US News

• Kevin Gosztola breaks down a December 2017 FBI affidavit on Julian Assange. Language in the affidavit suggested the FBI was looking at Assange for violating the Espionage Act. [Link]
• Tulsi Gabbard says Trump is turning the US into Saudi’s prostitute. [Link]
• Michigan state officials disobeyed regulations to manipulate test results to slow lower lead levels in Flint’s water. [Link]
• The Pentagon now estimates the new ICBM program will cost $85 billion, up from previous estimates of  $62 billion. Other estimates believe the program will cost $150 billion. [Link]

Ukraine

• Ukraine’s far-right is increasingly acting with impunity. [Link]
• Doug Bandow interviews the front-runner in Ukraine’s presidential election Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of Staff. The chief of staff says Zelenkey will legalize the Russian language and hold popular votes on joining NATO and the EU. [Link]  

Korean Peace

• Kim Jong-un says North Korea has tested a tactical weapon. North Korea has not tested a weapon since the ‘Freeze for Freeze’ was started in early 2018. [Link]
• South Korean President Moon Jae-in says he would like to meet with Kim Jong-un for a fourth time. [Link]

Afghanistan

• Matthew Hardwood explains the War on Terror is playing out how Osama bin Laden wanted. [Link]
• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the US is attempting to negotiate a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government. [Link]
• A US intelligence official warns of a possible attack by ISIS-K. Reports say ISIS is recruiting unemployed college graduates in Afghanistan. [Link]
• A UN report finds a third of conflict detainees in Afghanistan report being tortured. The report finds torture is on the decline in Afghanistan. [Link]

Iran

• Doug Bandow explains the dangerous consequences if Trump moves forward with selling Saudi Arabia a nuclear program. [Link]  
• Connor Finnegan explains concerns that the Trump administration will attack the IRGC now that it is labeled a terrorist organization. The Trump administration has refused to admit they do not have the authority to attack Iran. [Link]
• Several Iraqi militia leaders reject the US naming the IRGC a terror group. [Link]
• Paul Pillar explains the stupidity of adding the IRGC to the terror list. Pillar explains that it will not have an economic impact as Iran is already heavily sanctioned. It will hurt the US relationship with Iraq as Iraq relied heavily on Iran in the ground war against ISIS. [Link]
• Daniel Larison explains Trump’s Iran policy is helping Iranian hardliners. [Link]

Africa

• The US has 36 code-named operations in Africa. [Link]
• Egypt has been able to evade justice for a military helicopter massacring 11 tourists. [Link]
• The ruling military council of Sudan jails the former president Bashir. [Link]
• Sudan’s ruling military council reaffirms the country’s commitment to supporting Saudi’s war in Yemen. [Link]