Report: Leaked files show how mass detention of Uighurs was organized

More than 400 pages of internal Chinese government documents obtained by The New York Times show the origins and execution of China’s detention of as many as 1 million Uighurs, Kazakhs and other predominately Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region.

Why it matters: This is "one of the most significant leaks of government papers from inside China’s ruling Communist Party in decades," per the Times. The documents, shared by an anonymous member of the Chinese political establishment, imply "greater discontent inside the party apparatus over the crackdown than previously known."

In Hong Kong on Saturday, the scene above is an eerie reminder that mainland Chinese troops are looming nearby, ready to crush dissent or even take control.

Driving the news: Chinese army troops stationed in the semiautonomous territory emerged from nearby barracks to clear streets that protesters clogged with debris to slow down police, AP reports.

At least 10 people have died after a car bomb exploded on Saturday in the northern Syrian town Al-Bab, per a post from the official Twitter account of the Turkish Defense Ministry.

Why it matters: The community has been held by Turkey-backed opposition fighters since 2016, AP reports. Violent attacks have increased following Turkey's offensive into northern Syria in October.

Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testified Friday in the House's second public impeachment hearing.

Driving the news: Trump took to Twitter as Yovanovitch testified to attack her diplomatic career, saying that everywhere she served "went bad." House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) read the tweets directly to Yovanovitch about 20 minutes after Trump posted them.

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani expected to personally profit from a Ukrainian natural-gas business backed by two colleagues who helped his push for investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The big picture: Earlier this year, Giuliani's associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman proposed plans to Ukrainian officials and energy executives for a Poland-Ukraine pipeline transporting U.S. natural gas. The two men also requested assistance on investigations into Biden and alleged Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.

Clashes crippled Hong Kong throughout this week, as protesters flooded roads and caused pandemonium on public transit, and activists fortified university campuses, some armed with firebombs and bows and arrows on Thursday "in anticipation of clashes" with police, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: "Violence between demonstrators and authorities has escalated, producing some of the bloodiest days since the protests began in June—and schools have become a driver of the city's uprising against China's ruling party," the Wall Street Journal writes.

Former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch said that a Twitter attack from President Trump in the midst of her impeachment testimony on Friday was "very intimidating."

The state of play: House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) read the tweets directly to Yovanovitch about 20 minutes after Trump posted them, adding that "some of us here take witness intimidation very seriously."

Former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch said she felt threatened by President Trump's mention of her in his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The backdrop: In the memo summarizing the call, Trump called Yovanovitch — whom he referred as "the woman" — "bad news" and added that she would "go through some things."

The European Investment Bank has decided to end all financing for fossil fuel development by the end of 2021 — including natural gas projects.

Why it matters: It's the "first time any major multilateral lender has curbed lending to natural gas projects because of climate change concerns," the Financial Times reports.

Former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch defended the work of the State Department at the end of her opening statement Friday in the House's impeachment inquiry.

The big picture: Yovanovitch, a career diplomat who has served as ambassador to three separate countries, faced a smear campaign — which she claims was led by Rudy Giuliani — that led to her ouster as ambassador due to a number of unsubstantiated allegations, including a claim that she directed staff to undermine President Trump.

Former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch is testifying Friday in the House's impeachment inquiry.

Why it matters: As in her closed-door deposition, Yovanovitch specifically pushed back on a number of unsubstantiated allegations that led to her ouster as ambassador, including a claim that she undermined President Trump's orders during her time in her post.

House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) set the stage with his opening statement in the House impeachment inquiry's public hearing featuring former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

The big picture: Schiff used his time to set the stage regarding Yovanovitch's ouster as ambassador, which he characterized as "a stunning turn of events for this highly regarded career diplomat."

The White House released Friday a memorandum summarizing the transcript of an April call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The big picture: The call took place hours after Zelensky won Ukraine's elections. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that it "barely resembled" the July 25 call now at the center of the impeachment inquiry and that it was 'very brief,' and aimed mostly at offering introductory pleasantries."

The world's debt is rising to unprecedented levels. While politicians and the general public have seemingly lost interest, capital markets are beginning to show signs of strain, financial experts say.

Driving the news: Global debt surged by $7.5 trillion in the first half of the year, hitting a new record of more than $250 trillion, according to data released Thursday from the Institute of International Finance.

The North Korean government described Joe Biden on Thursday as a "rabid dog" that is "greedy for power."

Why it matters: On the 2020 trail, Biden has levied attacks against President Trump's North Korea policy and frequently called the country's leader Kim Jong-un a "murderous dictator."

The next president of Sri Lanka will be elected on Saturday, and he will take charge of a country still recovering from April terror attacks that left 277 dead.

Driving the news: The front-runner appears to be Gotabaya Rajapaksa, known for crushing the Tamil Tigers a decade ago as defense minister — allegedly committing war crimes in the process. His brother, Mahinda, was president then and would return as prime minister.

There were between 3.9 million to 4.8 million unauthorized immigrants living in Europe as of 2017, according to new analysis from Pew.

The flipside: The study shows virtually no illegal immigration to countries like Hungary and Poland, where political leaders have seized upon widespread antipathy to immigration.

Libya’s crippling “proxy war” will doom the country to become “a haven for terrorists and extremists” absent support from the U.S., the interior minister for the country’s UN-backed government tells Axios.

Between the lines: The U.S officially supports the government in Tripoli, but has played no part in the current civil war beyond calls for a political solution. Meanwhile, Russian mercenaries are bolstering renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar's offensive and dramatically changing the nature of the war, Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha told Axios Thursday evening in Washington.

A bipartisan commission recommended people stop referring to China's Xi Jinping as "president" and instead to call him by his party title, "general secretary," the group wrote in its annual report, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Why it matters: The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission reported on Thursday that characterizing Xi as "president" implies he was democratically elected. But the leader's position is the result of "an internal power contest in the Chinese Communist Party," the Journal writes.

A judge ruled Thursday that Hoda Muthana, a 24-year-old Alabama woman who traveled to Syria in November 2014 to join ISIS, is not a U.S. citizen because her Tunisian father had diplomatic status in the U.S. when she was born, BuzzFeed News reports.

Why it matters: The U.S. government has no obligation to help Mothana return to the U.S. Muthana expressed interest in returning to the U.S. earlier this year while being detained in a Kurdish refugee camp with her 2-year-old son, the Guardian reports.