Jared Kushner will travel to Israel during the last week of October, Israeli officials tell me. He is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Benny Gantz, the man seeking to replace Netanyahu as prime minister.
Why it matters: Kushner knows Netanyahu well after their many meetings, but this will be his first meeting with Gantz since his entry into politics. This is another acknowledgement by the Trump administration, which had dealt solely with Netanyahu for two and a half years, that Gantz is a key political player in Israel.
China is applying tougher cybersecurity standards more widely as of Dec. 1, requiring companies to open their networks and deploy government-approved equipment. The changes worry international organizations and underscore the difference between U.S. and Chinese approaches to cybersecurity.
The big picture: China already has a law, applying to the most secure networks, that allows the government to audit private business networks and mandates the use of government-approved security equipment. That law will now apply to all networks.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this morning that he's reached a "great new" Brexit deal with the European Union — a statement almost unforeseeable one week ago, when Johnson seemed to be steaming toward a constitutional crisis over a potential "no deal" Brexit on the Oct. 31 deadline.
Between the lines: Johnson's deal is similar to the one his predecessor, Theresa May, saw repeatedly rejected in Parliament (including by Johnson), with some tweaks around the crucial issue of Northern Ireland.
Cozy Bear, the less-discussed of the two Russian hacker groups that breached the Democratic National Committee in 2016, had been thought to be scaling back operations since that election, but a new report finds the group instead became more covert.
The big picture: The report, from cybersecurity firm ESET, shows that Cozy Bear switched to a different toolkit after 2016, continuing to target the ministries of foreign affairs in at least three European countries and the Washington, D.C., embassy of a European country.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's minority government partner, Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, said in a statement Thursday that it can't back the Brexit deal he's negotiated with the European Union "as things stand."
Why it matters: It's a major blow to Johnson as the DUP's support is vital to his plan to get an agreement approved by the British Parliament. The United Kingdom is due to exit the EU on Oct. 31.
The consensus in Washington is increasingly clear: The security threat to the U.S. from Chinese firms is bigger than just Huawei.
Why it matters: If the administration views every Chinese company with suspicion, it could prolong the trade war and put the U.S. and China on a crash course toward a swift technological decoupling.
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.
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