The US military has reported more than 15,000 service members overdosing on illicit drugs in the past five years, with 332 deaths, as Fentanyl overdose deaths have doubled since 2017, particularly among white male soldiers under 33 years old, and military bases hosting elite soldiers bore higher concentrations of overdoses, with the need for greater attention and resources to address the overdose crisis in the military becoming more pressing.
The Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a foreign think tank headquartered in the United Kingdom, released an assessment of American online media designed to blacklist conservative media outlets and choke off their advertising revenue. The information is kept on what GDI calls its “Dynamic Exclusion List.”
Despite reaching out to Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe through a special crisis line, the Chinese official declined the call, leaving Austin's efforts unanswered.
The US House of Representatives is expected to pass a resolution blaming China for a "brazen violation of United States sovereignty" and accusing it of trying to "deceive the international community through false claims about its intelligence collection campaigns."
President Joe Biden says he gave his authorization to shoot down a Chinese high altitude balloon a day after he was first briefed on the suspicious device, which was hovering over sensitive US military sites, but defense officials convinced him to wait until it was safe for people on the ground.
