President Trump is expected to decide in the next several days whether to present the White House's Middle East peace plan before Israel's March 2 elections, Israeli and U.S. sources told me.
Why it matters: If the plan is presented before the Israeli elections, it could influence the campaign and possibly provide a boost to embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. If Trump decides to wait, it could become difficult to present the plan at a later stage because of the presidential campaign in the U.S.
Pressed on whether it was appropriate for President Trump to solicit foreign interference from Ukraine and China, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said on ABC's "This Week" that the president is a "human" and that "things happen."
Iran has built up a vast network of proxies through which it wields influence across the Middle East, and which could take action to stoke tensions between the U.S. and Iran over the killing of Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
Why it matters: The political parties and militias that are influenced by and act on behalf of Iran likely pose a more direct threat to U.S. targets than Iran itself, the Washington Post writes.
A Boeing 737-800 Ukraine International Airlines plane crashed in Tehran shortly after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on Jan. 8, killing all 167 passengers and nine crew members.
The latest: The Iranian government has agreed to send the black boxes from the downed jetliner to Ukraine, suggesting it cannot be read in Iran and providing little further detail, according to an unnamed Iranian official per AP. American, French and Canadian experts will help analyze the data in Ukraine.
World leaders are preparing to gather in Berlin on Sunday to discuss concluding the nine-month conflict in oil-rich Libya and restoring peace and stability, Al Jazeera reports.
Why it matters: The conflict in Libya is among the most "intractable proxy wars" in the Middle East, pulling in Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey, the New York Times reports.
India's top military commander Gen. Bipin Rawat suggested that Kashmiris could be sent to "deradicalization camps" at an international affairs conference in New Delhi on Thursday, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters,per the New York Times:Human "rights activists consider [the statement] an alarming echo of what China has done to many of its Muslim citizens," who are being held in mass detention camps in the Xinjiang area.
The Peace Corps formally notified members of Congress this week that it will withdraw volunteers from China starting in June, according to a statement from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
Citing federal regulations, the University of Maryland said on Friday that it will close its Confucius Institute, the earliest of its kind in the United States.
Why it matters: It is the latest in a string of U.S. universities to end their partnerships with Chinese government-funded language and culture programs.
