The European Council announced last week a new framework to punish perpetrators of cyber crimes, in response to a growing number of politically motivated attacks against EU member states and institutions, non–EU countries and international organizations.
Why it matters: The EU has condemned malicious behavior in cyberspace before, but this is the first time it has instituted a policy to respond to malign behavior, an important milestone given the threats posed by hackers from Russia, China and elsewhere.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed to lawmakers on Friday that President Trump will invoke an emergency provision allowing him to bypass Congress to sell nearly $8 billion worth of weapons that would benefit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, reports the Washington Post.
Why it matters: The "rare" move to declare an emergency in an effort to push through 22 arms deals is troubling to both Republican and Democratic lawmakers who are concerned that the White House is tipping the system of checks and balances, per the Post. Some fear that selling weapons to Gulf nations could fan the flames of tension between the U.S. and Iran, per the New York Times.
The White House told Congress on Friday that it plans to send an additional 1,500 troops to the Middle East amid tensions with Iran, Bloomberg reports.
Where it stands: The purpose of deploying additional troops is to "enhance protection of forces already in the region that are dedicated to missile defense, freedom of navigation in Persian Gulf waters and other objectives," according to a Pentagon notice to congressional defense committees obtained by Bloomberg.
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she will resign as prime minister Friday, meaning a country that was already adrift amid the current Brexit crisis now has to replace its leader as well.
The big picture: May had presented a last-ditch effort to get her Brexit deal across the line, offering up the possibility of a second referendum. That olive branch set off a schism within her own Cabinet, punctuated by the resignation of Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons, as ministers signaled throughout the week that the prime minister's political situation was deteriorating.
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May appears, finally, to have reached the end of the road. A plan to resuscitate her Brexit deal was abandoned on Thursday. The London Times reports that she'll "announce a timetable for her departure tomorrow morning."
The bottom line: May came into office three years ago with a singular mission — to deliver Brexit. Anyone would have struggled to do so. She, quite clearly, failed.
Julian Assange's Ecuadorian refuge has ended after more than six years, with the WikiLeaks chief facing American extradition for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.
The big picture: Few figures have been so influential in our past decade — think Hillary Clinton's emails, Iraq War footage that created a political firestorm in President Obama's first term, and his offers to assist Edward Snowden. Follow the 9 year timeline of Assange's legal entanglements — which today entered a new phase, as he prepares to fight an extradition request to the U.S.
The triumph of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India's national elections, which gives Narendra Modi another 5 years as prime minister, should be a largely positive outcome for U.S. foreign policy.
The big picture: Washington has come to regard India, with Modi at the helm, as a key partner in Asia, particularly since the Trump administration rolled out its Indo-Pacific strategy. U.S. and Indian security interests strongly align over countering the threat of terrorism in South Asia and China’s deepening footprint across Asia.
Hacktivism — when activist groups like Anonymous use cyber disruption for political means — declined 95% between 2015 and 2018, according to a report by IBM.
Details: There are a variety of reasons for the decline, like governments impersonating activists and increased arrests.
President Trump fired back at former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a Thursday tweet after reports that Tillerson disparaged the president's preparation for a 2017 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin:
"Rex Tillerson, a man who is 'dumb as a rock' and totally ill prepared and ill equipped to be Secretary of State, made up a story (he got fired) that I was out-prepared by Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Hamburg, Germany. I don’t think Putin would agree. Look how the U.S. is doing!"
The backdrop: After a request from House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Tillerson told the committee in a closed hearing Wednesday that "a discrepancy in preparation ... created an unequal footing" for the meeting in Hamburg, per the Washington Post.
A planned last-ditch vote on U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal won't happen during the week of June 3, the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons announced Thursday.
Why it matters: Like the vote on her deal, May's premiership is now dead in the water — and it looks increasingly likely she'll step down after today's round of European elections. She already suffered a top Cabinet resignation from Andrea Leadsom on Wednesday, the leader of the House of Commons, and faces a meeting tomorrow about her future with Graham Brady, the head of her Conservative Party's parliamentary committee.
Short of a highly improbable climbdown by China, President Trump, confronting a strong re-election challenge from Democrats, is likely to maintain an aggressive public posture toward Beijing at least through the 2020 campaign cycle, experts tell Axios.
The big picture: Standing tall against China is one of the very few issues with strong bipartisan popularity across the country, which will make Trump hesitant to let it go, especially given the strong economy.
