- Trump passes on selecting Elliot Abrams to be Deputy Secretary of State. [Link]
- The Trump Administration sends mixed signals on if it plans to appeal the travel ban to the Supreme Court. The Administration is looking at other options, such as issuing a new executive order next week. [Link]
- Trump tells an Israeli newspaper that expanding settlements are not good for peace. Trump also restated his desire to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. [Link]
- Trump changes his position and now backs a “one China” policy. [Link]
- A member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors resigns in protest because Trump is eyeing deregulation. [Link]
- Civil asset forfeitures are on the rise in the US. Law enforcement stole $4.5 billion in property in 2014. [Link]
- A woman was forced to give birth on the floor of a jail cell after being in labor for seven hours. In that time, jail staff did not transport or arrange transport for the woman to the hospital that was three minutes from the jail. The woman was being held in jail on $10,000 bond after she as arrested for driving on a suspended license. [Link]
- About 160 people were arrested in Southern California and scheduled for deportation. The arrests came from immigration enforcement raids targeting those with criminal backgrounds. 151 of those arrested had criminal histories, and five of those arrested did not. Immigration enforcement insists that these were routine raids and planned before Trump took office. Some are concerned this will be the new normal under Trump. [Link]
- The US government spent $41.2 million on land reform programs in Afghanistan. The programs were meant to help show land ownership in Afghanistan. USAID did not follow through with the program correctly, and now 100,000s of Afghani are unable to reclaim their lands. [Link]
- Assad says he would welcome the US to help with the fight against ISIS in Syria. However, for Assad to invite the US into Syria, they must coordinate with the Syrian military. Assad also rejected Trump’s idea of safe zones in Syria. [Link]
- Al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebels are winning battles against the less extremist rebels. Fighting broke out between the al-Qaeda-linked groups and the less extremist groups who were invited to the peace talks a few weeks ago. [Link]
- In Houthi-controlled Yemen, Saudi Arabia attacked the port of Hodeidah with several airstrikes. This port is only one the only ways to get aid into Northern Yemen. [Link]
