The US Treasury Department has placed Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary company, and several of its affiliates on a blacklist. The move comes as the private military force helps the Kremlin capture key cities in eastern Ukraine.
Haitian President Ariel Henry has called on the United Nations to deploy an international peacekeeping force as violence escalates in the Caribbean nation. While Washington supported Henry’s rise to power, the US appears unwilling to lead the UN security mission.
The risk of nuclear annihilation is at its highest point in history, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS). The group said the war in Ukraine was the largest factor in its assessment that a civilization-ending event is now closer than ever before.
Thousands of people from around the world have answered Ukraine’s call to arms and have traveled to the country to fight, with around 100 foreign nationals killed on the battlefield over the last year in addition to more than 1,000 wounded, the Washington Post reported.
The Department of Defense is set to begin construction on a new naval base in the Pacific-island nation of Palau, with a private contractor awarded more than $100 million for the installation, which will house a new advanced radar system.
The White House has rolled out an updated immigration policy, unveiling plans to strengthen rules developed under the Donald Trump administration to quickly deport migrants who attempt to enter the country through the border with Mexico.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a new bill into law which strengthens government control over public access to news in Ukraine. Zelensky has already nationalized the country’s media under martial law powers invoked after Russia’s invasion last year, stoking criticism from press freedom groups.
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning has sailed near the Japanese island of Okinawa and the US territory of Guam over the past two weeks. The naval operations came at the end of a year which saw several military escalations between Washington and Beijing.
