Wake Up Call from Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School
Wednesday's Wake Up Call comes from Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School.
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Business InsiderUS stockpiles of the rare earth minerals it would need to fight a war against an adversary like China are a mystery, and experts warn it's a problem
Whether the US rare earth minerals stockpile is ready for an emergency is shrouded in mystery, but there are indications it isn't.
- Business Insider
US Navy nuclear ballistic missile submarine surfaces off Norway in unusual flex as 'Doomsday' plane flies overhead
The show of force comes amid continued tensions with Russia and follows the recent visit of a Russian navy flotilla to Cuba.
- Business Insider
Russia is losing 1,000 soldiers a day in its relentless 'meat grinder' tactics against Ukraine: report
Russian troops are being used in head-on assaults on Ukrainian positions.
- Business Insider
China says it picked up a submarine detector dropped by a US Navy aircraft in the South China Sea
A video shared by Chinese state media shows a US Navy plane dropping something into the sea. China called it a submarine detector.
- ABC News
US sends USS Wasp assault ship and Marines to eastern Mediterranean
The U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Wasp and the Marines aboard are being sent to the eastern Mediterranean to serve as a deterrent and provide the U.S. military with options as tensions continue to rise between Hezbollah and Israel along the border with Lebanon, according to three U.S. officials. The officials stressed that the ship's movement is not an indication that the U.S. is planning to move American citizens out of Lebanon, but that it is moving for deterrence reasons similar to the earlier deployments of the amphibious ship USS Bataan and the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack against Israel.
- INSIDER
4 NATO countries are calling for a defense line along Europe's 700-mile border with Russia and Belarus
The Baltic states and Poland are urging the EU to build further defenses to protect the bloc from Russia's hybrid threats, per Reuters.
- The Canadian Press
Bulgarian president declines government proposal to lead delegation to NATO summit
SOFIA. Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has turned down a government proposal to lead the country’s delegation to NATO’s July summit in Washington, D.C., saying he was not consulted while it worked out the official position of the country and its commitments regarding the war in Ukraine, his press office said Thursday.
- The Canadian Press
Biden pardons potentially thousands of ex-service members convicted under now-repealed gay sex ban
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden pardoned potentially thousands of former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex, saying Wednesday that he is “righting an historic wrong” to clear the way for them to regain lost benefits.
- The Canadian Press
Ukraine's Zelenskyy visits front-line troops under pressure from Russia's onslaught in eastern areas
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi on Wednesday visited troops in the eastern Donetsk region who have weathered fierce Russian ground and air assaults in recent months.
- The Conversation
Gaza war: Israeli military admits it can’t win – but Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t listening
The IDF says Hamas is an idea that is rooted in the hearts of Palestinians and trying to eradicate it is impossible.
- Associated Press
The Latest | Gaza families bid a tearful goodbye to critically ill kids leaving for treatment abroad
Families bid a tearful goodbye to over a dozen critically ill children who left Gaza for treatment abroad on Thursday. It’s the first medical evacuation since the territory’s sole travel crossing shut down in early May after Israeli forces captured it, Palestinian officials say. Israeli authorities say 68 people — 19 sick and injured children plus their companions — have been allowed out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt.
- Reuters
US to confront Russia at UN over North Korean weapons
The United States will confront Russia at the United Nations Security Council on Friday over violating a North Korea arms embargo, and will push for China's view on growing ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, said deputy U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood. The meeting of the 15-member council comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Pyongyang last week to sign a pact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in which they agreed to provide military assistance if either faces armed aggression.
- Canadian Press Videos
Ultra-Orthodox Jews block highway over Israeli Supreme Court decision on military service
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men blocked a highway during a protest against army recruitment in Bnei Brak, Israel. Israel’s Supreme Court unanimously ordered the government to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into the army — a landmark ruling seeking to end a system that has allowed them to avoid enlistment into compulsory military service.
- The Canadian Press
French far-right leader Le Pen questions president's role as army chief ahead of parliament election
NICE, France (AP) — With just three days to go until France's landmark legislative elections, the country’s far-right leader on Thursday raised the uncomfortable question of who would be in charge of the military if her party takes over the government after the two-round balloting — prompting an angry reaction from President Emmanuel Macron.
- BBC
Palestinians flee Gaza City's Shejaiya area amid heavy bombardment
Residents say Israeli ground forces moved into the eastern Gaza City district after intense strikes.
- Reuters
Exclusive-Senior US Republican demands Biden administration shut Gaza aid pier
The Republican lawmaker who leads the House Armed Services Committee has written to the Biden administration formally demanding it shut down its aid pier off the coast Gaza, calling the operation ineffective, risky and a waste of money. The offshore floating pier, announced by Biden in March as a response to the threat of famine in the Gaza Strip, was constructed off the coast of the enclave by the U.S. military as a way to bring in food and other aid supplies. The U.S. military has been authorized to operate it until the end of July, but a U.S. Agency for International Development official said this week that the administration could seek to extend it for at least another month.
- Euronews
Ukraine's NATO membership is 'our duty', Estonian PM Kallas says
The Estonian leader is one of Europe's most outspoken critics of Moscow and is tipped to become the new EU’s foreign policy chief, taking over from Spain's Josep Borrell.
- Storyful
Kenyan Army Facilitates Crowds Marching Through Nairobi Slum
As Kenyan police faced widespread allegations of beating and killing anti-government protesters, the army received praise after it safely shepherded vehicles and crowds through Kangemi, a slum on Nairobi’s western outskirts, on Thursday, June 27.Footage from the scene shows troops and several army vehicles moving westward on Waiyaki Way in Kangemi, followed by crowds of people both in vehicles and on foot. Soldiers at the head of the procession are seen clearing debris off the road as they wave and give thumbs-up to locals observing from above.According to local reports, the highway had been effectively shut down earlier that day, as protesters tried to make their way toward central Nairobi and were pushed back by police. Some protesters hurled stones at vehicles arriving from Nairobi, prompting criticism from other protesters.The army cleared the highway, allowing vehicles and people traveling from Nairobi to return to Kangemi and neighboring areas, reports said. Credit: @dan_wabs via Storyful
- CNN
US discussing possibility of transferring Israeli Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine
The Biden administration is holding discussions with Israel and Ukraine about the possibility of transferring aging Patriot air defense systems currently in Israel to Ukraine as it continues to defend itself in the war with Russia, according to a senior administration official and a source familiar with the discussions, as the US urgently prioritizes air defenses for Kyiv.
- Reuters
Yemen's Houthis say they targeted ship in Haifa port with Islamic Resistance in Iraq
Yemen's Houthis said on Wednesday they targeted a ship in Israel's Haifa port with a number of drones in a joint military operation with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The operation targeted the Portuguese-flagged container ship MSC Manzanillo, the Iran-aligned Houthi group's military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised speech on Wednesday. The Israeli military is not aware of any such incident, a spokesperson said, and there was no indication of anything unusual at Haifa port.