Axios

The Nazis stripped the grandparents of Walter Rothschild and Pippa Goldschmidt of their German citizenship in the 1930s. Now, they're among the thousands of Brits who have applied for German citizenship before Brexit comes into force next year.

"You want to know that if anything happens in one country, you can go to another, and being a European doesn't mean you're not loyal to one country. It means you're loyal to a lot at the same time."

In a surprise twist today, a federal judge delivered a withering brushback to anyone hoping Michael Flynn would get off easy for lying to the FBI.

The big picture: Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan for leniency. But in the courtroom today, Sullivan lashed into Flynn, suggested leniency wasn't coming and told the retired general he should consider delaying the sentencing.

Last week, the Trump administration unveiled its new Africa strategy, prioritizing deeper economic ties, counterterrorism and the efficient use of U.S. aid. The strategy aims to counter Chinese and Russian interests on the continent, especially the former’s strategic use of debt to control African countries.

Why it matters: The strategy oversimplifies Africa’s debt situation. It fails to distinguish between good and bad debt and doesn’t address Africa’s debt levels on a country-by-country basis. This polarizing approach could alienate key potential African allies, leading them to further align with China.

A federal judge suggested during a sentencing hearing Tuesday that Michael Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser and a retired three-star general, sold out his country.

The big picture: Flynn, who requested his sentencing be delayed until his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller is complete, pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI in January 2017 about the nature of his conversations with then-Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak. When he pleaded guilty, he also admitted that some of his lobbying work was done on behalf of the Turkish government, which he had long denied.

The Russian propaganda campaign to disrupt our elections and divide Americans went far beyond Google and Facebook, infiltrating and infecting everything from Pinterest to PayPal. 

Driving the news: New reports out Monday about Russia’s online disinformation efforts suggest that all of the major social media platforms, ranging from Facebook and Google's empires to Reddit and Tumblr, were weaponized over the past two years. Facebook-owned Instagram was particularly "underestimated."

Sen. Tom Cotton praised President Trump's approach to Iran but differed with the president on North Korea and the standoff with China over telecom giant Huawei in an hour-long conversation with former acting CIA Director Michael Morell at the Atlantic Council's annual forum on Friday.

Why it matters: The hawkish Army veteran has President Trump's ear, and may well end up in his administration.

By sending two nuclear-capable bombers to Caracas for a week of “joint operational flights” with the Venezuelan air force, Vladimir Putin awarded Nicolás Maduro a propaganda victory and irked the U.S. with a new incursion into the Western hemisphere.

Why it matters: Maduro is set to be sworn in for a new term on January 10, 2019. With Western democracies planning not to recognize his new mandate and to take further diplomatic actions, Maduro needs all the international support he can get to prop up his claim to legitimacy.

Airbnb will hold off on implementing its new policy of boycotting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the company announced today. The statement was issued after a round of negotiations today between Airbnb vice president Chris Lehane and Israeli Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin.

Why it matters: Airbnb's decision last month to delist 200 apartments and houses for rent in the Israeli settlements shocked the Israeli government. In the last few weeks, the Israeli government together with pro-Israeli organizations in the U.S. pressed Airbnb to change course. However, Airbnb has clarified that it is preparing to implement the policy in the future.

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May says she will put her Brexit plan up for a vote in the House of Commons the week of Jan. 14.

Where things stand: Since May canceled a vote on the plan last week, admitting she had nowhere near the support she needed, she has been visiting European capitals in search of tweaks that will make the plan more palatable to Parliament. What she's really banking on is that, as Brexit Day approaches, members will be so fearful of a "no deal" exit that they'll hold their noses and vote for her plan. Right now, that seems unlikely.

Two outside research groups used data obtained from Silicon Valley giants by the Senate Intelligence Committee to paint a sweeping picture of Russia’s online disinformation efforts both before and after the 2016 presidential election in reports released Monday.

Why it matters: "We should certainly expect to see recruitment, manipulation, and influence attempts targeting the 2020 election, including the inauthentic amplification of otherwise legitimate American narratives," said researchers from New Knowledge in the report they provided to the panel.

U.S. intelligence says Russia sought to disrupt the 2016 and 2018 elections and sow discord. Regardless of what Robert Mueller does, Russia did it — and is still at it.

The big picture: Multiple high-stakes, aggressive federal investigations were spawned by an initial FBI probe of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. And fallout from Russian meddling, including Democratic talk of impeaching President Trump, is likely to remain a dominant political issue as Democrats take over the House 17 days from now.