US News
- Up to 40% of incoming college freshmen are delaying their first year. [Link]
- BlueLeaks documents reveal Wisconsin police were trained on spotting lies. However, the idea of being able to identify liars is junk science. The trainer, Reene Ellory, charges nearly $2,000 per person for her course. Other documents show the widespread training of the Reid interrogation method. The method is known to lead to false confessions. [Link]
Foreign Policy
- The Pentagon awards a $100 million contract to Deloitte Consulting to organize and secure the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. [Link]
- The Pentagon will delay another four months before awarding the contract for the JEDI program. JEDI will be the Pentagon’s cloud, and the contract starts at $10 billion. Several companies have been engaging in lobbying and legal efforts to get the contract. [Link]
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will go to the UN this week to push sanctions on Iran. The US will claim Iran violates the nuclear agreement, and ‘snap-back sanctions’ should take effect. However, the US left the deal in 2018, and the other parties do not want to reimpose sanctions. [Link]
- After recent arms control talks, the US and Russia remain at odds on extending New START. More talks are planned. [Link]
- The US sailed a guided-missile destroyer through the Taiwan Strait. China called the maneuver extremely dangerous. [Link]
Europe
- In Belarus, the president said that he would be willing to step aside if a referendum called for him to do so, but would not resign because of the protest movement. [Link]
- The UK will lead a training of Ukraine’s navy to further integrate with NATO. [Link]
- An interview with a former-UK MI6 spy revealed the country’s leading role in the 1953 coup in Iran. [Link]
Syria
- A landmine killed a Russian general and two other soldiers near Deir Ezzor, Syria. [Link]
Mali
- After a military coup, Mali’s president and prime minister resign. The military has power, but it is unclear who is in charge. [Link]
