The firing of the Czech Republic's cybersecurity director, Dusan Navratil, was not linked to an ongoing dispute with Chinese telecom giant Huawei, sources with direct knowledge tell Axios.
Why it matters: The Czech cybersecurity agency has fended off numerous overtures from Huawei, bucking the trend among Eastern European nations. Navratil’s departure does not signal a change in this stance.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has tweeted his support for soccer star Mesut Özil after the Arsenal player criticized China’s mass detention of Uighur Muslims.
Driving the news: Thecomments come after Özil's London-based soccer club distanced itself from Özil's comments, with the team putting out a statement that it does not interfere in politics. Chinese broadcaster CCTV then pulled a match between Arsenal and Manchester City in light of the criticism.
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.
