US News

• Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot took $281 million in Covid relief money and allocated it to police. [Link]
• An Appeals Court rules that NYC can release the misconduct records of police officers. The police union attempted to sue to keep officers misdeeds secret. [Link]
• The US will keep 5,000 National Guards soldiers deployed to the Capitol through March 4th. [Link]
• The military is reporting a third of soldiers do not want the Covid-19 vaccine. [Link]
• Several non-profit groups urge the US to repeal the 2001 and 2002 AUMF. [Link]

Europe

• New documents reveal how close the NATO and the USSR came to war in 1983 because of the Able Archer war games. [Link]
• A rapper was arrested in Catalonia for speech. The arrest caused protests to break out in Catalonia. [Link]
• Russia intercepted three French war planes over the Black Sea. [Link]

China

• The US sailed war ships near islands claimed by China in the South China Sea. [Link]
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a meeting with Japan, Australia, and India. Those countries make up the anti-China ‘Quad’ alliance. [Link]

Afghanistan

• The German Foreign Minister said not enough progress has been made in inter-Afghan peace talks to withdraw NATO forces from the country. [Link]
• A bomb blast killed a university professor in Kabul. [Link]

Middle East

• Biden held his first phone call with Israeli PM Netanyahu. The leaders discussed pandemic, expanding the Abraham Accords, and Iran. [Link]
• Israel says it is developing a new air defense system ‘Arrow-4’ with the US. [Link]
• Iran’s Supreme Leader says he wants to see action from Biden on saving the JCPOA. [Link]
• State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said whoever was behind rocket attack that killed a US contractor would be held responsible. [Link]

Nigeria

• Gunmen kidnapped 42 students and staff from a school in Nigeria. One student was killed in the attack. [Link]