Benny Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White party, has notified Israeli President Reuven Rivlin that he has failed to form a coalition government ahead of tonight's deadline.
Why it matters: Gantz's failure comes 28 days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself failed to form a government following September's deadlocked elections. Never before have both leading candidates failed to form a government. Israel could soon be headed for its third elections in less than a year.
A hacker group believed to carry out some of the Iranian government's destructive attacks is focusing on makers of industrial control systems, according to a presentation a Microsoft employee will give at Thursday's CyberWarCon detailed in a new Wired article.
Why it matters: The group, nicknamed APT 33, Refined Kitten and Elfin, has been known to use malware to damage computer systems in the past, leading the Microsoft researcher presenting the talk on Thursday, Ned Moran, to speculate that the hackers may be laying the groundwork for future destructive attacks on industrial systems.
Simon Cheng, a former employee of the United Kingdom's consulate in Hong Kong, said in a statement published Wednesday, that Chinese secret police tortured him in early August to obtain information about alleged foreign interference in the protests that have engulfed the city for months.
The big picture: Cheng's accusations could further provoke the ongoing violent protests in the former British colony that started June against a bill that would allow extraditions to China. His allegations have also increased tensions between the U.K. and China over human rights abuses.
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.
