US News
- Joe Biden plans to spend $11 trillion over ten years. [Link]
- A new poll shows 68% of Americans want to legalize marijuana. [Link]
- Trump fired Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. [Link]
- South Korea expects the US to pay more of the cost of deploying troops to South Korea. Biden has pledged he will not reduce US forces. [Link]
Europe
- Germany hopes Biden will reverse Trump’s decision to withdraw 12,000 troops. [Link]
- Poland’s President signed a deal that will deploy 5,500 US troops to Poland. Some of the troops will be repositioned from Germany. [Link]
China
- Biden is not expected to soften the US stance against China. [Link]
- The US sanctioned four Chinese officials. [Link]
Nagorno-Karabakh
- A ceasefire has been signed by Armenia and Azerbaijan to end fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia will deploy peacekeepers to the disputed areas to help enforce the deal. [Link]
Greater Middle East
- The Taliban calls on Biden to stick to the “peace” agreement signed in February. [Link]
- The US is expected to introduce new sanctions on Iranians next week. The source says the sanctions will target Iran because of protest suppression. [Link]
- A report from Axios claims Trump plans to sanction Iran every week for the rest of his term. [Link]
- The US sanctioned several Syrians. [Link]
- The Ethiopian government reports hundreds have been killed by fighting in the Tigray region. The Ethiopian military continues to hit targets in the region with airstrikes. [Link]