US News
- The federal deficit for this year is $984 billion. [Link]
- The Pentagon extends the deployment of 1,000 Texas National Guard troops on the southern border until November 15th. [Link]
- The State Department approved $68 billion in weapon sales in 2019. [Link]
- The US and Grease sign a new defense pact. The US will build a naval and airbase in northeast Greece. [Link]
South America
- An oil pipeline was bombed in Colombia. Some crude oil was spilled into a nearby river. [Link]
- Ecuador cracks down on protesters. [Link] At least 470 protesters have been arrested. [Link] One protester died when an ambulance could not have reached him because of roadblocks. Ecuador also started arresting shopkeepers for raising food prices. [Link]
North Korea
- Japan rescued 60 North Korean fishermen after the North Korean fishing ship collided with a Japanese patrol ship. [Link]
Northeast Syria
- The US announces it will not be involved with Turkey’s invasion of northeast Syrian and US forces will be removed from the immediate area. [Link]
- US forces have begun to withdraw from northeast Syria. It is unclear if all or just a small number of US troops will leave Syria. [Link]
- Trump tweets he will obliterate Turkey’s economy if they do anything off-limits in Syria. [Link]
- Turkey begins airstrikes against Kurdish targets in northeast Syria. [Link]
- A spokesperson for the Syrian Kurds says Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops ahead of the Turkish invasion is a stab in the back. [Link] The Kurds say there were uninformed that Trump would pull US troops out of the area. The Kurds felt they had met the safe zone requirement by getting rid of their fortified positions along the safe zone. [Link]
