The United States’ national debt exceeded $30 trillion for the first time on Tuesday, spurred on by high borrowing during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data from the US Treasury Department. Japan and China remain the top foreign creditors, holding $1.3 trillion and $1.08 trillion in US Treasuries respectively, and …
Read More »National Guard commander resigns after mass shooting
One of Ukraine’s top military officers has announced that he will step down in the wake of a mass shooting that saw a guardsman turn his gun on five people at a rocket factory in the Eastern European nation. Lieutenant General Mykola Balan said that he had submitted his resignation as …
Read More »‘A national holiday where murder and enslavement are celebrated’
Millions celebrate Australia Day, held annually on January 26 to mark the arrival of the first fleet of British colonialists in Sydney Cove in 1788. But to many Indigenous people, including Rob Arnol, an elder of the Palawa, the Aboriginal community from Tasmania, it is a day of shame rather …
Read More »America’s national symbol faces slow death
A new study has found the bald eagle population in the US has taken a significant hit from lead poisoning, eaten by the animals from left-behind ammunition from hunters. The study, from the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health at Cornell University, found the bald eagle population growth has decreased …
Read More »National hockey teams ‘thrown off plane in mask row’
Russian players and staff were not allowed to take a flight because outraged Canadian passengers complained that they were not wearing masks, an official caught up in the alleged incident has said. Otakar Cerny, the team manager of the Czech side, who were also due to take the flight from Calgary …
Read More »US national security advisor says Putin ‘hasn’t yet decided to invade Ukraine’
“We’re prepared for dialogue with Russia,” Sullivan said on Friday at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in Washington, DC. “We’ve had dialogue with Russia on European security issues for the last 20 years. We had it with the Soviet Union for decades before that. …
Read More »Former National Guard official calls out Army’s Jan. 6 ‘lies’
Matthews’ memo was sent to the congressional committee investigating the events of January 6, 2021 earlier this month. In it, he accuses Gen. Charles Flynn (brother of Trump ally Michael and deputy chief of staff for operations on Jan. 6), and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt (director of the Army staff), …
Read More »Pentagon spells out penalties for National Guard members who refuse vaccination
In a Tuesday memo, Austin restated his claim that vaccination is “essential to the health and readiness of the Force,” and ordered the establishment of “policies and implementation guidance to address the failure to maintain this military medical readiness requirement by members of the non-federalized National Guard who remain unvaccinated.” …
Read More »Pop star awarded National Hero of now-independent Barbados
During a ceremony in the singer’s birthplace of Bridgetown, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley referenced Rihanna’s 2012 song ‘Diamonds’ to applause. “May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honor to your nation,” the prime minister declared. Robyn Rihanna Fenty – who goes by the stage name Rihanna …
Read More »Pentagon responds to Oklahoma National Guard’s vaccine exemption request
In a letter on Monday, Austin formally rejected Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt’s request that the state’s National Guard be exempt from the Pentagon’s Covid-19 military vaccine mandate. Austin also threatened action against unvaccinated members of Oklahoma’s National Guard, warning that refusal to get vaccinated “may lead to a prohibition on …
Read More »