US News

• A large GOP House caucus is against the waiver Gen. Lloyd Austin will need to become Secretary of Defense. The post is meant for a civilian, for a soldier to sit in the position they must get a waiver from Congress. [Link]
• Laura Poitras says she was fired from the Intercept after raising concerns about the outlet’s role in Reality Winner being outed as a whistleblower. The Intercept says Poitras left the outlet. [Link]
• Russia announces it will withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty. The US announced it was withdrawing from the agreement months ago. [Link]

China

• A study on Trump’s trade war with China finds it cost America about 245,000 jobs. [Link]
• The US sanctioned several Chinese officials and banned investment in nine Chinese companies. [Link]
• Hong Kong’s civil servants are being asked to sign a pledge of loyalty to the Chinese government. [Link]
• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the US is taking additional actions in the South China Sea. [Link]

Middle East

• Israel will push Biden to go easy on Saudi, Egypt, and the UAE over human rights violations. [Link]
• The Israeli military is drawing up attacks on three Iranian nuclear targets. [Link]
• The IAEA confirms that a new Iranian nuclear fuel is being used for civilian purposes. [Link]
• The UN Special Rapporteur on Sanctions says US sanctions are harming civilians in Syria. [Link]

Yemen

• The UN predicts that naming the Houthi as a terror group will cause the world’s worst famine in 40 years. [Link]
• Yemenis fear that labeling the Houthi as a terror group will drastically cut remittance to the country. The World Bank estimates 10% of Yemenis rely on remittances for survival. [Link]

Congo 

• Reports claim Islamists militants killed 46 people in the Congo. [Link]