US News
- The Pentagon claims it killed 23 civilians in 2020. The monitoring group Airwars says the US killed at least 102 civilians. [Link]
- Russia accuses the US of using war games as cover to smuggle weapons to Ukraine. [Link]
- The US sanctioned three Bulgarians and 64 companies over alleged corruption. [Link]
Afghanistan
- NATO will retain a civilian presence in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of American and NATO forces. [Link]
Israel
- Israeli politicians Lapid and Bennett sign a deal – that includes Arab parties – to oust Netanyahu as Prime Minister. However, the deal has a slim majority and will need the approval of the Knesset in 12 days. [Link]
- Dozens of members of Congress sign on to a letter demanding the US give another $1 billion in aid to Israel. [Link]
Middle East
- The fifth round of indirect talks between the US and Iran ended without a deal. More talks are expected to start on June 10th. [Link]
- Turkey’s President Erdogan says the US could “lose a friend” as Biden is preparing for his first talks with the Turkish leader. Turkey has long been upset with the US policy of supporting Syrian Kurds and recently denounced the US decision to recognize the Armenian genocide. The US threatened to sanction Turkey and expel the country from the F-35 project for buying military equipment from Russia. [Link]
- Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with Saudi Crown Prince MbS to affirm the US commitment to defending Saudi Arabia. [Link]
- 27,000 children living in the al-Hol prison camp in northeast Syria. The children and women who live in the camp are the wives and children of suspected ISIS fighters. Many people have lived in the camp for more than two years and now there are concerns the children are being indoctrinated into ISIS ideology. [Link]
