Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer says the US will announce a new weapons package for Ukraine this week. Kyiv is expecting more arms for hosting a meeting with high-ranking US officials.
Global military spending rose again in 2021, setting new records as Russia continued to beef up its military prior to its invasion of Ukraine, researchers said Monday, predicting the trend would continue in Europe in particular.
During Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's unannounced trip to Kiev on Sunday (which had been revealed the day prior by Zelensky himself), where they met with the Ukrainian leader and hashed out details of new impending US weapons shipments, among the most significant announcements from Blinken is the planned return of American diplomats to the country.
The death toll in the massive fire that broke out earlier in the day at a sensitive Russian Defense Ministry research facility in the city of Tver has risen to seven after emergency crews battled the Thursday blaze throughout the afternoon, state-run TASS reports.
The World Health Organization said Friday it "strongly recommended" Pfizer's Covid-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid for patients with milder forms of the disease who were still at a high risk of hospitalisation.
Philadelphia has lifted its indoor mask mandate, city health officials said Friday, abruptly reversing course just days after people in the city had to start wearing masks again amid a sharp increase in infections.
Masks will again be required on all public transit within Los Angeles County, including buses, trains, taxis and ride-hailing service vehicles, under a new COVID-19 health order that takes effect Friday.
On Thursday, President Biden announced another $1.3 billion in aid for Ukraine. Of that amount, $800 million will go towards a new weapons package, and $500 million will go directly to the Ukrainian government for economic assistance.
In an interview on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said some NATO member states want the war in Ukraine to last longer as a way to hurt Russia.
