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"The Afghan government has criticized the Taliban for rejecting Kabul's negotiating team for upcoming intra-Afghan peace talks aimed at ending the nearly 19-year war."

"Citing a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the militia, Saudi state news agency SPA reported that Riyadh intercepted two ballistic missiles over the capital as well as Jizan, a city along the Middle Eastern country’s border with Yemen, late Saturday."

"When France sent its forces into Mali, a former French colony, after armed Islamists took control of the West African country’s northern cities, their mission was supposed to last only a few weeks."

"North Macedonia became NATO's newest member with the presentation of its 'instrument of accession' to the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C., NATO said in a statement from its headquarters in Brussels."

"Taliban forces have taken control of a district headquarters in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Badakhshan, an overnight development that was followed on March 28 by an announcement that the militant group will not negotiate with a team recently unveiled by the Afghan government."

"The Pentagon has ordered military commanders to plan for an escalation of American combat in Iraq, issuing a directive last week to prepare a campaign to destroy an Iranian-backed militia group that has threatened more attacks against American troops.

"Iran-backed militias are becoming more audacious in attacking U.S. personnel in Iraq, with rocket strikes against military bases occurring more frequently and, for the first time, in broad daylight."

"The Taliban on Saturday attacked several provinces in northern Afghanistan, overrunning large parts of one district even as American diplomats expressed optimism that a peace process stalled over the release of prisoners was getting back on track."

"While the government of President Ashraf Ghani downplays the repercussions of a potential $1 billion cut in U.S. aid to Afghanistan, ordinary Afghans and experts warn the country is not in a position to withstand such a financial blow as it struggles with ongoing political instability that threatens the country’s peace process and growing fears of a COVID-19 outbreak."

"Top U.S. adversaries appear to be coming together, using social media and other cyber means to amplify disinformation regarding the coronavirus, with the intent of harming the United States and hindering efforts to curb the global pandemic."

Continue on for full text of Secretary Pompeo's press release.

"With peace talks between the government and the Taliban teetering, and a dispute between President Ashraf Ghani and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, causing a political impasse, Afghanistan is bracing for yet another dilemma: the return of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan amid fears of the COVID-19 outbreak."

"Yemen's warring parties have welcomed a United Nations call for an immediate truce, but analysts believe such calls will not end the conflict."

"A series of wargames conducted between 2018 and 2019 helped inform the Corps’ decision to divest of tanks and outmoded units and equipment that will have trouble surviving in fight with peer adversaries like China, according to a Marine Corps force redesign report."

"The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday announced narcoterrorism charges against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other top officials, accusing them of collaborating with a leftist Colombian guerrilla group to traffic cocaine to the United States."

"Afghanistan's former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah says the release of Taliban prisoners by the government would be beneficial for both sides and would help move the Afghan peace process forward."

"The U.S. military has handed over the Qayyarah Airfield West base, which is located just over 30 miles south of Mosul, Iraq."

"The new coronavirus is now taking off in the world’s poorest countries, which join the battle with even fewer weapons than developed nations, some of which have fumbled the pandemic’s early stages."

"The United States has demanded that Tehran give 'a complete accounting' of happened to retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, who is believed to have died in Iranian custody."

"Last July, General Berger electrified the national security community with planning guidance that proposed to align the Marine Corps with the National Defense Strategy (NDS) by making major changes to forces, equipment, and training. Though dramatic in concept, the guidance lacked specifics. General Berger has now provided those specifics."

"A U.S. cybersecurity firm said Wednesday it has detected a surge in new cyberspying by a suspected Chinese group dating back to late January, when coronavirus was starting to spread outside China."

"Weeks after putting a hold on permanent change-of-station moves and non-essential travel both abroad and in the United States for the next two to three months, the Pentagon has issued a stop-movement order that will affect all personnel and Defense Department civilians."

"The coronavirus pandemic could be a 90-day problem with work and lifestyle adjustments possibly continuing “as late as July,” said the top U.S. military officer, a sharp contrast to remarks made by U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday."

"While President Donald Trump is pushing to 'open' the economy and businesses again by Easter Sunday next month, Pentagon officials are cautioning that fighting COVID-19 may take months."

"Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Tuesday that he will ask the Trump administration to reconsider its vow to immediately cut $1 billion in aid to Afghanistan because of a political standoff in Kabul."