US News

• A judge blasts the military for ‘lax’ security at a base. Two Chinese students were arrested after simply driving past the guard. [Link]
• More than a dozen Saudi soldiers were expelled from the US. [Link]
• Two US airmen were found dead in their dorms at an airbase in Germany. [Link]
• Trump said Soleimani was planning attacks on several US embassies before he was killed. SecDef Esper said that was not true. [Link]
• The US will cut charter flights to Cuba. Trump is waging an economic war against Cuba. [Link]
• The Iraqi prime minister tells the US to submit a plan for withdrawing US troops. The US said its troops would not be leaving Iraq. [Link]

Russia

• The Pentagon is accusing a Russian ship of aggressively approaching a US Navy ship. Russia responded by blaming the US for the ships coming close together in the North Arabian Sea. [Link]

Afghanistan

• Fifteen people in Pakistan were killed by an Islamic State bombing of a mosque. The mosque was used by the Afghan Taliban. [Link]
• Two US soldiers were killed and two others were wounded when their vehicle hit an IED in Afghanistan. [Link]

Iran

• Facebook and Instagram are removing posts that are supportive of Soleimani claiming the posts violate US sanctions. [Link]
• The US sanctions eight high-ranking Iranian officials and 17 Iranian mining companies. [Link]
• Iran claims it mistakenly launched a missile at a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 onboard. Thousands of protesters took to the street in Iran after the country admitted to downing the Ukrainian flight. [Link]
• The UK envoy to Iran was arrested for several hours. The UK official was accused of inciting protests. [Link]
• German exports to Iran have been cut in half by US sanctions. Exports from January to November of last year only totaled $1.44 billion. [Link]

Shia Militias

• Hezbollah says it is time for Iran’s allies to start to avenge Soleimani. [Link]
• At least eight members of a Shia militia in Syria were killed by a bomb near the Iraqi border. Israel is believed to have carried out the strike. [Link]
• Several rockets hit an Iraqi base that houses US soldiers on Sunday. Four Iraqi soldiers were injured. [Link]

Ceasefires

• A ceasefire negotiated by Turkey and Russia took effect in Idlib, Syria on Sunday. [Link]
• The warring Libyan governments agree to implement a ceasefire put forward by Turkey and Russia. The ceasefire took effect on Sunday and both sides reported violations. [Link]