Convening for the first time since the United States' withdrawal, foreign ministers of the remaining parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal failed to announce new measures to compensate Iran for the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions.
Where it stands: Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, meeting with Iran in Vienna under EU auspices, issued a bland communiqué that “reconfirmed their commitment to the full and effective implementation” of the deal. But there was no there there, apart from naming Britain to replace the U.S. as co-chair of a panel, alongside China, on reconfiguring a heavy-water reactor in Arak.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to North Korea on Friday and met with Kim Yong-chol, the Vice Chairman of North Korea's worker's party, to fill in details on denuclearization, reports Reuters.
The details: Kim Jong-un broadly declared North Korea would commit to denuclearize at his summit with President Trump in June, but Pompeo hopes to get more information on a concrete plan moving forward. He's also hoping to discuss recovering the remains of American soldiers from the Korean war after Jong-un promised he would send them back to the U.S.
China on Friday hit the U.S. with $34 billion in retaliatory tariffs on 545 products, and they are expected to take particular aim at states that voted for President Trump in the 2016 election.
Bottom line: Trump had promised that such actions would be met with additional U.S. tariffs, which means the two countries may be staring down the black hole of a tit-for-tat trade war.
Roughly 150 business leaders have been invited to dine with President Donald Trump during his first visit to the United Kingdom as president next week, the Financial Times reports.
One big thing: Those invited see the dinner as an opportunity to convince Trump of a post-Brexit trade deal. British businesses are already seeing a downturn in investment from the European Union due to Brexit, per a previous report from Axios. And now that Britain cannot depend on the EU for investment, production, and jobs, Britain will need a trade deal with the U.S. now more than ever.
An employee of NSO Group, an Israeli contractor known for its surveillance tools, is being charged for stealing the firm's internationally renowned "Pegasus" cell phone spyware and trying to sell it on the dark web for $50 million, according to the newspaper Globes.
Why it matters: When nations lack cyber espionage tools, they turn to contractors for off-the-shelf tools. Mexico was caught spying on politicians, lawyers and journalists with Pegasus last year. Pegasus is serious stuff, giving full access to a phone for surveillance or other purposes.
Wang Jian, co-founder and chairman of Chinese conglomerate HNA, died Tuesday after falling off a wall in France while having his photograph taken.
Why it matters: Beyond the obvious human tragedy, Jian was architect of HNA's massive global expansion — when it invested more than $40 billion to buy big stakes in companies like Hilton. But he's also been helping to lead HNA's great unwind, as the firm had overextended itself, and his death could make that process more difficult.
