- The House passes a $1.3 trillion spending bill. [Link]
- The Pentagon says US nuclear weapons will be useless unless new plutonium cores are made. There are no facilities in the US capable of producing plutonium cores. [Link]
- Saudi Arabia received a $3.5 billion discount on weapons from the Pentagon. [Link]
- The State Department announced a $1 billion weapons sale to Saudi Arabia. [Link]
- Trump announces on Twitter that HR McMaster is out as the NSA. McMaster will retire from the Army this summer. Former US Amb to the UN John Bolton will become the new National Security Advisor. [Link]
- Gareth Porter explains why John Bolton as National Security Advisor makes war with Iran more likely. [Link]
- Trump says it is better to get along with Russia. [Link]
- Dutch voters voted against a nonbinding referendum that would have endorsed a proposed government plan for mass spying. [Link]
- The US dropped charges against 11 of Erdogan’s bodyguards who attacked Kurdish protesters in DC in May. [Link]
- Russia brokers a deal between Assad and Syrian Rebels in Damascus. Under the deal, some rebels will leave Damascus for Idlib. [Link]
- A top Afghani adviser says he is optimistic about the peace prospects with the Taliban. [Link]
- At least ten Yemeni civilians were killed by a Saudi airstrike. [Link]
