US News
- Prisons in three states are surveilling prisoners’ phone calls for mentions of the coronavirus. [Link]
- Eighty-six members of the just-graduated Air Force Academy class will join the Space Force. [Link]
- A new documentary explains how Bill Clinton prevented the killing of Osama bin Laden in the 1990s. [Link]
- Trump says he will sign an executive order barring immigrants from entering the country. [Link]
- The Pentagon is pushing Mexico to reopen plants deemed important to the US weapons supply chains. [Link]
- The US has two warships in the South China Sea as China and Malaysia have a standoff over territorial rights. [Link]
Korea
- The outlet that made the initial claim that Kim Jong-un was dying has now retracted that story. The story was thinly sourced and put out by a group that receives funding from the US government. [Link]
- Trump rejects another offer from South Korea for the payment of US troops deployed to South Korea. There are reports the US may withdraw some troops from South Korea over the impasse. [Link]
Myanmar
- A WHO vehicle in Myanmar – that was carrying COVID test swabs – was attacked and the driver was killed. [Link]
Afghanistan
- As coronavirus spreads in Afghanistan, there is growing concern that prisoners could die of the virus before being able to be exchanged in prisoner swaps. [Link]
Middle East
- The IRGC reports successfully putting a satellite into orbit. [Link]
- Syria reports an Israeli airstrike killed nine people in Palmyra. Palmyra is not near any combat in Syria. The Syrian government said six of the dead were not Syrians. [Link]
- Several companies donate masks, tests, and ventilators to Yemen to help fight COVID. The UN will facilitate the distribution of the equipment in Yemen. [Link]
