US News
- Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigns. [Link]
- A new lawsuit challenges Arkansas anti-BDS law. The law requires all private companies that do business with the state to sign an agreement not to boycott Israel. [Link]
- Heavily redacted documents released under an FOIA request reveal the Department of Justice created an anti-leaking unit in 2017. [Link]
Russiagate
- Declassified information shows Mike Flynn was in contact with US intelligence about his 2015 trip to Russia. Flynn’s trip to Russia has been apart of the Russiagate narrative. Senator Chuck Grassley has been calling for the release of this information since 2017. [Link]
- Court documents show an associate of John McCain leaked the Steele Dossier to Buzzfeed. [Link]
The New Cold War
- NASA postpones the visit of a Russian official because of US sanctions. [Link]
- The US arrests a Russian citizen on a Pacific island administered by the US. The man was transferred to Florida. [Link]
Syria
- Fighting is escalating between rebel groups in northern Syria. Al-Qaeda linked rebels are seizing territory from other rebel groups. [Link]
- US airstrikes kill ten civilians – including four civilians – in Syria. [Link]
- Two American ISIS fighters were captured by the SDF. [Link]
- The Syrian government gives the Iraqi government authority to strike ISIS targets in Syria without pre-approval. [Link]
- The Syrian Kurds are entering into talks with Assad. [Link]
- US and Russian military commanders hold talks on the US withdraw from Syria. [Link]
- National Security Adviser John Bolton warns Assad that the use of chemical weapons will be met with a strong response. [Link] Bolton said the US withdraw from Syria is conditioned on the Kurds having protection and the defeat of ISIS. [Link]
- Elijah Magnier breaks down Trump’s decision to slow the US troop withdraw from Syria. Elijah also explains why Assad is entering 2019 in a strategic position. [Link]
- Mark Perry gives a detailed timeline of Trump’s decision to leave Syria. Trump made the decision in March of 2018. The withdraw did not come as a surprise to the Syrian Kurds. [Link]
