- The Senate has confirmed former Senator Kay Hutchison to be US Ambassador to NATO. The Senate also confirmed several other diplomatic posts. [Link]
- Trump said US and Russian relations are at an all time, very dangerous low. [Link]
- West Virgina’s Governor announces he is switching parties. Governor Jim Justice was a Democrat when he was elected to office in 2016 and is now joining the Republicans. [Link]
- Mark Fallon, a former military investigator at Guantanamo Bay, says the Pentagon is preventing his book from being published. Fallon says his book contains no classified information. Fallon claims his book exposes people who advocated for the use of torture. The Pentagon claims they are not attempting to hold up the book’s publication. [Link]
- A District Court judge ruled against a woman suing the city of Detroit because police killed her three dogs. The court ruled that the dogs were not protected property under the 4th Amendment because the dogs were unlicensed. [Link]
- The Washington Post found that union contracts are forcing police departments to rehire officers who were fired. [Link]
- The state fined a mother of four $1,200 for braiding hair without a license. [Link]
- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a bill that will cut aid to Palestine. The new legislation is demanding that Palestine stop providing support to the families of people who are imprisoned or have been killed resisting the Israeli occupation. [Link]
- 4.5% of all deaths in the Netherlands are by euthanasia or assisted suicide. [Link]
- General Haftar has threatened Italian ships in Libyan waters. Haftar has ordered his navy to confront the Italian navy in Libyan waters. Italy sent ships to Libya to limit the flow of migrants from Africa to Europe. [Link]
- Iran responds to the new US sanctions signed into law by Donald Trump. Iran says the sanctions are a violation of the nuclear deal. The new sanctions on Iran target people involved in the ballistic missile program, enforces an arms embargo, and place terrorism sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Gaurd. Iran says they have a 16 part plan to respond to the new US sanctions. [Link]
- The US warns that al-Qaeda taking over the Idlib Province of Syria would have grave consequences. The US believes that if al-Qaeda takes over Idlib, Russia will resume a recently ended bombing campaign of Idlib. [Link] Trump recently admitted the CIA program of arming Syrian rebels gave weapons to al-Qaeda.
- Russia has announced a new de-escalation zone in Syria near Homs. In the de-escalation zone, Syrian and Russian forces do not attack moderate Syrian rebels. [Link]
- Bruce Riedel argues that Iran is gaining the upper hand on Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Riedel says Iran has slowly increased their support for the Houthi rebels as the Saudi War in Yemen has dragged on. Iran provides the Houthi with a few weapons, and Saudi Arabia spends $200 million a day on the war. [Link]
