William Webster, a former federal judge and the former director of both the FBI and the CIA, said in a New York Times op-ed that President Trump and Attorney General William Barr's attacks on the FBI are "troubling in the extreme."
"Calling FBI professionals 'scum,' as the president did, is a slur against people who risk their lives to keep us safe. Mr. Barr’s charges of bias within the FBI, made without providing any evidence and in direct dispute of the findings of the nonpartisan inspector general, risk inflicting enduring damage on this critically important institution."
A federal judge has set President Trump's first national security adviser Michael Flynn's sentencing for Jan. 28, dismissing allegations by his defense attorneys that he was entrapped by prosecutors into accepting a plea deal.
The big picture: Flynn, who pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his interactions with the Russian ambassador, was the first Trump associate to face charges in the Mueller investigation but among the last to be sentenced.
For the past year, I've had a running digital conversation with a well-known Silicon Valley investor over my criticisms of tech startups taking money from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. Almost any time I write the word "Khashoggi," my phone buzzes with a link to the latest human rights violation in China.
The state of play: The investor's argument is that I dove head-first down a slippery slope. Even if the Chinese government doesn't directly invest in a U.S. company, as the Saudis often do, it's very difficult to separate China's private and public enterprise. Particularly in tech.
Hong Kong police used tear gas on protesters as late-night clashes erupted in the Asian financial hub ahead of a Monday meeting in Beijing between Chinese President Xi Jinping and the city's embattled leader Carrie Lam, Reuters reports.
Why it matters:Violentclashes between police and demonstrators have often left the Chinese territory paralyzed since the pro-democracy protest movement began six months ago. But the protests had been notably peaceful in recent days.
The United States this fall quietly expelled two Chinese Embassy officials suspected of spying after they breached a military base near Norfolk, Virginia, that houses U.S. Special Operations forces, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: The episode, which has not been publicly acknowledged by either Washington or Beijing, is believed to be the first instance of Chinese diplomats being expelled on suspicions of espionage in more than 30 years, per the Times. It has also heightened concerns in the Trump administration that China is expanding its spying operations in the U.S.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show Sunday that the results of the U.K. election — which saw her Scottish Nationalist Party win 48 out of 59 Scottish seats in Parliament — mean Prime Minister Boris Johnson cannot ignore her requests for another independence referendum.
The big picture: Johnson and his Conservative Party are opposed to Scottish independence, a movement that Sturgeon has continued to champion even after it was defeated by 10% in a 2014 referendum.
China’s state broadcaster CCTV, the primary distributor of English Premier League soccer in the country, pulled a match between Arsenal and Manchester City on Sunday after Arsenal midfielder Mesut Özil criticized Beijing for its mass detention of Uighur Muslims, the Financial Times reports.
The backdrop: Özil, a Turkish-German soccer player, denounced China on Twitter and Instagram for persecuting Uighur minorities in Xinjiang province, while also calling out Muslim-majority countries for their silence.
