Police

• A new report from the Government Accountability Office finds the Department of Justice failed to collect data on police abuse. [Link]
• James Lucien was exonerated by a Massachusetts court after spending 27 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. [Link]
• Hundreds of cases may have to be thrown out after police in southern California were exposed to have exchanged racist and homophobic texts. [Link]

Covid

• Billionaires’ share of global wealth increased at a record pace during the pandemic. [Link]
• The Senate votes to repeal Biden’s private employer vaccine mandate. [Link]
• Some health experts say the CDC’s covid vaccination rate is inflated. [Link]
• Maine’s National Guard will deploy as many as 75 soldiers to aid health care facilities. New Hampshire will deploy 70 of its troops to its medical facilities. [Link]
• New York deploys 120 members of its guard to long-term care facilities. [Link]
• Tens of thousands of soldiers remain unvaccinated. [Link]
• Suicide rates and self-harm are increasing in US children. [Link]

Pentagon

• Sen. Kristen Gillibrand says the NDAA strips out meaningful reforms on sexual abuse in the military. [Link]
• Air Force Secretary Frank Kendell says the Air Force needs to retire some of its aircraft. Congress continues to fund the A-10 and other plans against Air Force requests. Kendall said, “if it doesn’t threaten China, why are we doing it?” [Link]
• Fuel leaking from a Navy storage facility caused 1,000 military families to leave their homes. [Link]
• A P-8A Poseidon hit a servicing truck causing over $2.5 million in damage. [Link]
• The Marines and Navy are getting new helmets for F-35 pilots that fix ‘green glow.’ However, the Air Force did not prioritize funding to resolve the dangerous flaw. [Link]

El Salvador

• The Treasury Department announces sanctions against two Salvadorian officials. The US Treasury says El Salvador’s government announces a truce with street gangs. [Link]

Russia

• Biden says the US would not send troops to Ukraine if Russia invaded. [Link]
• Russia says the US is preventing progress in talks over allowing more diplomats to return to each other’s country. [Link]
• Russia says it will continue dialog with the US and the two countries will trade security proposals. [Link]

China

• The House passes a bill that bans most imports from Xinjiang. [Link]
• Lithuania, Canada, and the UK join the US diplomatic boycott of the Olympics in China. [Link]
• Marine Lt. Gen. Stephen Sklenka says the US needs to upgrade Guam’s missile defense. [Link]
• Defense official Ely Ratner says an urgent need is to boost Taiwan’s defense. [Link]
• Over 4,000 Marines and Japanese soldiers take part in the Resolute Dragon war games. [Link] 
• The US placed an arms embargo and other trade restrictions on Cambodia. The US claims China’s military has a growing role in Cambodia. [Link]

India

• India’s top-ranking military officer and 12 others die in a helicopter crash. [Link]

Myanmar

• After Rohingya refugees in the US filed a lawsuit against Facebook, the company announced new restrictions on posting by businesses linked to Myanmar’s military. [Link]

Afghanistan 

• The US will begin rejecting Afghan applicants to the humanitarian parole process. About 2,000 immigrants come to the US through the program every year. So far, the Biden administration has granted 100 approvals out of 30,000 applicants. [Link]

Middle East

• US and Israel Defense Chiefs are expected to discuss carrying out war games for a possible worst-case scenario with Iran. [Link]
• Israel had a five-year high in destruction orders for Palestinian homes in 2020 with 797. In a five-year period from 2016-2020. Only 24 Palestinians received building permits. [Link]
• The Wall Street Journal reports the US will send a high-level delegation to the UAE next week to try to convince the Emirates to tighten sanctions against Iran. [Link]
• France released a Saudi man it claimed was one of Jamal Khashoggi’s killers. [Link]
• Iraq says the US-led combat mission has ended but US troops will remain in an advising and training role. [Link]
• Iraq takes 100 captured Iraqi ISIS fighters from an SDF prison in Syria. [Link]
• The US claims to have seized two  – in 2019 and 2020 – of Iranian weapons bound for Yemen. [Link]

Africa

• The UN is suspending food distribution to two towns in Ethiopia after reporting its food stores were looted. [Link]
• $650 million in international funds were withheld from Sudan in November after a military coup at the end of October. [Link]
• Biden nominates Meg Whitman as ambassador to Kenya. [Link]
• Seven UN Peacekeepers from Togo were killed by an IED in Mali. [Link]
• Gunmen opened fire on a bus in Nigeria, killing 23. [Link]
• Clashes kill ten in Cameroon. [Link]