US News

• The Biden Admin is continuing the Trump immigration policy of forcing asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their claim is processed. [Link]
• A new video shows police officers murdering a teen who was having a mental health crisis. Officers reported the teen was a threat to the officer. However, the video shows the teens hands were in the air when the police fired. [Link]
• In 2018, Milwaukee police left a 4-year-old in an impounded car overnight. [Link]
• Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin orders a 60-day stand-down to confront extremism among active duty and vets. The order was prompted by the large number of vets involved in the Capitol Riot. [Link]
• The former director of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center says the US needs to fight counterinsurgency against Americans. [Link]
• Three National Guard pilots were killed in a helicopter crash. [Link]

Foreign Policy 

• The Biden Admin will continue to recognize Juan Guaido as president of Venezuela. [Link]
• Biden freezes Trump’s plan to remove 12,000 troops from Germany. The admin says it is reviewing the policy. [Link]
• The head of STRATCOM warns the US is at risk of nuclear war with Russia or China. [Link]
• The State Department says the US still stands with the “one-China” policy. The policy says Taiwan is a part of the Chinese mainland. [Link]
• South Korea urges the US not to place new sanctions on North Korea. [Link]
• The US pushes India to engage in talks with striking farmers. [Link]

Afghanistan

• The Afghan Strategy Group issues a report saying Afghanistan would fall into war if the US left too soon. [Link]
• A new UN report finds that nearly a third of detainees in Afghan prisons report torture or ill-treatment. [Link]
• The EU says half of Afghans are in need of humanitarian aid but violence in the country is preventing distribution. [Link]
• The Taliban have met with Iranian, Russian, and Turkish officials seeking help with saving the diplomatic process with the US. The Taliban are hoping the countries will help push an Islamic government. [Link]

Israel

• Israel is destroying a Palestinian Bedouin village. Israel destroyed the village in November, but some residents remained in the destroyed village. Israel wants to use the area as a military firing range. [Link]
• A Palestinian family living in a cave is under threat from Israeli settlers. The settlers are threatening to raid and seize the cave the family lives in. [Link]

Iran

• Iran’s president rejects making changes to the JCPOA or adding new countries to the agreement. [Link]
• The Department of Justice will continue to seek a court ruling granting the US government the ability to sell two-billion barrels of oil seized off the coast of Brazil. The US claims the oil came from Iran and violates US sanctions. [Link]