US News

• Attorney General Merrick Garland orders federal prosecutors to prioritize cases of travelers having outbursts or violent encounters during air travel. [Link]
• The AP documents how white supremacists are able to operate within Florida’s prison system with impunity. [Link]
• Biden will restart Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy. [Link]
• CIA Director William Burns warned Russia there would be consequences if it was behind the ‘Havana Syndrome’ attacks. [Link]

Pentagon

• Senators Portman and Shaheen introduce an amendment to the 2022 NDAA that would give Ukraine an additional $50 million in military aid. [Link]
• The White House is lobbying Senate leaders to remove any amendments from the NDAA that would sanction Germany over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. [Link]
• A Marine publishes a video of mold and disgusting conditions Marines have to live in at Camp LeJeune. [Link]
• Defense contractors request the government allow a testing option to help retain workers who do not want the covid vaccine. [Link]

Europe

• At least 31 migrants drowned in the English Channel attempting to cross to the UK. [Link]
• German political parties announce a new government headed by Olaf Scholz. The new German government will continue to host US nuclear weapons. [Link]
• NATO begins the ‘winter shield’ war games in Latvia. [Link]
• The US Embassy in Ukraine warns of unusual Russian military activity on the Ukraine border with Crimea. [Link]
• Ukraine begins special operations drills on its border with Belarus. [Link]

China

• A bipartisan group of lawmakers calls on the Olympic Committee to put more pressure on China over human rights abuses. [Link]
• The US sanctions 27 Chinese companies and individuals from Japan, Pakistan, and China over national security and foreign policy concerns. [Link]

Myanmar

• Bangladesh is transferring Rohingya migrants from Myanmar to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal. [Link] 

Middle East

• The Jerusalem Municipality votes to build a new Jewish neighborhood in an area of East Jerusalem designated for Palestinians. [Link]
• The IAEA head says his trip to Iran did not result in a new monitoring agreement. [Link]
• CENTCOM head Gen. Kenneth McKenzie says the military is ready if talks with Iran fail. US Envoy to Iran Robert Malley said the US would not sit idly by while Iran’s nuclear program grew. [Link]
• An Emirati general who has been accused of torture was named the head of the global police agency Interpol. [Link]

Africa

• Al-Shabaab says it was behind a suicide bombing in Somalia that killed eight. Thirteen children were among the injured as the bomb exploded near a school. [Link]
• Libya’s election commission rules out Saif al-Islam as a candidate in next month’s presidential election. [Link]
• The UN Security Council threatens sanctions against anyone that obstructs Libya’s upcoming election. [Link]