US News

• DHS announces the implementation of the REAL ID Act will be delayed by a year to October 2021. [Link]
• The Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly resigns. Modly fired the captain of the USS T Roosevelt last week. Then, Modly addressed the ship slamming its former captain. After the speech was leaked, Modly faced widespread calls to resign. [Link]
• The US government is giving huge financial support to the arms industry and pushing the weapons makers to stay open during the coronavirus pandemic. [Link]
• Julian Assange attended a hearing for his extradition trial. The judge would not grant a delay for the substantial part of the trial set to begin in May. [Link]

Afghanistan

• The Taliban withdrew their negotiation team from Kabul after talks with the Afghan government broke down. [Link]
• The US is threatening to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan because two people are claiming to be president. Ghani and Abdullah both claim the presidency and have set up separate administrations. The US has already cut $1 billion in funding to the Afghan Army. [Link]
• The Afghan Defense Minister reports his military has been waging a silent war against the Taliban since the US/Taliban “peace agreement” was signed. [Link]

Middle East

• The US comes out against the IMF giving Iran a $5 billion line of credit to help the country deal with the coronavirus. The US holds the most sway over the IMF. [Link]
• The US says the future of US troop deployments will be discussed in major talks with the Iraqi government scheduled for mid-June. [Link]