By Matthew Aguilera
Kiev, Ukraine: The U.S. State Department on Sunday ordered the evacuation of all Americans citizens from Ukraine, citing the looming “…threat of Russian military action” (Fox News). The decision comes as over 100,000 Russian troops have been deployed on the Ukrainian border from Belarus to the Crimean peninsula, with fears that Russia could invade within the coming weeks. President Joe Biden was briefed on Saturday regarding potential responses to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussing what would be a preemptive security deployment to Eastern Europe, involving the “…moving of troops and some equipment from other parts of Europe into Poland, Romania and other countries neighboring Ukraine” (NBC News).
Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Two people were injured on Friday when the dock outside of a waterside restaurant in Fort Lauderdale collapsed, after which “…three adults swam to a nearby boat at the dock and were pulled from the water by other people” (WFTV Channel 9). The dock reportedly had “…apparent signs of decay and visible areas that were recently repaired” (Sun Sentinel), with the “…structural integrity of the dock” (NBC 6 South Florida) soon to be looked at by a city inspector.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Two ballistic missiles were intercepted above the skies of Abu Dhabi early Monday morning, with the attack being claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The missiles did not take any casualties, but come days after the rebels “…claimed responsibility for a drone attack near Abu Dhabi’s airport on January 17 that killed at least three people and sparked multiple explosions” (CNN) in Dubai. The reason for the attempted strike is linked to the ongoing civil war in Yemen, as the United Arab Emirates is one of the six members in a coalition fighting the Houthi rebels. The attack is one of the few repercussions which the United Arab Emirates has had to face, whilst other coalition members like Saudi Arabia have been attacked “…hundreds of times” (Wall Street Journal) since they entered the war.
New York, New York: The Trump Organization has been accused of misrepresenting the “…value of some of its biggest assets by hundreds of millions of dollars” (BBC News), so as to allow them to get loans and tax breaks more easily. The New York Attorney General also noted the potential involvement of both Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, with Donald Trump Jr, having “…authority over numerous financial statements containing misleading asset valuations” (NBC News), and with Ivanka Trump being an important contact to the Trump Organization’s largest lenders. The New York Attorney General is currently pushing for all three to be called under sworn testimony, citing her opinion that “…no one in this country can pick and choose if and how the law applies to them” (NBC News). The Trump Organization has denied the allegations, labelling them as baseless and unjustified.
