The U.S. Army says the soldier arrested in Russia late last week is being held in a pretrial detention facility waiting for a hearing. U.S. officials say Staff Sgt. Gordon Black flew to Russia to see his girlfriend. The Army confirmed Tuesday that he did not seek clearance for the international travel and it was not authorized by the Defense Department. Under Pentagon policy, service members must get clearance for any international travel from a security manager or commander. The State Department strongly advises U.S. citizens not to go to Russia, and given the war in Ukraine and ongoing threats to the U.S. and its military, it is extremely unlikely he would have been granted approval.
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If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time. What’s now in question is whether it will be around much longer and, if so, in what form? The Chinese social video app merged in 2017 with the competing app Musical.ly, which also launched in China. That kicked off a remarkable seven years during which TikTok grew from a niche teen app into a global trendsetter, but also emerged as a potential national security threat, according to U.S. officials.
Senate Republicans are returning to a strategy they hope could neutralize their Democratic rivals' financial edge: Find rich people to run. But wealthy candidates running in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin present a fresh set of challenges. One is hoping to recoup his own money before collecting resources for the fall race with well-funded Democrats. Others face questions about their past or where they live and spend most of their time. In each case, the relative unknown GOP contender is in a state critical to the party's chances to reclaim a Senate majority and is challenging a well-established, robust fundraiser seeking a third or fourth term in the closely divided Senate.
Iran and the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog are still negotiating over how to implement a deal struck last year to expand inspections of the Islamic Republic’s rapidly advancing atomic program. The acknowledgment on Tuesday by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s leader Rafael Mariano Grossi shows the challenges his inspectors face, years after the collapse of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers and the wider tensions gripping the Mideast over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Grossi has already warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make “several” nuclear bombs if it chose to do so. He has acknowledged the agency can’t guarantee that none of Iran’s centrifuges may have been peeled away for clandestine enrichment.
President Joe Biden has recognized the United States Military Academy with the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy for besting other service academies in football. Army beat both the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy during last year’s season. The West Point, New York-based college posted an overall win-loss record of 6-6, including a 57-point victory over Delaware State University, one of Biden’s favorite schools. The Air Force Falcons have won the trophy 21 times, compared with 16 for the Navy Midshipmen and 10 for the Army Black Knights.
Civil rights leader Daisy Bates and singer Johnny Cash to replace Arkansas statues at the US Capitol
Arkansas is set to replace the statues of two obscure figures from its history that have represented the state at the U.S. Capitol with contemporary figures. A statue depicting civil rights leader Daisy Bates is scheduled to be installed at the Capitol this week and another depicting singer Johnny Cash is expected to go up later this year. A 2019 law calls for new statues to replace the two others depicting 18th and 19th century figures few people knew. Bates mentored the nine Black students who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Cash sold 90 million records worldwide spanning country, rock, blues, folk and gospel.
