US News

• Pfizer asks the FDA for emergency approval of its anti-covid pill. [Link]
• The US will buy 10 million doses of Pfizer’s covid pill over the next 10 months for $5 billion. [Link]
• The Navy says that sailors who do not get vaccinated will be discharged and could lose veterans’ benefits. [Link]
• The B-21 stealth bomber project is projected to cost over $200 billion over the next 30 years. [Link]
• The Senate will vote on an amendment to the NDAA that will strip a provision from the bill that would require women to register for the draft. [Link]
• Senator Roger Wicker is pushing an amendment to the NDAA that will add $25 billion in spending for shipwards. [Link]

Nicaragua

• Biden bans Nicaraguan officials from entering the US. [Link]

Europe

• The EU announced new sanctions on anyone in Belarus deemed to be aiding migrants. [Link]
• The UK signs a deal with Ukraine allowing Ukraine to take out several loans to buy warships. [Link]

China

• Biden and Xi agree to engage in more arms control talks. [Link]
• China and the US announced an agreement to ease restrictions on journalists. [Link]
• High-level Taiwanese officials will meet with top Biden officials for talks. [Link]
• The US placed sanctions on two high-ranking Cambodian military officials. [Link]

Armenia 

• Armenia reports a new ceasefire has been reached with Azerbaijan after fighting briefly restarted along the border of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia said the Azeris attacked and seized two positions. Armenia reported some soldiers were captured and 15 were killed. [Link]  

Middle East

• Israel launched two missiles at a building in southern Damascus. [Link]
• Biden is “fully committed” to selling the F-35 to the UAE. [Link]
• The UN Security Council issues a statement condemning any discrediting of Iraq’s election. [Link]
• CENTCOM issued an apology for misidentifying the bombs used in an attack on a Syrian town that left scores of civilians dead in 2019. CENTCOM continues to stand by the strike that used three 500 pound bombs. Initially, CENTCOM reported two 2,000 pound bombs were used. [Link]

Central African Republic

• Fighting between rebels and soldiers in the Central African Republic killed 11 civilians at a market. [Link]