Former national security adviser John Bolton said in an excerpt of an upcoming interview with ABC's "This Week" Wednesday that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks he can play President Trump "like a fiddle," adding: "I think he sees that he's not faced with a serious adversary here."
Why it matters: This is the first on-camera interview that features Bolton since explosive excerpts from his tell-all memoir were published on Wednesday. Bolton alleges — among other things — that Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help with his re-election.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented four annexation scenarios in a meeting tonight with Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi — from annexing 30% of the West Bank to a more symbolic annexation of a small amount of land, an Israeli official briefed on the meeting tells me.
Why it matters: Netanyahu has vowed to move forward with annexation of at least some territory in the West Bank as soon as July 1. He's been hoping for a green light from the White House, which has said it will only agree if Israel's top leaders are unified behind the plan.
President Trump will welcome his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, to the White House on Wednesday, four days before the Polish presidential election.
Why it matters: The visit is the first from a foreign leader since early March, and a political gift to Duda and Poland's populist ruling party, Law and Justice. It also comes as Trump is considering increasing the U.S. troop presence in Poland and decreasing it in Germany. Trump has embraced the Polish government during its showdown with the EU over encroachment on the rule of law.
New U.S. sanctions targeting Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime and those who fund it are likely to increase pressure on the Syrian government and deepen the country's economic crisis.
Why it matters: Assad has survived nine years of civil war, but Syria's dictator now faces protests in the street, a currency shock and internal divisions highlighted by a public feud with his billionaire cousin, Rami Makhlouf. The people of Syria continue to suffer.
At least 1,255 flights in and out of Beijing's two major airports — roughly two-thirds of those scheduled — were canceled Wednesday as China moved to contain a new coronavirus outbreak in its capital, AP reports.
Why it matters: Beijing, home to more than 20 million people, has reported at least 137 new cases since last week and raised its emergency barometer to its second-highest level, which requires the government to close schools, suspend the reopenings of businesses and mandate stronger social-distancing requirements.
Why it matters: North Korea is wiping out all remnants of the detente with South Korea that began in 2018, and taking dramatic symbolic steps to signal a new more hostile era in relations. Pyongyang has also said it will resume military exercises and reestablish guard posts near the heavily fortified border.
U.S. companies exported a record 129,000 tons of pork to China in April, even as meat producers warned that the effects of the coronavirus pandemic would deplete the industry's supply chain, the New York Times reports, citing data from Panjiva.
Why it matters: U.S. consumers had to deal with meat shortages as many meatpacking plants became coronavirus hot spots. The industry lobbied the Trump administration to intervene to reverse plant closures mandated by local and state officials.
The Indian army says 20 of its troops were killed in a violent clash with Chinese forces in a disputed border region high in the Himalayas. China also reported casualties, but it has not confirmed any fatalities.
Why it matters: This is the most perilous moment for relations between the two Asian giants in decades. The sides had repeatedly clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but hadn't exchanged gunfire in 45 years. It's unclear whether guns were used in the altercation overnight.
The State Department released a one-sentence statement on Tuesday noting that the U.S. is "concerned" for the future of freedom of expression in the Philippines after a court found journalists Maria Ressa and Reynaldo Santos guilty of "cyber libel."
Why it matters: The case, which Ressa and activists say is a politically motivated prosecution by the Philippines' government, has been monitored around the world because of its implications for press freedom in the increasingly authoritarian country.
Beijing's government ordered all schools in the city to close Tuesday in an effort to contain a new coronavirus outbreak which has spread to neighboring provinces, Bloomberg reports.
Why it matters: The Chinese capital, home to more than 21 million people, has so far reported 106 new infections and raised its emergency response to level two — meaning people must be tested for the virus before they can leave the city.
Since the Black Lives Matter protests swept the U.S., Chinese government officials have repeatedly made public statements condemning racial injustice in the U.S. Those comments may seem largely opportunistic, as Beijing isn't known for standing up for oppressed groups these days.
But in the mid-20th century, the Chinese Communist Party and some black activists in the U.S. actually did make common cause.
Three Indian soldiers were killed in "a violent face-off" with the Chinese Army in Ladakh in the disputed Kashmir region along the Himalayan border on Monday night, the Indian Army said in a statement.
Details: The Indian Army later stated there had been "casualties on both sides," India Today notes. The Indian Army added, "Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation." China said Indian troops entered its territory to attack its soldiers, but it didn't comment on casualties, per AFP.
Last week, videoconferencing company Zoom sought to reassure global users that it would no longer shutter accounts outside of mainland China at Beijing's behest. But Zoom's struggle to please two governments with radically different ideologies is only just beginning.
Why it matters: U.S. tech companies with a significant presence in China face penalties or even expulsion from the country if they don't abide by Chinese government requests, and severe censure from U.S. civil society and government officials if they do.
North Korea "destroyed' a joint liaison office building on its side of the border on Tuesday, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said, per AP.
Details: "North Korea blew up the inter-Korean liaison office" in the border town of Kaesong, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said via text message, according to Bloomberg. Smoke could be seen and "an explosion was heard" in town, Yonhap notes.
With renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar's fighters retreating from Libya’s capital and militias supporting the UN-backed government on the offensive, the foreign countries powering Libya’s civil war are scrambling to adjust to a new reality.
The big picture: Russia, the UAE, Egypt and to a lesser extent France embraced the idea of a secular strongman taking control in Libya after years of chaos. But Haftar's offensive turned into a yearlong stalemate, and now a string of embarrassing defeats.
