At least 106 people have been killed in Iran since protests over increased oil prices began last week, according to human rights group Amnesty International, which says the true death toll could be far higher.
The big picture: Iran was much quicker to use violent measures this time than during previous protests. The Iranian government also shut down the internet to prevent social media from further mobilizing protesters, per CNN.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman said during Tuesday's impeachment hearing that the conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 presidential election is "a Russian narrative that President [Vladimir] Putin has promoted."
The big picture: The debunked conspiracy theory — frequently referred to as CrowdStrike, the security firm at its center — is based on the idea that Ukraine was complicit in the 2016 hacking of the Democratic National Committee to create false electronic records that Russia was behind the hacking.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman pushed for a change to the U.S. position on the legality of Israeli settlements early in the Trump administration, but former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson opposed the move.
Behind the scenes: Friedman, the key driver behind the major policy shift announced yesterday, raised the issue again when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came in. This time he got a "green light," U.S. officials tell me.
Before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's announcement yesterday on the legality of Israeli settlements, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman notified Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political rival, Israeli and U.S. officials tell me.
Why it matters: Gantz, the leader of the centrist Blue and White party, effectively tied with Netanyahu in Israel's election two months ago. Gantz was asked to form a government after Netanyahu failed to do so, but his mandate expires on Wednesday. There was speculation that the U.S. announcement was timed to help Netanyahu politically.
China condemned on Tuesday the Hong Kong High Court's decision ruling the city's mask ban "unconstitutional," saying only the Chinese legislature has the power to rule on the constitutionality of legislation, Channel News Asia reports.
No other authority has the right to make judgments and decisions."
— Chinese government statement translated by Channel News Asia
Authorities say hundreds of student protesters have been arrested at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, but about 100 were defying police orders to surrender as the standoff entered a third day on Tuesday, AP reports.
The latest: The city's leader Carrie Lam said 600 demonstrators had left the campus, including 200 who are younger than 18, AP notes. Dozens of activists escaped from the building by "shimmying down plastic hosing from a bridge and fleeing on waiting motorbikes as the police fired projectiles," per Reuters.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement today on Israeli settlements was a major shift in U.S. policy and gives the settlements project diplomatic backing, but otherwise has few practical implications.
Why it matters: What the decision will do is deepen the divide between Democrats and Republicans on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The shift on the legal status of the settlements will continue to erode bipartisan support for Israel — especially with the U.S. entering an election year.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Dec. 11 about his investigation into alleged abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during the Russia probe, Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced Monday.
Why it matters: Horowitz's highly anticipated report is expected to explore, among other things, whether the FBI's court-ordered surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page was properly handled. Trump allies hope that Horowitz's report, as well as a separate investigation into intelligence collecting led by prosecutor John Durham, will undermine the findings of the Russia investigation.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday that the U.S. will no longer view Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem as "inconsistent with international law."
Why it matters: This move is an important shift because it cancels a legal position held by the U.S. State Department since 1978, when the Carter administration determined that the settlements were a violation of international law.
North Korean state media accused President Trump of using meetings with Kim Jong-un as something to "brag about," and said Pyongyang isn't interested in further summits unless it gets concrete results, per the Washington Post.
Context: Referring to Kim as "Mr. Chairman," Trump tweeted yesterday that North Korea's characterization of Joe Biden as a "rabid dog" was "somewhat" off the mark, but added that he's the man with whom to strike a deal. While Trump signed off with "see you soon," North Korea insists the U.S. is using nuclear talks to stall for time and has issued an end-of-year deadline to keep them alive.
Hundreds of secret Iranian intelligence cables obtained by the Intercept and shared with the New York Times "show how Iran, at nearly every turn, has outmaneuvered the United States in the contest for influence" in Iraq, per the Times.
Why it matters: Widespread protests in Iraq against corruption and poor government services have in some cases been spurred on by another grievance: Iranian influence over Iraqi politics. These documents, which date to 2014-2015, offer glimpses of how that influence was built and exercised — often at the expense of, and due to failures by, the U.S.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.1% in Hong Kong last month from 2.9%, according to new data released by the government on Monday.
Why it matters: The standoff between pro-democracy protestors and police isn't letting up — capping a stretch of the bloodiest clashes between police and protesters since the protests began in June. Monday's data adds to a spate of worsening economic indicators in Hong Kong, which is in the midst of its first recession in 10 years.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, a prominent big tech critic, will introduce legislation Monday meant to protect Americans' online data from flowing to China and other countries that raise national security concerns.
How it works: Hawley's bill takes aim Apple and TikTok by prohibiting American companies from storing user data or encryption keys in China, and preventing Chinese companies from collecting more information on American users than necessary to provide service here.
Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group, warned at the consulting firm's annual GZERO Summit in Tokyo Monday that a rising "tech Cold War" between China and the West poses "the greatest threat to globalization since the end of World War II."
What he's saying: "Beijing is building a separate system of Chinese technology — its own standards, infrastructure, and supply chains — to compete with the West," Bremmer said. "Make no mistake: This is the single most consequential geopolitical decision taken in the last three decades."
