US News

• Andrew Coffee IV was acquitted of felony murder after he fired at police officers who raided his home in the middle of the night. After Coffee fired at officers, police fired back killing Alteria Woods – the woman Coffee is on trial for killing. Coffee was still convicted on a felony weapons charge and faces up to 30 years. [Link]
• The Justice Department will pay about $130 million to the families of 16 of the 17 Parkland school shooting victims families. All but one of the families of the murdered kids sued the DoJ for the FBI failing to follow up on a tip about how Nikolas Cruz was planning to murder people. [Link]
• Four black men – known as the Groveland Four – were convicted 70 years ago of rape. Although all four have died, or were murdered, the state of Florida overturned the conviction. [Link]
• Biden nominates Jerome Powell for a second term as FED chair. [Link]

Covid

• Jeff Bezos donates $100 million to the Obama Foundation. [Link]
• Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says vaccines will not be required to travel. [Link]
• An emergency room in Long Island was closed due to staffing shortages from the covid vaccine mandate. [Link]
• Minnesota will deploy 400 members of its National Guard to long-term care facilities. [Link]
• Huntington Ingalls – a major Pentagon contractor – will not enforce a covid vaccine mandate. [Link]

Pentagon

• The Pentagon awards Huntington Ingalls an additional $113 million for the production of the next amphibious assault ship. The ship will now cost over $650 million. [Link]
• The Pentagon will attempt to develop space-based systems to track and destroy hypersonic missiles. [Link]
• Space Force General David Thompson says China and Russia out pace the US on hypersonic missiles. [Link] 
• The Department of Defense awarded the multi-billion cloud contract to four companies – Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, and Google. [Link]
• The Senate will not vote on the NDAA until next week due to conflicts over amendments. [Link] Over 900 amendments have been submitted to the bill. [Link]
• Thirty members of the House sent a letter to Biden questioning the legal authority for US airstrikes and troops in Syria. [Link]
• The Air Force is testing Lockheed Martin’s new AIM-260 long-range air-to-air missile. [Link]

Venezuela

• Juan Guaido – the self-proclaimed president of Venezuela – says he will continue to have US backing through 2022. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently restated the US recognition of Gaudio as Venezuela’s president, despite his slipping approval and lack of power. [Link]

Russia

• The State Department announces sanctions on two ships and a Russian-linked company for work on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. [Link]
• Russia denies claims from the US it is planning to invade Ukraine. [Link]
• Ukraine wants to engage in more drills and training with US special forces. [Link]
• The US is unhappy with Bulgaria’s leader for claiming that sanctions on Russia are not working and Crimea is “currently Russian.” [Link]

China

• A US guided-missile destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait. [Link]

Afghanistan 

• The Taliban say they will begin paying government workers salaries, including for the past three months when many government workers went unpaid. [Link]
• The Treasury sanctioned Ismatullah Khalozai, accusing him of being a financial supporter of ISIS-K. [Link]
• About 100 ISIS-K members surrender to the Taliban. [Link]

Israel

• The new Israeli administration – headed by Naftali Bennett – feels confident in its relationship with Biden. The relationship between Israel and some Democrats became strained due to Trump’s strong relationship with the former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and increasing awareness of the occupation of Palestine. [Link]
• The Israeli spyware firm NSO Group is at risk of default and had its credit rating lowered. The company is under fire for its spyware being used on journalists, activists, and politicians. [Link]
• Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says it is no longer worth it to attack the Quds force and Israel needs to target Iran. [Link]
• The US tells Israel that attacks on Iran’s nuclear program are counterproductive. Israeli officials say they have no intention to let up on the attacks. [Link]
• Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz says he would support a “longer, broader, and stronger” Iran Nuclear Deal. [Link]
• Israel identified two Iranian bases and offered to work with Arab partners to counter Iran. [Link]
• Israel accuses Iran of attempting to fly an explosive drone into the West Bank. [Link]

Middle East

• The head of the IAEA visits Iran and meets with several top officials. [Link] At the meeting, the IAEA head pushed Iran for more transparency with its nuclear program. [Link]
• Qatar hired former CIA officer Kevin Chalker to spy on FIFA officials and other countries bidding for the 2022 World Cup. [Link]
• Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen’s capital, hitting some residential targets. Saudi has been bombing Yemen multiple times a week for several months. Yemen’s ruling Houthi movement recently launched several drones at Saudi oil facilities. [Link]
• Pro-Saudi forces attacked Hodeida, Yemen, and captured one district. [Link]

Africa

• Blinken criticizes China for its investments in Africa. [Link]
• The US moves special operations forces to Djibouti to evacuate the US embassy in Ethiopia should the conflict threaten the embassy. [Link]
• After a coup on October 25th, Abdalla Hamdok will be reinstated as Sudan’s prime minister. Some protesters are upset about the deal Hamdok accepted to return to power. Forty protesters have been killed in protests against the coup leadership. [Link]
• The State Department says it will not resume 100s of millions in humanitarian aid to Sudan even though Hamdok was returned to power. [Link]
• Gunmen killed at least 20 people – including six children – at a displaced person camp in the Congo. [Link]