- The Senate confirms Mike Mulvaney to head the Office of Budget and Management. The vote was close at 51-49. John McCain voted against Mulvaney because of his stance on military spending. [Link]
- The governor of North Dakota signs an order to evict the Dakota Access Pipeline protesters from their encampment. The protesters are on private land. The governor sites the waste produced by the protesters as a reason he is evicting them. [Link]
- The governor of Arizona sent a letter to the state’s cosmetology board asking them to stop an investigation into a man who gave free haircuts to the homeless. The man is under investigation because he was giving the free haircuts without a state license to do so. [Link]
- Customs and Border Patrol agents detained an American citizen and demanded that he give them the password to his phone. The man was traveling back to America from overseas. The agents would not let the man leave until he unlocked his phone. After he unlocked his phone, the agents took his phone for 30 minutes before returning it. [Link]
- A young illegal immigrant who was protected under Obama’s DACA program has been arrested by immigration enforcement. The immigration enforcement agency has begun the process to deport him. [Link]
- Rex Tillerson commits the US nuclear arsenal to defend Japan and South Korea. This policy was put in place under Obama. [Link]
- Secretary of Defense Mattis says the US will not collaborate with Russia in Syria. [Link]
- Secretary of Defense Mattis says the US and NATO allies are preparing to escalate the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. [Link]
- US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley says that the US is committed to a two-state solution for Israel. [Link]
- An ISIS suicide bombing at a shrine in Pakistan kills at least 75 and the death toll is expected to increase. Some reports put the death toll over 100. In response to the bombing, Pakistan has announced it will close the border with Afghanistan. [Link]
- A car bomb in Baghdad kills at least 55 people. ISIS is responsible for the attack that targeted a Shi’ite area. [Link]
- A Syrian rebel group that supports ISIS has executed up to 200 prisoners who were fighters in other rebel groups. Most of those executed were fighters for the less extremist Free Syrian Army. Around 40 of those executed were fighters for al-Qaeda-linked groups. [Link]
- One of the men killed in the botched US raid in Yemen was a Yemeni tribal leader allied to the Hadi government. The US supports the Haid government and the US position in Yemen seems to be to see Hadi resume his role as president of the entire country. [Link]
