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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the weekend. Here’s today’s news.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said he would endeavor to deport Eritrean migrants after violent clashes in Tel Aviv. Police were deployed as protests by rival groups of Eritreans left dozens of people injured over the weekend. The incident has reignited debate about migration. Some who support the controversial judicial overhaul have said the judiciary has blocked efforts to push migrants out. NBC News reports.
China’s counter-espionage campaign seeks “the participation of the masses.” China’s “whole of society mobilization” is evidence of Xi Jinping’s fixation on national security and the fear that external actors are weakening China. All elements of society, from kindergarten staff to university faculties, are focused on counter-espionage following the introduction of new anti-espionage laws in July. Vivian Wang reports for the New York Times.
The Nobel Foundation on Saturday said it will not invite the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus to the award ceremony in Stockholm, reversing a previous decision that drew much criticism. Russia and Belarus were barred from the ceremony in 2022 over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ellen Francis reports for the Washington Post.
A.S.E.A.N. is preparing to meet in Indonesia tomorrow for their final summit this year. The summit is expected to be difficult due to Myanmar’s deadly civil strife, new flashpoints in the South China Sea, and the deepening U.S.-China rivalry. President Biden, who usually attends, will not be present. POLITICO reports.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS – BLACK SEA GRAIN DEAL
Russian drones targeted Ukrainian grain export infrastructure in the Odesa region over the weekend. Port facilities on the Danube River were hit, and two workers were injured, Serhii Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the Odesa military administration, said. Vivek Shankar and Constant Méheut report for the New York Times.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the Russian resort city of Sochi today for discussions that could revive the Black Sea Grain deal. Moscow left the deal in July, jeopardizing global food security. Andrew Wilks and Elise Morton report for the AP News.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS – INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
The Biden administration will, for the first time, send Ukraine armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium. The munitions will be part of a forthcoming aid package worth between $240 million and $375 million. According to the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, depleted uranium munitions are controversial because ingesting or inhaling depleted uranium dust could cause cancers and birth defects. Mike Stone reports for Reuters.
A South African investigation concluded that weapons were not loaded onto a Russian vessel under U.S. sanctions docked in South Africa last year. This conclusion refutes U.S. accusations that South Africa provided Russia with weapons to be used in Ukraine, President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday. While the report’s summary will be released today, the document as a whole will remain classified. John Eligon and Lynsey Chutel report for the New York Times.
Russia has warned U.K. defense contractor BAE Systems that its planned weapons production facility in Ukraine could become a target. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “Of course, any facilities for the production of weapons, especially if these weapons fire at us, they become objects of special attention for our military.” Reuters reports.
OTHER RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has tapped Rustem Umerov, chief of Ukraine’s state property fund and a special presidential envoy, as the new minister of defense. The move comes after Zelenskyy fired the former defense minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, citing the need for “new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and the society at large.” If confirmed by Parliament, Umerov would be the most senior of several Crimean Tatar officials in the Ukrainian government, indicating Tatar support for Ukrainian efforts as they try to retake occupied Crimea. Yaroslav Trofimov reports for the Wall Street Journal.
Ukrainian generals claim they have breached Russia’s formidable first defenses and “are now between the first and second defensive lines,” one of Ukraine’s top generals in the south, Brig Gen Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, said. “Little by little, I think we’re gaining momentum,” said Yuriy Sak, an advisor to Ukraine’s defense minister. Paul Adams reports for BBC News.
U.S. RELATIONS – CHINA
President Biden said he is “disappointed” that Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the upcoming Group of 20 summit in India. China today confirmed that Premier Li Qiang would lead China’s delegation to the summit. The move comes after Chinese relations with India became tense as their border dispute continues. Kelly Ng reports for BBC News.
U.S. efforts to reestablish diplomatic relations with Seychelles reflect the intensifying competition with China for regional influence. A new U.S. Embassy in Seychelles was launched in June, following decades of low engagement since the end of the Cold War. Chinese diplomatic efforts made significant gains in the region during the U.S. absence. Liz Sly reports for the Washington Post.
Chinese nationals accessed military bases and sensitive sites in the United States around 100 times in recent years, posing a potential espionage threat, according to U.S. officials. The Defense Department, FBI, and other agencies have said these “gatecrashers” sometimes appear to be tourists in a bid to get onto bases without authorization. Representative Jason Crow (D-CO), an intelligence committee member, expressed concerns that some of these cases fall between the cracks because most trespassing laws are state and local, not federal. Gordon Lubold, Warren P. Strobel, and Aruna Viswanatha report for the Wall Street Journal.
President Biden is expected to deepen economic and technological ties with Vietnam when he visits Vietnam this weekend. The visit is expected to establish a “comprehensive strategic partnership.” Ellen Nakashima and Rebecca Tan report for the Washington Post.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has told China that the patience of U.S. business was “wearing thin,” saying U.S. companies needed a “predictable environment and a level playing field.” Raimondo’s comments indicate the rising tensions between the United States and China, who were once each other’s biggest trading partners. Diane Bartz and Phil Stewart report for Reuters.
OTHER U.S. RELATIONS
U.S. diplomats in Saudi Arabia became aware of the lethal violence against migrants by Saudi border forces as early as the summer of 2022, the State Department said. This contradicts its previous statement that the United States became aware of “allegations of abuses” when the U.N. made public disclosures in December 2022. While the United States did train Saudi border forces from 2015 to 2023, the State Department insisted these were water-based training exercises, not land-based, which is where the alleged killings took place. Some lawmakers are calling on the U.S. government to curtail weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. Edward Wong reports for the New York Times.
Russian fighter jets approached U.S. and Coalition aircraft in Syria seven times in August, sometimes flying within 1,000 feet, which is “unsafe and unprofessional,” Brig Gen Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said on Friday. Michael Callahan reports for CNN.
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) said there is a “powerful argument” to remove former President Trump from the 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause.” In response, the Trump campaign pointed to a Florida judge’s dismissal of a challenge to Trump’s candidacy under the 14th Amendment. However, that judge held that the plaintiffs in the Florida case “lack standing to challenge” Trump’s qualifications for seeking election, “as the injuries alleged … are not cognizable and not particular to them.” Rebecca Falconer reports for Axios.
Florida Judge J. Lee Marsh ruled that the state’s congressional map violated the Florida Constitution by diminishing the influence of Black voters. Marsh ordered the State Legislature “to enact a new map which complies with the Florida Constitution.” Maggie Astor reports for the New York Times.
Ethan Nordean, who led the far-right Proud Boys’ march on Congress during the Jan. 6 attack, was sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy. Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boys member convicted of assaulting police and obstructing an official proceeding, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader, will be sentenced this week. Bernd Debusmann Jr reports for BBC News.