US News

• Released this week as part of an effort to kickstart his presidential campaign, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo caused considerable controversy in addressing, and ultimately dismissing, Saudi Arabia’s 2018 assassination and dismemberment of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi in his memoir. AWC

Haiti

• Haitian President Ariel Henry has called on the United Nations to deploy an international peacekeeping force as violence escalates in the Caribbean nation. While Washington supported Henry’s rise to power, the US appears unwilling to lead the UN security mission. The Institute

Russia

• German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Tuesday that Germany and its allies are “fighting a war against Russia” in rare candid remarks about the Western role in the conflict. AWC
• Ukraine on Wednesday conceded that it withdrew from the small mining town of Soledar in the Donetsk Oblast almost two weeks after Russian forces said they took control of the area. AWC
• US arms sales to foreign governments boomed in 2022 as defense firms cashed in on the war in Ukraine. AWC
• Lockheed Martin has said that it’s ready to meet demands for F-16 fighter jets if the US and its allies choose to ship them to Ukraine. AWC
• President Biden on Wednesday announced that his administration will send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, marking another major escalation of US military support for Kyiv. AWC
• Responding to President Biden’s pledge to send 31 M1 Abrams to Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the US-made tanks will “burn.” AWC
• Shortly after President Biden announced Ukraine would be getting the Western-made tanks it sought, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was demanding fighter jets and longer-range missiles. AWC
• The Kremlin said Thursday that the US and NATO’s “direct involvement” in the war in Ukraine is “growing” as the Western powers are pledging to send tanks and other equipment. AWC
• The White House refused to say if it will provide Ukraine with Bradley Fighting Vehicles equipped with radioactive depleted uranium rounds, ammunition that is linked to cancer and birth defects. AWC
• The US asked Israel to allow its old Hawk anti-aircraft missiles to be sent to Ukraine, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed US and Israeli officials. AWC
• The decision by the United States and several allies to supply Ukraine with main battle tanks is paving a “direct path” to a full-scale war in Europe, Russia’s deputy envoy to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) warned. The Institute 

China

• The US Marine Corps on Thursday formally opened a new military base in the US territory of Guam as part of Washington’s military buildup in the Asia Pacific that is aimed at China. AWC

Middle East

• The US and Israel on Thursday announced the conclusion of their largest-ever joint military exercises, known as Juniper Oak 23. AWC
• Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians in a raid on the Jenin refugee camp. Mondoweiss
• In comments made to EU lawmakers this week, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi tried to raise the alarm about Iran’s civilian nuclear program, claiming that Iran could, if it so chose, fuel “several” nuclear weapons from its existing stockpile. AWC
• US Africa Command said in a press release that it launched an airstrike in Somalia on January 23 against al-Shabaab in support of the Mogadishu-based government. AWC
• Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday said that US forces conducted a raid in northern Somalia that resulted in the killing of a senior ISIS leader, Bilal al-Sudani, in a rare US operation in the country that didn’t target al-Shabaab. AWC