During the second day of Paul Manafort's trial, an executive and a manager of luxury menswear stores testified that Manafort spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on clothing, regularly paying with wire transfers from foreign bank accounts, according to the Washington Post.
Why it matters: Paul Manafort is facing charges of tax and bank fraud — specifically laundering $30 million in income, secretly keeping money in offshore accounts, acting as a foreign agent during his work with Ukraine, obstruction of justice and making false statements.
Have you ever ordered your morning cup of coffee delivered to your office? I asked 28 colleagues — all based in the U.S. Just two said "yes," and two others that said they might. Twenty-four basically told me to get lost.
Not so in China, where a delivered cup of steaming-hot coffee, brought by motorbike, is the new new thing.
Senior Israeli officials have promised Trump administration officials the controversial "Jewish Nation State" law passed two weeks ago by the Israeli Knesset will not lead to discrimination against any minority groups based on race, religion or gender, a source with direct knowledge tells me.
Why it matters: Senior U.S. officials asked senior officials in the Israeli Prime Minister's office for clarification over the law, which is mostly symbolic but highly offensive to Israel's Arab citizens, who see it as another step by the government to prevent them from being treated equally. In the medium and long-term, it could be used as a legal basis for discrimination against non-Jewish citizens in Israel.
Three Russian journalists investigating a private military contractor called Wagner Group were ambushed and killed in the Central African Republic, reports BBC News.
The big picture: Those responsible for the ambush have not been identified.Wagner Group is a Russian paramilitary organization with contractors involved in conflicts all over the world, including the Syrian Civil War. Believed to have ties to the Russian oligarch known as "Putin's Chef," Wagner's mercenaries were involved in a February attack on U.S. troops in Syria that was the deadliest U.S.-Russia clash since the Cold War, according to WashPost.
North Korea provided U.S. forensics experts with just a single dog tag to help with identification after handing over the remains of 55 American military members who died during the Korean War, reports the AP.
Why it matters: The effort to provide the U.S. with the remains of Americans killed in the war was a delayed promise kept by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after his June summit with President Trump. Per an anonymous official who spoke to the AP, it could take "months if not years to fully determine individual identities from the remains, which have not yet been confirmed by U.S. specialists to be those of American servicemen."
The Department of Defense released guidelines on Tuesday explaining the process of identifying the remains of soldiers returned from the Korean War.
The big picture: Of the 36,940 Americans killed or injured in the war, around 7,699 are listed as missing, according to the Pentagon. While the 55 boxes of remains brought back to the U.S. are "presumed to be American," it's possible they could include remains of soldiers from other nations who also fought in the war.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is set to begin his trial today in Alexandria, Va., where he faces charges of tax and bank fraud related to the laundering of $30 million worth of income.
Why it matters: This is the first trial of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign and its possible ties to Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mueller's team is not expected to make any reference to the words "Russians" or "collusion," per ABC News, but will instead focus on Manafort's alleged financial crimes, including those related to his political work as a lobbyist in Ukraine.
Senior U.S. officials reassured Israel today that regardless of President Trump's public call for direct and unconditional talks with Iran, there is no change in the administration's tough policy against the Iranian regime, Israeli officials tell me.
Why it matters: Trump's statement on talks with Iran blindsided the Israeli government, which has been totally aligned with Trump when it comes to Iran and pushed hard for U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. After the statement, Israeli officials asked whether there had been a change in policy, an official said.
An Iranian offical said Tuesday that it "would be a humiliation" to negotiate with President Trump since he trashed the Iran nuclear deal, Reuters reports.
The big picture: The tension between Trump and the Iranian regime has only increased since Trump pulled out of the deal earlier this year, and additional sanctions are approaching on August 6.
