Why it matters, per Axios' Joe Uchill: This is the second publicly revealed round of cyberattacks in response to real world attacks, after U.S. Cyber Command targeted Iran following the downing of a U.S. drone in July. The U.S. and many of its allies have blamed Iran for the Saudi oil attacks, but Iran has vigorously denied the allegations.
Top Trump administration economic adviser Peter Navarro made up an economist he has quoted regularly in his books named Ron Vara, Tom Bartlett writes in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
"Those who know Navarro well, [Greg] Autry says, were fully aware that Ron Vara was a phony source who often popped up in his books. He said Vara was Navarro’s 'alter ego,' an 'everyman character' who dispenses cutesy business aphorisms as well as dire warnings about Chinese food."
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam aborted her annual policy address after being heckled Wednesday by opposition lawmakers in the Chinese territory's legislature.
Why it matters: Lam had planned to formally withdraw the controversial extradition bill that triggered months of massive protests that have crippled the Asian financial hub. Per the BBC, the legislative suspension after Lam was twice interrupted by the opposition lawmakers means the bill could not be formally withdrawn.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un rode a white horse to Mt. Paektu and lashed out at sanctions imposed on the country, the state-run KCNA news agency reported Wednesday — hailing the action as "a great event of weighty importance."
The big picture: The images at the sacred, active volcano and accompanying proclamation that "there will be a great operation to strike the world with wonder again and make a step forward in the Korean revolution" comes days after denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S. broke down.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi ruled out Tuesday holding a full House vote to formally authorize an impeachment inquiry at this stage. But she said "all roads" of Democrats' investigations so far seem to lead to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As the U.S. carries out a sudden, near-total withdrawal from Syria, Russia is rushing into the breach.
Why it matters: The hasty U.S. exit from Syria makes it certain the outcome there will bear Vladimir Putin’s imprint. Russia entered Syria in 2015 to help dictator Bashar al-Assad regain his grip on the country, and Russia has steadily gained influence in the wider Middle East.
A Turkish bank known as Halkbank has been charged in a 6-count indictment for "fraud, money laundering, and sanctions offenses related to the bank’s participation in a multibillion-dollar scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran," federal prosecutors in New York announced on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Bloomberg reported last week that in 2017, President Trump pressed former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to help convince the Justice Department to drop a sanctions evasion case against an Iranian-Turkish gold trader named Reza Zarrab — a client of Rudy Giuliani's whose case was a high priority for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Zarrab later pleaded guilty and testified against the CEO of Halkbank, also alleging that "Erdogan knew of and supported the laundering effort on behalf of Iran."
TikTok, the short-form video sharing app owned by Chinese tech giant Bytedance, is attempting to distingush itself from its Chinese owner, but it remains caught in the escalating conflict between Washington and Beijing.
Driving the news: TikTok is bringing on outside experts, including 2 former congressmen, to take a look at its content moderation policies.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Nepal over the weekend bearing gifts: a pledge of $500 million in economic aid for the impoverished Himalayan country and a series of infrastructure deals worth billions more.
Why it matters: Phanindra Dahal of BBC Nepali, and a former Axios fellow, emails from Kathmandu that Xi's visit was "massive news" in a country at the center of a tug of war between India and China:
