US News

• The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) increases the budget of the Pentagon’s newest branch by billions of dollars. The funding increase comes after a top Space Force civilian employee sexually harassed his subordinates and kept his job. The Institute 

Russia

• Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a decree banning the sale of oil to countries participating in the Western-imposed price cap on Russian crude that was pushed by the US and its G7 partners. AWC
• A Swedish group that assesses catastrophic risks warned in its annual report this year that the risk of nuclear weapons use is higher today than at any point since the US dropped nuclear weapons on Japan in 1945, AFP reported on Tuesday. AWC
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday said that statements made to the media by anonymous Pentagon officials amount to threats against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s life. AWC
• In an address to Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in 10 months of the war, his country has helped the West “find itself again” and provided a “historic opportunity.” AWC
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said that any “peace plan” for the war in Ukraine must involve the territories Russia has annexed joining the Russian Federation. AWC
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and CEO of the US investment management company Blackrock, Larry Fink, held a video meeting on Wednesday and agreed to coordinate the reconstruction of Ukraine. AWC

Serbia

• Serbia has placed its military on the highest level of alert as tensions continue to rise in northern Kosovo between ethnic Serbs and Kosovo authorities backed by NATO. AWC

China

• Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen announced Tuesday that Taiwan will extend compulsory military service from four months to one year starting in 2024 as part of her plans to prepare for a future conflict with China. AWC

Middle East

• Incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new hardline government released a policy paper on Wednesday that puts the expansion of West Bank settlements as a top priority. AWC
• Incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday appointed a major Iran hawk to lead Israel’s National Security Council under the new government. AWC
• Outgoing Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told a graduating class of Israeli Air Force Pilots that they might be bombing Iran in “two or three years” as Israel has been preparing for strikes on the country. AWC
• Iran said Wednesday that it’s still open to talks to revive the nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, but such negotiations are unlikely as the US says it is preparing more sanctions against the Islamic Republic. AWC
• The defense ministers of Syria, Turkey, and Russia held talks in Moscow on Wednesday in a sign of thawing relations between Ankara and Damascus. AWC