Congress

• A Senate rule change backed by Republicans shortens debate time on lower level nominees from 30 hours to 2 hours.  [Link]
• Senators Paul and Udall are working together to end the Afghan War. [Link]
• A bipartisan group of lawmakers signed a letter that supports Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria. [Link]

Weapons Sales

• The US approves the sale of 24 Seahawk maritime helicopters to India. The helicopters are made by Lockheed and have anti-submarine capabilities. [Link]

Afghanistan

• The US Envoy to Afghanistan calls on the country to hold elections. Planned elections have been delayed twice. [Link]
• An Afghan governor claims $7 billion in equipment was stolen from a US base that was given to the Afghan Army. [Link]

Middle East

• The Trump Admin says that three of the eight countries given a waiver to continue to import Iranian oil have now stopped importing Iranian oil. The waivers expire on May 2. The US is expected to extend waivers for Turkey, India, China, South Korea, and Japan.  [Link]
• The Energy Department failed to notify nuclear regulators of secret deals made with Saudi Arabia. [Link]
• Ramzy Baroud explains the mainstream media misrepresents the purpose of the Great Return March. The reason Palestinians continue to attend the protests is to demand justice and reclaim their narrative. [Link]
• The Syrian Kurds continue to fight against ISIS. [Link]
• David Wearing argues the Saudis would have to end their war against Yemen within days of the UK withdrawing their assistance. [Link]
• The World Food Program was denied access to 51,000 tons of food in Hodeida at risk of rotting. Fighting broke out in the city. [Link]

Africa

• Doug Bandow explains the growing division and oppression along religious lines in Africa. [Link]
• Trump nominates Richard Norland to be Ambassador to Libya. Norland has served as a foreign policy adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. [Link]
• Field Marshal Haftar now control southern Libya and is receiving more international support. However, he still faces many obstacles as he tries to consolidate his power over the rest of Libya. [Link] Haftar’s forces skirmish with the UN/US-backed government’s forces south of Tripoli. [Link]
• A study finds that nearly half of people living in the eastern Congo believe the Ebola outbreak is being fabricated to exploit them. That belief is making containing the outbreak more difficult. [Link]
• Algeria’s longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika has resigned.  [Link]