Covid
- Rhode Island will deploy 60 National Guardsmen to a psychiatric hospital due to staffing issues. [Link]
- Oregon will deploy an additional 700 National Guardsmen to medical facilities, for a total of more than 1,200 soldiers. [Link]
- Biden will deploy the 1,000 military personnel to hospitals in six states. [Link]
US News
- Virginia Beach police used fake DNA reports to get people to confess to crimes. [Link]
- Biden collected more in tariffs than Trump did. [Link]
- The US approves the release of five Gitmo detainees. [Link]
- US officials claim diplomats in Vienna and Paris came down with ‘Havana Syndrome.’ [Link]
- Biden deports 10,000s Haitians. [Link]
Great Power
- Russia met with US and NATO officials for over four hours. NATO proposed reopening diplomatic channels between the alliance and Russia. [Link]
- While no progress was made at talks between the US/NATO and Russia, future talks are possible. [Link]
- Germany calls on the US not to drag the Nord Stream 2 pipeline into the Ukraine conflict. [Link]
- Estonia’s prime minister says the Baltic states are in talks with NATO for more troop deployments. [Link]
- The US held a joint defense call with Japan and South Korea. [Link]
- Japan has sailed near Chinese-controlled Islands in the South China Sea at least twice in the past ten months. [Link]
Korea
- The US sanctions five North Koreans and one entity over the most recent missile test. [Link]
- Biden is seeking more sanctions on North Korea issued by the UN Security Council. [Link]
Israel
- Twenty-two Salvadorian journalists were targeted with the Israeli NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. [Link]
- Last month, the Biden administration shelved its plan to reopen a diplomatic office for Palestinians in Jerusalem. [Link]
Palestinians living in Israel and married to Israelis are unable to access the vaccine passport app. [Link]
Iran
- The Biden administration says the fate of the Iran nuclear agreement will be decided in the coming weeks. The administration plans to blame Trump for the situation with Iran. [Link]
- The eighth round of indirect talks continues between the US and Iran in Vienna. The remaining issues are a verification method to ensure sanctions are removed and a promise from the US it will not re-exit the nuclear deal. [Link]
- US Cyber Command claims Iran is linked to a hacker group. [Link]
Middle East
- Germany announces it will remove troops from Syria and extend the deployment of US troops in Iraq to October. [Link]
- Syria officially joins China’s Belt and Road Initiative. [Link]
- A group of US lawmakers sent a letter to Biden calling on him to prevent countries from normalizing ties with Syria. [Link]
- Saudi Arabia admits it presented Iraq War footage as evidence of Iran arming the Houthi. [Link]
- The Giants Brigade was key in defeating Houthi fighters in Shabwah. [Link]
