US News

• Maryland’s legislature overrides the governor’s veto to pass police reform measures. [Link]
• Biden will order a commission to review the pros and cons of expanding the SCOTUS. [Link]
• The Pentagon is developing technology that will do rapid blood tests. [Link]
• Biden plans to spend $715 billion on his first Pentagon budget. The plan is an $11 billion increase over Trump’s budget. [Link]
• Biden’s budget for 2022 is $1.5 trillion. [Link]

Great Power

• The Secretary of State and Defense are in Europe for talks on Afghanistan, Iran, and Ukraine. [Link]
• Russia is concerned about NATO activity in the Arctic. [Link]
• Secretary of State Blinken warns China over Taiwan. [Link]
• The US and Philippines begin two weeks of war games in the South China Sea. The drills have been scaled down due to Covid. [Link]
• The US is carrying out more naval operations in the South China Sea. [Link]

Myanmar

• Rights groups report at least 700 people killed by the coup government since the military took power on Feb 1. [Link]

Iran

• Iran reports a blackout at an underground nuclear facility. Iran called the attack “nuclear terrorism.” [Link]
• Biden is unwilling to lift all Trump-era sanctions on Iran. [Link]
• The South Korean Prime Minister traveled to Iran for talks on returning to the JCPOA and unfreezing $7 billion in Iranian assets in South Korea. [Link]
• Israel’s Defense Minister says his country is committed to working with the US on Iran. [Link]