Great Power

• Biden will meet with Putin on June 16th. [Link]
• Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been unable to connect with his Chinese counterpart because he has been asking to speak with the wrong official. [Link]

Afghanistan

• US troops are expected to exit Afghanistan by mid-July. [Link]
• CENTCOM reports the Afghan withdrawal is 16-25% complete. [Link]
• The governor appointed to Faryab Province has been unable to assume his post due to protests. [Link]

Iran

• The fifth round of indirect talks between the US and Iran begins in Vienna. [Link]

Israel

• While meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called for the US not to rejoin the JCPOA. [Link] 
• Only a third of Young American Evangelical Christian support Israel, down from 70% in 2018. [Link]
• Blinken said the US will provide Palestine with an additional $75 million in aid. [Link]

UAE

• A new airbase is being built on an island off the coast of Yemen. It is unclear who is building the base. The UAE attempted to build a base on the island in 2017. [Link]
• The US is looking for promises from the UAE that it will not share F-35 tech with China. [Link]

Mali

• Mali’s transitional government has been removed by military leaders. The military leaders also removed the government prior to the transitional government. [Link]