military's current preparations were "still preliminary."
