Secretary of State Antony Blinken commemorated the fourth anniversary of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder on Sunday, saying it represented "an attack on freedom of expression everywhere."
Driving the news: U.S. intelligence concluded in 2021 that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) was responsible for Khashoggi's murder — an allegation Saudi officials deny.
The recapture by Ukrainian troops of a key strategic city in the Donetsk region prompted celebration by Ukraine and its allies, and heightened internal criticism within Russia.
Driving the news: Russia announced on Saturday that it was withdrawing troops from the city of Lyman as Ukrainian forces advanced nearer.
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein on Saturday sent Israel and Lebanon a draft agreement on the maritime border dispute, with Israeli, Lebanese and Western officials voicing optimism about the chances of inking a deal in the next few days, according to a Western diplomat with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
Why it matters: Hochstein has been mediating between Israel and Lebanon for a year. Several U.S. mediators have tried to get a deal on the maritime border for more than a decade.
Venezuela and the U.S. conducted a rare prisoner swap Saturday, freeing seven Americans from the South American country in exchange for two relatives of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, the White House said.
Why it matters: This is the largest prisoner swap of President Biden's term so far, the Associated Press reports.
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) during a trip to Israel last monthwarned Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu that if he forms a government after the Nov. 1 elections that includes right-wing extremists, it could harm U.S.-Israel bilateral relations, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.
Why it matters: Netanyahu recentlyunited several radical right-wing Jewish supremacist parties as part of his effort to consolidate his right-wing bloc and win the November election.
Why it matters: The detained director, Ihor Murashov, maintains nuclear and radiation safety for the plant, which has been a subject of concern amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia said Saturday it had withdrawn troops from the city of Lyman as Ukraine's military inched closer to re-capturing the annexed city, the Associated Press reports.
Why it matters: The withdrawal comes one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed four regions of Ukraine, including the Donetsk region where Lyman is located.
The U.S. and its NATO allies are urgently grappling with a question that once seemed to have faded along with the Cold War: Will Moscow go nuclear?
The big picture: Russian President Vladimir Putin's nuclear threats are growing more direct as his battlefield position in Ukraine grows more precarious.
