US News
- The Department of Education will forgive student loans for ITT Technical Institute students from January 1, 2005 until it closed in 2016. Over 200,000 former attendees of the school will have $3.9 billion forgiven. Market Watch
- The Army transferred control of military satellites to the Space Force. Gizmodo
Russia
- Russia demands the UK cancel a planned fight by a spy plane over Russian territory. AP
- A blast hit a Russian ammunition depot in the northern Dzhankoi district of Crimea on Tuesday, injuring two people, in an incident the Russian Defense Ministry described as an act of “sabotage.” AWC
- Sweden says it will live up to the commitments it made in an agreement with Turkey that paved Stockhlom’s path to NATO membership. Reuters
- Estonia is set to close its border to more than 50,000 Russians with previously issued visas this week, a move that came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for Western nations to ban all Russian travelers. AWC
- Finland will cut the number of visas it issues to Russians by 90%. Reuters
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine. AJ
China
- Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang held a press conference at a private home in Washington on Tuesday to discuss US policy toward Taiwan in the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit to the island. AWC
- The US tested its Minuteman III ICBM after delaying the test over Chinese war games. VOA AWC
Middle East
- Israeli military officials have admitted that an Israeli airstrike was responsible for killing five Palestinean children at a cemetery in Gaza during Israel’s recent three-day bombing campaign against the besieged enclave. AWC
- Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has bought $7B of shares in US companies including Starbucks, Zoom and Microsoft. MEE
- A Turkish airstrike killed at least three Syrian soldiers and spurred retaliatory attacks on Turkish soldiers. VOA AWC
- Off and on fighting just west of the Syrian Kurdish border town of Kobane has escalated into a heavy exchange of artillery fire between the Kurdish YPG and the Turkish military. AWC
