President Trump senior adviser Jared Kushner said during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday that the Saudi government agreed to allow all eastbound flights from Israel to pass through its airspace, rather than just flights from Israel to the United Arab Emirates.
Why it matters: Although Saudi Arabia did not follow the UAE in normalizing relations with Israel, opening its airspace is a meaningful step that will influence tourism and the economy.
The House Intelligence Committee received a whistleblower complaint from a former senior Department of Homeland Security official who alleges he was instructed to "cease providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference in the United States" because it "made the president look bad," Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) announced Wednesday.
The big picture: U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that Russia is actively seeking to denigrate Joe Biden to assist President Trump ahead of the election.
The Palestinian Authority failed on Wednesday to get the Arab League's foreign ministers to endorse a resolution criticizing the U.S.-brokered normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
Why it matters: This is a very unusual development and a big blow to the Palestinians, who hold the rotating presidency of the Arab League. For decades, Arab League foreign ministers have endorsed every draft resolution the Palestinians have put forward.
A Chinese government-associated hacking group that shifted its focus this spring toward collecting intelligence involving coronavirus response has again reoriented its work, this time to target Tibetan dissidents, according to security firm Proofpoint.
Between the lines: China’s intelligence services may now feel that, with the initial COVID-19 crisis in both Europe and China now receding, they can return to older, core priorities.
Former director of national intelligence Dan Coats could not shake his "deep suspicions" that Russian President Vladimir Putin "had something" on President Trump, seeing "no other explanation" for the president's behavior, according to Bob Woodward's new book "Rage," which was obtained by CNN ahead of its publication next week.
Why it matters: Coats was the president's top intelligence official from March 2017 until August 2019. Woodward reports that Coats and his staff examined the intelligence regarding Trump's ties to Russia "as carefully as possible" and that he "still questions the relationship" between Trump and Putin despite the apparent absence of intelligence proof.
The U.S. will withdraw 2,200 troops from Iraq by the end of September, bringing troop levels in the country down to 3,000, confirmed Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command.
The big picture: The move is in line with President Trump's campaign promise to pare back America's involvement in the Middle East. The president has reduced the U.S. troop presence in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
More than 160 human rights groups called on the International Olympic Committee to revoke China's award of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games over the country's human rights abuses, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: The letter represents "the largest coordinated effort" yet against staging the Beijing games, coming amid heightened scrutiny of China's mass detention and repression of Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities, according to Reuters.
Major fires swept through the overcrowded Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos overnight, leaving over 12,000 migrants meant to be on COVID-19 lockdown without shelter, AP reports.
Why it matters: Moria is the largest refugee camp in Greece, where migrants fleeing war in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere have moved through in massive waves since 2015. The camp, which was originally intended to hold only 2,000 people, was placed under mass quarantine after confirming its first COVID-19 case earlier this month.
Group gatherings larger than six people will be banned in England as the country struggles with a rising number of coronavirus cases, the BBC reports.
Why it matters: England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van Tam said this week that citizens had "relaxed too much" over the summer, warning of "a bumpy ride over the next few months" unless people started taking the virus seriously again.
The signing ceremony of the U.S.-brokered normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates will take place at the White House on Sept. 15, according to White House officials.
Why it matters: This will be the first signing of a peace agreement between Israel and an Arab state in more than 25 years.
The top Democrat and Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee sent a letter to President Trump on Tuesday requesting an investigation into the alleged poisoning of Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader and leading critic of President Vladimir Putin.
Why it matters: Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and ranking member Michael McCaul (R-Texas) note that U.S. law requires the administration to determine within 60 days whether an accused country has used chemical weapons in violation of international law. If this is the case, U.S. sanctions must be imposed.
An academic study has found that since 2012, when the Chinese government began allowing more foreign films into the country, Hollywood movies have cast more light-skinned actors in starring roles.
Key takeaway: The researchers concluded U.S. film studios were casting to fulfill the aesthetic preferences of Chinese movie-goers, in a culture that places a premium on light skin — a phenomenon known as colorism.
Two Myanmar soldiers gave the military's first documented confession of participating in the massacre of Rohingya Muslims in 2017, the New York Times reports.
The big picture: Thousands of Rohingya adults and children suffered violent deaths in what the United Nations has deemed a genocidal campaign against the Muslim minority. Over one million refugees have been displaced after villages were burned and destroyed, food withheld, men decapitated and women and girls raped, according to witnesses.
Four Belarus-based employees of San Francisco-based PandaDoc were arrested in recent days, according to the company, after CEO Mikita Mikado spoke out about a government crackdown and disputed election there.
The big picture: The move comes amid weeks of protest in Belarus following an Aug. 9 election that opposition leaders say was rigged. Mikado, who is from Belarus, founded his company there before moving its headquarters to the U.S. in 2014.
Mainland China is expected to remain the second-largest global cinema market both in admissions terms and in box office revenue through 2024, per PwC.
The state of play: Prior to the pandemic, PwC estimated that China would overtake the U.S. box office this year. Mainland China already has the most movie screens of any country in the world and continues to grow despite the pandemic.
This weekend, Disney revealed that some scenes from its live action remake of the 1998 animated classic "Mulan" were filmed in Xinjiang, where the Chinese government is engaged in a campaign of cultural and demographic genocide against indigenous minorities.
Why it matters: The riches promised by China's massive domestic film market are buying the silence — and even complicity — of one of America's most powerful entertainment empires.
At least 37 million people have been displaced as a result of wars fought by the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001 — more than from all conflicts since 1900 except for World War II, according to a report from Brown University out Tuesday.
The big picture: The U.S. is set to enter its 20th year of the war on terror, which began on Oct. 7, 2001, with the invasion of Afghanistan under the Bush administration.
Two Australian journalists arrived home Tuesday after being flown from China, where they were forced to seek diplomatic refuge following "threatening behaviour from Chinese officials," per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Driving the news: During a five-day "diplomatic standoff," authorities told the ABC's Bill Birtles and the Australian Financial Review's Michael Smith they were "persons of interest in an investigation" into Australian Cheng Lei, who was an anchor for state broadcaster CGTN before being detained without charge last month, the AFR notes.
The number of coronavirus cases in Spain on Monday surpassed 500,000, after the country confirmed some 26,000 new infections over the weekend — and the U.K. and France are also reporting surges.
Why it matters: Spain is the first country in Western Europe to surpass half a million COVID-19 cases. There is growing concern that Europe is experiencing a second wave of infections, with cases surging over the summer.
