Covid
- Moderna receives full approval for its covid vaccine. [Link]
- The US donates 200,000 covid vaccine doses to the West Bank and Gaza. [Link]
- The US donates ten million Pfizer covid vaccine doses to Bangladesh through Covax. [Link]
US News
- A leaked copy of Biden’s executive order on the Pentagon’s arming of local police forces will do little to stem the flow of military weapons into American communities. [Link]
- The Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation released a report with the performance of 20 major weapons systems censored. [Link]
- A retired Venezuelan Army general says the US was aware of his plans to overthrow his government. [Link]
Russia
- French President Macron spoke with Russian President Putin for the second time in four days. [Link]
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday. [Link]
- The Washington Post reports an unnamed US official said Russia gave the US a written response to the US letter on Russia’s security proposal. The official said it would be unproductive to discuss the Russian response in public. [Link]
- The US and Russia accuse each other of provoking a war in Ukraine at a UN Security Council meeting. [Link]
- The Florida National Guard is training the Ukrainian military to use bunker-busting rocket launchers. [Link]
- Ukraine asks for more weapons from NATO states but doesn’t want the counties to discuss the threat of Russian invasion. [Link]
- US and European officials are unhappy with the recent statements by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy that criticized the Western powers’ warnings about a Russian invasion. [Link]
- Ukraine says it should not be forced to remain in the Minsk agreement – the deal establishing a ceasefire in the Donbas. [Link]
- The US orders the family of embassy staff to leave Belarus. [Link]
China
- The US is set to launch the Cope North aerial war games with Japan and Australia. The military drills will involve 2,000 sorties. [Link]
Myanmar
- The US announces new sanctions against Myanmar. [Link]
Pakistan
- Five ‘suspected militants’ were killed by Indian forces in Kashmir. [Link]
Afghanistan
- The UN WFP says 14 million Afghans do not have enough food and 8.7 million are at risk of starvation. [Link]
Iran
- An unnamed US official said US-Iran nuclear talks are in the final stretch and that Iran will have to make the decisions necessary for a return to the JCPOA. [Link]
- Iran said significant progress had been made, but important issues remain unsolved. [Link]
- The IAEA says Iran has shut down its centrifuge workshop at Karaj. [Link]
Middle East
- In 2020, Israel rejected Saudi access to NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. Saudi Crown Prince MbS called Israel President Netanyahu to regain access to the spyware. [Link]
- Biden names Qatar as a ‘Major Non-NATO Ally.’ [Link]
- Syria says its air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles on the outskirts of Damascus. [Link]
- The death toll from the IS attack on an SDF prison in Syria is now about 500. [Link] At least two of the children held in the prison were killed. [Link]
- US and Emeriti air defense intercepted a Houthi missile targeting the UAE. [Link]
- According to a report, the Saudis are looking to end the Yemen war “with dignity.” However, the Americans are pushing back on the Saudi plan and want Saudi Arabia to remain involved in Yemen. [Link]
