The Pacific island nation of Palau has lost much of its tourism in the last year or so — hotels and tour boats are empty and travel agencies are closing shop, reports Reuters’ Farah Master.
The big picture: Palau, which is one of Taipei’s 18 remaining allies in the world, is caught in the middle of the diplomatic entanglement between China and Taiwan. China is likely curbing tourism as a way to force Palau back into its good graces.
The White House scolded El Salvador this week for its move to "abandon diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China," Politico reports.
The details: White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Thursday the country's "receptiveness to China's apparent interference" in its politics "is of grave concern...and will result in a reevaluation of our relationship with El Salvador." China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang pushed back, per Politico, asking countries to respect El Salvador's decision, and saying it's "obvious who is politically interfering in the region."
After months of back-and-forth between the U.S. and North Korea, South Koreans are growing wary and a little suspicious that any real progress can be made with the regime, according to Politico's Cory Bennett.
The big picture: In recent days, the administration has shown mixed messaging of confidence when it comes to dealing with the regime. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he'd be traveling there next week, which Trump cancelled a day later, as he argued North Korea wasn't "making sufficient progress with respect to denuclearization." South Koreans are having "creeping doubts" that any real progress could actually be made with its reclusive neighbor, and that Trump is truly committed.
After months of review by the State Department and the White House, President Trump has decided to cut $200 million in civilian aid to the Palestinian Authority and for projects in the West Bank and Gaza, the State Department said in a statement.
Why it matters: The decision comes 9 months after President Trump's Jerusalem announcement, which prompted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to cut all ties with the White House. Those two developments created huge difficulties for the Trump administration to push forward with it's peace plan, which the White House is still debating when to launch. The aid cut also comes as Egypt and the U.N. are working on a stabilization deal for Gaza which will include a major push for humanitarian aid and reconstruction for the strip.
A group of users began alerting Reddit to a rash of suspicious news postings a year before Facebook and other tech platforms identified them this week as an Iranian disinformation campaign, NBC News' Ben Collins reports. The users tied the postings to Iran using publicly available domain registration information.
Why it matters: Tech platforms often ask for users' help to flag inappropriate, spammy, or suspicious content. In this case, the users complain that they couldn't get Reddit administrators to respond or act.
Informants close to the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin who played a vital role in helping U.S. intelligence agencies warn the public of Russian meddling in the 2016 election have now gone silent, seemingly out of fear for their lives and personal safety, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: The radio silence has left the CIA and other intelligence agencies with less information on what Putin’s plans could be for midterm elections this fall. Officials told the Times they don’t believe their sources have been compromised or killed, but the news comes after two former spies were poisoned in the U.K. presumably by Russia, U.S. intel agents were expelled from the country, and several political campaigns and tech companies have reported political hacking attempts from overseas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted today in a briefing to reporters in Lithuania that he doesn't think President Trump should put his peace plan forward at the current time.
What they're saying: Netanyahu said he "sees no urgency" and that the Trump administration is "not blind" about the current situation, adding: "It is his thing if he wants to try and promote it. From time to time he says something about this and [the peace plan] might come... the Americans are thinking about it... when they propose it we will see."
President Trump has directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to cancel his upcoming trip to North Korea, saying the country was not "making sufficient progress with respect to denuclearization."
Why it matters: Despite the pledge North Korea made at the summit in Singapore in June to commit to denuclearization, the Kim regime has yet to take any significant steps toward doing so.
Researchers at Secureworks discovered a vast network of phishing sites designed to gain login credentials to universities that appear to be connected with the same Iranian group recently indicted by the U.S. Justice Department over stealing intellectual property and research.
Why it matters: Intellectual property and research are attractive targets for Iran, which has lost access to much of the U.S. and world markets due to sanctions.
