US News
- A new bipartisan bill would make animal cruelty a federal crime. [Link]
- Baltimore will stop prosecuting marijuana possession offenses. [Link]
- Facebook blocks ad transparency tools from working. [Link]
- Google removes a map of ‘Kurdistan’ at the request of the Turkish government. [Link]
- Nikki Haley and Gary Cohn are charging $200,000 for speaking engagements. [Link]
US Foreign Policy
- A federal court rules that Vietnam vets who served offshore are eligible for benefits for those who suffer from Agent Orange-related illnesses. [Link]
- US interventions are to meant benefit corporations not to promote Democracy. [Link]
- The NATO Secretary General praises Trump from pushing member states to increase defense spending. [Link]
- A German judge quits the Hague over political pressure from the US. The US was working to prevent US war crimes in Afghanistan from being investigated. [Link]
Venezuela
- Maduro rejects calls for a new presidential election. [Link]
- Maduro accuses Trump of attempting to use Colombia assassinate him. [Link]
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the US is prepared to give $20 million in aid to Venezuela. [Link]
- Peter Van Buren breaks down the situation for US diplomats in Venezuela. [Link]
Iraq/Syria
- A US airstrike in Syria kills eight civilians. [Link]
- Patrick Cockburn on the lessons that should have been learned by the rise and fall of ISIS. [Link]
- Kurdish protesters in Iraqi Kurdistan storm a Turkish military base. Two protesters were killed. [Link]
Yemen
- Senator Sanders, Lee, and Murphy introduce a bill that will use the War Powers Act to end US involvement in Yemen. [Link]
- Nineteen million people in Yemen lack access to clean water. [Link]
- The Saudi backed Yemeni government and the Houthi begin swapping some prisoners. The Stockholm ceasefire agreement calls for 15,000 prisoners to be freed. [Link]
- ACLED reports at least 267 Yemeni civilians have been killed by Houthi landmines since 2016. Saudi sources claim up to 920 civilians have been killed by landmines. [Link]
