US News

• ICE set up a fake college to entrap students to break immigration laws. Reason
• Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned of the dangers of the US policy toward Russia and China in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. AWC

Russia

• At a conference in Denmark, 26 Western nations agreed to continue supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia for the long term and pledged more than $1.5 billion in new military aid. AWC
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told government officials to stop talking to reporters about Kiev’s military tactics against Russia, saying such remarks were “frankly irresponsible”. Reuters
• The Swedish government announced that it has decided to extradite a man to Turkey who is wanted for fraud, a move that comes after Sweden and Finland signed a deal with Ankara to cooperate on extradition to join NATO. AWC
• The Ukrainian Defense Ministry on made a veiled threat against Russian tourists in Crimea in a video posted to Twitter, which came a few days after a series of explosions at Russia’s Saki Air Base in the peninsula. AWC
• Estonia said from next week it would prevent most Russians from entering the country with visas issued by Estonian authorities, cutting off a popular route into Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone. Reuters
• Russia for the first time expressed guarded optimism about talks with the US on a prisoner exchange involving WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American. Boston Herald
• Russia has called for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to send inspectors to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), a facility that Russia has controlled since March. AWC
• Russian President Vladimir Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the two countries will “expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts,” Pyongyang’s state media reported. Reuters

China

• Kurt Campbell, a top White House aide for the Indo-Pacific, said during a press call that the White House will seek deeper ties with Taiwan in the face of what he called China’s potentially destabilizing nearby military activity. Newsweek
• The US and its allies should jointly respond to China’s live ammunition drills designed to intimidate Taiwan by holding “freedom of navigation” operations in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei’s official representative to the UK has said. Guardian
• The US and China displayed their military strength in Indonesia and Thailand by holding war games over the weekend. FT
• A delegation of US lawmakers arrived in Taiwan for a two-day trip during which they will meet President Tsai Ing-wen, the second high-level group to visit while there are military tensions between the self-ruled island and China. Reuters
• Eleven Chinese military aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line or entered Taiwan’s air defence zone, Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said. Reuters

Pakistan

• An attack by militants in Pakistan’s volatile southwestern Baluchistan province left two soldiers dead and six wounded, the military said. VOA

Afghanistan 

• The US evacuated more than 800 American citizens from Afghanistan since the Taliban swept to power and troops officially left the country, according to data provided by House GOP investigators and the State Department. Politico

Middle East

• Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank demolished a Palestinian family’s home in the South Hebron Hills despite a court order barring it from being torn down. Haaretz
• US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides said Washington supports Israel’s fight against “bad guys” in Gaza after a three-day Israeli bombing campaign on the besieged enclave killed 48 Palestinians, including 17 children. AWC
• Kuwait has appointed an ambassador to Iran, both countries said, more than six years after recalling its top envoy to Tehran in solidarity with Saudi Arabia after it severed ties with the Islamic Republic in 2016. VOA
• Three Syrian soldiers were killed as Israel struck targets in the country’s west late Sunday, according to state media. Haaretz
• The Biden administration has restored backchannel communication with the Syrian government as part of an effort to discover the fate of Austin Tice, an American who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 while working in the country as a freelance journalist. AWC
• A US air strike killed 13 members of the al-Shabab in the Hiiran region of central Somalia, state-owned national television reported, citing Somali army officials. Miami Herald