An image of the clock face of Big Ben was projected on 10 Downing Street, residence of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as Britain officially left the European Union at 11 p.m. London time.
Why it matters: "In its biggest shift since losing its global empire, [the U.K. turns] its back after 47 years on the post-World War Two project that sought to build the ruined nations of Europe into a global power," Reuters writes.
The foreign ministers of the member states of the Arab League unanimously adopted a resolution on Saturday rejecting the Trump Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and said that "it does not satisfy the minimum of the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people."
Why it matters: The Trump administration was counting on a coalition of Arab countries it has built over the last several years to prevent such a resolution and press the Palestinians to go back to the table. Those efforts did not materialize.
30 former foreign policy and national security officials from three administrations published an “open letter” harshly criticizing the Trump Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
Why it matters: The signatories, who served under George W. Bush, Clinton and Obama, criticized the plan as harming U.S. interests, giving Israel “a green light” for annexation in the West Bank and possibly turning Israel into a binational state.
On Sunday, the United States will deny entry into the country to any foreign national who poses a risk of transmitting the coronavirus, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Friday.
Why it matters: The public health emergency comes with a quarantine for U.S. citizens arriving from Hubei province, and a temporary ban on foreigners without family in the U.S. who have recently visited China.
The Trump administration will begin deterring immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania, the administration announced on Friday.
Why it matters: This comes three years after Trump's signature travel ban was first announced, which barred people from several Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S. The move serves as another sign of the U.S. closing its doors to immigrants under the Trump administration.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a 14-day federal quarantine order for 195 U.S. citizens who were evacuated directly from Wuhan, China amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Why it matters: This is the first time the CDC has ordered a quarantine in nearly 50 years. The last time was in the 1960s to protect against smallpox. CDC officials emphasized this is purely preventative since the U.S. citizens were directly exposed to the coronavirus in Wuhan.
The Palestinians are scrambling to mobilize the Arab States against the Trump peace plan with very little success, Arab and U.S. officials told me. Many Arab states are privately and publicly pressing the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table for a better deal.
Why it matters: The foreign ministers of the Arab League member states will convene tomorrow in Cairo at the request of the Palestinians. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to call on the Arab foreign ministers to back the Palestinians and pass a resolution criticizing the Trump plan.
Several airlines — including major U.S. carriers like Delta, United and American — are suspending some or all of their China flights through February because of coronavirus fears.
The big picture: Airlines said demand for flights to China has plummeted due to the virus' spread. Large companies in other industries — from technology to packaged food — have suspended business trips, CNBC reports.
The State Department advised Americans not to travel to China on Thursday and recommended that those currently in the country consider leaving, following WHO's global public health emergency declaration.
Why it matters: The U.S. now considers travel to China as dangerous as going to North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Somalia because of the coronavirus.
Approximately 6,000 Carnival cruise ship travelers have been released after a passenger from Macau experienced possible coronavirus symptoms but tested negative, the BBC reports.
The state of play: Officials feared the ship would be the first impacted by the coronavirus spread. Diseases can quickly flourish among cruise ship passengers because so many people are in such close proximity to each other.
Historical analyses of President Trump's impeachment will note that it coincided with a tumultuous four months in U.S. foreign policy.
Between the lines: It’s impossible to evaluate exactly if and how impeachment affected Trump's calculus along the way — but it certainly affected his predecessors.
