US News

• The White House is asking Congress for a whopping $886.4 billion military budget for the fiscal year 2024, with $842 billion of it going to the Pentagon. The rest would go toward other federal agencies’ military spending, including the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons program. AWC
• Republican leadership in Congress has blasted President Biden’s massive $886 billion military budget request for 2024 as “inadequate” even as House GOP members claim they want to cap spending, Defense News reported Friday. AWC
• The Department of Defense granted Wayne State University $750,000 to attempt to give ferrets “Havana Syndrome.” Earlier this month, the intelligence community concluded the illness is not caused by a weapon. The Institute 

Russia

• Since The New York Times published a story on Tuesday that cited US officials who claimed the bombings of the Nord Stream pipelines were conducted by a “pro-Ukrainian group,” articles have appeared across Western media making similar allegations. AWC
• Russia launched a series of missile strikes across Ukraine on Thursday in one of the heaviest Russian bombardments in weeks. AWC
• Over one year since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, there are growing differences between Washington and Kyiv on how to move forward in the conflict, POLITICO reported Sunday. AWC
• The head of Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary outfit, said Sunday that fighting in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is getting “fiercer” as Ukraine keeps pouring troops in to defend the area. AWC

China

• Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Thursday that China should know the US is willing to go to war over Taiwan, pointing to comments made by President Biden that he would defend the island in the event of a Chinese attack. AWC
• The head of United States Pacific Air Forces said Wednesday that the US needs to focus on sinking Chinese ships in a potential conflict with China as US military leaders are speaking more bluntly about a direct war with Beijing despite the risk of it turning nuclear. AWC
• The US Navy wants a full-service submarine hub in Australia that can oversee all underwater activity in the Asia Pacific, including production and repairs, Defense News reported Thursday. AWC

Middle East

• A senior Israeli official told reporters on Friday that the normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran was the result of the “weakness” of the US and the previous Israeli government. AWC
• Iranian and Saudi state media announced a new agreement that Tehran and Riyadh normalize relations under an agreement brokered by China. The deal between the Middle East rivals comes after American interference in talks. AWC
• Saudi Arabia wants the US to provide formal security guarantees and help the Kingdom develop a nuclear program as part of a potential deal to normalize relations with Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. AWC
• Israel launched more airstrikes in Syria on Sunday morning, wounding at least three Syrian soldiers. According to the Syrian news agency SANA, missiles were launched at targets in the western provinces of Tartus and Hama, two regions that were hit by the devastating February 6 earthquake. AWC
• According to the monitoring group Airwars, a suspected US drone strike killed seven civilians, including three children, in Somalia on January 30. AWC